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I furrow my brows in confusion. “Yes, what’s up, Andrew?”
He blows out a frustrated breath, and I can feel the tension all the way across the phone.
“Do you know if Andrea saw anything about the trial today?”
I’m almost scared to ask. “No, we didn’t watch it. The café was too busy. Why?” He’s quiet for a minute, and my heart rate picks up. “Tell me what’s wrong. What happened?”
“Something pretty fucking bad.” His tone terrifies me.
I sit slowly on the edge of the couch. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t fucking know. I mean, physically, yes. Mentally? I’m fucking ready to kill someone.”
“Spit it out, Andrew. You’re freaking me out.”
“Court didn’t go well today.” He blows out another breath, like he needs to prepare himself to say this out loud. I scoot back onto the couch, getting comfortable so I can prepare myself as well. He finally continues. “Christopher’s lawyers brought in a witness today.”
My confusion must be apparent through my silence, because he explains further. “They’re trying to spin the story.”
“How can they fucking spin it? What did they say? It’s clear as day that he did it.”
“Well, he hired smart, shady-ass lawyers. They’re trying to say that Andrea was behind it all. That Christopher was scared of her.”
My breath leaves me in a giant swoosh. What in the absolute fuck?
“How is that even possible?”
Andrew’s anger comes across the line so strong that it feels like he’s in the room with me. “It’s not really. There are too many holes and too few people to back it up. But it may be enough to cast doubt, and that right there is the name of the fucking game.”
“Did the prosecutor shut it down? Blow enough holes in the story? I don’t understand. How could this even fucking happen?” Tears build in my eyes. Andrea will be devastated. Then really, really fucking angry.
“The prosecutor fired back as much as he could, but the witness was a last minute add to the list, so they didn’t have questions prepared. However, he did what he could. He made the guy stumble with his answers, and I think it was enough to cast doubt on the accusations.” He takes a breath. “But this won’t die down. The media and reporters are about to get ten times worse.”
I nod to myself, knowing he’s right. “What do we do?”
“I’ll try to get out there earlier than expected. If I can shift everything around, I think I can be there in two days.”
He was coming this weekend to celebrate Andrea’s engagement, anyway. I’m instantly relieved to hear he’ll try to get here sooner, but then what? He answers my question before I can ask it.
“I’ll talk to Andrea with Jack, explain our options and how crazy everything is about to be. From what I can gather, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Christopher’s trying to pin it all on her. He’ll try to convince the jury that him shooting her in the café was to protect himself.” His tone becomes darker and darker.
I don’t blame him. If given the opportunity, I would smother Christopher Gates in his sleep.
“What do you need from me?” I ask.
A relieved sigh escapes him. “I need you to keep the news of the trial away from her. I’ve already called Jack, but we need you in on this, too. We need time. Jack and I are working a different angle.”
“What angle? What are you two doing?”
“I can’t discuss it yet, but this motherfucker is not about to take my sister down with him. So help me God, if it’s the last thing I do, Christopher will pay.”
Well, that doesn’t sound ominous at all. “Andrew, you two better not be doing something that can get you in trouble.”
“We’re being careful. I just need you to help us. Can you do that, baby?”
My stomach does a little flip when he calls me baby, then it nosedives when I think about hiding this from her.
“But…”
