In Defense of Guilt by Benjamin Berkley

Author:Benjamin Berkley
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-63393-652-2
Publisher: Koehler Books
Published: 2015-01-16T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Lauren Hill looked at her watch before entering the courtroom. Relief. Until that moment, she had been trying to come up with a half-baked excuse as to why she and her client were running behind. As it had turned out, she didn’t have to—

Wait a minute, she thought. That’s impossible! She knew more than just a few agonizing minutes had elapsed while Maze rambled incessantly about visions and televangelists in the adjacent courtroom. Much more. Lauren worked it in her head several times, coming up with the same answer each time. She and Maze had been conversing for upward of fifteen minutes.

How the hell did we gain . . . ? her thought trailed off. Deep down, she knew the answer, but she didn’t want to admit it. She was trying to put the previous day behind her and forget it had even happened. It seemed God wasn’t going to allow that. Yep, there could be only one explanation for what had taken place. “This isn’t happening,” she said. Lauren placed a trembling hand upon her forehead, pressing down on the bridge of her nose as if she could press the truth down. She grew angry with herself, with circumstances, and most of all, with God. He, or some strange phenomenon, was messing with her head.

Working the simple math, she and Maze should have been walking in ten minutes past the hour, more than enough reason to be chastened for her lack of punctuality. One or two minutes would not have mattered and would likely have been overlooked as a simple miscalculation on her part. But ten or more? Given what happened the previous day, no way would Judge Howell let it go unnoticed.

He must still be here, she thought. But where? There was no time to think about it. She had to pull herself together. Judge Howell was not going to allow her to crack like yesterday.

In a twisted way, Lauren wished her client had seen the same visions she had. Even from an emotionally fragile sap like him, any validation would help her believe she was not winding down the dark road to Insanity, USA. That, in and of itself, would have softened the blow and made the likely reprimand from Judge Howell well worth it. Maze couldn’t give her this help, however. Those visions were truly for her eyes only.

A strange, foreboding feeling came over her. Her legs suddenly grew weak and shaky, as if about to buckle. She gripped the doorknob for support and told Maze, standing next to her erect and beaming with confidence for the first time all trial, to enter without her.

“I can’t allow this. Nothing is going to come between me and sweet victory,” she whispered. Straightening, she completely blocked the unexplainable time discrepancy from her mind. She grit her teeth. “Not this day.” She looked up at the ceiling and far beyond, mockingly saying, “Thanks, God, I owe ya one.”

“Are you okay, Ms. Hill?”

Lauren looked up at the kindly older gentleman offering assistance to her.

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