Chapter 13

A/N: I'm not a law student, a lawyer, or someone particularly interested in criminal justice. I have made the trial scene as accurate as possible. Happy reading!

"The defense calls Mrs. Clarissa Andrews to the stand," said Raye, her stature poised and confident. Things had been going better than she ever imagined. The prosecution was finding it difficult to convince the jury of guilt, mainly due to circumstantial evidence and lack of a believable motive. The brunette lawyer watched quietly as Clarissa took the stand, placed her hand on the leather bound Bible and swore to say nothing but the truth.

Raye watched carefully until the young mother took her seat. "Please state your name for the court," she said.

"Clarissa Isabella Douglass-Andrews."

"Clarissa, it seems that everyone calls you Claire. May I call you Claire?"

"You may."

"Claire, in what capacity have you known Darien Chiba?"

"I've known Darien for about eight months in a professional and personal capacity."

"Did you spend a lot of time with Dr. Chiba?"

"A considerable amount. I worked the in the Pharmacy in Internal Medicine where Dr. Chiba practiced. We had the same shifts so we often saw each other and had lunch together at least two to three times a week."

"Do you feel that you know Darien well?"

"I do."

"And during your time spent together, did Darien openly talk about his relationship with Lillian Mardot."

"Yes."

"What did he say about her?"

"Mostly about her surprise visit to Tokyo and subsequent announcement of her pregnancy. At first he was worried about her disrupting his life. That continued for about a couple of weeks. I remember distinctly on a Tuesday, we had gone to The Corner Bakery for lunch. Darien had explicitly talked about getting a picture of his mother and father framed so that he could place it in the baby's room. That he wanted his child to know about the grandparents that it would never meet. He had said that Lily's pregnancy wasn't an ideal situation, but in a sense, having the child made him feel complete. He said he hadn't been a part of anyone's family since he was a child."

"And what did he mean by that, Claire?"

"His mother and father died when he was young in a car crash. He vaguely told me about how he was sort of passed around until he was old enough to take care of himself."

"I see. Thank you, Claire. I would like to discuss with you what happened the night of the twenty second."

"Yes, ma'am."

"What time did you receive the call from Darien asking that a certain prescription be filled?"

"Around 10:30 pm."

"And what was the prescription for?"

"Setraline hydrochloride."

"Which is?"

"An anti depressant more commonly known as Xoloft. It's the mildest anti-depressant available by prescription. He ordered a thirty day supply."

"And what is the normal protocol for filling prescriptions."

"When another physician calls in an order for a patient, the physician who is treating the patient must approve the order before it can be filled."

"And who was treating Lily at the time?"

"Dr. Forrester."

"Full name?"

"Dr. Manheim Forrester."

"And in what capacity do you know Dr. Forrester?"

"Objection, your honor!" cried Alexandra Livingston, the lead attorney for the prosecution.

"On what grounds?" asked the judge.

"This information is irrelevant to the pending case," said the red-head.

"We have called Dr. Forrester to be available to testify, Mrs. Livingston, it is quite relevant to the case," said Raye.

"Overruled, Ms. Hino please continue."

"Thank you. Claire, please continue with your answer."

"Yes, well Dr. Forrester was always cordial to me. But I never spent much time with him. He was usually quiet and generally kept to himself."

"I see. What happened after you took Darien's call?"

"I submitted the order to Dr. Forrester for approval."

"And did Dr. Forrester approve?"

"Yes, but he filled the prescription himself."

Raye's eyes narrowed. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know. He told me I could go and get home to my daughter. I have an eight month old and I had worked a twelve hour shift that day. I thought he was being nice."

"Does Dr. Forrester usually fill his own prescriptions?"

"No. This was the first time."

"Did you check the contents of the bottle before you passed it on to Dr. Chiba?"

"No. Dr. Forrester has been practicing medicine for close to twenty years. I didn't deem it necessary."

"So for some unknown reason, Dr. Forrester decided to take it upon himself to fill an order that he himself didn't even subscribe to the patient? This being an unprecedented event in the, how many years have your worked with him?"

"Seven years."

"In the seven years that the two of you have been colleagues. Very interesting," said Raye, her eyes falling on the jury. "No more questions. The defense calls Dr. Forrester for cross examination," said Raye, her eyes falling to Darien, a small smirk on her face. This case was in the bag. She was sure of it.

Darien watched through narrowed eyes as Forrester took his seat after being sworn in on the witness stand. He shook his head; Forrester was clearly nervous.

"Please state your name for jury."

"Manheim Victor Forrester."

"May I call you Manheim?" asked Raye. The witness nodded. "Mrs. Andrews had some interesting things to say about you Manheim. Are any of those allegations true? Did you fill the prescription yourself?"

"Yes I did," he said, his voice wavering.

"And for what purpose?"

"It was late and I knew Claire needed to get home."

"Documentation from Claire's timesheets stated that's she worked later than 10:30pm, while her child was younger, while you were Lead Attending that night and you never filled any orders for her then. Why that night?"

"I don't know. I was trying to be nice."

"Nice…of course you were. Were you also aware that the security cameras went down between the hours of eleven and one a.m. that night? Security called it a common glitch in the system. A glitch that hasn't occurred since October 31, 1999 when a group of students hacked the system in an attempt to steal Hydrocodone, the common name Vicodin, from the pharmacy. More than ten years ago this happened, and more recently on the night of your impromptu decision to fill Darien's prescription. Correct?"

"I suppose so."

"The defense would like to present Exhibit D," said Raye, grabbing a plastic envelope encasing a detailed document. "Mr. Forrester's phone records from that night. Mrs. Andrews previously stated receiving the call for Dr. Chiba's order at around 10:30, assuming that she went directly to Dr. Forrester's office, she would have arrived at 10:35, after small talk and handing off the prescription to Forrester she would have left the Doctor's office around 10:37. Security cameras in the parking lot have footage of her getting into her car and driving off at exactly 10:44 pm, sixteen minutes before the security system went into failure for two hours. Your phone records indicate that you made a call, your first and only outgoing call that day, at exactly 10:42 pm. A call to a number that was disconnected five days after Lily's death," said Raye, pushing the plastic covered form toward the doctor. "The defense would like to present Exhibit E also, video footage from the parking lot." She handed the DVD to the judge. "Mr. Forrester who did you call that night?"

The older man squirmed. "I don't recall. I think it was a wrong number."

"A wrong number?" Raye asked, smiling inwardly. Gotcha Mr. Forrester.

"Yes, it happens."

"Indeed it does. But the phone records indicate that the call lasted four minutes and forty one seconds. A rather long conversation for someone who accidentally dialed a wrong number."

The doctor sputtered. "I was confused and…"

"Confused? For nearly five minutes? The call ended at around 10:47 pm, three minutes after Lily shut down the pharmacy and left for home. The security cameras cut off at exactly 11:07 pm. A couple of days later, Lillian Mardot was found dead by her ex-boyfriend and the father of their deceased child. What a coincidence."

"Merely a coincidence, yes," said the man, his voice raised. "If you're implying that I had anything to do with this-"

"Mr. Forrester what did you say your full name again was?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your full name, for the court?"

"Objection, your honor the defense is badgering the witness," cried Alexandra.

"By asking him to repeat his name?" asked Raye.

"Objection overruled. Get to your point Miss Hino."

"Gladly your honor. The defense would like to present Exhibit F," said Raye, holding onto another plastic bound paper. "This is a photo of a man named Joseph Manheim Romanoff, a fugitive of Russia, guilty for a double homicide consisting of the death of his wife and mistress. This photo of a young Romanoff greatly resembles Dr. Forrester does it not?" She held the picture to the jury until every single person had seen it thoroughly, eyes flicking from the picture and to the man sitting in the box beside them. "Moreover, the defense also submitted Nicolai Pavlov as a possible witness for cross examination. A drug dealer who says he sold Cyanide to Joseph Romanoff eighteen years ago before the death of Nadia Romanoff and Tatiana Chekov. A man who says he sold Cyanide to Mr. Forrester four weeks ago. Pavlov has agreed to testify against Dr. Forrester in exchange for the KGB granting leniency in his sentencing. He was arrested two weeks ago for solicitation, possession, for possession with intent to sell and embezzlement. Meanwhile the defense would like to present fingerprinting analysis provided by the KGB to the Japanese Intelligence Services that confirm Romanoff and Forrester to be one in the same."

Raye turned her head to meet the gaze of Alexandra Livingston who sat in her chair, her mouth agape, her face stunned. "Mr. Forrester…or Romanoff, whomever you are. I'm sure you have no motive for acting alone and the court, upon approval, might be able to negotiate your return to Russia and your sentencing if you release the name of the person you are working for. Who solicited you to kill Lillian Mardot?" asked Raye, her hands resting against the witness stand.

Forrester squirmed in his chair, his brow wet with sweat. Every crime, every bit of his past was coming back to haunt him. Either way, he would die in prison in Russia or he would be hunted down and killed by Seiya Takagawa. His eyes fell to Darien Chiba who stared back at him, his mouth slightly gaping, his knuckles white from gripping the wooden handles of his chair.

One good deed wouldn't justify a lifetime of heinous deeds. But the young doctor had done nothing wrong. For the first time in his life, under the undeniable knowledge that he was facing either death or imprisonment Manheim Forrester, better yet Joseph Romanoff did the first and last good thing he would ever do in his life: he told the truth.

"Seiya Takagawa," he said, "it was Seiya Takagawa."

Not guilty…not guilty…dismissed of all charges. Darien's mind couldn't even wrap around the idea that he was a free man. Not even as Serena peppered him with kisses, not even as Robert and Raye congratulated each other on a job well done, not even as the press shoved microphones and tape recorders in his face or as flashes of white bursts from photographers' cameras nearly blinded him could he believe that after a month, a month in jail, that he was free…

He ducked into the limo, still quiet, his palms clammy and sweaty as Serena climbed in behind him followed by Raye and Robert. The driver quickly shut the door and pushed through the vulture like reporters until they sped away slowly from the mob.

Darien immediately looked up to Raye. "I knew you were a good lawyer Raye, but I didn't know you were that good!" he said.

Raye blushed furiously. "There were so many inconsistencies, it was easy," she said. "And I think it's different when you're fighting for someone you care about."

"I can't believe he folded," said Serena.

"I can't believe I looked him in the face every day and never knew I was working with a murderer," said Darien, rubbing his hands over his face.

"This isn't over. I'm sure the judge is going to have the DA cross examine him for Seiya's motive. He either killed Lily just to get to you-"

"Or she did something to provoke him," said Darien.

Serena frowned, her body going lax against the seat, her heart hammering in her chest as Darien turned to her. "What's wrong?"

"I did something to provoke him, enough to have killed Lily, to have framed you and Forr-Romanoff ratted him out…he's going to come after me. He's going to make me regret it just like he said-"

"He's not going to do anything to you, Serena," Darien said, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Darien's right, the police are putting together a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of murder, he's going to be within custody within the day," said Raye, placing a hand on Serena's knee.

"Seiya has people everywhere! He had someone working with you, in a hospital, of course he's going to have people on the inside, on the intelligence committee, everywhere, he could be out of the country for all we know!" she said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Look at me," Darien said, cupping her chin in his hands and turning her head to face him. "Nothing is going to happen to you. Do you understand me? Because I won't let it. Seiya's going to get what he deserves and until he does Serena, I'll protect you, no matter what the cost."

It had been two weeks of silence and Serena felt as though she were suffocating inside. For the most part, things in her life were getting back to normal. Darien had gotten his job back after being put on an administrative leave without pay during the murder trial. In fact he had been promoted to Lead Attending Physician, the title that Forrester had before his past came back to haunt him. Serena had found the time to get back into designing wedding dresses and ball gowns. It had been a side business during her time at Vogue, but now jobless, she had the opportunity to rediscover why she loved designing fashion so much.

Darien had been her pillar of support. About three days ago he led her to one of the empty bedrooms, a blindfold securely fastened around her eyes before he pulled it out, revealing an empty bedroom that he had transformed into a design and sewing studio. She nearly burst into tears when she surveyed the room that was meticulously decorated for her and wondered when he'd had the time to do this and how he'd' kept her from finding out. He made no response when she asked, just winked and kissed her on the cheek.

Everything in her life would have nearly perfect. Except for the fact that the same afternoon of the trial, Forrester had been escorted out of the court by an unmarked car.

Three days later he was found in pieces in his penthouse downtown.

And the worst part of it all was that Seiya was nowhere to be found. Shortly after they had arrived home the police had gotten the warrant to arrest him. Two weeks later, they still had no idea where he was. There was trace of him, no trail left behind, none of his known bank accounts had been touched and there were no charges on his credit cards. Like a puff of smoke he had disappeared; there was a chance he would never be found.

Serena sighed and peaked out her window, her eyes falling on the burly man that was standing on the porch below her door, his thick, veiny muscles encased in a tight black crewneck t-shirt. After Seiya's untimely disappearance Darien had insisted on hiring a security team to be around Serena twenty four hours a day. They'd had three good arguments over it before she relented. For the last two weeks these men had followed her to every store, every meeting, every fashion show…she felt like she was a prisoner in her own home. Darien had said it was a precaution. And she believed him; after all, he just wanted to keep her safe.

"Serena?" called a familiar voice as he stepped in behind her and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

"Hi, honey," she said sweetly, dropping her charcoal pencil and turning in her chair to face him. "Good day?"

"Better now that I'm home," said Darien, loosening his tie.

"I should hope so," said Serena, standing up to lean in and kiss him. "If you want to go wash up, dinners ready."

"What are we having? I'm starving."

"Who's the bottomless pit now?" she asked, chuckling.

"You keep me…busy," he said, a naughty grin on his face. "Keeps my metabolism high."

"Of course it does," she said, shaking her head. "We're having Chateubriand with grilled portabello mushrooms, risotto and grilled asparagus."

Darien's mouth watered. "If you would have told me seven years ago that you be the next Iron Chef I would have laughed until I was blue in the face."

She grinned. "Lita told me that if I didn't learn how to cook I would never find a husband," Serena said, pulling the tie from Darien's neck and removing his coat.

"Lita said that?"

"Yup."

"And does she have a husband?"

"Nope."

"Looks like that plan backfired," he said, following her to the bedroom and watching as she hung up his coat and tie in the closet.

"Yeah, it back fired after she said it. We had to sit and listen to Raye yell and scream about equality between the sexes and men being able to cook for their wives. She was in Intro to Women's Studies at the time. It was two and a half hours of my life I'll never get back," she said, reaching for Darien's white collared shirt that he had discarded onto the bed.

He chuckled. "Well maybe Lita was almost right. Out of all the girls you're the closest to getting married."

Serena turned to look at him before tossing his shirt into the hamper. "Am I, now? Darien Chiba, didn't anyone ever tell you not to say things you don't mean?"

He smirked. "Of course I mean it."

"How close am I?"

He laughed. "If I told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?"

"Of course you'd say that."

Darien unbuckled his belt and removed his black Ralph Lauren trousers. "It's closer than you think. I don't want to ruin the moment. Be prepared though, because it's coming."

"Sure it is," she said, feigning nonchalance. "You go get comfortable, I'll go finish dinner."

Darien watched quietly as she sauntered out of the room before fingering the small box in his side pocket. He peaked around the corner to make sure Serena was gone and extracted the small velvet container. Gently he lifted the lid and smiled, the two carat princess cut diamond sparkling under the bedroom lighting, the platinum of the band silvery and smooth.

"I'M ROTTING IN THIS FUCK HOLE OF A TOWN AND YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING FOR ME?" cried Seiya, flinging saliva as he yelled into the phone.

"Calm down, we're doing the best we can to reclaim some of your accounts. You're wanted for murder in the first degree, not to mention attempted vehicular homicide, and solicitation. Forrester confessed everything to the DA. You'll be lucky if you can ever walk the streets again, Seiya. There isn't much we can do," said the man, his tone exasperated. "And I wouldn't exactly call Burgenland, Austria a fuck hole."

"Watch it smart ass-"

"No you watch it. You had a woman murdered Seiya, you made your bed hard now lay in it. Maybe you're finally getting what you deserve."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I can't help you. Don't call me again."

Seiya looked into the phone as it went dead, a small bead of sweat dripping from his forehead on to the cherry wood desk beneath him. Everything, everything was ruined. Stocks in his company had plummeted nearly two thousand points over the last two weeks. A majority of his bank accounts were seized and he was wanted in every country that was allied with Japan including the United States. He put his head in his hands and sobbed, hot tears falling from his face into the palm of his hands.

All of this was because of her, if she would have stayed away from Darien, if she wouldn't have married him and left with him, none of this would have happened. Everything was gone and it was her fault! He laughed loudly, his chuckles turning into bitter sobs as the sound of laughter became weeping. She would know the pain that he was feeling. If Darien loved her so much then he could have her…in pieces.

"Lorenzo," cried Seiya, his face awash with crazed determination. "Fuel the jet."

"But sir," began the man, raising to his feet and frowning.

"Don't but sir me, just do as I say!"

"Y-yes, Mr. Takagawa. I'll need to t-tell the pilot a flight plan."

Seiya looked at Lorenzo for a moment before turning away. "We're going back to Japan."