Untainted: (Crime Romance: The Photographer Trilogy #3)

by Sarah Robinson

  Kate just nodded and gulped back her fear. Breathing deeply, she focused on composing herself, but when she looked up she was staring right into those same fiery eyes.

  “Hello, Ms. Jackson. Good to see you again.” Frank grinned.

  “I can’t say the same.” She snipped back.

  “Members of the jury, you’ve already heard this woman’s testimony and you’ve seen the prosecution’s alleged evidence.” He ignored her comment and paraded himself back and forth in front of the jury.

  “I would never want to re-traumatize this alleged victim, so I won’t have her go through everything again and pick apart all of it. I’m sure you all can see through the holes in her story on your own.” He continued and Kate seethed at his accusation.

  “Mr. Bild, get to the point, please.” The judge intervened.

  “Of course, your Honor. Ladies and gentleman of the jury, I would like to present to you Exhibit V, a letter written by the witness.” He pulled off his desk an aged envelope.

  “Objection, Your Honor, the prosecution has not gotten a chance to view this piece of evidence.” The district attorney stood up.

  “You will be able to refute it on cross, objection overruled.” The judge responded and Kate hated that she saw nervousness on his face.

  It did nothing to make her feel calmer to see the people defending her looking as if they couldn’t.

  “Ms. Jackson, I’m going to hand you this envelope. I would like you to open it and read the enclosed letter, then confirm whether or not you wrote this letter.” Frank walked over to her, a plastered smile on his face as he handed it to her.

  Kate gingerly touched the far edge of the envelope, carefully avoiding any contact with him. She turned to the front of the envelope and immediately her hands began shaking as she saw who it was addressed to.

  Opening it up, she pulled out the letter and unfolded the paper. A sob escaped her lips without warning, her hands shaking as she saw her handwriting and read her words, reliving everything about the day she wrote this.

  “Ms. Jackson, please tell the jury if you wrote this.” Frank repeated, absolutely delighted by her emotional response.

  “How did you get this?” She whispered.

  “Your Honor, can you please have the witness answer my question?” He looked at the judge, enjoying his moment of power.

  “Yes, fine. Okay? I wrote this.” Kate bitterly spat out, holding the letter against her chest as if it could melt back inside her heart where it had lived, broken and damaged, for years.

  “Please read the letter to the jury, Ms. Jackson.” Frank instructed.

  Kate looked bewildered at the judge, then over at Derrick in the audience who looked to be in as much pain as she was. The judge nodded at her, confirming that she needed to read it.

  She looked back at the paper that she had cried on as she wrote almost twenty years ago, and tried to steady her shaky breath as she began.

  “Dear Mr. Smith, I am sorry I lied to the police officer. I will tell them that you never touched me because you didn’t. I lied when I told the police officer that you touched my private parts. I lied when I said you told me you were gonna hurt my sister. I lied when I said you said you were gonna hurt me. I am sorry. I am a liar. From, Kate.”

  “Ms. Jackson, you wrote that letter to my father only two weeks after you publicly accused him of molesting you. Is that correct?” Frank was smiling widely at her.

  “Yes.” Her voice was hushed as she stared at the words on the paper, remembering her father standing over her screaming.

  Her father had forced her to write every word in that letter, even though she knew none of it was true. Her father had been so disgusted at her when she finally reported what Mr. Smith had been doing to her.

  She began to cry as she smelled the alcohol on his breath as he screamed at her. She heard her mother wailing and cursing at her father, begging him not to make Kate write it.

  She saw Annie sitting in the corner of the kitchen, crying with her head on her knees, tucked against her chest. She could never handle it when their house became a warzone.

  Every moment of that day played in front of her as if it was happening right now. She hadn’t even thought about that day since the last anniversary of her father’s death, which was a few months before the Photographer had ever entered her life.

  And now Frank had pulled it all to the forefront again.

  “Ms. Jackson, please answer the defendant’s question.” The judge brought her out of her memories.

  “I’m sorry, what was the question?” Kate blinked, glancing around, unsure what she had missed.

  “I asked you how we are supposed to believe anything you say when you have a history of lying about very serious things.” Frank flashed her his sickening grin again, he was clearly enjoying himself.

  “What?” Her jaw dropped and rage flooded her entire body.

  “Do I need to repeat the question a third time for you, Kate?” He leaned forward and sneered, using her first name to purposefully get under her skin.

  “No, I heard you. I just can’t believe you would say something like that. Your father, Mr. Smith,” she sneered at the taste of his name on her lips, “was a child molester. No part of that was a lie. Ever.”

  “Well, Ms. Jackson, if you seem so confident in that, then why recant in this letter?” Frank took a step back and faced the jury as he spoke, innocently shrugging his shoulders.

  “My father made me write every word in here. I was six years old, I didn’t have any other choice. The truth is, and always will be, that your father molested me and was a sick, pathetic excuse for a human being.” She responded through clenched teeth, wishing her eyes had the power to make him burst into flames right before her.

  The hatred she was feeling in that moment was overwhelming, and it wasn’t just toward Frank. It was toward her father, toward the trial, toward everything that had led to her being here at this moment and facing this monster.

  “And where is your father? Can he corroborate your assertion?” Frank smiled, already knowing the answer.

  “No, he can’t. He died over a decade ago.”

  “Convenient. Ladies and gentleman of the jury, I urge you to consider the source when listening to this woman’s testimony. Someone who can lie about such a serious accusation, well what’s to say that she won’t do that again?” Frank asked them.

  “Objection!” The prosecutor stood up and the judge nodded.

  “Sustained. Mr. Bild, stick to questions only. Any opinions should be saved for the closing statement.” The judge ordered and Frank nodded in agreement, not caring since he had already said what he wanted to say.

  “Understood, Your Honor. I have no more questions for this witness.” He smiled back at Kate, giving her an overt wink that made her stomach turn.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “What the hell was that, Kate?” The district attorney stormed around his office, frustrated.

  “It’s not her fault, how was she supposed to know he would dredge up something like that from her past?” Detective Liz Snow interrupted, standing up for her.

  “Seriously, the guy is lower than slime.” Derrick muttered, wrapping his arms around Kate as she trembled.

  The nerves of the entire day had gotten to her finally and she was worn out. She just wanted to crawl in bed and pretend that today had never happened, or better yet that none of this had ever happened.

  Derrick’s warm arms around her, rubbing her back, was exactly what she needed and she loved that he could sense that.

  “You’re right, Detective. Sorry, Kate, that was out of line. Today just did not go like I expected. He threw a shit ton of curveballs at me. That whole representing himself thing, fuck. Normally, I would say that would help our case, but the man is clearly versed in the law.” The prosecutor rubbed the bridge of his nose, squinting his eyes with the migraine that had developed.

  “I doubt Frank has ever done anything normal in his life.” Detective M
cCraig spoke up from where he was leaning against the wall near the door.

  “Alright, Snow and McCraig, I need you to pull some overtime tonight and help me dig up anything that can help me tomorrow. Keep me from getting slammed again. Derrick, you’re up first at nine so make sure to be at the courthouse early.” He instructed Derrick.

  “Kate, your part is done, but I still need you at the courthouse during the entire trial in case you’re called up again. I doubt that you will be, but apparently nothing about this trial is predictable.” He recapped for them and everyone nodded.

  “Alright, well I’m going to get Kate home then. We will see you all bright and early.” Derrick told them, putting his hand on the small of Kate’s back as he ushered her toward the door, eager to get her home after such a trying day.

  “Thanks for everything you guys are doing.” Kate gave them a half-hearted smile, trying to keep her spirits up.

  ~~~~~~

  “Derrick, you don’t have to do this tomorrow, you know?” Kate chewed on the bottom edge of her lip as she looked up at him.

  “Of course I do, Kate.” He gave her hand a squeeze as they walked down the sidewalk toward his apartment, which was officially their apartment now, after parking the car a block over.

  It was never easy finding free parking in Washington, DC, a fact that had caused much annoyance with the moving van over the last two days when the rest of Kate’s things were brought over.

  “I know you think that, but you got mixed up in all this because of me. I’m not sure if you will be able to handle a cross examination with him being the one to basically interrogate you.” Kate glanced up at him, worried.

  “I’ll admit, that’s definitely a concern for me. Mainly because if he gets within arms reach of me, I might not be able to stop myself from strangling him.” Derrick told her.

  “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.” She smiled at him as he held the front door to their building open for her.

  “Well, beautiful, I got to witness a shining example of bravery today when you stood up to him. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to be even a little bit as strong as you.” He kissed her cheek as the climbed the stairs and she blushed.

  “Derrick, please.” She rolled her eyes.

  “I’m serious, Kate. Hell, I don’t even think you missed a beat. You gave it as good as you got and you didn’t hesitate to tell the truth. You didn’t let him rattle you and you looked sexy as all get out up there. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you all dressed up in business attire.” He teased as his fingers brushed her lower thigh under her pencil skirt, trying to change the subject to something more pleasant.

  “You’re such a tease.” She playfully smacked his hand away as they were about to reach the front door.

  His eyes turned dark as he looked at her, suddenly serious and smoldering.

  “When it comes to you, beautiful, I’m never teasing.” His voice was husky as he stepped toward her, pushing her back against their front door and capturing her lips in his.

  Their interlocked fingers squeezed tighter and he found her other hand, lifting both of her arms above her. He held both of her wrists with one hand, then circled his other hand around her back as he pressed her harder into the door. Their lips were completely enveloped in one another, a breathy silence between them only broken by a moan here or there.

  “Damn, Kate, I need to get you inside right now.” He groaned into her ear as he nibbled his way down her neck.

  She just nodded and in one quick move, hopped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. He fumbled with the door knob behind her and they practically fell inside as it finally opened.

  Kicking it shut with his foot while still tasting her lips, he carried her to the bedroom where he dropped her not so gently on the bed.

  Both of them were still wearing their coats and were fully clothed, but as soon as he climbed on top of her, he began pulling off materials as quickly as possible. Her blouse had way too many buttons for his current lack of patience, so Derrick grabbed at the seams and ripped it apart.

  Kate gasped, surprised, then began laughing as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he smiled at her.

  “I could have unbuttoned that, you know?” She whispered, giggling.

  “I told you I’m not teasing when it comes to you.” His eyes were smoldering with desire as he pulled her farther up the bed with one steady, strong hand.

  She squeaked in response, then quickly shimmied out of her skirt. He sat up and pulled her thigh high panty hose off, one leg at a time, while kissing her from the tip of her toes to the very top of her legs.

  She writhed underneath him, unable to contain the waves of arousal crashing through her each time he neared her core. As he nibbled lightly on her inner thigh, he looked up at her hooded eyes and rapidly rising and falling chest.

  “Tell me what you want, Kate. You’re in charge.” He licked his lips suggestively.

  Blinking in surprise, a wide grin spread over her face. Everything had been so out of her control for months that such a simple statement was a gift to her. She relished the sensation of power wash over her as she contemplated what she wanted and being fully honest with herself.

  “Taste me, Derrick.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “Mr. Kane, I’m not going to waste the jury’s time by having you recount the story you just told the prosecution about your interactions with me in the stable that day.” Frank strutted around the front of the court room as Derrick sat on the witness stand, beginning the cross examination of his testimony.

  “Instead, I would like to focus on earlier in the day, before you arrived at the stable. Can you tell the jury how it is that you arrived at Fallen Oaks that day?” Frank asked.

  “I was following Annie Jackson who was on her way there. I arrived to find both her and Kate in a perilous situation at your hands.” Derrick gritted his teeth.

  “Right, right, we heard that vague part in your testimony. My question is how you got there, Mr. Kane. Your car is not listed as one of the car’s at the stable on the detective’s report. So, how did you arrive at Fallen Oaks?” Frank looked at the jury, playing up his pretense of not knowing the answer.

  “I didn’t take my car.” Derrick responded, suddenly nervous.

  “Alright, what car did you take?” Frank pushed again and Derrick glanced at the prosecutor, who looked just as nervous.

  “I have a right not to implicate myself.” Derrick said.

  “Very true. Ladies and gentleman of the jury, what Mr. Kane doesn’t want to state is that he drove my car to Fallen Oaks which he stole from my home.” Frank explained.

  “Objection, Your Honor. That is an allegation, not a fact.” The district attorney bolted up in his seat.

  “Sustained. The jury is to disregard that last statement.” The judge agreed.

  “Sorry about that, Your Honor. Mr. Kane, I would never want you to implicate yourself in a crime, so let’s talk hypothetically for a moment.” Frank smiled at him, knowing exactly what he was doing.

  Derrick felt rage coursing through him, but clenched his jaw and did his best to stay calm.

  “Let’s say that on the day in question, someone broke into my apartment and found evidence of my ownership of Fallen Oaks through that manner. Would that lead them to the stable as their next stop in search of a missing Kate?” Frank postured.

  “It might.” Derrick said, trying to remain calm.

  “Let’s also say that these criminals responsible for breaking and entering my apartment did so before the police conducted their search of the premise. Would it be possible for these individuals to plant any type of evidence they want in my home? Making it look like I’m the supposed, infamous Photographer?” Frank put on his most innocent expression.

  “No! There’s no way we would ever have done that.” Derrick voice raised in anger.

  “That’s not what I asked, Mr. Kane. I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m asking if such a scenario were to ha
ve happened, is it possible that someone could have planted evidence before police arrived?” Frank spoke quickly, slightly more aggressive.

  Derrick was silent for a moment, his eyes narrowed at Frank as he contemplated his answer.

  “I guess, in a hypothetical situation, it could be possible. But that’s not what-” Derrick responded but Frank quickly interrupted.

  “Thank you, Mr. Kane. Then to continue, if in such a scenario as someone breaking and entering into my home and planting evidence, then arriving first at Fallen Oaks stable before a police presence, is it or is it not possible that that individual could have attacked me?” Frank was on a roll, knowing he was turning the heads of more than a few jury members.

  “I guess, but you know that’s not-” Derrick started.

  “And is it possible that the scene police arrived at could then have been the result of me defending myself against such an attacker?” Frank leaned forward, closer to Derrick, as he spoke loudly, almost threatening.

  “Objection! The witness is not an expert in criminal tactics nor can he judge hypothetical situations, Your Honor.” The district attorney looked flustered.

  “Sustained. Finish up, Mr. Bild.” The judge told him.

  “That’s all the questions I have for this witness, Your Honor.” Frank smiled at the jury and walked back to his seat.

  ~~~~~~

  “Do you actually think anyone bought that line of questioning?” Derrick groaned then bit into his sandwich.

  “It doesn’t matter if they believe it or not. Frank doesn’t have the burden of proving it, I do.” The district attorney told him across the lunch table during recess as they sat in the courthouse cafeteria.

  “Frank just has to put the possibility of doubt into their mind. If there is reasonable doubt, he could potentially be found not guilty.” McCraig explained, finishing up his lunch.

  “That’s not going to happen though.” Liz reassured them, cutting her eyes at McCraig for not softening his statement.