"…the prosecution will raised a number of questions, ladies and gentlemen, but for now, I ask you this: why? Why on earth would that man there all of a sudden go and commit four cold-blooded murders, when he has spent his life upholding the system? I am here to prove to you that he has done no such thing, and sincerely hope that you will be able to see this for what it is."
There was no denying that Kelly Monahan was good. Jamie had met her once before, and had been reasonably impressed. This, of course, had been before she had known that the other attorney had once been one of Jack's assistants. And now she was defending him. Jamie wondered as she listened to opening arguments if she should have taken herself off of this trial, and decided that if and when things got to a point where she really did have to, she would. There were familiar faces in the crowd, and ones she knew by name and reputation, all of them there in support of one Jack McCoy. It wasn't surprising.
There was, however, one face that Jamie did not recognize, or rather, couldn't place off the top of her head. And sitting in the back of the courtroom, where no one would notice her, Anna sat, and stared at her hands.
"That should be you," Trevor told her, and she shook her head.
"It should be whoever he wants to defend him," she said. "I'm just glad they haven't drawn one of the other judges."
"Do you think drawing Judge Ross will make a difference?" Trevor asked.
Anna shook her head again. "Not in that sense," she said. "But you know as well as I do that we've all made at least one enemy on the bench."
"I wouldn't exactly call Judge Ross an enemy; she's been on both sides of the aisle."
"My point exactly." Anna twisted the bracelet she had on around her wrist and sighed. "I can't do this."
"You can't do what? Argue with me, or watch this trial?"
"Both." She'd been staring at the back of Jack's head for the past little while, almost wishing that he'd turn around and notice her, but he hadn't.
"You stare any harder, you'll burn a hole in the back of his head," said Trevor. "You really couldn't make it any more obvious that you wish he'd turn around and see you."
"He's giving me a taste of my own medicine now," she said, miserably, and then, "I can't do this."
"Then go," said Trevor, but Anna shook her head, yet again.
"Monahan makes me nervous," she admitted, without looking her friend in the eye. "I want to know what her game is."
"Don't tell me you're going to ask the police to look into this," said Trevor, but Anna cut him off before he could go on.
"I know how to play the game well enough," she said. "I could look into it myself if I wanted to, but I…I don't know if I want to."
"You don't want to know if she's in this to hurt him. To railroad him so badly that it'll be a piece of cake for the prosecution to nail one of their own."
"I don't even want to think about it, Trevor. It's bad enough that I'm sitting here watching this happen and knowing that I can't do a damn thing about it…" Anna ran a frustrated hand through her hair, and sighed. "I hate feeling helpless."
Helpless. That was definitely one word that Trevor would never have associated with Anna, and now, he gave her a sideways look.
"What makes you feel helpless?" he asked, slowly. She gave a rueful smile and stared down at her hands again.
"Not being the one up there," she said. "Having to sit here worrying that he's gonna get railroaded because of this…person who's defending him now, and…just…everything. Right now, just everything."
"You know, Kaye probably would have told you to tell Kelly to shove it where the sun doesn't shine."
"I know she would have. But I'm not her, Trevor, I don't have the nerve she did, and I probably never will. Besides that…"
"Don't tell me you're afraid of Kelly Monahan."
"Hell no. I'm not afraid of her. Not in that way, anyway, but something about her…I met her after Claire died. And she just…I didn't get that great of an impression from her."
"Most people don't get that great of an impression from defense attorneys upon first glance. Did you get to know her?"
"Yeah, I got to know her. And then, a little while after I do, I talk Jack out of his office, 'cause he'd been there all damn weekend, and we end up in some coffee shop and he tells me he'd been married to her."
"To Kelly?"
"Yeah, to Kelly. I gotta tell you, it didn't really surprise me. She's about nine years older than I am, not that it has anything to do with anything, but still…"
"Jealous much?"
"I'd hit you if we weren't in a courtroom."
"I know you would." Trevor trailed off for a moment, and the low buzz that had been filling the courtroom seemed to overtake them both before he went on. "Anna, really, don't worry about it. If Monahan really is up to something, it'll come out before this is over."
When court was declared to be in recess, Anna finally got up to leave. For some reason, she hadn't had the heart to watch the proceedings, but she hadn't had the heart to leave, either. Trevor had already gone, having gotten a call. He'd apologized and promised to meet up with her later; she'd waved him off, not really caring. Now, she pulled her coat on and moved to leave the courtroom. A hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"It's good to see you here," said Connie, when Anna turned, "I wasn't sure you'd come."
"I almost didn't," Anna admitted, looking away from her, "I…ah…wasn't sure I'd be able to handle it. Guess I was wrong."
"We've got until the afternoon before we come back," said Connie, "You want to grab a coffee or something?"
Suddenly coffee sounded great. Anna realized vaguely that she hadn't eaten since the night before, and nodded. "That sounds wonderful right about now," she said. "Any place in particular?"
"There's a place nearby, in case we get called back unexpectedly," Connie replied. They left the courtroom. She gave the older woman a sideways glance and went on. "Are you all right?"
Anna shrugged. "I'm not sure," she said. "I just…I don't like being pushed aside, and especially not this time."
"Because it's Jack, or because it's Kelly Monahan doing the pushing?" Connie asked. Anna looked at her for a moment as they walked, and laughed.
"Both," she said. "I met her right after Claire Kincaid died, and she just…rubbed me the wrong way."
"Something I never really expected a defense attorney to say of another one," said Connie, shaking her head. "I gotta tell you, I don't think I like her much, either."
"Look at us, we're awful," said Anna, ruefully, "We probably shouldn't gossip about her, heaven only knows she probably has enough pressure from this case."
"Some people thrive under pressure; I think she's one of those," said Connie. Anna sighed.
"Well, I guess you could say that I'm not. I just…I don't get it. We've been going around in circles for so damn long, I just want to figure things out, but he doesn't want to talk to me."
"You did avoid him for quite a while before all of this got started, you know. I won't tell you that isn't why, because I don't know, but it could have something to do with it."
"I wouldn't be surprised. Jack and I have been friends for years, but there are still times when we're at each other's throats. That's when I'd expect him not to talk to me…not during this."
There was silence as they left the courthouse and headed down the sidewalk, moving with the flow of foot traffic.
"I see where you're coming from," Connie said finally. "He hasn't said much of anything to me, either."
"You're prosecuting him."
"Holloway's prosecuting him; I'm just trying to keep the idiot from railroading him. I still don't know what Branch was thinking."
"He wanted someone who wouldn't screw it up, in case Jack really is guilty."
"Do you think he is?"
Silence. After what seemed like forever, Anna shook her head. "No," she said. "No, I don't. I've known him long enough to know that he…has his moments, but he's never been violent."
"I didn't think so," said Connie. They'd reached the place she'd spoken of. Now she pulled the door open and went on. "Shall we?"
"The prosecution has nothing."
"They have everything, and you know it."
They were sitting in a prison interview room. Jack had refused to sit, but Kelly had, and now, he paced, and shook his head at her. "They could nail me on this."
"Now you worry," said Kelly, dryly. "I'm telling you, that ADA they've got sitting first chair, sooner or later he's going to screw up this case, and then you'll be let go."
"Which gives them an opportunity to try the case again if the judge decides to allow it," Jack pointed out. "Between now, and then, if it comes, more evidence could have been found."
"You're shooting yourself in the foot, thinking like this," Kelly told him. "What are you so nervous about?"
"I'm not nervous about anything," Jack said sarcastically, "Only about losing everything I have, and the one job that's ever mattered."
"You're not going to lose anything. Not if I have anything to do with it. I still don't know what you were thinking, letting Flynn handle this in the first place."
"She's a perfectly capable attorney, and you know it."
"You're the one who said it was a conflict of interest, because you supposedly have feelings for her, though I can't for the life of me see why."
"I didn't ask for your sarcasm, Kelly. You're here for one reason, and one reason only. I wouldn't have even changed counsel if it hadn't been for our daughter, and you know it."
"Whatever. But either way, you're going to have to get over this feeling like you're going to get convicted, because if you keep going that way, you're going to get convicted."
"Wasn't it you who just told me that the prosecution has nothing?"
"That isn't exactly what I meant, and you know it. They have nothing as long as I can keep whatever they have to say out of the trial."
"You won't get away with much of that in Judge Ross' courtroom. She's worked both sides of the aisle, she knows every trick in the book."
"Yes, well, so do you and I. You're perfectly capable of serving as your own defense." Kelly trailed off, and went on. "I think you should."
"Are you telling me I should drop you as legal counsel?" Jack asked, looking at her with raised eyebrows. She rolled her eyes.
"No, I'm not telling you that you should drop me, and don't smirk at me, either, I know what you're thinking. It isn't because I'm looking for something. I'm just saying that it might help if you take a hand in this."
"What makes you think that?"
"Could go to show that you actually are innocent."
"Or it could go to show that I'm an arrogant jerk of a prosecutor who's acting like the system's a pain in the ass because I have to deal with this."
"True."
There was silence between them for a long moment, and Jack sighed. "If you want me to help, Kelly, then fine. I'll try, but I can't promise you anything."
"Since when could you ever promise me anything?" Kelly asked, dryly, and then, "Don't worry about it, all right? You saw how many people were in there. Most of them think you're innocent."
"They're all cops and fellow prosecutors," Jack pointed out, but Kelly shook her head.
"I saw Trevor Langan and Danielle Melnick both there, and Flynn," she said. "Not all cops and prosecutors."
"Ok, then, I'll put it this way: a good part of the city's legal community," Jack said mildly, and then, "What do you think?"
"I think you are what you are, and nothing more," said Kelly, "But then again, I think that about almost everyone. Now are you gonna sit and cooperate with me or not?"