Disclaimer: I still don't own Mort Rainey or Secret Window, so suing is pointless.
AN: Not a lot of reviews for the last chapter. Oh, well, hopefully more of you will review this time. Oh, and I'd like to say that I sort of made a mistake earlier on in the story. Technically, there's a law that says a husband and wife can't testify against one another, but I decided to work around it a little bit. I'm sorry if that pisses anyone off, but I'm still working off of Law and Order (still own nothing of theirs), so please don't flame me for it. If it bothers you, feel free to e-mail me. Besides, lawyers work around laws, so why can't I? Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 11: And the Trials Go On:
The brief three day recess provided by the courts gave our lawyers the chance to prepare further for the case. As Shannon and Melanie poured over notes and consulted with one another, Mort and I spent every free moment together either as a couple or as a family. Elizabeth was starting to feel the serious affects of the trail, for she was no longer as cheerful as she was before. Our vibrant, innocent little girl was convinced that something bad was going to happen to her Daddy, and knew that there was nothing she could do about it…all she could do was wait for the fateful day when the police took him away to a place where she would never see him again. These emotions may be a bit advanced for a child, but children are much more observant about things than grown-ups give them credit for, and I could feel that these were the things that were going through our darling Lizzie's head.
At last, the day of the trial dawned, and Mort and I once again headed for the courthouse. Becca had stayed behind to watch Elizabeth, since we all agreed that her mind couldn't take any more court traumas. We kissed our darling girl goodbye and piled into the car, our hands holding onto each other in a deathgrip. Shannon and Melanie had told us that it was likely today (or if not, one day soon) that Mort and I would have to testify at trial. They told us that we technically couldn't testify against one another, but if called to the stand, the prosecution would try and manipulate us into bad-mouthing the other. Even though we all knew that there was no way we would give in to do such a thing, we'd have to prepare for it.
After everyone had taken their usual places in the courtroom, I could feel my heart start to beat faster. I was so nervous and scared about who would be called up to the stand that I could feel my hands start to shake, and my mouth grew dry. I knew that I couldn't be called up to testify against my beloved husband, but what if they found a way around it? Would I have to speak against him? Oh, God, I hoped not! Instead, all I could do was wait and see who would be called up first.
"The prosecution calls Amber Rainey to the stand!" announced Miss Perez.
I gaped in shock as Mort turned to look at me with equal surprise in his eyes. Our eyes met, and the tension between us could be cut with a knife. I was about to stand up and take my place up at the stand when Shannon stood up.
"Objection!" she barked. "Your Honor, there is the Husband and Wife Privilege that prohibits the testimony of one spouse against the other, without the defendant's consent and knowledge prior to being called! Since we have had no knowledge or consent for this testimony, it is an unlawful calling of a witness!"
"Your Honor, Mrs. Rainey has every right to testify in this trial since it involves the mental harm of a third party directly connected to her," Miss Kapusta countered.
"But since the third party is present and is actually pressing charges against my client, they are not able to call their daughter, Mrs. Rainey, to the stand to testify against her spouse!" Melanie snapped.
The judge seemed to consider the situation for a moment, her eyes going back and forth between the two parties. As she considered everything, I held my breath. Even though we knew that either Mort or I might be called up to the stand, Shannon had neglected to mention that they needed Mort's permission for me to actually testify. I knew that they needed Mort's permission to put Mort himself up on the stand, but I didn't know about the part of putting me up there. Why was I always the last to know everything? And why is law always so complicated?
Judge Clark bit her lip for a moment and made her decision. "I've decided that, since it does involve a harmed third party, Mrs. Rainey is to give testimony. However, if it holds any sort of slander against Mr. Rainey," she looked directly at my parents' lawyers, "be it in question from the prosecution or answer from the witness, the testimony will be disposed of and her being called will be prohibited." Judge Clark looked directly at me. "You may take the stand, Mrs. Rainey."
I quickly gave Mort a soft, assuring smile and went to take my place at the stand. After swearing to tell the truth, etc, I took a seat and tried to remain calm. I won't say anything against my husband, no matter what. As Miss Perez approached me, I could only hope that Shannon, Melanie, or the Judge would interfere when necessary.
"Mrs. Rainey, when you were abducted by Mr. Rainey six years ago, how did you feel about it?"
I blinked. "Um, could you be more specific about that?" I nervously asked.
Miss Perez raised an eyebrow. "I mean when he was bringing you here, to New York, Mrs. Rainey," she replied. "Were you angry or sad or something similar to that?"
"Well, I was angry, of course," I honestly replied. "I mean, who wouldn't be, in that situation?"
"Did you try to escape from him at all during your voyage to the East Coast?" Miss Perez asked.
"I tried, once."
"Only once?" asked Miss Perez. "I find that hard to believe, Mrs. Rainey. Surely you must have tried more often than that!"
"Well, no," I replied. "I was watched very closely, so there was no chance for me to leave."
"I see." Miss Perez paced back and forth in front of me. "What about when you reached New York? Why didn't you try to escape then?"
"I had no way of knowing where I was," I easily answered. "We were in the middle of the woods, and for all I knew, we were miles away from civilization, and I never heard or saw anyone come close to the cabin."
"But the town of Tashmore Lake was only a few miles away," Miss Perez pressed. "Surely you knew that."
I was growing annoyed, but I didn't let it show. "I know that now; I didn't know that then," I calmly answered. "I had no idea whether we were near a town or not, or how far they were from us. Therefore, escape would have been foolish to even attempt when I didn't know about a great many things."
Miss Perez looked somewhere between annoyed and happy. "Did you want to escape from Mr. Rainey at all?" she asked.
"Yes, at first," I answered, even though I knew it would hurt Mort.
"But then what happened?" she asked, suddenly growing more confident that she was winning.
"I got to know him over the months, and I realized what a good man he was." I smiled at the memories of that time together.
"Even though he'd kidnapped you from your home and your family?" asked Miss Perez. "You'll forgive me if I don't believe that, Mrs. Rainey."
"Objection!" Shannon barked. "Basis of opinion, Your Honor!"
"Agreed," Judge Clark replied. "The jury will disregard the last statement."
"No further questions." Miss Perez sat down and Melanie got up, placing herself in front of the stand.
"Mrs. Rainey, when did you fall in love with your husband?" Melanie asked.
"Objection; relevance, Your Honor?" asked Miss Kapusta, standing up.
"Your Honor, the prosecution has tried to imply that Mrs. Rainey suffers from Stockholm Syndrome, and I am trying to disprove that theory," Melanie calmly answered.
"I'll allow it," Judge Clark stated. "You may answer the question, Mrs. Rainey."
"I fell for him about three months after he took me." I remembered how my feelings for Mort had grown over that time span, and had exploded after he had taken me on the tour of Europe…it was one of the best times of my life, besides holding Elizabeth for the first time.
"So you didn't instantly fall in love with him after he took you?" Melanie asked, as though double-checking my answer.
"No, I didn't," I replied. "It was a gradual thing, and it took a great deal of time to do so."
"Thank you, Mrs. Rainey." Melanie sat down.
"Any further questions, Miss Kapusta, Miss Perez?" asked Judge Clark.
"Not at this time, Your Honor," answered Miss Kapusta.
"You may step down, Mrs. Rainey," Judge Clark directed.
I complied and sat down in my previously vacated spot, breathing out a sigh of relief. Man, I hated having to say things in front of people. How I managed to get through high school drama class was beyond me. Well, at least it was over with…then Miss Kapusta stood up.
"The prosecution calls Mr. Robert Olson to the stand."
Crap. I watched as my father took the stand and got sworn in. Oh, God…
"Mr. Olson, could you describe Amber before she was abducted all those years ago?"
My father licked his lips. "She was a good, smart girl, a quiet girl, and she'd just graduated from college," he answered. "She was looking for work, and had been ready to start paying back her student loans as soon as she could." He sniffed as though holding back tears.
"I see." Miss Kapusta put both hands behind her back and began to pace. "How did you find out she was missing?"
"I got back from work, and she wasn't there," my father replied. "She's always home when I get back, and if she's not, she always leaves a note or calls me at work from home. I waited for hours, thinking that she'd somehow forgotten to leave a message or call, but she never came back." He pulled a handkerchief from a pocket. "Her mother and I got worried, so we called the police to help search for her. We never gave up hoping that she'd come home, and we were ecstatic when we saw her on Oprah several months later."
"And what exactly do you hope to achieve through the charges you've brought against Mr. Rainey?"
"I want him to suffer for what he's done to my family and to my daughter." My father's voice was full of anger and hate. "I want justice to be served!"
"Thank you, Mr. Olson," Miss Kapusta replied. She sat down as her colleague took her place up by the stand.
"Mr. Olson, what was life like for Amber when she was growing up?" Miss Perez asked.
"Objection! Relevance?" snapped Shannon.
"I'm simply trying to establish Amber's unstable emotional background which connects with the idea of Stockholm Syndrome, Your Honor," the prosecution calmly spoke to the Judge.
Judge Clark nodded. "I'll allow it," she replied. "Please answer the question, Mr. Olson."
I saw my father fidget a little before replying. I knew that he didn't want to tell everyone about how my mother had verbally tormented us, but he was under oath: if he lied, he'd go against every moral lesson he'd ever taught us, and if he told the truth, he would lose the case. I saw him take a deep breath before opening his mouth to reply.
"She had a very good childhood," he answered. "She was a very happy little girl, and we spoiled her with toys, books, and movies. After that, she became a somewhat secluded girl. We couldn't reach her, and I think that she cut herself off from people. She didn't have very many friends, only us."
Oh, hell no! This was not happening…my father was telling only the part where Mom had been nice before I was 10 years old, then making up a crap-ass story about my teens! 'Oh, God, the lying son of a-' I glared at him, letting him know what a scumbag he was. He was going to ruin my life with his lie! Oddly enough, I could have sworn I saw his mouth twitch, like he was trying hard not to smile or smirk at me.
"Thank you, Mr. Olson," Miss Perez said before turning towards the prosecution. "Your witness."
Then Shannon stood up and said the most shocking thing. "We have no questions for this witness at this time, Your Honor."
Melanie stood up as well. "However, we would like a brief recess of the court so that my collogue and I may confer on questioning present and future witnesses."
Judge Clark seemed to consider the matter. "Very well, Miss McKnight and Miss Black," she said. "Court will reconvene in one week's time." The gavel tapped, and the day was over.
I reached over and grabbed Shannon's arm as my parents walked past me, smug smiles on their faces, as well as the faces of their lawyers. I waited until the courtroom had emptied before speaking, since I didn't want anyone to hear what I had to say to them.
"Shannon, why didn't you or Melanie say anything!" I quietly snapped at them. "You know what my father said was a lie, so why didn't you question him?"
Our two lawyers glanced at one another. I swear I could hear the gears in their heads turning as they tried to think of a decent response to my question. I looked over at Mort, but saw that he was just as upset as I was. Our two lawyers had better have a good explanation, or someone was going to get hurt. Finally, Shannon spoke up.
"Amber, you know very well that we can't question your father's testimony without a witness to confirm what we're accusing him of," she whispered, trying to calm us down. "It's one thing to accuse a man of perjury on the stand, but it's another to accuse him and be able to enforce that accusation. We need proof that he's lying, and without that proof, his testimony is sound."
I felt ready to cry.
Mort's POV:
The moment he saw that Amber was getting ready to cry, Mort wrapped his arm around his wife in an attempt to comfort her. He couldn't believe that her father had had the nerve to lie up on the stand. It was unbelievable, and there was nothing they could do about it.
"It's alright, darling," Mort whispered to his distressed wife. "It's alright, everything will be okay."
He felt her sob harder as her arms went around his waist, begging for him to hold her tighter. He complied with the silent request, and tried hard not to glare daggers at his lawyer-friends. Mort Rainey did not like people who made his wife cry, especially during stressful times like this. It made him feel helpless, and that was a feeling that he couldn't stand having. If there was a way to fix this, then he would do his damnedest to find it!
"Amber?" he whispered to her. "Amber, honey, let's go home. I think Lizzie's waiting for us."
He felt her slowly calm down in his arms. She looked up at him with red-rimmed brown eyes and nodded. Mort then looked over at his lawyers and gave them a small smile.
"Try and find a way to kick their asses next week, okay?" he said. "After all, that's what I'm paying you for."
Melanie gave him a small smile. "Yeah, but you're paying a discount fee, since we're friends and all," she joked.
Mort rolled his eyes at her before escorting his wife out the door and onto the curb. He quickly hailed a taxi and helped his wife into it before climbing in himself. During the entire ride home, Mort held his wife around the shoulders and whispered assurances and words of love into her ear, knowing that it would help calm her down a bit.
When they finally arrived at home, Mort took a moment to passionately kiss Amber outside their door, feeling her melt in his arms and glad that he was there to hold her close when she needed it. He felt her sigh in bliss, and smiled against her lips. Oh, yes, he knew how to cheer her up.
It was hard for Mort to end a loving kiss with his wife, but he knew that if they didn't get inside soon, Elizabeth would have a fit the size of Montana. Sighing, Mort pulled back and saw that Amber's eyes were still closed. The red was gone from around her eyes, but he could still see the tear-streaks running down her cheeks. He leaned forward and gently kissed them away as Amber sighed and leaned close against him.
Finally, Mort pulled back and smiled down at her, only to find her smiling back up at him. He gave her another quick kiss on the lips before putting the key in the lock. He'd barely opened the door when they were almost bowled over by a small bundle of energy. When Mort looked down, he saw his little girl looking up at him, her brown eyes sparkling. He smiled before bending down to pick her up in his arms.
"Hey, sweetie, did you miss us?" he asked, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Did you have fun with Becca?"
Elizabeth nodded. "She was trying to teach me how to do kung fu, but I don't think I did it right," she said, looking worried. "I kicked her in the leg, and now she can't walk."
Amber's jaw dropped before she raced inside to check on their babysitter and friend. She returned a moment later with a slight smile on her lips and a very red-faced Becca. "She's fine, honey, you just bruised her," she assured her daughter.
"She's got a mean right kick, she does," Becca said in fake Irish accent, giving Elizabeth a wink while the little girl laughed. "Seriously, though, she's a natural. You should sign her up for lessons." The blue-haired woman gently tapped Elizabeth under the chin before heading out the door. "See you later!" she called back.
Amber shook her head as she took their daughter into her arms. "Next time Becca teaches you how to fight, make sure you're both well-protected," she gently chided a blushing Elizabeth.
"Okay, Mommy," Elizabeth said, kissing her mother on the cheek. "Can I go play with my toys now?"
Amber laughed. "Sure, sweetheart," she said, putting the squirming little girl down on the ground.
As the little ball of energy raced to her room, Mort closed the front door and locked it as he placed a kiss on his wife's cheek. "I'll go order dinner," he whispered, going into the kitchen.
"Yes, please," she replied, chuckling. "Kung fu…honestly, who would have thought?"
Mort burst out laughing.
AN: Review!
