Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
This was going to be the hardest conversation of Lana’s life.
Claire invited Lana into her kitchen, and they sat at the table. “What is it?” Claire asked. “Just tell me.”
Over twenty years ago, this woman had opened her door to detectives bearing the news of her sister’s death. Lana couldn’t imagine how awful that day had been. Claire was tough now. She could sense bad news coming at her and was instinctively bracing herself.
But Lana knew, deep down, that Claire’s wounds had never fully healed. She might look stoic, but she was living in a terrible limbo, waiting for the justice that was so long overdue.
There was no way to sugar coat this.
“I lost the case. The judge declared a mistrial.”
Claire just sat there, not moving. Not breathing.
“It happened during Max Bennett’s testimony today. Max and I are…in a relationship.”
It felt bizarre saying that. What did it even mean?
“Paxton Wayfair, Hearst’s lawyer, tried to introduce some improper evidence.
Pictures of Max and me together. Supposedly, he wanted to prove Max is a biased witness and planted Heather’s necklace.
But really, he just wanted to provoke an angry reaction from Max. Unfortunately, Wayfair got his wish.”
She didn’t want to get into the stalker angle. That might seem like she was fishing for sympathy. Claire had no sympathy to spare, and Lana didn’t want it.
“So, the judge declared a mistrial,” Claire repeated.
“Yes. Because she believes seeing Max’s outburst against Wayfair would irreparably taint the jury. I don’t agree with that. But that’s Judge Vaughn’s ruling.”
“What happens next? A new trial?”
“Usually that would happen. But Judge Vaughn also ruled the mistrial was my fault. Again, I think she’s wrong.” Lana might feel morally responsible for the circumstances that led to the confrontation today, but legally, she thought the judge’s ruling was Twilight Zone-level absurd.
Lana forced herself to say the next sentence. “But the judge’s decision means we can’t retry Ryan for Heather’s murder.”
Again, silence.
“But this isn’t the end. We’re going to appeal.” Though right now, it was hard to feel hopeful.
In some ways, Lana thought Wayfair’s behavior had been far worse than Max’s.
Wayfair knew better than to introduce those photos in such a theatrical manner, without any proper foundation.
Plus, the photos were completely irrelevant and inappropriate.
Especially those smutty images of Lana herself in her bikini, which had made her stomach twist. She’d seen them when they’d scattered onto the floor.
Even the photos of her and Max kissing were unnecessary. Max had already admitted to their current relationship. Wayfair’s photos had zero relevance to the case, instead designed to humiliate Lana and get the worst reaction out of Max.
But Wayfair’s strategy had worked. Max had blown up, just like he did on the phone with Wayfair a few weeks ago. Only today, he’d had the lawyer standing right in front of him, within easy reach. Wayfair made sure of that.
Now, she essentially had proof that Wayfair had been stalking her and trying to interfere with the trial proceedings.
But unless an appellate court saw her side of things, she couldn’t do much about it.
She could try to urge the DA to press charges against Wayfair, but that alone wouldn’t fix this case.
And it wouldn’t necessarily help Claire Barnes.
After the first few days of the trial, Lana had been so confident about their chances. Overconfident. All weekend, she should’ve been going over her trial notebook again. Staying focused on Heather and Claire. Not letting her attention waver for one single second.
Instead, she’d been running around like some horny teenager, blinded by her infatuation with Max. What had she been thinking, going to the beach with him on Sunday? Parading around with him in public while she knew, she knew, that she had a stalker and Wayfair was probably behind it?
I let this happen. I did this.
But as Max had said, she couldn’t just give up. Claire deserved better than that.
“I’m going to fight this on appeal. I promise you.”
Claire smiled sadly. “You’ve made me a lot of promises, Lana. We both know how that goes by now.”
That was a knife to the heart. But it was a knife that Lana herself had placed.
“I don’t even blame you,” Claire said. “If that helps. I always knew it was a long shot. But I was really starting to believe…” She shook off the thought.
“I don’t think I can go through this again.
Appeals take a long time, right? Months?
Even years? And then a new trial. Testifying again.
Going through all this again. I don’t think I’m strong enough to do it. ”
“I get that it feels that way right now. This is a blow, and it’s devastating. But I am not going to stop.” The more she spoke, the more Lana felt her resolve strengthening. “We’re going to get up and fight back.”
“I’m so sorry. I just can’t.”
Lana knew that Claire wasn’t apologizing to her. She was apologizing to her sister.
Max was waiting for her at the curb. But Lana wasn’t ready to face him again yet.
She sat in the stairwell of Claire’s apartment building and called Stephen Abrams. The district attorney answered. “Lana, how are you?”
She could already tell he’d heard the news. “I’ve been better. I just got done with Claire Barnes.”
Stephen sighed. “That must’ve been awful. You told her we’re going to appeal?”
“Of course. I told her that we’re not giving up. I’ll be filing our notice of appeal within days. But right now, Claire doesn’t think she can go through another trial.” Lana certainly couldn’t blame her.
“Give her time. This is a shock to all of us. I’m still hazy on what exactly happened.
I heard some of it from Trevor. I would’ve preferred speaking to you first, but I’m sure he was only trying to help.
He said Judge Vaughn blamed you for the mistrial, but that it wasn’t your fault.
That it was some game Wayfair was playing? Something about a stalker?”
“It’s a long story. I can tell you everything that I know. But could it be another day? I’m running out of steam.”
“No problem. I just want to make sure that you’re safe. Has someone been threatening you?”
“Like you said, it was a game Wayfair was playing. He’s gotten what he wants now, so there’s no reason for him to keep bothering me. I suspected he could be behind it, but I had no proof until now.”
“I’m not inclined to take this lying down. I can go after Wayfair in all kinds of ways. You say the word.”
“Thank you, Stephen. I’ll think about it. But I just want to get back to work tomorrow. I want to draft the Hearst appeal and focus on my other cases.” If she didn’t, Lana was worried she’d buckle under the weight of all her mistakes.
She never should’ve lost sight of her responsibilities. So now, she had to get back to them. Getting back to work was the only thing that might soothe her mind.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. You should take a few days.”
“That’s the last thing I want.”
“But it’s what we all need. What the office needs. There’s going to be a media firestorm around this, Lana. You know that.”
She shut her eyes. “And you want the office to have a little distance from me. No worries. I get it.”
“Please don’t see this as me pushing you aside.
That is not going to happen. This office has your back, one hundred percent.
But for the next few days, I think it would be better if I handle what’s coming at us personally.
And I’m sure you could use a mental break.
Especially with this stalker thing you’ve been dealing with. Anybody’s nerves would be frayed.”
“Sure.” That was the only response she could manage. A sob was right there at the top of her throat, begging to get out.
“Let’s talk soon,” her boss said. “Vaughn has gone way too far, and there’s no way this can stand.
We’ll strategize about what we should do next.
But until then, take care of yourself. All right?
You’re my second in command, and I don’t want to lose you.
You’ll be right back to work before you know it. ”
Lana had heard everything that her boss wasn’t saying.
At this moment, she was a liability to the office.
All of West Oaks, maybe even all of Southern California, would be talking about the Hearst case.
Especially when Wayfair started winding up the media, as he no doubt was already plotting.
He’d humiliated her in open court, but he wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d assassinated her character to the entire state.
A corrupt prosecutor who can’t keep her legs closed.
No matter what happened on appeal, Lana’s potential run for DA in the next election wasn’t even worth mentioning anymore. Wasn’t even a thought.
She hadn’t known until this moment that she truly wanted to run. But she did. She wanted to take Stephen’s place and run the office officially, and now she would never get that chance.
So many things had been ruined today. And it wasn’t even over yet.
As soon as Lana stepped out of the building, Max started the car. She got into the passenger seat and buckled in.
“How did it go?”
“About as shitty as you’d expect.”
Max pulled away from the curb. He opened his hand like he was offering it. But she didn’t take it.
He drove them back toward the Bennett Security building. Neither of them said anything on the way. Lana didn’t know what else she could say.
She didn’t want to throw away what she and Max had. But she was so numb right now. If he pushed her, she might start getting angry. She might say things she couldn’t take back.
They got to his apartment, and Lana went straight to her bedroom. She grabbed her suitcase.
She never would’ve expected when she arrived here, less than a week ago, that she and Max would reconnect. That she’d finally get so much of what she’d wanted all these years. Max in her bed. Max as her boyfriend.
And she’d certainly never expected her relationship with Max to cost her the Hearst case. Maybe even cost her career.
She started throwing clothes into the bag. She felt Max there in the doorway, watching her.
“You’re leaving?” There was pain in his voice. Disbelief. An exact mirror to what she felt.
“The trial is over. We know who the stalker is. That was always the deal.”
He came into the room, stopping her hands from pulling anything else from the drawer. “Whoa, wait a minute. We both know it’s gone way beyond that. This isn’t some convenient arrangement. Not anymore. So don’t act like our conversation last night didn’t happen.”
“I need to be home, in my own space, so I can think about things. You don’t realize how screwed I am, Max. I let my feelings for you distract me from my job, and I’m going to pay for it. But much worse is that Claire Barnes is paying for it. I let her down.”
He wrapped her in his arms. “We’re going to make this okay.”
She hugged him back, taking a tiny bit of comfort from his embrace. “That’s what I keep saying, too. To Claire. To Stephen Abrams. But honestly? I don’t see how. Claire’s too exhausted with this entire process to go through it again.”
She didn’t bring up the other issue. How was Max supposed to testify again after what happened? Wayfair was probably going to file a restraining order against him. Talk about a source of impeachment.
There was also zero possibility that Lana would get to prosecute a retrial of Hearst. As far as this case was concerned, she was tainted. Poison.
“All right,” Max said. “I agree with you that it’s bad. But please don’t punish us both by pulling away. Stay with me. Let me be here for you.”
She couldn’t handle his guilt right now. Could barely handle her own. “I’m overwhelmed. I can’t discuss what happened in that courtroom anymore. I just need to be alone for a while.” She pushed back from him and started packing again.
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
“L, are you breaking up with me?”