Free Only By Moonlight by Lynn Emery

the door broke the silence.
    A court deputy stuck his head in the door.
“Court is about to be called back in session, guys.”
    “Thanks.” Hazelton nodded at him. “Well, the
issue of bias on the basis of race won’t come up with Manny anyway.
That’s something. Look, Ms. Rousselle, I realize you came to feel a
certain empathy with his family, maybe even for him.”
    “I know exactly who and what Manny is, Mr.
Hazelton.” LaShaun spoke calmly as they walked out of the old court
building and toward the more modern version. “He needs to stay in a
secure setting for a long, long time.”
    “LaShaun doesn’t have any ammunition that’s
going to blow apart the case against Manny,” Chase said.
    “What about you, Deputy Broussard?” Hazelton
shot back. “You were at those interviews, and you brought in Orin
Young.”
    “And the rest of his gang, too,” Josh added
with a serious expression on his fresh, young face.
    Chase grunted. “His lawyers sure as hell
won’t get any traction from anything I have to say. Manny may be
nuts, but he knew exactly what he was doing; same goes for his
granddaddy. They killed because they liked it. Nothing supernatural
about that.”
    They reached the entrance to the courthouse.
Another court deputy checked LaShaun’s purse. He also made sure
Chase wasn’t carrying his service hand gun before he let them go to
Court Room B. More than three dozen spectators were seated on the
two rows of long wooden benches. LaShaun guessed at least a third
of those were reporters. Hazelton and his assistant strode down the
center aisle and took their places at a table. The court officials
were separated from the audience section by a three-foot-tall solid
wood gate with little swinging doors at both ends. A tall man with
jet black hair stood talking to a woman.
    “That’s Neal Montgomery.” Chase was about to
go on when he let out a hiss. “Oh hell, look who’s here.”
    James Schaffer waved to LaShaun when she
glanced around. She ignored him and went back to studying Neal
Montgomery. He stood at least six feet tall. His skin had the olive
tone that implied he had Italian ancestry mixed in with the Irish,
but it was his intense violet blue eyes that made Montgomery stand
out. Suddenly, he turned from talking to the woman next to him. He
gazed directly at LaShaun without looking around at anyone else. He
smiled and nodded a greeting to her as though they’d met. LaShaun’s
heart beat fast. Something was wrong.
    “You know the guy?” Chase asked with a
frown.
    “Never met him before,” LaShaun said.
    “Well I already don’t like him,” Chase
muttered and stared back at Montgomery. The tall man gave a nod and
went back to his conversation. “What the hell was that about?”
    “I have a feeling Mr. Montgomery knows all
about us right down to the size of our shoes,” LaShaun
whispered.
    The police officer on duty pointed them to a
bench close to the front that had space that he’d reserved, right
behind the prosecution table. “Y’all come up to this front bench.
How you doin’, Sheriff Broussard?”
    Chase gave him a collegial clap on the
shoulder. “Not yet, but keep a good thought on that, Danny. This is
my fiancée.”
    “Nice to meet you, ma’am.” The man gave a
respectful nod then went back to his duties. He studied the
audience before going back to stand against the wall to the right
of the judge’s bench.
    LaShaun sat next to Chase. She waited to see
if Montgomery would look at her again. She intended to do her own
research about the striking man. He gave off a different kind of
aura than she’d expected. Yet LaShaun couldn’t quite put her finger
on what it was or why it felt so odd.
    Chase leaned close and spoke softly. “You got
a funny feeling about Manny’s lawyer. I can tell.”
    “Yes, but...” LaShaun sighed. “Maybe it’s
nothing. Some people are so strong-willed they affect me that way.
It doesn’t happen often though.”
    “So did I knock you