Betrayal - Fern Michaels [60]
When Debbie saw her waiting at the entrance, she stopped. With the media at her heels, Kate knew this wasn’t the time to approach Debbie. She walked to her seat and sat down. The room was filling up quickly. The press area was jammed full. The low murmur of voices radiated throughout. Kate tried to make out some of the words, but couldn’t. All was quiet as Judge Stowers entered her domain.
The bailiff called his usual, “All rise.”
“You may be seated.”
The rustling of clothes, briefcases being closed, and the mechanical hum of cameras being turned off filled the room.
Day two of their nightmare had begun.
Again the media were asked to leave the courtroom, and the lights were lowered. For the second day, Sara told her story to the prosecutor.
“Do you recall when Mr. Rocket touched you again?” Wykowski quizzed.
“Yep, I sure do. It was on Easter break. Me and Emily were in North Carolina again. Mommy was on a cruise. Daddy didn’t go that time. I remember because he accused her of slutting around, and she got all mad. She didn’t even come with Daddy to pick us up.”
“Sara, just answer Mr. Wykowski’s questions!”
“Go on, Sara, tell me what happened that
Easter.”
“Okay. We were having an Easter egg hunt.
There were some other kids there. Friends of Aunt Kate’s. I was running around looking for eggs. I saw Uncle Alex; he was standing behind a tree. I thought he was playing a game or something, so I went over and asked him what he was doing. He grabbed my arm really hard. Then he unzipped his pants. He pulled it out, then put my hand there. It was so gross!”
The screen became all fuzzy. A few seconds passed, then Sara’s image filled the screen.
“Is there another incident you’d like to talk about?”
“Yeah, it’s the worst. This happened the last time I was at their house in Asheville. Aunt Kate was in her studio. I don’t know where Emily was, probably with the dogs. She cares more about the dogs than me. Mommy said this. I was upstairs sleeping when Uncle Alex came into the room. He made me take off my clothes, then forced me to sit on his lap. Oh and he took his clothes off, too. It was nasty. Then he left. I got dressed and went to sleep. Then Aunt Kate came in my room. Somebody had broken into the house and smashed all of her pots. Mommy said it was Uncle Alex’s rage. She said it was sexual frustration.”
Sara’s testimony lasted for another hour. Kate was in shock at the sheer audacity of the child. She certainly didn’t act as though she’d been traumatized. Kate recognized Sara’s behavior. It was the same way she always acted when she told on Emily for something. She’d acted very pleased with herself. She hoped the jurors picked up on this, but they really didn’t know Sara, only what they saw and heard.
Next up was James and his cross-examination. Kate prayed that he broke through whatever psychotic shield Sara had erected around herself.
“Let’s take a ten-minute recess,” Judge Stowers ordered.
Kate and Alex stayed inside the courtroom while James went for coffee. The media lurked around every corner. James told them to stay put, and they took his advice.
“In a million years, I couldn’t make up the sordid lies that child just told. I always knew Debbie had trouble telling the truth, I guess I never realized that Sara is just like her mother.”
“If those perverted acts happened to a child of mine, screw going to court. I’d kill the bastard with my bare hands and delight in doing so. The more Sara runs her mouth, the worse her stories get.” Kate leaned over the railing, and continued, “I almost wanted to laugh. Isn’t that terrible? Your freedom and reputation are in jeopardy, and all I can think about is laughing. It’s all so unbelievable. I bit the sides of my mouth to keep from cackling out loud. I remember the day my studio was broken into. That’s the day the Taylors came