Betrayal - Fern Michaels [61]
“She’s a sick child. I would guess she’s a sociopath. She doesn’t seem to show any outward signs of real emotion. This is just another day to Sara. She’s getting the attention she craves and doesn’t give a damn at whose expense.”
“I remember Don talking about her and how she’d been acting. I wonder if he questions her truthfulness?” Kate asked Alex.
“If he did, surely he would’ve put a stop to this goddamn circus act. No, he believes her, Kate. She’s his daughter.”
James entered the courtroom, carrying a cardboard tray of coffee. “Drink fast, we’ve only got a few more minutes.”
Kate sipped the nasty liquid, wishing all the while for tea.
“My cross won’t be near as long as Wykowski’s, so we should have the opportunity to question the state’s next witness before the end of the day. Sara’s medical doctor. I think we’ll learn a lot of nothing.” James smiled at Alex and Kate.
Judge Stowers went through her routine. When the lights were lowered, Kate leaned forward in her chair. She didn’t want to miss one word of Sara’s cross.
“Sara, I am going to ask you a few questions, the same as Mr. Wykowski. I want you to think before you answer. Let’s try and leave your mother and her thoughts and actions out of your testimony. Think you can do this?” James coaxed.
“Of course. Do you think I’m stupid, too?”
“Actually, Sara, I think you’re a very intelligent young lady, smart beyond your years. Now, let’s see if we can get to the bottom of this. Remember, I’m in charge, and I am asking the questions. Is that understood?”
Sara rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatever.”
James wasn’t treating her like a two-year-old. Good for him, Kate thought. Maybe her true colors would shine brightly for the members of the jury.
“Tell me what you were doing prior to the time Mr. Rocket allegedly came into your room while you were sleeping.”
Sara squirmed a bit as though she had to think of an answer. Her responses had been instantaneous when the ADA questioned her.
“I can’t remember.”
“Okay, do you recall the day of the Easter egg hunt?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you remember what you were doing before you joined the group of children outside to hunt for eggs?”
“Why would I remember something that stupid?”
“You tell me, Sara. You seem to recall with great detail the times your uncle allegedly touched you, or exposed himself to you. I would assume that if you remember so vividly these incidents you say took place, you would remember exactly what you were doing before anything supposedly happened. Do you remember what you were doing before the egg hunt?”
“Nope, I don’t!”
“Okay, let me ask you this; when you were eight, you said your uncle sat at the edge of your bed and touched you. You told the court that you were frightened, yet you didn’t tell your parents at that time, this being before the alleged threat to your father. Can you think why you didn’t tell your parents what you thought was happening to you?”
“I didn’t just think it, I knew it. If you’d been through what I’ve been through, you wouldn’t remember every last detail either! I am tired of this. I want to go home. I hate you, and I hate Uncle Alex! He has ruined my life!”
The recording went fuzzy. The judge asked the bailiff to turn the lights back on.
Surely there was more. Kate didn’t see or hear anything in James’s cross that was at all damaging. Maybe Sara’s smart comments, but the jury might attribute that to her current mental state. Please, God, tell me there is something more, something that will save Alex.
“Is the state ready to call its next witness?” Judge Stowers asked.
That was it! Kate wanted to reach across the banister, grab James, tell him he couldn’t do this to them. He was Alex’s only chance. As far as Kate was concerned, he’d blown whatever chance Alex might have had. There wasn’t one thing in his cross-examination of Sara that favored Alex. If there was something she’d missed, then she would consider herself