Even without all of the other evidence, the video confession obtained after the suspect had been arrested should have been enough. Had the jury actually believed Drake’s claims that the confession had beencoerced?
As the jury stood, she searched their faces.Why? Why hadn’t they convicted him?Most of them wouldn’t meet her eyes. The few who did shook their heads as if to say they weresorry.
“Ms. Holt, may I speak with you?” The DA stepped out from behind a throng of reporters who were all shouting at her. His square jaw twitched as he waited for herresponse.
“Yes,”shesaid.
She followed closely behind him as he shoved a path through the reporters. Outside the courtroom, the crowd thickened as all of the people who couldn’t fit into the room surgedtowardthem.
“Step aside,” the DA barked as he rushed through the frenziedmelee.
When they reached a conference room, he grabbed her arm and pulled her inside. He slammed the door in the reporter’s faces then stalked to the window and closed the blinds. Abigail set her briefcase down on the long mahoganytable.
“Sit,” hecommanded.
“I’drathernot.”
Nervous energy skittered along her muscles. She knew what wascoming.
DA Browning stood at the head of the table. He gripped the backrest of a black, leather chair so hard that his knuckles turnedwhite.
“Do you have any idea what this means?” heasked.
“It’s not good.” Even as she spoke, she knew it sounded lame, but what else couldshesay?
“Not good? Not good?” His voice rose as he repeated the rhetorical question. “You just lost the trial of the century. Everyone’s carrying this story. CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC.Everyone.”
“I know. I don’t know what happened. The jurymusthave—”
“I knew I never should have caved to political pressure from the mayor’s office. If your father wasn’t so influential, you never would have gotten thisposition.”
“I earned this position.” Tension kept her back ramrod straight. She’d be dammed if he’d make her feel like she wasn’t qualified. “I graduated at the top of my class at Yale. I interned at Briggs, Myers, and Hudson. I am more than qualified. So don’t tell me I was handed this position because of myfather.”
Browning waved his hand through the air as if dismissing her comments. “Regardless, I can’t have someone in my office who can’t even win a slam-dunkcase.”
“What are you saying?” sheasked.
She knew. In her gut she’d known that she’d lose her job if she lost this case, but she wanted him to say it. She’d never quit anything in her life, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to start now. If they wanted to get rid of her, they’d have tofireher.
“I think you know what this means,”hesaid.
“No, Idon’t.”
“You’refired.”
The shock of actually hearing him say the words rooted her in place. It wasn’t until he’d crossed the room toward the exit door that she could string a sentencetogether.
“You can’t do that,”shesaid.
“I can, and I did. I’ll have your things packed up and sent to yourhouse.”
“I only lost one case. Other prosecutors have lost far more than one case and you didn’t fire them,”shesaid.
“An idiot could have won that case. You should be ashamed of yourself for losing it. Can you imagine what the kid’s poor parents are going through right now, knowing that their son’s murderer will walk free?” He smirked as he opened the door. “If you feel that your termination is discriminatory, take it up with the mayor’s office. We’ll see how many strings your daddy can pullthistime.”
When he slammed the door behind him, frustration brought her to tears. Was he right? Was it really such a clear case that it should have been an easy win? Had she completely failed thatfamily?
She leaned forward and rested her hands on the table. She hung her head. Maybe she had failed. Maybe he was right and she didn’t deserve the job. Or maybe he was just being a jackass. She needed time tothink.
