Burrows went into his chambers and the bailiff left to take Wallace to her cell. Burrows pulled up a chair and took Maggie's hand in his. She wasn't crying, but she had withdrawn during the argument and she didn't say anything. "Maggie, look at me." She did. "Don't you believe a word they said. It is not your fault in any way that Ms. Wallace hurt your father. You did nothing wrong."

She didn't answer. He looked over his shoulder when the door opened and Carver came in, followed by a furious Goren. Maggie didn't look up until a hand gently touched her chin and guided her face upward. She looked up into her father's face. "Daddy!"

She jumped up into his arms and he wrapped his arms around her. "This is exactly what I didn't want," he growled at Carver. "This is over. I'm not letting her back on the stand."

Carver sighed. "Detective, Shaeffer will make a motion to strike her entire testimony if he does not get the opportunity to cross-examine."

"That's not my problem."

"It will be if Wallace gets acquitted."

"You said you could get her on most of those charges."

"You know how unpredictable a jury can be."

"Gentlemen," Burrows interrupted. "Please. Unfortunately, Mr. Carver is right, detective. Maggie has to finish her testimony. The very last thing I want to do is tell the jury to disregard everything she said after she did so well."

Goren's jaw knotted. "I'll leave it to Maggie," he finally conceded. "If she doesn't want to go back on the stand, I'm taking her home."

Burrows nodded. "May I talk to her?"

With a heavy sigh, Goren agreed. He pushed the chair back, away from Burrows, and sat down with Maggie in his lap. She snuggled into his chest, and Burrows let her be for a little while. He looked at Carver. "It took you long enough to object in there, Ron. I was ready to do it myself."

"I wanted to see where he was going with it. But when he started suggesting that Wallace's actions were due to hers..." He shook his head. "He crossed the line."

Goren studied the judge. "You would have objected, your honor?"

"Yes. And he is two words away from being charged with contempt. I will not have him abuse any witness in my courtroom, and he was taking advantage of the fact that she is a child. Of course, the fact that she's smarter than he is really amuses me."

That made Goren laugh. He felt some of his anger fade, but not all of it. Carver also smiled. "It would appear Maggie is developing your ability to talk circles around people, detective."

"There are worse traits she could have," Goren replied.

When her father laughed, Maggie relaxed. She never liked it when he was mad, and she thought it was somehow her fault that he was. She fingered the buttons on his jacket. "I'm sorry I made you mad, Daddy."

He tipped his head down to look at her. "What?"

"I made you mad..."

"No, no...you didn't make me mad, mouse. Not at all." He kissed her forehead. "I was mad at Mr. Carver for making you cry and at Mr. Shaeffer and that lady for lying to you and upsetting you. You didn't do anything wrong."

"But she just said she hurt you because I got outta the car!"

Goren sighed, frustrated. He ran a hand over his hair, and she recognized the gesture. He tightened his arms around her. "Listen to me, Maggie. Listen carefully. Whether you got out of the car or not, she would have still hurt Mommy and me. And then she would have hurt you and the baby. If you hadn't gotten out of the car and hid like you did, then Uncle Mike would have been badly hurt, too, when he came to get you. You did exactly the right thing, exactly what I would have wanted you to do. You thought about what to do, you made the right choice, and you took care of your brother. I am not mad at you for anything. I'm very proud of you. You're just like your mother. You can take care of yourself...and that's a very good thing."

She studied him. "I'm like Mommy?"

He nodded. "In a lot of ways."

"And I'm like you, too?"

Again he nodded. "Yes, you are."

She looked thoughtful and then she smiled. "I like that."

He smiled, too. "So do I."

Burrows was impressed by Goren's gentle way with his little daughter, and there was no doubting the close bond that existed between the two. Maggie was extremely close to her father and he was pleased to see that. "Detective?"

Goren looked at him, hesitating for a few moments before he finally nodded and leaned down to Maggie. "The judge wants to talk to you, mouse. You can be honest with him. Just tell him how you feel."

She nodded and shifted on his lap to face the judge. She liked Your Honor. He was nice to her, and he was nice to Daddy. Now he smiled at her and that further set her at ease. "Maggie," he said gently. "You did a very good job in there. I wish all my witnesses did as well as you. Didn't she do well, Daddy?"

"Yes, sir. She did."

Maggie smiled and leaned back into his chest, facing the judge. Goren's arm curved around her stomach and she felt safe. Burrows went on. "The things you said were very important for the jury to hear, but in order for them to use what you said to make their decision about Ms. Wallace, we have to let Mr. Shaeffer finish his questions."

She wrinkled her nose. "I don' like him. He's rude."

The three men laughed and Goren kissed the top of her head. Burrows leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. "I understand that. Sometimes people are like that in my courtroom. But Mr. Carver has the same right to interrupt him if he doesn't like what he says. And I will make sure he knows that I will not let him be mean to you."

She tipped her head back to look up at her father. "Daddy?"

"It's up to you, Maggie. Whatever you want to do. If you want to go home, we'll go home."

She looked thoughtful, and again Carver was struck by her resemblance to her father. "I wanna help Your Honor," she said firmly.

Both Carver and Burrows could see that Goren wasn't pleased by her decision, but he nodded. "All right, baby. If you're sure that's what you want to do."

She looked back at Burrows. "Yes. I'll let the rude man finish his questions."

Burrows smiled and touched her cheek. "Thank you, Maggie." He looked at Carver. "Feel free to object if you even get the impression he's thinking about stepping out of line, Ron."

"Yes, your honor."

He nodded at Goren. "Thank you, detective. You can take Maggie to the gallery and let her see her mother. I need to talk to Shaeffer before we resume. Ron, if you would be so kind as to get him and come back in here."

"Of course, sir."

"Thank you. I'll see you in a few minutes, Maggie."

"Okay, Your Honor."

Goren stood up and she settled her head down on his shoulder. They left the judge's chambers and Goren looked at Carver. "I'm still not happy with you."

"I already apologized, detective. I never meant to upset Maggie."

"You just make sure Shaeffer doesn't."

"I will do my best, and so will the judge."

Goren just looked at him and walked away. Carver sighed. He had always been struck by the detective's protective streak, but that was nothing compared to this. It was one reason he had been reticent to set up the meeting with Wallace that Goren had requested. Carver was fully aware that it had only been because of Eames that he had not lost his cool. He pitied any person that came between that raging bear, unrestrained, and his little girl.

As soon as Goren left with Carver, Logan turned his attention toward the front of the courtroom. The bailiff returned to take Wallace to her cell and Logan made his way to the bar. He stood there, legs slightly apart, arms crossed, watching Shaeffer as he shuffled nervously through his notes and other papers.

Shaeffer felt the hair rise on the back of his neck and he turned to look. The color drained from his face when he saw Logan standing there. "Tell me something, Shaeffer...did you not understand my friendly warning, or are you just that stupid? You've gotten her father really pissed, and if I hadn't held him back, he very well might have come up here and pounded you."

Shaeffer snorted. "In front of the kid? Not likely."

"I dunno. He gets mad enough, and he won't think about that. He's been pissed at me before, so I know what I'm talking about. He hits pretty damn hard. If I were you, I'd be intimidated by his size. He's a helluva tough guy. So, if I were you, I'd be careful what I say. Don't upset that little girl again...unless you really do want to leave this building by ambulance."

He turned and headed back to the family. Goren and Maggie arrived shortly after. Goren sat down, clearly not happy. "What happened?" Eames asked as Maggie gave her a hug, then climbed onto Logan's lap.

"She's going to finish her testimony."

Logan figured Carver and the judge would talk him into it, but Eames seemed surprised. "What's up?" she asked.

He sighed, and she knew he was frustrated. "She wants to finish."

"You're letting a four-year-old decide?"

He frowned at her. "What the hell do you think I am? They convinced me they will take care of her. I said okay, but only if she was willing to do it."

"Sorry," she said, sliding her hand into his. She wasn't any happier about what had happened than he was.

He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. "Where'd your dad go with Tommy?"

"Things were so tense in here, he thought it would be a good idea to take Tom for a cookie and a walk."

He smiled. "Good idea."

A murmur went through the gallery as Wallace was returned to the defense table. A few minutes later, her lawyer joined her, his face dark and angry, and Carver went to his place. Then the court was called to order and Burrows returned to his bench.