Due Process of Law
Tony spent the afternoon checking into a hotel, and then logging onto the Internet to find out as much as he could about the American court system. He found a flow chart which explained to him the process from arrest to either release or incarceration and he made sure that he understood it by going over and over it.
Alex went into Jesse's room once he got back from the jail and found his friend red eyed and anxious. "Jesse, what's the matter?"
"Oh, Alex, I didn't know you were back, how is she, is she all right? Did she say anything that could get her sent here, did she mention me?"
Alex put his hand on Jesse's arm. "Jesse, stop. Now, I'm not gonna tell you anything until you take a deep breath and calm down." Alex stopped talking and watched his friend as he tried to compose himself. Gradually he could see Jesse's breathing come under control, and his hands, which had been twisting and turning the bed sheets became still and just rested one on top of the other. Alex took a moment to look at his friend, he could tell that he was still stressed and upset, but he seemed to have pulled himself together enough for him to continue talking.
"Ok, she is doing all right… Jesse let me speak, when I've finished I know you are gonna have questions, but I'll answer them in a while… She's scared, Jess, and she knows that people are going to be watching her every move, but she isn't deterred by it."
"And Sholte, can he get her out?" Jesse looked at his friend, the fear clutching him in its vice like grip.
"Jesse, she won't get bail, she knows that. But she is innocent, and she will be free… it may just take a while."
Jesse turned away then and rubbed at his eyes, Alex placed a hand tentatively on his shoulder. When Jesse didn't shrug it off Alex squeezed gently and began to talk again. "Jesse, there is something else, isn't there? What is it?"
"It's nothing, I'm just being petty. Rae is in jail, and I'm worrying about things that are just silly."
Alex knew that whatever it was, to Jesse it wasn't silly at all. "Ok, then, you tell me what it is, I'll tell you you're being stupid and we can forget it." Although Alex's tone was light he hoped that Jesse would see it for what it was, an offer from a friend to help him with his problems. To his relief Jesse turned back to face him and with a small nod began to speak.
"I'm here, stuck in this room, and I know that I should be, I don't think I can cope with everything that is happening in my life right now, and I certainly can't look after Eliana, or help Rae, but then he turns up, and he can go see her in jail and go to court and support her and … and it should be me." This time it was to much for Jesse, and once he had unburdened himself the tears ran down his cheeks, and although Alex had no idea who he was talking about he felt his heart go out to his friend. He waited a moment to let Jesse to calm down a little.
"Jess, who do you mean?"
"Tony, Tony is here, and he is going to be doing what I should be, supporting her through this, but me, am I there? No, not me, I'm too damn weak!" Jesse's voice had got louder and louder until by the time he finished he was shouting, and to Alex's alarm, shaking.
"Ok, that is enough. You're my patient at the moment Jesse, even though Wil admitted you, and I want you to stop right now. Tony is Rae's ex-husband. Note the ex, which means no longer her husband. I think it speaks volumes about you and Rae that he is still a part of her life. You invited him to your wedding, and he came. You included him in your bachelor party, you have never been jealous of him, and from what I know of the guy he isn't jealous of you either. Jesse let him do this for you. He loves Rae, and she loves him, Steve can't be there for her, because he has Mark to worry about, Jo is with Steve, when Tony goes back to London, at least he will feel that he helped you both."
"Steve, pah, he won't help her." Jesse threw up his hands in despair, and Alex was shocked by his tone.
"Jesse, of course he will, it's just that he has other things on his mind right now."
"Yeah, right, like the fact that he thinks she's guilty."
"What?" Alex looked on in disbelief. He knew that Cheryl thought that Rae was responsible for the deaths that had occurred, but he hadn't realised that Steve felt the same way.
"I heard him speaking with Tony and he thinks that she did it, killed those people, hurt Jo and attacked Mark."
Alex had a feeling that the whole conversation was spiralling out of control now. He wished he had known about Steve, if he had he wouldn't have even mentioned his name. "Jesse, this isn't getting us anywhere." Alex was worried that he would have to sedate him, and he had come into try to reassure not upset his friend. He suddenly remembered that he had a message for him and so with a smile began to talk again. "Jesse you need to try to sleep, I can give you something to help if you would like, but before I do, Rae asked me to give you a message."
"What, what, Alex, what did she say." Jesse's reaction to this was almost too much to bear, and Alex took a deep breath before continuing.
"Jess, she told me to say that she loves you, and she is missing you very much."
"Oh, God, Alex, I miss her too, I just want to hold her close, feel her next to me, try and give her the support she needs, and I … I can't right now." Jesse lay back on the pillows and all the energy he had seemed to leave him.
"Jess, do you want me to give you something? You will sleep right through to the morning then, and it will probably do you good."
"No, no, I think I will sleep. Alex, thank you. I know it was ridiculous to be jealous of Tony, and I am really glad that he and you are there for her. You are a good friend, Alex, and a good doctor." Jesse smiled a little then, and closed his eyes. Alex leant back in his chair; exhausted by the conversation he had just had, and then watched as Jesse slipped slowly off to sleep.
Once Alex and Mr. Sholte had left, Officer Bryant had escorted Rae to the cafeteria and she had picked up the first items of food she had seen, sat at the first empty table she had found and then just stared at her plate for twenty minutes. She had been aware of people shoving her as they passed, or pushing at her table, but she shut it out. All she could see was Alex, and she could hear his voice as he had tried to reassure her that she would be freed.
"Hey, cop, lunch is over." A voice cut through her thoughts as she felt another elbow in her back. With a shrug Rae got up and walked towards the exit. She had no idea where she should go now, whether she was expected to go back to her cell by herself, or even if she could retreat back to the safety of her solitude. As she looked round Rae saw the stocky figure of Officer Bryant heading straight for her.
"What do you think you are doing? You are on permanent lock down, now move."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know that." Rae looked round her and saw that all the women within earshot where staring at her. Once again she ran the gauntlet of catcalls and spitting and, once again, the prison officer did nothing to stop it. By the time Rae arrived at her cell she was only just keeping herself together. She watched as the smart card was swiped and a thought ran through her mind and was gone before she could grab at it. She must have stood still for too long because she felt rough hands push her into her room and then the door slid silently shut behind her, and she was alone.
Mark had slept almost all day. Occasionally a pained expression would flit across his face, and Steve would take a slightly firmer grip of his hand, and it would be gone again. Jo had contacted Sally to make sure that Eliana was ok, once she had found out from Alex where she was, and had then made sure that whatever Steve needed she was able to provide for him. Which for the most part had been someone to listen to his fears and feelings of hopelessness at the situation which they found themselves in.
"Steve, Honey, you should go for a little walk, just round the grounds for a while. I will sit with your daddy, an' if anythin' happens I will call you."
"No, Jo. He has always been here for me, whenever I have been in the hospital I have known, somehow, that he was sitting waiting for me to find my way back to him. I have to do that too."
"Steve, darlin' if your mom was still alive, they would have shared this. They would have wanted to be a strength to each other an' you. But they would have shared. Let me share. I won't do or say anythin' you wouldn't want me to, an' I love him, like a father, Steve, please let me share."
"Jo, I don't mean to shut you out, I … I'm just so worried about him, and Rae, I can't even think about what she has done to him. I'm sorry, I guess I'm just not used to having someone who wants to help me deal with it all."
"Well, you had better get used to it, because I don't plan on lettin' you cope with things on your own ever again." Jo had leant over then and placed a gentle kiss on Steve's lips. For a moment or two they had held each other tight, but then Steve had felt Mark move and he had pulled away.
"Dad? Dad it's Steve, can you hear me?" The anguish in Steve's voice made Jo's heart turn over for him. But Mark didn't respond, and they could both tell that he had just been shifting position, and was gone from them again.
Alex had just arrived home when his cell phone began to ring and pulling it out of his pocket, he shut the door with one foot as he pressed the receive button. "Hello, Doctor Martin… Hi, Mr. Sholte…Ok, yes, I'll let them know, thank you. I'll see you then." Alex hung his jacket up in his closet, took Kira off his bed and put her in her own basket, then he went into the living room, and picking up the phone, began to call everybody who would need to know that Rae would be back in court the following afternoon.
Wil had gone up to check on Mark before he finished his shift. The day had been a long one, but he had finally managed to get a sleep in the middle of the afternoon, and now he was awake and almost wishing that his shift had another hour or two left on it so that when he did arrive home he would need his sleep a little more.
Steve was sitting where he had been the last time Wil had looked in. On that occasion he had just spoken to the Lieutenant and his fiancée, but this time he was here to make sure that Mark was still coming along as expected.
"Steve, I need a few minutes, can you wait outside do you think?"
It was Jo who answered as she realised that Steve was about to complain. "Of course, Wil, we'll be sittin' on the chairs just a little way down the hallway." She had taken Steve by the hand and pulled him out and away from his father, just for a little while.
Wil ran his eyes over his colleague and friend, and then with a sigh began to make sure that everything was as it should be.
Jo looked round as she heard Doctor Collins clear his throat, and then the two of them were back in the room, and they could tell from the Doctor's face that things weren't quite as they should be.
"What's wrong, something is, isn't it?" Steve was instantly on the defensive.
"Your father had an elevated temperature, he is running a fever and there had to be a reason for that, so I checked his wound…"
"And, and. Come on, just tell me." Steve felt Jo squeeze his hand gently. "Sorry, I didn't mean to shout."
"That's ok. Steve, your dad has an infection, I need to operate again, to find out where it is coming from."
"But he is on antibiotics, wouldn't that take care of any infection?"
"Normally it would give him a fighting chance, but your dad was stabbed in such a dangerous and complicated part of the body. Jesse said that the colon and large intestine remained intact, but my guess, and until I get him back to the OR it is just a guess, is that he missed something, and there is waste matter seeping back into the body. I'm sorry."
Steve instantly remembered Cheryl saying about Jesse being married to the main suspect of his father's attack, but he pushed the thought away. Jesse was Mark's friend, he wouldn't, couldn't, jeopardise his health.
"Steve, Honey, is that all right?"
"Sorry, is what all right?" Steve hadn't realised that anybody was talking to him.
"Wil is gonna operate again right now. Is that all right?"
"Oh, yes, of course. Wil just keep him alive, that's all I ask."
"I will try, Steve, I always do. Now I have to go prepare. The orderlies will be up for your dad as soon as I get a free OR. Until then he is getting the antibiotics, and we will just have to wait and hope."
Jo heard Steve whisper, "and pray," and she squeezed him a little tighter.
It was just after one the next afternoon when Cheryl and Martin headed out of the squad room and down the stairs and saw Tony Yeager waiting for them. He walked over a grim look on his face. "Detective Banks, did you manage to arrange for me to attend the hearing?"
"Yeah, I did, do you need a ride?" Cheryl looked over at Martin, "This is Tony Yeager, he used to be married to Rae."
"We've met before, we went karting together, at Jesse's bachelor party." Martin and Tony shook hands. "Hi, Tony, I'm so sorry about Rae."
"Yes, I am sure you are, but you still arrested and charged her didn't you?" Tony found that the anger he had managed to contain when he had been speaking with Cheryl the previous day was much closer to the surface now Martin had mentioned the last time he had seen Jesse and he remembered how everything had been so happy and relaxed.
"Cheryl, I'll take Tony in my car, and meet you there." Martin could feel the guilt creeping to the surface as he listened to Tony and saw the emotions that were fighting to be released. Martin knew how he felt about the fact that Rae was in jail, so he knew that Tony must have been feeling ten times worse.
"Ok, if you don't mind. Are you coming back to the station afterwards?" Cheryl looked at the two men and felt a little left out. She had no idea why; maybe it was because Martin and Tony already knew each other, but she had a feeling that it was probably more than that.
"No, I wasn't planning to, there is nothing more that can be done on Rae's case, and I haven't had a day off in a fortnight. So I was gonna go straight home." Martin saw his partner just nod and then they headed out to the parking lot.
Tony moved the passenger seat as far back as it would go and looked over at the younger man beside him. He had known a lot of policemen in the time he had spent with Rae, and this one was not happy. They had spent an enjoyable time together at Jesse's stag night, bachelor party, he had called it a bachelor party and he had seemed a very open person. "Martin?"
"Mmm."
Tony could see that he was concentrating on the road, but he felt that there was more to his silence than that.
"Do you have a problem with me coming to the court?"
"No, why?"
"Because you have hardly spoken a word since you came down the stairs, and, forgive me for saying so, but you don't seem like a man about to increase your crime clear up numbers."
"Is that what you think?" Martin felt his own anger rise, but he managed to push it back down, and taking a deep breath he began to speak again. "No, maybe I don't, but now isn't the time to talk about it, ok?"
Tony knew better than to push the subject, so he retreated into silence himself and just watched the unfamiliar scenery go by as he was driven through the streets of Los Angeles. He wished that it were all part of the dream he felt he was living in, but he knew that the actual nightmare of going to see his ex-wife face a murder charge was very real indeed.
Rae was taken from her cell at one o'clock, and handed back the clothes she had been wearing when she was arrested. She looked at herself and knew that she looked really scruffy, but she hadn't thought to contact anybody to get a smarter outfit. Not that she had been given the chance to do that anyway. She had spent the evening and this morning alone, and even though she was now with the prison officer and another prisoner getting ready to go to the courthouse she knew that she was still alone. There was a prison van waiting for them and she was driven to the courthouse in total silence. Officer Bryant wasn't on duty, but the replacement wasn't any better than she had been, in fact Officer Worrell made Bryant seem almost animated.
Rae was taken to the holding area, at least that was what she had always called it, and she sat down. There was another woman sitting next to her, but she was smartly dressed in a black suit with a cream shirt. Rae looked down at her jeans and t-shirt and sighed.
"What's up, Honey?" The woman looked her up and down.
"You look so smart, and I feel so, so, untidy." Rae tried a smile, but it was very hard work.
"You're supposed to have someone go get you your dress clothes so that you can change into them before you get here."
"Nobody told me, and I didn't think to ask." Rae shook her head, another thing that had been conveniently left out on the introductory tour.
A guard came over and stood in front of Rae. "Your lawyer is here." Rae stood up and began to follow her.
Mr. Sholte was sitting in a room off the court; there was a small case on the desk next to him. He stood up as Rae entered and looked at her. He could tell that she was very tense and he had the feeling that she was keeping all her feelings inside herself with great difficulty. Mr. Sholte had been a lawyer for many years and had seen every emotion known to man; he knew that if he could not prove her innocence she would face an extremely hard life in jail and it was clear that she knew that too. "Mrs Travis, how are you feeling?"
"Terrified, resigned to my fate one minute, resistant to the possibility of it the next. I am angry that this has happened to me, but I can't see anyway out of it. Then I am determined to fight, and I know that my friends will fight for me as well." Rae ran her hands through her hair and took a deep breath. "But I know that Cheryl must have a water tight case or she wouldn't have arrested me, and that scares the hell out of me." Rae sat down in the chair in front of her lawyer and watched as her guard moved so that Rae could see her. Rae sighed, she wasn't used to being followed and she hated it.
"You weren't planning to go into the courtroom dressed like that were you?" Mr. Sholte looked his client. "Only it won't go down very well with Judge Friars."
"I have to go into court in this, it's all I have. Nobody told me I could have a change of clothes, and I guess I am just not thinking straight because it didn't occur to me to ask."
"Well, I had a word with Miss Walters at the hospital, and she sent Michael out shopping. They said that this would be fine for you." Mr. Sholte picked up the case from beside him. "There is a washroom through the door, I would suggest that you go change."
"Yes, Sir." Rae picked up the case and headed off in the suggested direction of the washroom with the guard close behind her.
Rae began to take her jeans and t-shirt off, but she found it very disconcerting to have somebody watching her every move. The thought crossed her mind that if she were found guilty of these crimes she would never be able to do anything unobserved ever again. Rae pushed the thought to the back of her mind and tried to concentrate on just surviving the minute she was in right now. It was the only way she could keep herself together at the moment. It seemed to work and five minutes later she re-emerged looking like a different woman. Now she had on a smart blue two-piece trouser suit with a white cotton shirt underneath. She also found a pair of business like navy court shoes and Texas had also sent some makeup, Rae had just put on a little to give herself some colour.
It was two o'clock sharp when the bailiff announced the presence of Judge Friars, and everybody stood up. Rae's heart was pounding, and she looked down at her hands and could see the whiteness of her knuckles as they grabbed hold of the side of table in front of her. They all sat down, and Rae turned her head, she couldn't see anybody that she recognised straight off. She let out a sigh, she had so hoped that Jesse would be here, but she knew he was in the hospital and realistically she hadn't expected to see him.
Mr. Sholte put his hand on her arm and she turned back round to face the front. She stood up as she felt her lawyer place a hand under her elbow and indicated for her to rise. Rae kept the back of the chair up against her legs, just in case they gave way and she had to sit down quickly. She felt her stomach lurch as she stood, and for a second she swayed, but she shut her eyes for a second and the feeling began to pass. She listened as the charges were read out to the court, and then heard herself being asked how she pleaded. Rae took a deep breath and looked the judge straight in the eye.
"Not guilty, Your Honour."
Rae sat back down, and for a moment her head swam again as she let the realisation that she was being tried for murder wash over her. She became angry with herself, there was no way that she would let anybody see just how scared and barely in control she was. She would hold on until she was either released or back in her cell.
Cheryl was called to the stand to show what evidence the police had that made it a strong possibility that Rae was guilty. She went through the facts that proved Rae had been near the scene of each murder and attack. That one of her necklaces had been found under the body of Helen Baxter, and then, as Rae sat there looking on in astonishment, Cheryl began to talk about the discovery of the body of Cameron Posner.
"I took a call that a body had been discovered at Community General, and we attended. That is my partner Detective Martin Robertson and myself. The body was lying in the parking lot; he had been stabbed through the heart. There was some blood, but not a huge amount, Mr. Posner died almost instantly." Cheryl had her notebook in front of her, but she didn't need to refer to it. Almost every word she spoke was engraved on her brain. She had been involved in some upsetting cases during her career, but this had to be one of the worst ever. Cheryl picked up the notebook to give herself time to clear her mind of anything other than the job at hand and then as she heard her name she looked up again.
"Detective Banks, what evidence do you have from this case to implicate Detective Yeager?" the assistant District Attorney seemed determined to use Rae's title at every opportunity.
"We recovered the video tape of the actual murder from the security office at Community General Hospital, and also evidence was discovered in the hand of the victim."
"And what did you find on the tape, and in the victim's hand?"
Rae was watching in fascinated horror. She didn't have any idea what Cheryl was going to say next.
"The tape showed the actual murder taking place, and the victim was holding a very distinctive diamond hoop earring in his hand."
Cheryl heard Rae let out a gasp, and as she looked across she could see that her friend, at least she used to be my friend, had turned grey. Mr. Sholte had his hand on Rae's arm and he was leaning in and talking to her, and slowly to her relief Cheryl could see her colour returning.
"Did you recognise the earring or the person in the video?" The Assistant District Attorney, who's name was Rose Marie Moureau had moved right up to Cheryl and was standing almost eye to eye with her.
"Yes, Ma'am, the face of the attacker is shielded by the victim as he is stabbed, but as she comes back and checks the body then you can see her face clearly."
"And the earring?" The District Attorney finally took a step back.
"I have seen the earring, as part of a pair being worn."
"Who was wearing them, Detective?"
Cheryl knew that the question was going to come, but that didn't make it any easier to answer. "The defendant was wearing them." Cheryl stopped talking, but she couldn't make eye contact with Rae, she knew that her evidence would sign her death warrant when the trial began.
"And the person in the video? Can you identify that person?" Ms Moureau looked round, she had worked with Detective Yeager herself, and had always found her extremely professional, she wasn't enjoying her job as much as usual right now.
"The person in the video was Reagan Travis-Yeager."
"Thank you, I have no more questions." Rose Marie Moureau turned and walked back to her table, and the Judge looked over at Mr. Sholte, who leant towards Rae and began to quietly speak.
"I don't think anything will be served by asking any questions at this time." He watched his client, she seemed almost detached from what was happening to her, but Rae seemed to pull herself together, just enough to answer.
"Ok."
Mr. Sholte stood up and faced Judge Friars, "We have no questions, Your Honour."
By the time Judge Friars had finished summing up what she had heard Rae knew that she would be facing trial in the near future. Cheryl's evidence had been so damning that there had been no chance of her 'not guilty' plea being accepted, and she was led back down to the cells in the court house. Five minutes later Mr. Sholte arrived and she was taken to meet with him once again.
"Because of the high profile nature of your trial, the judge has set a date for six weeks time. I will continue to represent you if that is what you wish." Mr. Sholte looked across at his client. She was obviously in shock after what had just happened to her, which wasn't at all surprising, and he wasn't sure if she could even hear him. He placed his hand over hers and she jumped.
The mention of six weeks got through to Rae. She thought about Mara saying that she would be in her school play long before that. "Christmas, I won't be at home for Christmas, Mara is the cat … and it will be Eliana's first one… but we can celebrate it later… I'm sorry, what did you say?" Rae looked up at her lawyer, he seemed to be a long way away from her, but then everything seemed to be a long way away right now. Rae put her head down on the table for a second, and felt the cold steel as her forehead rested against it.
"Rae, are you ok? Reagan!" Mr. Sholte's voice seemed to come at her from all directions, and she knew that she really ought to answer him. Slowly she raised her head and tried to remember what he had said.
"I'm sorry … what did you say?" Did I already say that?
"Rae, do you want me to carry on representing you?"
"Mmm, yes please, Texas likes you, so I would, yes." Rae shook her head to try to make everything come back into focus, but all that did was make her feel dizzy as well. She placed her head back on the table, and tried to work out what was happening to her.
Mr. Sholte was just about to call for one of the guards to get a doctor to come and see his client when the woman who had brought Rae into the courthouse two hours earlier appeared behind her and put her hand on Rae's arm.
"Come on, it's time to go." When she got no response she shook Rae, and with a mumble her prisoner stood up.
"I think that my client should see the prison doctor as soon as she gets back."
"Yeah, whatever. Come on, I haven't got all day." The guard gave Rae a push and she stumbled towards the door.
Mr. Sholte stood and watched as Rae was led back out to the prison van and then with a heavy heart he returned to his car so that he could report back to his real client, Miss Walters.
Tony stood in the hallway of the courthouse and felt his anger get closer and closer to the surface. Detective Banks had promised that she would arrange for him to meet with Rae, but when he went down to the holding cells to talk to her he had found that she had already been taken back to jail so he hadn't seen her except across the courtroom, and it had been clear that Rae wasn't even sure why she was there, let alone who had come to be there on her behalf.
Martin walked up to where he could see the tall man standing and found him deep in thought. "Tony, did you want a ride back, only I would like to talk to you if I could."
"What? Oh, sorry, Martin, yes, I would like a lift if it wouldn't be too much trouble. I would like to talk to you too. I'm not sure I would be able to stay civil and say what I have to, to Detective Banks."
The two men walked silently towards the parking lot. Martin saw Cheryl in front of him and watched as she got into her car and drove off without a backwards glance. He wondered how she felt about Rae's case. She hadn't spoken at all about her feelings, but had worked almost blinkered, so that she could keep her personal involvement out of the way. Maybe that had worked for her, but Martin felt despicable, like something that you scraped off your shoe, one of his closest friends was now on her way back to jail because of him and what he had done.
"Martin, isn't that your car?" Tony's voice cut into his thoughts and he looked round to see that he walked straight past his vehicle.
"Oh, yeah, sorry, my mind is on other things." He walked back, rather embarrassed and opened the doors. Tony got in the passenger seat and looked over at his driver. Martin said nothing, he started the car and drove out of the parking lot, and then instead of taking the road back the way they had come, he headed out onto PCH and in the end took the road towards the beach. There was a quiet piece of coastline, which Martin often came to. He liked to sit and ponder when cases got difficult, or he didn't have enough time for a sleep and needed a change of scenery. He drew into a parking space and looked out across the ocean. The winter winds were high, and the waves were crashing onto the sand. For a few minutes the two men sat in silence and watched the sea as it continued its relentless journey to the shore. Then Martin gathered his thoughts before turning and beginning to speak.
"We have got to do something about this before her case comes to court. She will get the death penalty for sure with the evidence that Cheryl and I have collected. There is more than was disclosed today."
"So what are we going to do about it? I spoke to Steve yesterday, and I have to say he gave me the impression that he thinks she is guilty." Tony felt more and more desperate as he spoke. He knew how much Rae had always relied on Steve's judgement from the letters she sent him, and he had a feeling that if Steve wasn't with them on this then in his opinion Rae was lost.
"I'm gonna go and speak to him, I know he's at the hospital, but I'm sure that I can get a few words with him, d'you want to come?"
"Yes, please. I need to go and see Jesse as well."
"I didn't see Jesse at the courthouse, I thought for sure he would be there." Martin suddenly remembered being aware of his absence earlier in the day.
"He's in the hospital, and not as a doctor, but a patient. Alex Martin had him admitted with nervous exhaustion." Tony was astounded that Martin didn't know about Jesse, but with Rae and Steve out of the picture he supposed that there was nobody to pass on that kind of information.
"Oh, God, I didn't realise." Martin began to see an impossible situation getting bigger and more unruly by the minute, and then a thought struck him. "Eliana, who is looking after the baby?"
"I have no idea, but Jesse didn't mention her while we were talking, so I am sure that she must be fine, he was very upset that he hadn't remembered I was arriving yesterday, and if he was worried about his daughter I know he would have said something." Tony tried to cover up a yawn as he realised that he was still on London time.
Martin started the car up again and drove out of the parking lot; he had a feeling that his conversation with Steve was going to be a difficult one. If Tony thought that Steve felt Rae was guilty then he had no idea how he was going to prove that she wasn't.
Mark had started to come around properly, after his second trip to the OR, just after lunch and Steve and Jo had both been sitting there. He had slowly begun to realise that he was in a hospital bed and that he felt like he had been cut in half by something. Mark began to open his eyes and as his surroundings came into focus he saw his son sitting looking anxiously at him.
"Shouldn't we be the other way round?" Mark didn't know why that was the first thing he said, but it seemed appropriate.
"And good afternoon to you too." Steve couldn't keep the smile from his face. He had been so worried that he was going to lose his dad, and to hear that his first words were a joke was more than he could have hoped for.
"What happened, Steve?" Mark tried to remember how he had arrived in this bed, but he couldn't.
"You were attacked, outside Bob's. Don't you remember?" Steve tightened his grip on Mark's hand. He hadn't even realised he was holding it until he felt the fingers move underneath his palm.
"Someone came up behind me, and I thought it was Rae so I turned to greet her… I don't remember anything else… I don't know who did it."
"Dad, it was Rae who did it." Steve found his anger rising as he spoke, how could she have done what she did?
"No, Son, it couldn't be Rae … it couldn't …" Mark tried to stifle a yawn, but both Steve and Jo saw it.
"Mark, you should be going off to sleep, not worryin' about this right now. We'll be here when you wake again, an' we can talk about things then, ok?"
Mark just nodded, his eyes closed and before either of them could say sweet dreams he was fast asleep again.
Jo got up and walked out into the hallway. She knew in her heart that Rae hadn't done any of the things she was supposed to, but Steve was blinkered by what had happened to Mark and to her.
Jesse had woken up and begun fretting so much after Alex had left that Wil had given him a sedative, and he had slept right through the night. He had worried all morning, but once he had eaten his lunch exhaustion had won out, and Jesse had been asleep ever since. Tony quietly entered his room and sat down by his bed. He could see the doctor's outline under the sheets, he was a small man, and while he was sleeping he looked very young. Tony smiled for a second, he guessed he had been that young once. He remembered Rae's mother worrying about the age difference when they had been married. He was ten years older than Rae, and she had been sure that was a recipe for disaster. When they had parted Rae had tried to explain to her mother that it was her job that was to blame, but she never did get her to believe her.
Tony knew that Jesse loved Rae; he had no doubt about it. He had seen them together in the run up to the wedding, and he had read the letters that they both sent to Rae's children regularly. She had been happier than he had seen her since the early days of their relationship. Relaxed, laughing, joking, things that usually disappeared when she was under pressure. Tony looked down at the figure in the bed once again as he began to stir. He had told Jesse to keep her safe, and he knew that he had tried, but the things that had happened had been out of Jesse's reach. The wave of pity and understanding that swept him as he sat waiting for Jesse to wake up surprised him, and he knew that until Jesse was ready to take his place in Rae's world once again he would make sure that he was there to reassure him that was where he belonged.
"Rae?" Jesse's voice was sleepy, as he began to wake up.
"No, it's me, Tony." He felt guilty that he wasn't who Jesse wanted him to be.
"Oh. I guess I was dreaming then, I thought she was here." Jesse began to think and suddenly he realised why it was that Rae wasn't with him. "The hearing, what happened at the hearing?"
"The trial has been set for six weeks time. Rae pleaded 'not guilty' but the judge decided she had a case to answer."
"Oh." A single tear slid down Jesse's cheek and he took a deep breath. "I just feel so helpless. She needs me and there is nothing I can do, I can't even go see her until she sends me the form to fill in, and then I have to wait thirty days." A picture of Rae came up in his mind, and he ached to hold her, or at least to touch her.
"I don't know what to say, Jesse, I wish there was something I could do to help you."
"Just tell me that you don't hate me. I promised to keep her safe and I failed. I keep thinking about Eliana and John, Patrick and Mara. Oh, God, Tony, I don't think I can cope with any of this." Jesse couldn't keep the tears in and he turned away from Tony and curled up into a ball. Tony found himself watching as he lay there, sobbing. Just as Tony began to wonder whether he should try to console him he heard a knock and Jo put her head round the door.
"Jesse? Oh, Honey." Jo took the scene in with one glance. She didn't say anything else; she just rushed across and took him in her arms. "Shhh, we will save her, we have to, she didn't do all these things they are sayin' she did."
As Jesse heard Jo's words he gulped back his tears and looked at her. "You think she is innocent?" He saw her nod her head. "And Steve? I heard him talk to Tony in the hallway before, he thinks she's guilty."
Jo took a breath. She hadn't realised that Jesse had heard Steve. "I know, but he is so personally involved in what happened that he can't see beyond the fact that Mark is lyin' in a hospital bed an' whoever did it bears a resemblance to Rae."
"Ah, excuse me, but Martin wants to speak to Steve about the case, but he doesn't think that Rae is guilty either." Tony didn't really want to interrupt Jesse and Jo, who he could see were obviously very close, but the mention of Steve reminded him of what he had promised Martin he would do.
"Then why the hell did he arrest her?" Jesse was suddenly furious.
"Because the evidence points to her. It's just a feeling; he knows her and says she couldn't do it. Jesse, all we have are feelings, I have to say that the evidence that was heard by the court today would hang anybody." Tony looked at the two faces in front of him and realised that at the moment he had far more information than either of them.
"What do they have?" Jo's voice was a little wavering but it was determined. "We need to know if we are gonna disprove it."
"Look, we need to be together to talk about this. Jo, can you get Steve to come and have a discussion with us?" Tony knew that getting Steve to come would be hard, and he could understand why. They were trying to free the person he believed was responsible for trying to murder his father.
"I think the best thing would be for us all to be in one place so that we can go over what we have. I'll get in touch with Michael an' we can all meet at my place in an hour or so. Mark will be asleep for most of the afternoon, an' Steve an' I can come back to see him this evenin'. Jesse, I will speak to Alex an' we can take you with us, Amanda an' Martin need to be there too." Jo was ticking people off on her fingers as she spoke. Then she moved across to the phone on the wall of Jesse's room and began to speak to the people she needed.
It took just over an hour and a half but in the end there were nine adults and one baby in Jo's living room. Jo had driven over and picked Eliana up from Sally and she had been sitting happily in her daddy's arms, as he looked around at all the people willing to work to free his wife, until Steve had arrived. After about five minutes Jesse had smiled and slowly he had stood up, walked over to his friend and gently placed his daughter in Steve's arms.
"I know you think she is guilty, but she isn't, Steve." Jesse turned then and walked back to his seat, and Steve realised that by giving him his child he was showing that he still trusted him as a friend, and just for a second his resolve began to waver.
Alex had released Jesse into his own care for the evening, and was watching him closely to make sure that the intensity of the meeting wouldn't be more than Jesse could cope with. Martin had driven Tony over to Jo's and it was clear that the two men were becoming friends. They had been the last to arrive, and kept looking over at Steve as if they had guilty consciences. Jo had managed to talk Steve into coming, but everybody in the room could see that he wasn't at all happy about being there, apart from the fact that it gave him a chance to play with his goddaughter, who he was bouncing up and down on his knee. Amanda had a stack of files in front of her and she was looking through them as she waited for someone to speak. Mr. Sholte was sitting in the big winged chair and was a little bit on the outside looking in, and Michael had placed the coffee pot and a tray with cakes and biscuits on and was just about to leave for his kitchen.
"Michael, I would like you to stay if you would. I think you should be able to contribute to this." Jo's voice stopped him as he turned to leave.
"Certainly, Madam, if that is what you wish. I will just go and get Miss Eliana's formula, she is due a feed in just under ten minutes then I won't interrupt anything." The butler left the room for a moment and despite the seriousness of the situation everybody in the room smiled at his back.
"Your man should have been a lawyer, my dear." Mr. Sholte smiled at Jo in a fatherly type of way. "Nothing ever seems to ruffle him."
"Oh, I don't know, I've seen him get very ruffled when somebody is rude to him." Jo looked at Steve in a very pointed fashion and he had the good grace to look uncomfortable. He was here under sufferance, he should be with his dad, not sitting here trying to clear Rae if she was guilty. For a moment his resolve wavered again. If she wasn't guilty then he owed it to her to fight in her corner with all her friends. If he was honest, it was against everything she believed in, but she had been severely traumatised over the last year or so, and that could turn anybody a little crazy. His mind was in turmoil and he was extremely relieved when he saw Michael return with Eliana's bottle and Steve held his hand out and took it from him.
He looked down with a smile as he saw the little girl grab hold of the bottle with both hands and place it in her mouth. As she began to gulp it down her eyes locked onto Steve and they never left his face for the whole time she was drinking. Jo began to talk and Steve managed to look away from Eliana's adoring gaze and listen to her.
"Ok, we all know why we are here, apart from Steve, we think that Rae is innocent of all the things she has been charged with. Gilbert would you like to explain what happened today?"
Everybody looked a little puzzled until Mr. Sholte stood up. "I have to say that I was quite dismayed at the evidence that Detective Banks produced. But I was more perturbed by the fact that it seemed that once she began speaking about the murder of Mr. Posner, Mrs Travis had no idea what she was talking about."
"When we interviewed her after her arrest, she didn't seem aware of it did she?" Martin looked over at the man he now knew was called Gilbert and waited.
"No, and I did mentioned my concern to you then, but I thought that because it had been talked about it might have jogged her memory."
"Can you be charged with something you don't remember doing?" Tony's voice sounded hopeful.
"Oh yes. Otherwise anybody could plead amnesia."
"Look, I hate to burst everybody's bubble here, but the evidence we collected is substantial, and most of it points towards Rae. I went back to the station and picked up everything that I could, and I have it with me."
"What?" Steve shouted the word, and everybody in the room saw Eliana jump a mile, drop her bottle and begin to scream.
Jo got up and took the baby from him and began to walk up and down with her. She glared at Steve as she passed him. "You have never taken evidence? How have you an' your daddy solved all the murders' you have together? I guess it is one rule for you an' another for everybody else."
"That's different, Dad's a consultant to the police department, he is entitled to see things, and Amanda is a medical examiner." Steve's voice was raised and he could feel his anger fighting to get out.
"An' these people are tryin' to help your friend an' partner prove that she didn't commit murder, but maybe you don't want to be a part of that. If it was you in jail Rae would be the first one to shout your innocence from the rooftops." Jo paused a moment and looked at Eliana, even though she had been raising her voice, the little girl seemed quite happy where she was. "But maybe you aren't even prepared to consider that she might be innocent. If you don't feel you can help then you had better leave."
"Look I don't want to cause arguments, ok?" Martin hurriedly tried to intervene, he bent over and picked up a pile of papers that he had under his chair. "I thought we could go through it all now and see if anybody here notices things that Cheryl and I didn't. I have copies of everything. The originals are still there, but nothing that I have is any different to the stuff in the evidence lockers."
"Do you have the video?" It was Mr. Sholte who spoke up, hoping to divert the attention away from Miss Walters and her fiancé.
"Yes, Sir." Martin looked over at the lawyer. "But you've seen it, haven't you?"
"No, I didn't have a chance before, I have put a request into Detective Banks so that I may view it in the morning, but a sneak preview may not be such a bad thing." Gilbert wasn't quite sure why he was doing this. It wasn't as above board as he usually tried to be, but he wanted to see the evidence with people who thought his client was innocent, not those who would convict her without a second thought.
Martin put the tape in the player and a silence descended over the room. The picture flickered into life and they all sat and watched the horrific scene play out before them.
The back view of Mr. Posner came into shot as he walked across the parking lot. The film was black and white, and a little grainy, but it was obvious that this was the murder victim; Martin wouldn't be showing them unrelated film. They could all see the tell tale shape of Rae's car just in front of Mr. Posner as he walked along, and then a person moved in front of him. This person was shorter than he was, and his body obscured her face. It was clear from the film just when the knife was plunged into him because he froze for a second and then collapsed forwards. In the time it took him to fall his murderer had moved out of shot. There was about a minute then when the man just lay there, and a dark pool became apparent underneath him. There wasn't, as Cheryl had said, very much blood, but there was enough to be seen.
The scene changed as a person came into view. This time it was obvious that it was Rae; she knelt down by the body and felt for a pulse. Then she put her hands down into the blood on the ground and wiped it off on her top. She appeared to be totally unaware of her surroundings, and for a moment Rae just knelt there. Then she seemed to snap out of it and she moved off towards her car. As she did so she left a bloody trail of footprints behind her. Martin turned the tape off and looked at the people in the room. Nobody said a word, but then as if sensing the mood among her companions Eliana began to cry. Not a loud scream like before, but a slow and heartbreaking sound, and everybody felt that she was crying for her mommy.