CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

Website where all photos of all outfits mentioned is on my profile. Here we go again...

Breakfast the second morning of the trial is a lot more subdued then the first morning was. Charlotte doesn't make an appearance but I knew she wasn't. Al, Cam, Donna and I are still wearing colour co-ordinated outfits, having decided that while we're not going to cover up tattoos, take out piercings or change who we are we'd show our 'sisterhood' by dressing in black and white through the whole trial, cause in reality this trial was black and white.

Charlotte had agreed with our reasoning and gone so far to carefully pick out outfits in the same colours, even though if asked we'd just say it was a coincidence.

Jax frowned when an article of white clothing came out of the garment bag that morning, till he realised it was a jacket to cover the black shirt and skirt I'd chosen, muttering that I was a tease.

Cam knows that she's going to end up on the stand today, but she's not sure if it will be in the morning or the afternoon so when we'd come into the conference room I'd handed her one of the two bracelets I'd picked for the day. Yesterday's one had said 'Love Family'. Today's ones are a single word each. Below the Family one I've stacked one that says "Fearless', the one handed to Cam says 'Peace', she'll need to keep it about herself while answering what are bound to be the same asinine questions Kyle Johnson asked each of his witnesses the day before.

Sure enough when we get to the courthouse and everything is brought to order Cam is the first one called to the witness stand, with Johnson explaining that Craig would be there for the afternoon session. Swearing in and sitting down Cam lifts her eyes to stare at Johnson, her blank gaze successful in making him take a step backwards.

It takes him a minute of silence to regain his composure "Please state your name and relationship to the defendant for the record."

"Camryn Franklin, I'm another one of Sarah's best friends, she has one more besides Al and I." Cam says, rushing the second half of her words to get the whole sentence out before she's cut off.

"What did you think of Sarah and Craig's relationship?"

"Like Al said yesterday at first, it was fine."

Johnson is faster this time, inserting his next question while Cam stops to take a breath. "What did you think when you found out Sarah was missing?"

"I was worried about her safety."

"Why?"

Cam shrugs "Because I didn't trust Craig."

"On what grounds?" Johnson leans against his table, tapping his foot on the ground.

"Gut instinct. I always trust what I feel and I didn't feel right around Craig."

Johnson nods thoughtfully "But did Craig ever do anything for you to base those feelings off?"

"Besides telling Sarah that she was making herself low class with her tattoos and that she'd have to change the way she dressed around him?" Johnson nods and Cam shakes her head with a snort "No he didn't."

"Did you ever try and get hold of Craig while Sarah was missing?"

Cam shakes her head "No, Al was trying him while I was trying S, I mean Sarah. We figured that we should be able to find one and each of us took one of them as a person to locate."

"Did you ever find any trace of Sarah?"

Cam shakes her head "Not till the day I got a phone call from the local police in York, Maine telling me that someone matching the description of a missing person report I'd filed had shown up."

"Were you at all worried about Craig and his safety?"

Cam nods "I was, if they had both been abducted then his safety was a concern, if he was safe then she should have been. But likewise the other way, if he wasn't safe then neither was my friend."

"Did you think Craig was capable of what he was accused?"

Cam shrugs "I didn't know him well enough to make that judgement."

"Thank you, that's all."

Charlotte stands up and smiles at Cam "Morning."

"Morning." Cam replies.

"You said that at first Sarah and Craig's relationship was fine, what changed?"

Cam shudders and it's not a faked motion "They talked on the phone a lot before they went on their first date and it was that that made my concern about him start."

"Why?"

"Because I could tell that Craig thought he was above Sarah, that she should have been jumping to attention whenever he asked, their first date they were going to dinner and a movie, he'd told Sarah to dress casually which she did, in jeans and a t-shirt. Craig told her that was more casual than he meant and proceeded to pick an outfit for her."

"On their first date?" Charlotte asks with a quick glance towards the jury.

"Yes. It turned out dinner and a movie was actually a premiere, which Craig didn't tell Sarah or she would have dressed differently."

"Did you voice your concerns about their relationship to Sarah?"

Cam nods "I did. She always told me that it was fine and she'd be okay."

"But you didn't stop feeling concerned?"

Cam shakes her head "No, when they broke up I was glad for Sarah, it gave her a chance to remember who she was before Craig, who she really was as a person, not half of a couple with an overbearing boyfriend."

"Objection." Johnson jumps to his feet and Cam shrugs at the judge.

The judge leans over "That is your opinion of their relationship?"

Cam nods and the judge leans back into her seat "The question was regarding the feelings of the witness about the relationship, I'll allow it."

Charlotte nods and looks back at Cam. "Did you ever see them fighting?"

Cam shakes her head "No, but Sarah is a very private person, she didn't like anyone to know any emotional battles she was having, and fighting with her boyfriend would have been something she wouldn't have wanted Al or I to know about, especially seeing neither of us particularly liked him."

"Did you have much social contact with Sarah and Craig as a couple?"

Cam nods "I did, normally at events run by my father."

"What sort of events?" She asks and Cam looks over to where we're all sitting, her eyes casting an apologetic look at Happy.

Reaching over to the enforcer who's been sitting beside me the whole day I squeeze his hand while Cam starts talking again.

"Sarah was always invited to the benefits that my father would throw, the balls, gala's, silent auctions and such for charity. She would go as often as she could with her work schedule. Craig attended maybe four out of the 15 that were thrown during their time together. The first one he went to he was thrown out of when he grabbed a waitresses behind."

Charlotte looks over at me but I nod; that had been what had caused our first major fight. The waitress had been one of the people I'd done some of my training with and I'd gotten her the job for some extra cash so felt guilty that she was manhandled.

"And the other three?"

"The next two he was perfectly behaved, like he was expecting to be judged. Which of course he was, as a lot of the people from the first one were at those ones as well."

Charlotte nods "And the last of the benefits he attended?"

Cam clears her throat a little "It was a fundraiser for disaster relief and he drank too much, bid on something then reneged on the bid, Sarah ended up paying for it, then he told one of the auctioneers that he didn't know why we were raising money for disaster relief in countries where they needed a population cull. Sarah over heard him, made excuses for him and they left."

"Did you see much of them socially after that?"

Cam shakes her head "No, and while Craig's parents were still invited to the functions they stopped coming after that."

"So your parents and his parents ran in the same social circles?"

Cam shakes her head again "Not really. My mother died during child birth so there was only ever my father till recently. Mrs Turner met my father one day at our apartment when she was taking Sarah out for lunch and Daddy was there to do an inspection on the security in the building."

"Why would he have been doing a security inspection?"

"Because he owns 60% of the building." Cam replies. "Security is pretty tight and he wanted to make sure that it was being kept up to scratch. He and Mrs Turner got on well enough so he invited her and her husband to the next gala; they enjoyed themselves so much that he continued to invite them at my request."

"Just a couple more questions. When you heard that Sarah had been admitted to a hospital in another state what did you do?"

Cam smiles at me "I hired a helicopter and Al and I flew down there as soon as we could."

"And after that?"

"Either Al or I stayed with her 24/7 till she was released. When she came home she was with one of us for at least 20 hours a day. When things started going back to normal for Al and I with work and she still couldn't be alone she'd spend a lot of time at my father's house with the staff."

"At what stage did she become able to spend long amounts of time by herself?"

"Not till after she moved back to California. When she decided to go she worried that she wouldn't be able to handle the drive by herself so I offered to go with her but she told me she needed some time to see if she could, and she knew that I was never more than a phone call and a flight away."

"What do you mean by a flight?"

"If she'd rung and said she needed me or Al, or both of us, I would have used my father's plane and gone to wherever she was in a heartbeat."

"Why?"

"She's one of my best friends and her health, happiness and safety is as important as my own."

Charlotte nods "Thank you. No more questions."

Johnson stands up "I have a couple more questions."

Cam sighs, the motion only detectable in the rise and fall of her shoulders "Other than those galas and very highly publicised events did you have any social contact with Sarah and Craig as a couple?"

Cam shrugs "A little."

"How little?" He presses.

"We went out as a group maybe half a dozen times before people would find excuses to not come if Craig was going to be there."

"Why?" Johnson asks and I snicker behind my clenched teeth.

"Because most of the people we socialised with didn't like him. They didn't trust him and they didn't want him around them."

Johnson leans back as Cam almost spits the words at him "But Sarah continued to date Craig?"

Cam nods "Yes."

"No further questions."

Cam gets off the witness stand after being excused by the judge and she turns her attention to Johnson. "Your client?"

He makes a big show of looking down at his watch "Mr Turner should be here in the next 45 minutes."

The judge sighs, looks at her own watch "Then I'll call an early recess for lunch, reconvene in 90 minutes."

Breaking just before 11 when the session only started a little under 2 hours before is odd, but we head outside where I'm shoved into the back of the car and driven to a café almost 10 minutes' drive away.

Everyone else arrives not long behind me in cabs, three of them pulling to the curb and spilling their passengers onto the footpath. Derek looks over at the confused looking parents of the missing twins "Trish and Amy, our housekeeper, have the kids at the zoo all day so we decided not to go back to the hotel, plus the reporters might be following us."

I nod, sliding into the circle of Jax's arms while Cam mutters apologies to me and Happy.

Hearing Happy chuckle behind me I turn in Jax's arms and smile as he looks over at Cam "What on earth are you apologising for? Being someone who threw fundraisers?" Cam nods and he shares a look with Jax "Cammy, the Sons often have blood drives and toy drives for local hospitals. Don't apologise for helping those less fortunate."

Derek grins and pats Happy on the back ignoring the snickers from Opie and Juice. Without any of the kids there I'm not forced into pretending I'm okay while I pick at the food that's been pushed in front of me. Barely managing to eat four bites before everyone starts standing up again. Joe's already outside with the car, two taxis behind them. Jax, Happy and Opie end up in the car with me, Opie taking the front seat and me being squished between the pair in the back.

Glancing over at Joe Opie smiles "Don't suppose we can get you to take a scenic drive and hop out for a minute?"

Joe laughs, nodding and pulling away from the curb "Mr Franklin knows?"

Jax nods "He does. As long as we're back at the courtroom in 20 minutes we're fine. We only need about 2."

Joe drives through the relatively quiet streets, pulling over in front of a cart selling hotdogs "I'll just have a thick shake then. It's a bit warm in here."

Jax nods saying "Thanks." As Joe gets out and heads towards the vendor and his cart.

Turning to me I'm surprised when it's Happy that speaks first "Cupcake, you gotta relax. If you go in there as uptight as you are right now that slime bag defence guy is gonna know something's up and he'll rip you to shreds on the stand."

I turn my gaze to him "Sorry?"

Opie nods once "He's right S. You're acting like the worlds about to end."

I look over at Jax and lift an eyebrow "And you agree? I need to 'calm down'?" I deliberately make quote marks around my words and keep my eyes locked on Jax's blue ones.

"I do babe. That Johnson's not stupid. Well, not unintelligent, he's gonna realise something doesn't add up."

I fold my arms across my chest and look at each of them then check on Joe to make sure he's still away from the car. "Okay, then tell me this. I know that Craig's not going to show up this afternoon but how exactly do you think I should be acting with the thought that the person who abducted me, abused me, raped me, tortured me, stalked me, is going to be in a court room feet away from me in less than a half hour?"

Jax leans back in his seat for a second and rubs his hand over his face "You know you've gotta point there."

Poking my tongue out at him I nod "I know I do. Do you know what I spent most of last night doing?"

Happy shakes his head "Don't wanna know."

I laugh, pulling lightly on my pony tail. "Not that Hap. I spent some of the night working out how I would feel if I didn't know Craig wasn't able to come today. Then I spent some of it working out how I would feel if it is Craig today."

Opie opens his mouth to say something but I shake my head "No Ope. You had your turn, now it's mine. I'm not saying that I'm not acting myself because I know I'm not but let me ask you something Opie, Happy both of you and yes I do want an answer."

They all nod when I meet their eyes "How do you think D or Cam would be acting if they were in my shoes right now?" Turning to Jax "How should I be acting? Should I be my bubbly self even though as far as anyone not connected to you knows the person who mutilated my body and my soul is going to be feet away from me in a few minutes?"

Happy clears his throat uncomfortably when I look back at him "I don't know how Cam would be acting cupcake."

Opie drops his eyes to the floor "Don would be a zombie. I didn't even think of it terms of that I'm sorry S."

I look up and shrug, my arms still crossed over my chest "It's okay Ope." Turning to Jax I lift my eyebrow again "So?"

Jax reaches over and pulls my arms apart; resting his hands in his lap with one of mine between them "I don't expect you to be yourself babe. I know you're not going to be till this is all over, but right through lunch you didn't ask how Abel was; you didn't ring Trish to check he was okay and make sure he was keeping warm. You just sat there and stared into space, stabbing your poor sandwich with a steak knife that you picked up off Happy's plate."

"So I'm having an off day, I think all things considered I might be entitled."

Jax snickers "You know I knew you'd say that. Having an off day is perfectly acceptable babe, just as long as you remember that whoever the fuck gets up on that stand is NOT your ex, he will never hurt you, or anyone else, again. Right?"

I nod and Opie leans over to tap the horn, waving his hand for Joe to come back. "All sorted?" The calm man says climbing back in the driver's seat and starting the engine.

"Yeah, thanks man." Ope says as we pull away from the curb and head back towards the courthouse and whatever is coming.

It's an almost complete circus in front of the courthouse when we pull onto the street. Joe's phone rings and he pushes a button on the steering wheel "Hello?"

"Joe, come round the back entrance. Charlotte's waiting there with a door open for them." Derek's voice comes over the speaker "No one needs to deal with the shit those fuckers are spouting." That Derek swore twice in one sentence makes me slightly curious about what the reporters are saying but I know he'll fill me in later, if I need to know, which I probably do.

Joe pulls around the corner and immediately spots Charlotte holding open a door with her foot, the four of us are out of the car and into the courthouse before anyone notices the Mercedes that Joe had decided to use today is the same car that had swept me away before anyone could ask any asinine questions, between Joe and Derek it had been decided to use a different car each day.

The walk from the door to the courtroom is about 4 minutes of empty back corridors, while we're making the quick trip Charlotte fills me in very quickly about what had happened. Apparently some particularly clever reporter had finally managed to trace my move to California after my parents death and a whole lot of questions had been raised from that, and then my return and subsequent rapid marriage to what they had labelled one of the 'Hooligans' from small town California.

Rolling my eyes skyward Jax grabs my hand, leaning closer he whispers "You know Johnson will jump on this with both feet. Our records are public babe."

I nod "But you've only ever been convicted of assault once, 2 years ago, and a couple of speeding tickets."

Jax nods "But they're likely to bring up all the attempted charges."

"What, the smuggling that got thrown out before it even made it anywhere? The DUI that got dropped when they realised their equipment was faulty and the possession charge that they had to let go after the evidence mysteriously disappeared?"

Jax chuckles and nods "Yeah those."

"Well no shit they're gonna bring up that stuff baby. I'm prepared for that. I was prepared for that anyway, what I don't want them bringing up is anything to do with that fucker." Leaning closer to his ear I whisper "I also don't want them bringing up anything to do with the adoption, which is a matter of public record."

Jax swallows loudly "So Ma could…?"

I nod "If she searched for news articles she could."

"Fuck!" Jax says "So all that hush hush keeping it secret could have been for nothing if the wrong person in Charming opens their mouths, or if she discovered Google again?"

Juice looks confused about what we're talking about "Huh?"

Jax glances at me and I shrug "He may as well know it's bound to come up."

"If you tell my mother, or Clay, I will make those tattoo's a pretty wall decoration in my games room." Juice nods nervously and I giggle.

"It's okay Juice. Jax is just worried that his Mom will find out I have a current petition to adopt Abel in the courts at home."

"That's great! Isn't it?" He says.

I nod as we open the court door "Yes, but we didn't want Gem to know till it was confirmed. We didn't really want anyone to know but I'm pretty sure it'll come out when I sit in that shitty box up there."

Charlotte nods "It will. I'll be questioning you first obviously and I think bringing that up will help the jury understand what a kind, compassionate, loving woman you are. Even with everything you went through."

I giggle at her "Its okay Charlotte, you don't have to suck up to me."

Sitting down she reaches over and puts her hand over mine "Not sucking up, calling it like I see it."

Jax nods "She's right babe. Everything you've done since you came back has been proof of your loving heart that someone tried to destroy and I have to say for one that I'm glad he didn't succeed."

"Me too!" Al says from the row behind us.

"Me three." Donna says with a giggle

"Motion passed." Happy says, leaning around Jax to look at me "So be quiet."

"Okay okay, stop you'll give me a swelled head." Bursting into laughter at their expressions I lean into Jax's side "You're the only one that's allowed to get a swelled head."

Donna makes a mock gagging noise behind me and I look over Jax's shoulder "Oops. Not as quiet as I thought?"

She shakes her head and giggles at me as my face heats up. "It's okay, we still love you."

Poking my tongue out she smirks as the doors suddenly swing open with a bang, Johnson leading Craig's family into the courtroom, but instead of the four that left there are five coming in.

The calculated glare that I become the focus on from each of the Turners makes me cringe a little, but I know exactly what they're looking for. William and Deirdre are looking for me to see if I'm going to jump up and say it was all a mistake, that it wasn't Craig. Katrina is looking at me trying to see if I'm shocked, given that she's convinced I had something to do with his disappearance, and her husband appears to be searching for the same thing.

The fifth Turner isn't looking at me, his eyes are fixed on the back of the lawyers head as they both step through the gates and take seats behind the defendant's chair.

Charlotte turns around and lifts an eyebrow at me. I lean forward so I can whisper in her ear "It's not him."

Charlotte simply nods and turns around again, gaining the attention of the judge she asks for a 5 minute recess so she can speak with me and make sure my I'm okay with Craig in the courtroom, and says she's well aware that having just returned from lunch it is very unusual. The judge asks for objections, which thankfully Johnson doesn't, instead snorting at the mention of my mental health.

Charlotte and I disappear into one of the offices across the hall that the DA's use while in the buildings "How do you know it's not him? I would have thought it was."

"How big a list do you want?"

Charlotte pulls one of her legal pads towards her "As much as you can give me in four and a half minutes."

"Okay, well let's start with…"

4 minutes and 57 seconds after the recess was granted Charlotte and I are back in our seats. Charlotte smiling and flicking her eyes through the list of 20 reasons from sight alone I could tell the man wasn't Craig.

Jax grabs my hand when I sit down but I just shake my head at him and lean my cheek against his shoulder "That would be the cousin." I whisper very quietly.

Jax nods, his cheek barely brushing my hair.

Johnson gets up "For my final witness I'd like to call Craig Turner to the stand."

The man posing as my ex gets to his feet and walks slowly towards the witness stand where he's sworn in and takes the seat carefully.

"Craig, thank you for coming."

"That's alright, I'm sorry I missed the start of this. I wasn't aware the date had been moved forwards." The voice is almost the same as the one that I heard that night in Jax's back yard and anyone who didn't know Craig as well as I did probably would have thought it was him. "I'm looking forward to clearing my name." He says with a charming smile at the jury.

"I've only got a few questions for you. First, where were you when your then girlfriend went missing?"

"I was in Canada with family. My cousin and I hadn't seen each other in years and planned this 2 month backpacking trip around random places."

"Do you have proof of this?"

'Craig' nods "Sure. I've got all the photos we took."

"Are they date stamped?"

"Objection! Anyone can change the date on a camera so it shows the dates you want shown."

The judge nods once "Sustained. Mr Turner, unless you have solid photographic evidence, not taken by yourself or a family member or close friend, your photos can not be used as evidence."

Both Johnson and 'Craig' nod. "Do you have event tickets, newspapers or anything like that that have dates and things you went to?"

The man pretending to be Craig nods "I do, there are a couple of tickets for events we went to that ended up with photos in the local papers."

Johnson picks up some newspaper pages and hands them to the judge who accepts them and gets them passed off to the jury to look at.

"When you returned to New York and found that your girlfriend was missing what was your first thought?"

"I was furious with my parents for not contacting me the day she was found to be missing, but then I realised that they wouldn't have been able to. My phone took a swim and stopped working and Brad, my cousin, forgot his charger so when his phone went flat we couldn't recharge it. Once I realised that there was no way to undo time I got past it and started searching for her."

"Did you have any luck?"

'Craig' shakes his head "Not really. I started in Vermont where my car was found and a few leads led me to Maine. I was doing a search around the coast cause I knew Sarah loves beaches and the sea when I was arrested in York and charged with kidnapping her."

"Did you do any of the things you are charged with?"

Shaking his head furiously "No. I loved Sarah, I wanted to marry her and spend my life with her but after everything that happened I realised that there was something wrong with her head and we were better off apart."

"Objection!" Charlotte jumps to her feet "The defendant is making judgements about someone's mental state with no qualifications to do so."

"Sustained." Turning to the jury the judge tells them to disregard what was just said.

"When you were released from prison what did you do?"

"I returned to New York for a few days to gather some cash and clothes before following the same trail I had to get to Maine in the first place. I was sure I could find something that would clear my name."

"But then you vanished off the radar. Why and where were you?"

"I went to the cabin of a friend in Connecticut till I needed to be here to clear my name."

Johnson smiles "And do you have proof of that?"

"Just supermarket receipts and things that could have belonged to anyone." 'Craig' says with a smile.

"Thank you, no further questions." Johnson sits down and Charlotte stands up, the yellow legal pad in front of her.

"Mr Turner I only have a few questions for you."

"Sure. Fire away." 'Craig' says with another bright smile.

"You're obviously aware that New York State driver's licences have all sorts of information on them?"

"Yes, everyone knows that."

"How tall are you?" Charlotte says with a small smile.

"6 foot 2."

"And yet the copy of Craig Turner's driver's licence that was submitted to the evidence this morning at my request has his height at 5 foot 7."

"Objection!" Johnson jumps to his feet "The licence information held about my client is incorrect. A letter was registered with the state the day after it was printed to correct it."

Charlotte swipes a line through something on her page "Withdrawn." She says before the judge can say anything.

"You were in a car accident 4 years ago, were you not?"

'Craig' nods "I was."

"What injuries did you sustain?"

"I got a concussion and broke my femur in my left leg."

"Any after effects from that?"

"Other than being scared to drive for almost 2 years, no."

"So the records of physio due to a ½ inch difference in femur length are wrong?" Charlotte puts her page down and turns to the judge "Ma'am this is not Craig Turner. This is Bradley Turner, Craig's cousin. Craig Turner has walked with a limp since his accident as the bone in his left leg had to be repaired due to the damage. A height difference of an inch on a licence may be explainable as an imputing error but the 7 inches that the defendant's lawyer is claiming is impossible."

The judge calls both lawyers to the bench where they have a very short conversation. Charlotte continues to reference things on the list I'd given her and the judge keeps looking at the man claiming to be Craig Turner. After 3 minutes both lawyers return to their tables and Johnson narrows his eyes at me with a confused look.

Turning to the witness box the judge does something that surprises me and everyone else but the sounds of the gasps "I'm going to have you placed under arrest till we can confirm your identity. A simple fingerprint check should be sufficient. The prosecuting attorney for the state does not wish to question you anymore and the defence attorney has waived his right to as well."

Watching the person claiming to be my ex escorted from the court in handcuffs makes me giggle till Johnson gets to his feet and tiredly says that the defence has rested.

Charlotte smiles at me and turns back to the jury "I have a whole list of people who I could call as witnesses, and depending on the results of the fingerprinting that will be occurring shortly I may, but my first witness will be Sarah Teller."

"Fuck." I mutter under my breath. Cam grabs my hand, pushing the bracelet I'd handed her back into my numb fingers as I walk through the gate.

"Do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" I'm asked once my hand is on a bible.

"I do." I reply blankly, willing my brain to catch up with the sudden turn of events.

AN: Sarah's testimony will be the next chapter cause it will probably take a lot for me to write, and be quiet long.