Page 101 of Matlock
Rosalind tried a few more angles, tried to insinuate someone else could have hurt her, but Savannah didn’t break. She was credible, sympathetic, and her testimony was devastating to the State’s case against me.
By the time Rosalind sat down, the jury looked convinced. I felt something shift inside my chest. A fragile, tentative hope that maybe, just maybe, they would believe the story we gave them. That the motive wasn’t jealousy or rage. That my sister had needed protection from a predator.
Tony’s hand brushed against mine under the table, so brief I almost missed it. I didn’t look at him. I couldn’t. But I felt it, that moment of connection, of shared understanding.
We both knew the truth now. And maybe, finally, the jury would too.
Uncle Alex glanced at the clock. “We’ll take a thirty-minute recess. Court is adjourned.”
The gavel came down, and the courtroom began to empty.
I turned to Tony, who was gathering his notes. He looked up and met my eyes.
“You did it,” I said quietly.
“Not yet,” he muttered. “But we’re close.”
And for the first time since this trial started, I believed we were going to win.
The hallway outside the courtroom was packed with people—my parents, the Silver Shadows, reporters trying to get a statement, curious townspeople who’d come to watch the spectacle. I stood near the wall, trying to process what I’d just heard.
Savannah Reed’s testimony had been devastating. The jury had seen the pattern, the violence, the escalation. They’d seen what Alan Sanders really was.
My parents stood a few feet away, talking quietly with Goliath and King. Mom’s face was pale, her hand clutching Dad’s arm. She’d been crying during Savannah’s testimony. I’d seen her wipe her eyes more than once as she no doubt thought about how similar Sadie’s experience with Alan was.
I looked around for Sadie and found her standing near the water fountain, her arms wrapped around herself. Keys was beside her, his posture protective, his hand resting lightly on her lower back.
She looked small. Fragile. Like she might shatter if someone spoke too loudly.
She’s been through so much. And she’s had to watch all of this, watch me take the fall for what she did.
I started to move toward her, but then she turned and walked toward Tony, who was standing near the courtroom doors reviewing his notes.
“Tony,” she said quietly.
He looked up, his expression shifting from focused to cautious. “Sadie.”
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Her voice was soft, almost hesitant. “Alone?”
Tony glanced at me, then back at her. “Sure.”
They walked a few steps away, moving toward the far end of the hallway where it was quieter. I watched them go, my stomach tightening with unease.
What does she want to talk to him about?
I couldn’t hear what they were saying. They were too far away, their words drowned out from the voices, the constantfootsteps, and the hum of conversation in the hallway.
But I could see them.
Sadie was speaking, her hands moving slightly as she talked. Tony’s expression was hard to read, his face set in that lawyer mask he wore so well.
Then he shook his head. Firmly. Definitively.
Sadie said something else, her voice rising slightly but not loud enough for me to hear. I could see the urgency in her posture. Tony shook his head again and Sadie reached out, placing a hand on his arm.
Tony’s face changed. His jaw tightened, his eyes flashing with something that looked like anger. He said something sharp, his voice low and intense.
Sadie didn’t back down. She kept her hand on his arm, her expression pleading.
