The Fall Girl by Marcia Clark

Author:Marcia Clark
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rare Bird Books
Published: 2022-09-10T01:15:54+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Erika looked out her bedroom window. The wind had kicked up, forming frothy white caps out on the ocean. She touched the glass, felt the cold go through her.

As she pulled a wool jacket out of her closet, her cell phone rang. It was Skip. He didn’t usually call her before work. Her heart began to pound, her mind leaping to the worst possible conclusion. “What’s going on? Has he—”

Skip cut her off. “No. You know better than that.”

Right. He’d never call her on her cell, or even her landline, to talk about that. Erika rubbed her temple. “Sorry. What’s up?”

“Alicia said she can come in this morning. But we can go to her place if you’re still worried about reporters. She has her own apartment, so we won’t need to see Georgia again.”

She weighed the options. “I’d rather have her come in. Just make sure nobody gets to her.”

“Not a problem. We should be there by 9:30.”

She had to stop living in the world of disastrous scenarios, Erika thought as she ended the call, or she’d wind up in the hospital if not a mental ward. She was halfway to the office when her cell phone rang again. Thinking it was Skip, she answered without looking at the screen. “Hey. What’s going on?”

Phillip Hemingsworth’s imperious baritone filled the car. “Good morning. We wanted to find out whether the defense has filed the motion for a new trial yet.”

Shit! Erika wished she could say this was a bad time and put him off. But she knew he’d just talk over her. He got what he wanted and not a moment later than he’d asked for it. “No, they haven’t. I doubt they’ll file until we’re closer to the date of the hearing.” The defense wouldn’t want to give her any more time to prepare than they had to.

He grunted impatiently. “But I trust you have some idea of what they’re going to argue.”

Erika stopped at an intersection, and as she slowed, she got that horribly familiar feeling. Oh, God, no. Her heart started to pound; she could feel the sweat break out in her hairline. This was going to be a bad one. She needed to pull over, but she had to wait for the light to change. Breathe. You’ll be okay. Just breathe.

She gripped the steering wheel and fought to keep her voice steady. “I’m sure they’ll argue that keeping out T. Rayne’s prior arrest for assault was error. Probably bring in affidavits from some of the jurors saying they would’ve voted to acquit Steers if they’d known about it.”

The traffic light finally turned. But she was in the left lane, and the right lane was packed. Her heart pounding like a trip hammer, she put her blinker on and tried to find space to wedge in. But a black Acura wouldn’t make way. Tunnel vision began to set in and her hands were starting to feel numb. Erika could feel her panic rising. That’d never happened before. Terrified that she’d lose control of the car, she glanced at the Acura again.

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