Chapter 39

Elizabeth entered the courtroom through the side entrance and walked nervously towards the witness box. It was only until she was sworn in and could take her seat that she was able to look over to the defence table. The person staring back at her made her heart stop. She had never seen Jason in a suit before. It wasn't right. He looked great. The suit fit him like a glove, but it wasn't right. Jason was a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy, not Armani suits. Elizabeth could just imagine how uncomfortable he was. She wished she could walk up to him and undo the silk tie around his neck and unbutton his shirt. She wished they could be anywhere but here, in this courtroom.

Dara stood and approached her. "Miss Webber, can you tell this court what happened in the park the day you were shot?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath and risked another glance at the man on trial. "I was walking through the park and I came upon Lucky and Jason."

"Lucky Spencer, the deceased and Jason Morgan the defendant?" Dara questioned wanting to make sure the jury knew just who Elizabeth was referring to.

Elizabeth nodded and gave the jury a nervous look. "Uh, yes. Lucky was pointing a gun at Jason. He was crazy. He blamed Jason for our problems and was going to kill him. I tried to get him to put the gun down, but he wouldn't listen to me."

"Was that when he shot you?" Dara interjected.

"No, no, Lucky shot at Jason and I jumped in front of him."

Dara looked over to the jury before asking, "Why would you do that?"

Elizabeth glanced at Jason. "I couldn't let Lucky hurt Jason."

Dara followed Elizabeth's gaze to the defence table. "Was Lucky right, then? Was Mr. Morgan the cause of your problems?"

Elizabeth shook her head vigorously. "No, Jason wasn't the cause of our problems. We were having problems before Jason even came back to town."

"Just what kind of problems were you having?"

"After Lucky came back from his kidnapping, he became controlling. He wanted us to do everything together. He pushed me to become the next Face of Deception model so that we would be working together. He got me to move out of my studio so we could be closer. He would get upset when I spoke to male friends. He thought I was having an affair with every man I saw."

"If you weren't happy, why didn't you break up with him?"

Elizabeth looked to the jury hoping they would understand how she had felt. "When I thought Lucky was dead, I thought my life was over. I had loved him so much. When he returned, it was a miracle. The idea of leaving Lucky never entered my mind. I just kept thinking he would go back to the man I once knew."

"But he didn't," Dara stated matter-of-factly.

"No, he didn't."

"Was Lucky jealous of Jason Morgan?" Dara asked pointing to the defendant.

"I told you. Lucky didn't like me talking to any man."

"But Jason Morgan isn't just any man, is he? You have a history."

"We're friends," Elizabeth insisted.

"Friends? Nothing more. Are you sure?"

"Yes," Elizabeth said confidently even though she knew where the DA was going.

Dara waved her hand back and forth between Elizabeth and Jason. "Two years ago, you weren't romantically involved with each other?"

"No, we weren't."

Dara dropped her hand to her side a little dumbfounded by Elizabeth's answer. She walked back to her desk to pick up a folder lying there. She scanned the information written there to be sure the facts before asking, "You and Mr. Morgan didn't live together during December 1999?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Yes, we did, but nothing was going on between us."

Dara looked up from her folder. "Didn't Nikolas Cassidine announce at the GH Christmas party that the two of you were sleeping together?"

"Yes, he did, but he was wrong."

"Did either of you deny his claim?"

"No."

"Why not if it wasn't true?"

"It wasn't anyone else's business. It was between Jason and me, no one else."

"Where did Mr. Cassidine get this idea from in the first place if it wasn't true?"

Elizabeth paused and shifted in her chair. "I told him Jason and I were sleeping together."

Dara crossed her arms in front of her, a confused look on her face. "Miss Webber, which is it? Were you romantically involved with Jason Morgan or not?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath to keep her nerves under control. "Nikolas had barged into my studio one night when Jason was there and started making accusations about Jason taking advantage of me. He picked a fight with Jason and insulted me. I was so angry at him that I told him what he wanted to hear. I told him that Jason and I were about to have sex when he burst in and that Jason was my boyfriend before I pushed him out of my studio."

"So, you lied to your friend about the defendant?"

"Yes."

"Do you make a habit of lying about your relationship with Mr. Morgan?"

"Objection," Alexis was on her feet before Dara could finish her question.

"Overruled," the judge wanted to hear the answer to that question.

"No, I don't," Elizabeth insisted.

"If you were able to lie about the defendant before, how do we know you're not lying about your relationship now?"

"I'm not," Elizabeth replied weakly.

"You didn't spend the night with Mr. Morgan the night Joseph Sorel was murdered?"

"What! No, I didn't."

"Really?" Dara asked raising her eyebrows. "You didn't go to the PCPD and provide the defendant with an alibi claiming he was with you the entire night?"

"Yes, I did, but..."

Dara wouldn't let her finish, "Were you lying?"

Elizabeth was getting flustered. She hadn't expected the DA to bring up Joseph Sorel. "I wasn't lying. Jason was with me that night. We just didn't spend the night together the way you meant. We didn't have sex."

Dara could see she was getting to the witness. "What were you doing all night then?"

Elizabeth ran her hand through her hair. "We went for a ride on his bike."

"All night long?" The DA knew there had to be more to it than that. "You expect this court to believe you and Mr. Morgan spent the entire night riding his motorcycle? Nothing more?"

"Yes."

"Come now, Miss Webber," Dara pushed. "You must have stopped at some point that night."

Elizabeth looked over to the defence table not sure what to say. Jason gave a little nod telling her it was okay to be honest. "We talked."

"Oh, about what?"

"Lucky," she admitted. "He and I had had an argument the day before."

Dara could see she was on to something. "What did you argue about?"

Elizabeth looked over to Jason again. "Jason. I already told you Lucky didn't like my friendship with him."

"So, you have an argument with Mr. Spencer about the defendant and then you spend the next night with him. Maybe Mr. Spencer was right to worry."

"No, it wasn't like that," the witness insisted. "I went with Jason that night to tell him we couldn't be friends anymore. I was doing what Lucky wanted me to do."

"You ended your friendship with Mr. Morgan that night?" Dara asked. "Was he angry about your decision?"

"He didn't like it," Elizabeth confided. "But he respected it."

"And it took you all night to end this friendship?"

Elizabeth hated the way the DA said the word 'friendship' like it was something she should be ashamed of. "Yes, I already said we spent most of the night riding his bike."

"Did Mr. Spencer know where you were that night?"

"No, he didn't," Elizabeth admitted.

"Where did he think you were?" Dara asked.

"At my studio working on a project for school."

"So, you lied about seeing the defendant even though you were doing what Mr. Spencer wanted?"

"Yes," Elizabeth said nodding her head.

Dara smiled and gave a little chuckle. "Miss Webber, you are making it very hard for me and the jury to believe you when you've now admitted for the second time to lying about your relationship with Jason Morgan. Is anything you've said today the truth?"

"Objection, your honour." Alexis said rising to her feet. "The DA is badgering her own witness."

"Sustained."

Dara took a few moments to gather herself before continuing. "Miss Webber, when you found the two men in the park, did the defendant say anything?"

Elizabeth didn't know how much more she could take. When she'd been first subpoenaed, she had wanted to refuse taking the stand. Alexis convinced her it was not in Jason's best interest for her to do that. It looked like she was trying to hide something, Alexis told her. Elizabeth hadn't wanted to be the reason Jason was found guilty so she agreed to take the stand figuring she could handle the DA's questions. Now she wondered if that had been the wrong decision. She was hurting Jason's case more than she was helping it.

"Jason wanted me to leave. He didn't want me to get hurt."

"What was his demeanour?"

"Uh, he was calm," she said looking over to Jason once again. "He refused to argue with Lucky. He wasn't worried about himself. He wanted me to leave before anything happened. He told me he had the situation under control."

The DA looked to Jason as well. "Lucky Spencer was pointing a gun at him and Mr. Morgan said he had everything under control?"

Elizabeth nodded not sure what Dara was getting at. "Yes."

"What did you think he meant by that?"

"Objection, speculation."

"Overruled."

"I don't know what he meant by that. I didn't think about it. I was just trying to talk Lucky into giving me the gun."

"But he didn't?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "No, he didn't."

"What was the last thing you remember?"

Elizabeth tried to think. "Jason leaning over me telling me to stay awake. That's all I remember."

"Where was Lucky?"

"I don't know."

"Did Lucky fire a second time?"

"I don't know."

"Did Mr. Morgan go after Lucky?"

"I don't know. I told you I don't remember."

Alexis stood. "You honour," she looked to the judge for some intervention.

The judge nodded in agreement. "Councillor, the witness can't answer your questions when she was unconscious. Move on to something else."

"Yes, your honour," Dara said. She turned her concentration back to the witness. "Miss Webber, when you woke up were you surprised to learn Mr. Spencer was dead?"

Elizabeth tried to stretch out her body without getting up. She didn't know how long she'd been in the witness stand but it felt like hours. "I was sad that Lucky was dead."

Dara shook her head. "That's not what I asked you. Were you surprised?"

"No," she admitted.

"You thought Mr. Morgan had killed your boyfriend in self defence, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did."

"But he didn't," the DA said. "Mr. Morgan killed Lucky Spencer in cold blood hours after he shot you. Mr. Morgan hunted the deceased down as punishment for what he did to you."

"No," Elizabeth yelled just as Alexis jumped up in objection.

"Councillor, may I remind you, you are questioning a witness not making your closing arguments. The jury is ordered to disregard the last statements."

"Yes, your honour," Dara said innocently as if she didn't know what she had just done. "Elizabeth, have you ever seen the defendant become violent because of you?"

Elizabeth was still thinking about the DA's former comments. "Jason didn't kill Lucky. He wou..."

Dara interrupted her before she could say anything else. "Miss Webber, that's not what I asked you. Have you ever seen Jason Morgan become violent because of you?"

Elizabeth wanted to argue but knew it wouldn't get her anywhere. "He got into a fight with Nikolas at the GH Christmas party, but he didn't start it. Nikolas started that fight."

Dara nodded. "This is the same Christmas party where Mr. Cassidine declared you and Mr. Morgan were lovers?"

"Yes, Jason was just defending himself."

"Was there any other times?" Dara asked.

Elizabeth took a few moments to think about the question. She remembered the incident with Sorel but didn't want the jury to know about it. "We first met when a man in a bar I was in wouldn't leave me alone. He grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. Jason came and got him off of me."

"How romantic," the DA said.

"Your honour."

Before the judge could say anything Dara had apologized. She looked back to the witness sure there was more. "Anything else?"

Elizabeth hesitated. Did the DA already know about the other altercation? Is that why she was pushing? "No, those were the only times."

"Really?" Dara asked. She grabbed another folder from her table. "The defendant didn't attack Joseph Sorel in January 2000 after he approached you on the docks?"

Elizabeth tried to keep her face void of emotion. How did she know about that? "Sorel had threatened me and Jason was just trying to protect me."

Dara put down her folder. "He seems to do that a lot."

"Jason is my friend," Elizabeth said. "He protects his friends."

"Would he kill for them?"

"Objection."

"Withdrawn," Dara said before the judge could say anything. "I'm done with this witness."

Alexis waited until the DA had retaken her seat before rising and approaching Elizabeth. "Elizabeth, were you having an affair with Jason?"

"No, I wasn't," she stated firmly. "Jason just listened to me when I needed someone to talk to about Lucky. It was what he did when I thought Lucky was dead. I was so unhappy and Jason saw that. He could see I wasn't being true to myself."

"What do you mean?"

"I was pretending to be happy when I wasn't. When Jason came back, he could see right through me. He knew I was faking being happy. He wanted me to tell Lucky what I was feeling. He wanted me to stand up for myself."

"Did you?"

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes, it took me a while, but in the end I realized I couldn't do it anymore. I was going to end things with Lucky but before I could he went after Jason."

"Were you breaking up with Lucky because of Jason?"

"No,..., yes. I wasn't leaving Lucky for Jason, but I wouldn't have left him without Jason." Elizabeth knew she didn't say that correctly. "What I mean is, it would have taken me a lot longer to realize that I wasn't happy. Lucky and I would probably have gotten married before I gathered the courage to stand up for myself."

Alexis nodded her understanding hoping the jury also saw the internal struggle that Elizabeth had been going through. "You stated that you thought Jason didn't kill Lucky. Why are you so sure?"

Elizabeth looked over at Jason and smiled. "I know Jason. He wouldn't do that. Not to me."

Alexis stopped her. "What do you mean?"

"Ever since Jason returned, he's had to listen to me talk about Lucky. He knew how hard everything was for me. He was also there when I was mourning Lucky when I thought he was dead. I almost didn't survive. There is no way Jason would put me in that place again. Even though we were having problems, I still loved Lucky. He was my first love. I wanted him to get help.

"I admit Jason probably would have beaten Lucky senseless for hurting me, but he would never have killed him. Not only was Lucky important to me, he was Jason's sister, Emily's best friend. Jason wouldn't have been able to face his sister if he had killed Lucky. It's that simple. That's not who Jason is," she stated confidently.

"Thank you, Elizabeth," Alexis said. She didn't know if it was enough to convince the jury, but it was exactly what she was hoping for. Elizabeth was able to give the jury another side of Jason the DA did not want them to see. The human side, the family side. Jason wasn't just some killing machine. He was a friend and brother.

After looking towards the DA for any redirect questions, the judge addressed Elizabeth. "The witness is excused. You may step down."