Chapter Thirty-One
Simon
The courtroom doors opened, and Savannah Reed entered. She was in her early thirties, with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and a nervous expression. She wore a simple blouse and slacks, and she walked to the witness stand with visible anxiety.
And she looked an awful lot like my sister.
My chest tightened. This was real. This was another woman Alan had hurt.
She was sworn in and took her seat, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.
Tony stood, giving her a reassuring nod. “Ms. Reed, can you please state your name and place of residence for the record?”
“Savannah Reed. I live in Lincoln, Nebraska.”
“Ms. Reed, did you know Alan Sanders?”
“Yes,” she said quietly. “I dated him for eleven months.”
I watched the jury. Several of them leaned forward. One woman in the back row glanced at me, then back at Savannah. My stomach twisted. Were they connecting the dots? Did they understand what this meant?
They’re seeing the pattern. They have to see it.
“When was this?”
“About two years ago. We met in a different county; he was working construction there.”
“Can you describe your relationship with Alan Sanders?”
Savannah took a breath, her hands tightening.
“At first, it was good. He was thoughtful and engaging. He made me feel important, like he actually cared about how I felt. But after a few months, he changed. The compliments disappeared, replaced with constant disapproval of every aspect of my life. He’d get angry if I didn’t answer his calls immediately.
He treated ordinary conversations like betrayals.
If I smiled at the mailman and said thank you for delivering a package, Alan would berate me, call me a slut and a whore. ”
I glanced at Sadie in the gallery. Her face was pale, her eyes fixed on Savannah.
I watched as my sister recognized herself in this woman’s story.
It was the same pattern of isolation, control, and suffocating jealousy she had experienced.
Sadie’s hands gripped the edge of the bench so hard her knuckles turned white.
This was what she’d endured. This was what I’d known she was enduring, and I hadn’t been able to stop it.
“Did the relationship ever become violent?”
“Yes,” Savannah said, her voice breaking slightly. “He hit me. More than once. He’d apologize afterward, say he loved me, buy me presents and promise it would never happen again. But it always did.”
The courtroom was silent. I could feel the weight of her words settling over the jury. The woman in the front row had tears in her eyes.
This is it. This is what they needed to hear. This is what Sadie went through.
“Ms. Reed, did there come a time when the abuse escalated?”
She nodded, tears welling in her eyes. “It consistently got worse until he strangled me. We were arguing about something—I don’t even remember what,” Savannah shook her head. “He just... he put his hands around my throat and squeezed. I couldn’t breathe. I thought I was going to die.”
My hands clenched into fists under the table. Alan had done this. He’d put his hands around another woman’s throat and squeezed until she couldn’t breathe. Until she thought she was dying. The image made my blood run cold.
Is that what he did to Sadie? Is that why she finally broke and killed him?
“What happened next?”
“I passed out,” Savannah said. “When I woke up, he was gone. I went to the hospital, and they called the police. I filed a restraining order against him.”
“And did Alan Sanders respect that restraining order?”
“No,” she said. “He showed up at my apartment twice. The second time, the police arrested him. After that, he left town. I never saw him again.”
Tony let that sit for a moment, then turned to the jury.
He made eye contact with each of them, letting them see the gravity of what they’d just heard.
I watched him work. Watched the precision of his movements, the calculated pause, the way he commanded the room.
Even now, even with everything between us, I could see why he was brilliant at this.
“Ms. Reed, in your experience, was Alan Sanders a dangerous man?”
“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “He was terrifying. I’m lucky to be alive.”
The words hung in the air.
Lucky to be alive.
That was what Sadie was.
“Thank you, Ms. Reed. No further questions.”
Tony walked back to the defense table and sat down beside me. He didn’t look at me, but I felt the shift in the air between us, the weight of what we both understood now. I should have done more. I should have protected her better. Sadie had been in genuine mortal danger.
I watched the jury.
Some of them looked shaken.
They believe her. They see what Alan was.
Rosalind stood, her expression hard. She approached Savannah with the kind of aggression that made my blood boil.
“Ms. Reed, you filed a restraining order against Alan Sanders two years ago, correct?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re testifying here today because the defense contacted you, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Did the defense offer you any compensation for your testimony?”
“No,” Savannah said firmly. “I’m here because I want people to know what he was. What he did.”
Good. Don’t let her twist this. Please don’t let her twist this.
“Ms. Reed, you testified that Alan Sanders strangled you. Were there witnesses to this event?”
“No,” Savannah said. “We were alone.”
“So we only have your word that this happened.”
“I have medical records,” Savannah said, her voice shaking with anger. “I have photos of the bruises on my neck. I have the police report. This isn’t just my word; it’s documented.”
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 constant footsteps, 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.
What the hell are they talking about?
My heart was pounding. I wanted to walk over there and demand to know what was going on, but something held me back.
Tony’s shoulders were tense, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. He looked like he wanted to argue, to refuse whatever she was asking.
But then his eyes closed, his shoulders loosened and he nodded.
It was a reluctant nod, his expression still angry, but he nodded.
Sadie’s shoulders sagged with relief. She said something else, thank you, maybe, and then stepped back.
The bailiff appeared in the doorway of the courtroom. “Court is back in session. Everyone inside, please.”
People started moving, filing back into the courtroom. Tony turned and walked toward the doors, his expression unreadable.
Sadie stood there for a moment, her hands trembling slightly, before Keys appeared at her side and guided her back toward the courtroom.
I caught Tony’s eye as he passed me, but he didn’t stop. He didn’t say anything. He just walked past, his face a mask of controlled fury.
What the fuck just happened?
I followed everyone back inside, my mind racing.
What did Sadie ask him? Why does he look so angry? Why did he agree to something he clearly doesn’t want to do?
The courtroom settled. People took their seats. The jury filed back in, their faces still reflecting the impact of Savannah’s testimony.
Uncle Alex took his place at the bench. “Mr. Gallagher, you may call your next witness.”
Tony stood, buttoning his jacket with sharp, controlled movements.
“The defense calls Mercedes Nelson to the stand.”
The words hit me like a punch to the gut.
What?
My head snapped toward Tony, my eyes wide with shock.
Sadie? He’s calling Sadie?
I hadn’t been told about this. We hadn’t discussed this. This wasn’t part of the plan.
Why the fuck would he put her on the stand without telling me?
Anger surged through me, hot and sharp. I wanted to stand up, to demand an explanation, but I couldn’t move. I was frozen in my seat, my hands gripping the edge of the table.
Sadie stood slowly, her face pale. She walked toward the witness stand, her steps hesitant, her hands trembling.
Keys watched her go, his expression tight with concern.
She was sworn in, her voice barely audible as she repeated the oath. She sat down, her hands folded tightly in her lap.
I could see her shaking.
She’s terrified.
Tony approached the stand, his expression gentle now, the anger from the hallway gone. He looked at her with something that might have been compassion.
“Ms. Nelson, can you please state your relationship to the defendant?”
“He’s my older brother,” Sadie said quietly.
“And can you tell the court about your relationship with Alan Sanders?”
Sadie took a breath, her hands tightening in her lap. “We dated for a year and a half.”
“Can you describe that relationship?”
She hesitated, her eyes lowering to her hands.
“At first, he made me feel like I was the only person in the world who mattered. He’d remember things I’d said weeks before, things I liked, what scared me, like he cared about who I was as a person.
He told me I was beautiful, that he didn’t understand why I was so hard on myself.
He said he wanted to take care of me, that he’d never let anyone hurt me.
I believed him because... because no one had ever paid that kind of attention to me before. ”