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Her court appointed lawyer pressed her. “So you’ll reconsider the plea agreement? Because you won’t do any jail time. Not a single day.”

I’ve already sat in jail for a single day, you ass, she’d thought angrily.

Abby sent her memory back to the night before with the two men she fearfully expected to lose once the court day was over regardless of the trial’s ultimate outcome.

Had the extra special lovemaking been a final send-off? Were they done with her? Her gut told her no. Earlier this morning, Zane had been playful. He’d kissed her over and over before she left, trying to get as much carefully applied lipstick off of her mouth as he could. Then he’d loaned her his vehicle. Why would he do that if he planned to rat her out as a prosecution witness? She went purely on gut instinct.

She shook her head. “No.”

“No? To the plea deal? Why not?”

“I’m innocent.”

“Listen, this is the best deal you’re going to get. There won’t be any other offer later. You get that right?”

Drilling a hostile look at him, Abby said clearly, “I will never agree to plead anything except completely innocent of the charges against me. I don’t care if they call Zane. What’s he going to testify to?”

Her lawyer had mumbled to himself, but she’d only heard a couple of the words. “Difficult…naive…waste of his time…” Then she stopped listening.

Abby was quickly pulled from her distasteful reverie when a very official-looking Sheriff Duke Stanton, dressed in his crisply starched uniform, strode up to the witness stand, raised his right, and swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help him God.

“State your name and occupation for the record, please.”

“Duke Stanton. I’m the sheriff in Enclave, Montana.”

The prosecutor asked, “Were you the arresting officer in this case, sir?”

Abby didn’t know Sheriff Stanton very well, but he looked very uncomfortable in the witness box, and he hadn’t once looked in her direction. Duke leaned forward, but before he could answer the question, the doors opened at the rear of the court near where the spectators watched.

Two attractive men dressed in expensive business suits entered and walked directly to the waist-high barrier separating the judge, prosecution, and defense desk from the rest of the onlookers. Everyone in the courtroom looked in their direction.

The judge addressed them. “Mr. Barrett, you’re a long way from home.”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“And I see you have Mr. Gallagher with you as well. Do you two have business with this court today?”

“Yes, Your Honor. Specifically on this case. May we come forward?”

The judge motioned them to the front of the court. Abby’s lawyer and the prosecutor joined them at the judge’s tall desk and they all started whispering. She heard the prosecutor say, “Your Honor, this is highly unusual protocol to allow.”

There was a few more whisperings, and then the judge nodded and held his hand up to the prosecutor when he looked like he was about to argue again. Everyone turned and walked away from the tall desk.

The judge said, “I’ll give you five minutes to sort this out. Be quick.”

The two new men approached the defense table along with Abby’s lawyer. One of the new lawyers suddenly reached out his hand to her. She took it like a reprieve. In a low tone meant only for her ears, he said quickly, “My name is Zachary Barrett. I’m an attorney in Wyoming, although I also practice in Montana and Colorado. I was contacted to represent you in court today, and I would have gladly done so. However, I have a conflict that I just can’t get out of. Therefore, I’ve asked my good friend, Jack Gallagher, to help you going forward. He’s the best attorney in Montana, next to me that is.”

Mr. Gallagher rolled his eyes at what Zachary said and stuck out his hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

Zachary continued, “If you agree, Jack will be replaced as your official attorney of record in this matter, and he’s also agreed to take on any other legal matters you face in the near future.” He turned to her current lawyer and said, “No offense against the public defender’s office, but I know you’re very busy with a tremendous caseload.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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