Fix You: Bash and Olivia, Book 3 by Christine Bell Read Free Book Online Page B

faced Emily with a nod.
    “Can you state your name for the record, please?”
    She leaned in again, her voice strong and clear when she spoke. “Emily Elizabeth Fenwick.”
    I heard a low gasp over my left shoulder and saw the prosecutor send a worried glance toward Andrew Abernathy Sr. What the hell was going on?
    When I turned my attention back to Whitcomb, he looked like someone had taken a hundred-pound load off his back.
    “Ms. Fenwick,” he said with a smile. “I’m pleased to make your acquaintance. Rather than ask you a dozen questions, why don’t you tell the grand jury in your own words, what happened the night of the alleged attack on Andrew Abernathy Jr.?”
    Emily scooted forward on her seat and began to talk. “I was waiting in line at the bathroom with another girl behind me. I didn’t know her, but she and I were chatting like you do in line, complaining about how there’s never a line for the boys’ bathroom.” She rolled her eyes and the women in the grand jury box chuckled, and sent one another knowing smiles. She seemed comfortable with the attention and very poised as she continued. “A guy came barreling past us, shoving us out of the way, dragging a girl behind him by the arm.”
    “Is that guy here in the courtroom today?”
    She nodded and pointed to Andy. “That’s him. And he was with her.” She gestured toward Olivia. “He was obviously hurting her because she looked scared, and was trying to get her arm away from him.”
    “Objection,” the prosecutor said, standing to make his point. “That’s conjecture. Ms. Fenwick doesn’t know what Ms. Beckett was feeling at the time of the incident.”
    “Can you rephrase that, Ms. Fenwick?” Whitcomb encouraged with a gentle smile.
    “Sure. He was bodily dragging her into the bathroom. She was resisting.” He nodded for her to go on. “He pulled her through the door and slammed it behind them. I was worried he was going to hurt her, so I pressed my ear to the door. She was begging him to calm down, and he was screaming at her, saying awful things. Telling her not to try to walk away from him again or she’d regret it. I heard a slam, and I was about to get the manager when another guy came up to the door.”
    Before I could take a dive down that rabbit hole reliving that night in my head, Emily met my gaze and smiled at me.
    “Him. Sebastian McDaniels. He was wearing a Shorty’s T-shirt, so I figured he was a bouncer or something. He kicked the door down and I could see that Andrew Abernathy had her by the neck. Sebastian told him to let her go, and he didn’t. Then he punched him.” She spared a withering glance at Andrew. “Once.”
    Andrew and his father both began talking at once, but were quickly quieted by the presiding judge. What were they so worried about? Surely their name and influence would get them over this hump like it had all the rest up until now.
    Whitcomb finished up with a few more questions, and Emily was cross-examined, but oddly, in a very gentle fashion. Something was definitely up and I started feeling that dangerous emotion that could do so much damage.
    Hope.
    By the time the testimony ended, and the grand jury stepped out to deliberate, I was a mass of jangling nerves. Odds were, nothing had changed and I wouldn’t know my fate today. All I would find out was whether or not there was enough evidence to charge me for the crimes set before the panel. If so, a trial date would be set and I’d have to relive it all tenfold before I’d know if I was going to do time.
    “Should we go get something to eat?” I asked Whitcomb, moving to stand. I couldn’t see sitting there all day, waiting for them to decide. I’d lose my frigging mind.
    “I think we should stay put, actually.”
    “How do you think it went?” I finally muttered, not sure I wanted the answer, but not able to keep myself from asking.
    “Really well. Emily was a godsend.”
    My brothers, Mrs. Beckett, and Liv had come to join us,