Page 81 of You, Only You

"I understand."

"You were originally retained to audit Mr. Steele's firm, correct?"

"By the state bar. Following ethics complaints about his methods."

"And in that capacity, what access did you have to his professional records?"

"Complete access." Lindsey's voice was clear, carrying to every corner of the room. "Every case file, every internal communication, every financial transaction over a three-year period. I spent weeks inside his professional life."

"And what did you find?"

Lindsey paused. Her gaze swept the jury, I watched them lean forward slightly, caught by her stillness, then her eyes landed on me. Not soft. Not personal. The look of a professional assessing data.

"I found a man with an unusual methodology."

"Can you elaborate?"

"Will Steele doesn't operate the way most attorneys do. He doesn't just take cases—he studies them. Studies the people involved. Studies the systems that have failed." She turned back to the jury. "I found evidence of extensive research into institutional failures. Universities that protected predators. Corporations that covered up harassment. Organizations that allowed abuse to flourish because accountability was inconvenient."

"And what did he do with that research?"

"He built cases. Not always for court, sometimes for public pressure, sometimes for institutional review, sometimes simply to ensure that victims knew they weren't alone." Lindsey's voice hardened slightly. "The defense called him a vigilante. What I found was a man filling gaps the system refuses to address."

"Objection." Caldwell rose. "The witness is offering character testimony, not facts."

"She's explaining conclusions from her official audit," the prosecutor countered. "Directly relevant to the defense's attack on Mr. Steele's credibility."

"Overruled. Continue."

Lindsey never wavered. "I want to be clear about something. The evidence in this case, the financial trail connecting Victor Reeves to human trafficking, was not gathered through any unusual methodology. It was gathered by me, a state-appointed forensic accountant, following standard protocols. Every transaction was documented, sourced, and verified."

"Verified by whom?"

"Independently by the FBI's forensic accounting unit. They examined my work product without reference to my original analysis and reached the same conclusions."

"So the evidence stands on its own merits?"

"Completely." Lindsey leaned forward slightly. "My personal relationship with Will Steele, which I've acknowledged, doesn't change mathematics. Bank records exist, or they don't. Wire transfers happened, or they didn't. Shell company structures are documented, or they aren't." Her eyes found Caldwell at the defense table. "The numbers don't care who I'm sleeping with, counselor. They just tell the truth."

A murmur ran through the gallery. I saw several jurors exchange glances. They weren’t skeptical, I realized. Some of them were impressed. She'd taken the weapon Caldwell had tried to use against her and turned it into a shield.

"One final question, Ms. Ashford." The prosecutor paused for effect. "Based on your exhaustive audit of Will Steele's professional conduct over three years, what is your professional assessment of his credibility?"

Lindsey was quiet for a moment. When she spoke, her voice was steady.

"I found a man who has spent years ensuring that powerful people face consequences when institutions fail. His methods aren't always comfortable. They're not always conventional. But in three years of records, I found no evidence of fabricated evidence, no coerced witnesses, no manufactured outcomes." She looked directly at me. "I found a man who cares more about justice than his own reputation. Sometimes to his detriment."

"Thank you. No further questions."

Caldwell rose for cross-examination. "Ms. Ashford, you've admitted you're romantically involved with the subject of your audit. How can you claim objectivity?"

"I can claim it because the evidence exists independently of my feelings. As I said, it's been verified by the FBI."

"But you brought the evidence to them. You decided what was relevant."

"I followed standard forensic protocols. The same protocols I've used on dozens of cases where I had no personal involvement. My methodology doesn't change based on who I'm dating."

"You expect us to believe?—"