Free The Woods by Harlan Coben Page A

swallowed, but she held it together. Her voice was soft. The edges were gone now. "Yeah."
    "Were these favors of a sexual nature?"
    "Yeah."
    She lowered her head.
    "Don't be ashamed," I said. "You needed the money." I gestured toward the defense table. "What's their excuse?"
    "Objection!"
    "Sustained."
    But Mort Pubin wasn't done. "Your Honor, that statement was an outrage!" "It is an outrage," I agreed. "You should castigate your clients immediately."
    Mort Pubin turned red. His voice was a whine. "Your Honor!"
    "Mr. Copeland."
    I held my palm up to the judge, signaling he was right and I would cease. I am a firm believer in getting out all the bad news during direct, albeit in my own way. You take the wind out of their cross.
    "Were you interested in Mr. Flynn as a potential boyfriend?"
    Mort Pubin again: "Objection! Relevance?"
    "Mr. Copeland?"
    "Of course it's relevant. They are going to say that Miss Johnson is making up these charges to shake down their clients financially. I'm trying to establish her frame of mind on that night."
    "I'll allow it," Judge Pierce said.
    I repeated the question.
    Chamique squirmed a little and it made her look her age. "Jerry was out of my league."
    "But?"
    "But, I mean, yeah, I don't know. I never met anyone like him. He held a door for me. He was so nice. I'm not used to that."
    "And he's rich. I mean, compared with you."
    "Yeah."
    "Did that mean something to you?"
    "Sure."
    I loved the honesty.
    Chamique's eyes darted toward the jury box. The defiant expression was back. "I got dreams too." I let that echo a few moments before following up. "And what was your dream that night, Chamique?" Mort was about to object again but Flair Hickory put his hand on Morts forearm. Chamique shrugged.
    "It's stupid."
    "Tell me anyway".
    "I thought maybe… it was stupid… I thought maybe he'd like me, you know?"
    "I do," I said. "How did you get to the party?"
    "Took a bus from Irvington and then I walked."
    "And when you arrived at the frat house, Mr. Flynn was there?"
    "Yes."
    "Was he still sweet?"
    "At first, yeah." Now a tear escaped. "He was real sweet. It was-"
    She stopped.
    "It was what, Chamique?"
    "In the beginning", another tear ran down her cheek, "it was the best night of my life." I let the words hang and echo. A third tear escaped. "Are you okay?" I asked Chamique wiped the tear. "I'm fine." "You sure?" Her voice was hard again. "Ask your question, Mr. Copeland," she said. She was wonderful. The jury all had their heads up, listening to, and believing, I thought, every word.
    "Was there a time when Mr. Flynn’s behavior toward you changed?"
    "Yeah."
    "When?"
    "I saw him whispering with that one over there." She pointed toward Edward Jenrette.
    "Mr. Jenrette?"
    "Yeah. Him." Jenrette tried not to shrink from Chamique's gaze. He was half successful.
    "You saw Mr. Jenrette whisper something to Mr. Flynn?"
    "Yeah."
    "And then what happened?"
    "Jerry asked me if I wanted to take a walk."
    "By Jerry, you mean Jerry Flynn?"
    "Yeah."
    "Okay, tell us what happened."
    "We walked outside. They had a keg. He asked me if I wanted a beer. I said no. He was acting all jumpy and stuff."
    Mort Pubin was up. "Objection."
    I spread my arm and looked exasperated. "Your Honor."
    "I'll allow it," the judge said.
    "Go on," I said.
    "Jerry got a beer from the keg and he kept looking at it."
    "Looking at his beer?'
    "Yeah, a little, I guess. He wouldn't look at me no more. Something was different. I asked him if he was okay. He said, sure, everything was great. And then", her voice didn't catch, but it came awfully close-"he said I had a hot bod and that he liked watching me take off my clothes."
    "Did that surprise you?"
    "Yeah. I mean, he never talked like that before. His voice was all rough now." She swallowed. "Like the others."
    "Go on."
    "He said, 'You wanna go upstairs and see my room?'"
    "What did you say?"
    "I said okay."
    "Did you want to go to his room?"
    Chamique closed her eyes. Another tear leaked