Just Take My Heart - Mary Higgins Clark [71]
A convicted murderer.
They assign you a number, don't they?
I want my life back. I want to get up in the morning and go to work. I want to drive up to Katie's school and watch her play soccer I want to get out on the golf course. I hardly played all summer and when I did, I couldn't concentrate.
The judge was leaving the bench. Gregg looked over at the pros?ecutor's table. Emily Wallace was still seated. Today she was wearing a dark green jacket over a black turtleneck sweater, with a black skirt. Her legs were crossed under the table and he could see that as usual she was wearing high heels. The clicking of those heels when she had first entered the courtroom this morning reminded him of the sound of Natalie's heels, which he used to hear when the apartment was quiet and she came home around eleven o'clock after a perfor?mance . . .
Unless I was going to meet her at the theatre, I always waited up for her, Gregg thought. Her steps on the hardwood floor in the t would wake me up if I was dozing.
And then I'd get both of us a drink and fix a snack for her if she was hungry. I enjoyed doing it, even though she'd be worrying that she was keeping me up and it wasn't fair.
Natalie, why did you stress so much over things that were never a problem? Why were you so damn insecure that you just couldn't accept the fact that I loved you and loved doing things for you?
As Gregg glanced again at the prosecutor's table, he saw one of the detectives who had interviewed him right after Natalie died, and again seven months ago right after Easton was arrested, walk over to Emily Wallace.
Tryon, Gregg thought. What's his first name again? Oh, yes, it's Billy. It was obvious watching him testify at the trial that he thinks he's James Bond. As Gregg watched, Tryon put his hand on Emily Wallace's shoulder in a familiar manner that she clearly did not appreciate as she looked up and frowned.
He's probably wishing her luck, Gregg thought. Let's face it. If I'm convicted, it's a victory for both of them. Another notch in their belts. I'm sure they'll all go out and celebrate together.
It's going to be today, he thought.
I know it's going to be today.
Richard and Cole Moore picked up their briefcases. Now we're off to our home away from home, Gregg thought.
The cafeteria.
At eleven thirty, as they were sitting at a table near the busy coffee section, Richard Moore's cell phone began to ring. Gregg and Katie had been playing Hearts. Alice Mills had been attempting to read a magazine. Cole and Richard had been reviewing other cases.
Richard answered the phone, listened, and looked around the table. “We have a verdict,” he said. “Let's go.”
Emily got the call as she was attempting to concentrate once again on a different file. She pushed it aside and called Ted Wesley, then, her footsteps clicking on the marble floor, she rushed out to the hall and decided to take the stairs rather than wait for the ele?vator.
When she reached the third floor, she could see that word was already spreading that the verdict was in. People were scrambling to get a seat in the courtroom before they were all gone. She arrived at the door at the exact moment Gregg Aldrich came from the other direction. They almost collided, then both stepped back. For an instant they stared at each other, then Aldrich motioned her to precede him.
Ted Wesley surprised Emily by sitting down next to her at the prosecutor's table. Now that he knows we've got a verdict, not a hung jury, he's pretty certain that we've got a conviction, she thought. Sc now he's front and center. She noticed that Ted had taken the time to change his tie and jacket. All spruced up for the cameras, she thought,