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“I’ll feel better when Sava
“Whatever you want,” he said with obvious disappointment, and a few minutes later, he left, without seeing her again. She stayed upstairs in her room. They had both been shaken by the conversation. Luisa never reached out to him, or even tried to be kind. It was just who she was. And their marriage was a disaster as a result, for both of them. And probably always would be, he realized now. And Luisa would do nothing different when Sava
The di
Chapter 16
Alexa sat next to her mother on the flight home. The whole weekend had been festive and fun, and Muriel was glad she had gone with her, particularly for the opening of the envelopes when Sava
But Muriel also noticed something different now about Alexa. She wasn’t as angry, or bitter, and seemed more at peace. Her mother suspected that having to go back to Charleston had done her good. She had faced all the demons of her past. Tom, his mother, Luisa. They seemed to have shrunk over time. She knew that Alexa’s marriage was still a huge loss to her. But when you saw who Tom really was, how weak and self-serving, maybe she hadn’t lost so much after all. She hoped Alexa knew that, and had seen it better now. He was a very selfish man, and the only reason he wanted Alexa back was because it hadn’t worked out with Luisa. If it had, he’d have had no regrets at all. Muriel thought he had gotten what he deserved, a woman who respected him as little as he respected himself. As Alexa had been recently, she was reminded of Ashley in Gone with the Wind. What her daughter needed now was Rhett Butler. She just hoped she’d find him one day. She had a right to some happiness after all these hard, lonely years. And she had done a great job with her daughter. That job was over now too. Sava
And best of all was Sava
Muriel looked over at her daughter as they flew toward New York, and Alexa was sound asleep. It had been an emotional weekend for them all.
Sava
Alexa didn’t think she would be able to go back to Charleston again until after the trial. There was too much going on now, but Sava
The morning after their Charleston weekend, Alexa was in her office at seven. She had gotten up at five to read some material she needed to prepare for the trial, and motions that the public defender had submitted to the judge.
The public defender had filed a motion to dismiss the case, which was so ridiculous it was laughable. No judge was going to grant it, but she filed it anyway, pro forma. She owed it to her client to try. And she had filed a Sandoval motion as well, to prevent Alexa from cross-examining Quentin on his prior convictions. She had a shot at wi
Both motions were being decided on that morning in chambers. Alexa objected to them, and the judge dismissed them both. The public defender walked back into court looking glum.
“So much for that,” Jack muttered under his breath as he and Sam followed Alexa out of court with a member of the FBI elite Serial Crime Unit, which had helped them investigate and prepare the case. The motions had been routine, and the judge looked impatient that the public defender had filed them. There was no sympathy for Luke Quentin in court, and there would be even less from a jury. Alexa had all their evidence and expert witnesses lined up. The prosecution was airtight.
Alexa went to see Judy Du
“Sorry about the motions,” Alexa said pleasantly, trying to sound sympathetic, although she wasn’t.
“I think the judge was being unreasonable about the Sandoval,” Judy complained. “The jury doesn’t need to know he was convicted of fraud and robbery to try this case.” Alexa didn’t comment but just nodded. She had come to see her to try to convince her again to get her client to plead guilty and avoid a trial.
“I can’t offer him a deal in a case like this,” Alexa said honestly, “but he may get better treatment in prison if he’s reasonable now. A trial is just going to be a circus, and a jury will convict. You have to know that. There’s so much evidence against him, I must have twenty boxes of it in my office. Judy, talk to him. No one needs the grief.” The public defender had even tried to challenge the warrant the DA had gotten to allow Jack and Charlie to search his hotel room initially, but that had held up too, so the incriminating evidence they had gotten was admissible in court.
“He has a right to a trial,” the public defender said through pursed lips. It was like talking to a wall, and Alexa went back to her office more than anything a