Chapter 23 #2
That changed the next morning when a photo of them holding hands as they left the hospital appeared with a picture of the injured police officer on the front page of the Baltimore Sun. Unfortunately, video of them was also broadcast on CNN.
Before ten o’clock, Juliana fielded phone calls from her mother, her sister Serena in California, her brother Vincent, her co-worker Carol, and her high school friend Pam Newman.
Everyone, except for Pam, who had seen her once before with Michael, had the same questions—what was she doing with the prosecutor in the Benedetti trial, where was she now, and what the hell was going on?
While Michael dealt with his frantic parents on his cell phone, she evaded the questions from her family and friends, except to tell them she was safely out of town for the time being.
She had just hung up with Pam when the phone rang again. Juliana’s gut twisted with nerves when she saw it was Jeremy.
Ending the call with his parents, Michael walked over to her. “Who is it?”
“Jeremy.”
“You should talk to him. He’s probably freaking out.”
“Probably.” The phone beeped to indicate a message, which Juliana listened to.
“Juliana, it’s me.” He sounded frantic. “Jesus, babe, what’s going on up there? What are you doing with that guy? Where have I seen him before? Somewhere. I want you to call me. Right away. I’m going to call you every fifteen minutes until I talk to you.”
She turned off the phone and wandered over to the window to look out at the beach.
Her stomach churned as it set in that Jeremy now knew there was someone else in her life, or he at least had strong reason to suspect it.
He hadn’t figured out, though, that he’d seen Michael getting off the plane with her in Jacksonville.
Michael came up behind her and rested his chin on the top of her head. “What are you thinking about? Or do I not want to know?”
“I was deluding myself when I thought no one was going to get hurt, wasn’t I?”
“What do you mean?”
“When I came up with the idea for this break from Jeremy, I thought we could lead separate lives for a few months and no one would get hurt.”
He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “You couldn’t have known what would happen between us. Who could’ve predicted all this?”
“I need to call him.”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to have to tell him you’re just a friend.” She turned to him. “You’re so much more to me. You know that, right?”
“Of course I do.” He leaned in to kiss her. “Maybe you could tell him the truth? Would that be so awful, Juliana?”
“Not on the phone. I’ll talk to him in three weeks when I’m due to see him.”
“You’ll tell him about us?”
“I’m not sure yet what I’m going to tell him.”
Michael’s face fell with disappointment. “That means you still haven’t decided.”
“I’m not really thinking about it right now. There’ve been so many other things to think about.”
He nodded in agreement.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” Juliana went upstairs to the bedroom and closed the door. She dialed Jeremy’s cell phone, and he answered right away, as if he had been praying she would call.
“Jule?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“Oh my God, what’s going on? I almost choked on my coffee when I saw the news this morning. Who’s that Maguire guy?”
“A friend of mine.”
“How do you know him?”
Juliana took a deep breath. “The prosecution hired me to cut the hair of the witness who was poisoned. She and I became friends. Needless to say, I’m terribly upset about what happened to her.”
“But you were holding hands with him. You looked like a couple.”
“We’re friends, Jer. It was a terrible day, and the media was all over us when we went to see her parents. He was just pulling me through the crowd. You don’t have to worry about anything right now. I’ll see you in three weeks, and we can talk then, okay?”
“Where have I seen him before? I know him from somewhere.”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you in danger?”
“No.”
“Jule?”
“Yeah?”
“Read my letters, will you?”
“I will.”
“I love you.”
“Bye, Jer.”
Juliana went back downstairs a few minutes later to find Michael engaged in a heated exchange with Paige.
“They’re not going to kill me. No, I’m not coming there.
” He paused. “She’s my roommate. You know that.
I don’t care what it looks like. I’ve told you, if there’s a baby, we’ll talk about it after the trial.
Don’t you think I’ve got enough to think about right now?
Fine. I’ll talk to you then.” He slapped the phone closed and shut it off.
“That’s enough for now. How’d it go with Jeremy? ”
“A lot like that, actually. But I think he’s pacified for now.”
“Paige saw the news, too. Her concerns about my safety gave her another opportunity to remind me she’s pregnant.”
“Did you check on Rachelle?”
He nodded. “They expect to release her in the next day or two.”
Juliana sat down next to him on the sofa and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Will you be able to secure a conviction without her testimony?”
He put his arm around her. “We’ve got her sworn testimony on videotape, and hopefully we can get it admitted. That’s going to have to be good enough. The case is strong without her testimony, but I’m less certain of a conviction without her.”
“Could you force her to testify?”
“Yes,” he said with a sigh, “but I’m not going to.”
“Maybe she’ll change her mind when she’s had a little time to recover.”
“I’m not counting on that.”
Sensing he didn’t want to talk about it anymore, she said, “Are you hungry?” The cops had been to the grocery store for them.
“No. I’m tired, though. Suddenly, I’m really tired.”
“Why don’t we lie down for a while?”
“Okay.”
They walked upstairs together, and Juliana closed the blinds in the big bedroom while he turned down the bed.
When they lay down, she snuggled into his embrace, her head resting on his chest. “Tom must be loaded to own a house like this.”
“He was a very successful corporate lawyer before he ran for state’s attorney,” Michael said.
“Must be nice to have a spare house at the beach. I wish I was in the mood to enjoy being stuck here.”
“I know,” he yawned.
“Want me to rub your back?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“Sure. Turn over.”
He did as she asked and sighed when she kneaded the tension from his shoulders. “God, you’re good at that,” he groaned.
“Remember the other time I gave you a backrub? That was the first night we slept together.”
“Platonically, as I recall,” he said with a small smile that quickly faded. “That was the night before opening arguments. I’d give anything to go back to that night.” His eyes moistened and then closed. “I would’ve called Rachelle first, and none of this would’ve happened.”
Juliana kissed his cheek and rubbed his back until he finally drifted into restless sleep.