by: MacSas

“Quiet please. This pre trial hearing is simply to decide if there is sufficient evidence to charge one Lucas. K. Duke retired Admiral of the United States Naval and Marine Corps, with attempted murder. The charge pertains to the shooting of one Alessandro Conelli, commonly known as Lex Conelli. The alleged incident took place in Room 18 on floor 4 of the Tri County Hospital, a room that was occupied by Daisy Amanda Duke. When witnesses are called to the stand, they are to answer all questions directed to them, to the best of their ability. There will be no jury at this time. It’s just me”

The Judge gave a small smile as he added the last words. He finished his instructions with a warning against outburst in the courtroom. He then looked over at the attorneys expectantly. “When your ready, Mr Richard’s”

The older of Lex’s attorneys stepped forward. He took a moment to button the jacket of his silk suit. He looked well paid and exuded confidence. Pacing in front of the Judge, occasionally looking down his nose at the Duke’s, Richard’s laid out the base of their suit. Daisy listened to his opening gambit, mentally replacing his figure with that of a proud peacock strutting to and fro. There was no doubt Mr Richard’s enjoyed hearing is own voice. Daisy rolled her eyes as he wrapt up his speech some ten minutes later. If he thought the Duke’s and their friends were impressed he was wrong. “And all he really said was, Luke did it” Bo stage whispered to his row. A smattering of giggles caused Mr Richard’s to glance down his nose, once again, at the opposition. “So, your Honour” he concluded. “We intend to prove that Mr. Duke took his military regulation weapon to the hospital that day, with the sole intention of killing our client. We will also show that the alleged attack on Miss Duke was the result of a lover’s argument that ended tragically. At the end of this hearing, we feel confident that you will find in our favour, that there is ample evidence against Mr. Duke and that a jury should judge him on that evidence. Thank you”

Blow Bag, Daisy thought as Richard’s sat down. So she and Lex had merely had a misunderstanding at the cabin? A misunderstanding that she would carry with her for the rest of her life. She fought the urge to stick her tongue out at the high priced lawyer as he turned and glanced at her with a smug face.

Bret now got to his feet. His approach was starkly different. He didn’t adjust his clothes; he knew he looked good enough. He didn’t pace, rather he looked the Judge in the eye. No fluff, no posturing, just simple legal talk. And he was eloquent in his speech, Daisy thought proudly.

“Sir, I will show that Mr Alessandro Conelli attacked Miss Duke with the intent to kill her. I will also show that there was a history of abuse and stalking before the attack. Mr. Conelli defied a court issued restraining order many times, in order to harass Miss Duke, the result being that she was in fear for her life. I have well documented occasions of police in Texas being called to my client’s residence to remove Mr. Conelli from her property. True, he was never arrested, however, this was only due to Mr. Conelli leaving before the arrival of the police. This became such a common pattern that when Miss Duke arrived in Hazzard County she felt that Mr. Conelli would soon turn up looking for her. How right she was.” Bret paused for effect before continuing. “On the night in question, Mr. Duke knew that Mr. Conelli had tried to kill his cousin once and that he would probably try again. The weapon he used had been issued to him by the military, and as such, he was within his rights to carry it. Mr. Duke had no choice but to shoot Mr. Conelli in order to save his cousin. Your Honour, quite simply, I will show that there are no charges for Mr. Duke to answer”

As Bret sat down, Luke looked back at Daisy.

“Alessandro Conelli?” he mouthed.

Daisy shrugged her shoulders and smiled. No wonder he went by Lex.

*   *   *   *

“Did you ensure the door was locked, Miss Duke?”

Richard’s had been questioning Daisy for the best part of thirty minutes, and she was ready to rip his heart out through his throat. Problem was, the man didn’t seem to posses such a basic thing as a heart. Bret had eased her through the telling of the relationship with Lex and the downward spiral it had quickly taken. When he entered her diary into evidence, the Judge had been so interested in what Daisy had written he had called an early lunch so he could read it entirely. Bret saw this as a promising move by the Judge. Following the lunch break Bret had recalled Daisy to the stand and asked her about the relationship. He then asked her to recall the events of the attack. He had been gentle, courteous, and had even asked if she’d like the courtroom cleared of the public during her testimony. Under his watchful eye she found it was not as difficult to recall that night as she first thought it would’ve been. She had been advised by Bret to maintain eye contact with him. While on the stand she found that during moments of faltering, the eye contact enabled her to see his encouragement. She knew that the only way she would have gotten through her time on the stand was under Bret’s questions. Now she faced the man who desperately wanted to punch holes in her story, and he didn’t care if he made her feel worthless in order to do it.

“Miss Duke?”

What had he asked her? She started to sweat a little. Oh, she hated him so much! She had known him during her time with Lex and she knew that one little slip would signal the kill for a man like him. Just like a lion waiting for the wounded animal in the pack to show the first drop of blood.

“I’m sorry,” she said huskily. “Could you repeat the question?”

Richard’s looked at her with disdain. “Did you lock the door?” he enunciated slowly, as if chastising a small child.

Daisy opened her mouth to answer yes, she had locked the door, but she paused. Did she lock the door? She didn’t know. She looked at Bret, who calmly gazed back, willing her on. Oh God, she thought. If I get this wrong, Richard’s will crucify me. She looked around the courtroom, near panic. Then her gaze rested on soft brown eyes that conveyed gentleness, understanding and support. Martin.

She sat a little straighter, looked Richard’s in the eye and said simply “I don’t remember”

“You don’t remember?” Richard’s tried for an aghast tone, but came off a little too obnoxious.

“I was on the porch drinking coffee before I went to bed”

“So you may have left it unlocked?”

“I guess so”

“Miss Duke, isn’t it a fact that you had been in that safe house for three days?”

Daisy frowned at Richard’s sudden change in questioning. “Yes it’s true”

“Did you feel safe there?”

“Yes”

“So” Richard’s drawled out the word, “chances are the door was unlocked”

Damn, Daisy thought. By establishing that she had felt safe in the house, it would be an easy leap for him to convince a judge, or jury for that matter, that locking the door wasn’t high on her list of things to remember.

“Would that be fair to say, Miss Duke” he smiled without a hint of warmth.

Daisy sighed. “Yes, that would be fair”

Richard’s walked to the opposition table and needlessly ruffled some papers. In her role as a CSI, Daisy had given evidence enough times to know lawyer tactic. Many attorneys would needlessly shuffle papers, stage whisper to their co chairs or clients, and use other ploys to make those watching think more of them than necessary. Richard’s would know that this made him look important, as well as buying him time should he need it.

“Miss Duke” he continued, not looking up from his papers, “when you say you awakened to find a man leaning over your bed, was it dark?”

“Yes”

“You didn’t have a night lamp on?”

“No”

“So” now he looked up, “how do you know it was in fact my client that was in your room that night?”

Daisy shrugged. “I just knew”

“You just knew” Richard’s answered slowly, savouring the moment, turning his back on Daisy and walking to where Bret and Luke sat. Bret looked at him with fury. He knew Richard’s enjoyed the hunt, enjoyed the kill even more. He was heading for the kill and Bret couldn’t do a thing to stop him. “How did you know?” he asked, keeping his gaze on Bret and Luke.

“Who else would it be but him?” Daisy snapped.

Richard’s smiled at Luke. “One of the QRT men?” he directed his question to Daisy.

“Of course it wasn’t” she replied, starting to sound tired and disgusted.

“But, how do you know?” Richard’s asked. Turning his head to look at her over his shoulder he added, “Could you see?”

“No! It was dark…”

Bret huffed a breath behind his fist. Luke looked down at the table. Damn! she thought. Richard’s had caught her in a brilliant move that she should have been prepared for. She knew he was going to use this tactic, yet she’d allowed herself to let her temper rule her normally clear headed thinking.

“Exactly Miss Duke” Richard’s finished, spinning on his heel to face her in triumph. “As you say, it was dark”

The courtroom had cleared for the day.

Martin sat at the back of the room, thinking. It seemed that Luke might be going to trial. Lex’s lawyers were brilliant. So much so that, had Martin not been personally involved in the case, he may have believed that Lex was the victim of mindless violence by Luke. He knew that Luke had deliberately shot Lex. The fact that Lex had been trying to suffocate Daisy at the time was mere coincidence. Of course, there was no way that he was about to let anyone else know what he knew. Luke had done Daisy a favour, and hopefully would be able to walk from it a free man.

Movement at the front of the courtroom caught his attention. Richard’s and his co chair, Simmons were still at their table. They had been joined by Bret who was deflecting their argument of the diary being entered as evidence. Bret was good at what he did, Martin conceded reluctantly. And he never showed a moment of doubt during the hearing, even when Daisy had slipped enough to allow reasonable doubt to be considered by the Judge.

He turned his attention to the doubles doors as Bo walked back into the cavernous room. “Daisy went back to the farm with Luke and Cooter” he told Martin. He looked down the aisle at the gathering of the lawyers. “What’s going on here?”

Martin got to his feet. “Not sure” he said.

“Let’s go see then,” Bo said.

“I understand that this has been a terrible thing for her to endure, but I believe that my client is innocent,” Richard’s was telling Bret. Martin and Bo stood to the side, discreetly listening to the conversation.

“Snow White, snow way” Bo whispered. Martin smiled at the younger Duke’s simple way of seeing things.

“I will be taking the gloves off in open court” Richard’s was adding. At Bret’s laugh, he added, “I have been fairly restrained in my questioning today because this is a pre trial hearing, and Miss Duke is obviously still recovering. I will argue that she, in fact, invited Mr. Conelli into the cabin that night”

“I don’t get it” Bo whispered.

“They’re debating whether or not to go to trial,” Martin told him. “A lot of times the attorneys will get together and decide if they should go to trial, or take some other action, such as civil suit or private settlement”

“So they don’t think Daisy is a good enough witness?”

“Well, Bret may well be thinking that Daisy won’t stand up to questioning at trial, especially against Richard’s. Let’s face it Bo, she didn’t do too good today”

Bo sighed. “Does this mean Luke walks?”

“No” Martin whispered. “Richard’s will demand a private suit, which means that Luke pays Lex compensation but doesn’t go to prison. It’s the better move for Lex, because Richard knows that the evidence will be stacked against Lex in open court, no matter how confident he sounds right now”

“Maybe it should go to trial” Bo seethed, a little too loudly. “That way Daisy will get her chance to have her say. It’s her right”

“And what about Mr. Conelli’s right” asked Richard’s, walking over to the two.

“He doesn’t have any” Bo sneered.

“So quick to believe the best of your cousin, aren’t you Mr. Duke?” Simmons added. “Mr. Conelli maintains that your cousin let him into the cabin that night. They were talking about getting their relationship back on track.”

“Is this some kind of a bad joke?” Bo fumed. “Your really going to believe that lying, drug dealing, woman basher?”

“Alleged woman basher, Mr. Duke” Simmons cautioned. “And it’s not a question of whether or not I believe him. I just have to make the jury believe him”

Martin now stepped forward. “” If your client gets off it will be open season on Daisy, and you know it”

“Lieutenant,” Simmons smirked. “I’ve heard of your ‘interest’ in Miss Duke. Of course you want to believe the best of your girlfriend. But, do you really believe she didn’t know that door was unlocked? Maybe it was unlocked for a reason”

The innuendo of Simmons comment hung in the silence.

Martin looked at Bret. When it seemed the lawyer wasn’t going to say anything, he took action himself. Without warning, he swung his fist at Simmons. Bo intercepted the blow just in time.

“You better get out of here while you still can” he advised the two smug attorneys.

As the pair left, Martin turned to Bo. “You should have let me hit him”

“And what good would that have done?” Bret asked.

“It would have made me feel better,” Martin snapped. “Besides, I didn’t see you stepping up to the plate”

“What?” Bret asked.

“You just stood there and let that slime ball make that innuendo about Daisy. Would it have killed you to defend her out of court, or do you save the defence for when you’re on the clock?”

“Settle down” Bret answered, collecting his briefcase from the table. He started towards the door, and then turned to face the Mountie. “Your jealousy is getting the better of you”

“You bet it is” Martin fumed. “How dare you walk in and act like a hero.

“I’m her friend” Bret said.

“Well, where were you when she really needed you? Where were you when she was so terrified she couldn’t close her eyes at night? Where were you when she was in tears because she couldn’t roll over due to the pain in her side? Where were you when she questioned everything in her life, looking for a reason for this?” When it seemed Bret was about to answer, Martin stopped him. “I was the one who held her so she felt safe enough to sleep. I was the one that massaged her arms and legs to relieve the pain in her muscles. I was the one who gave her the assurance she constantly needed.” He paused, took an emotional breath, and then continued. “Me, not you. Me”

After an uneasy silence, Bret gave a sigh. “Well,” he said. “I have another case to prepare for” With that he walked to the doors of the courtroom.

Bo turned to Martin. “I think you scored a victory”

Martin turned towards the door. “Doesn’t really mean anything now”

Bo frowned. “What’s that mean?”

“Well, it seems Luke won’t go to trial. A deal will be inked out. All will be well again” He shrugged. “My job here is done, as they say”

“You can’t leave yet. What about Daisy?”

“Something tells me she’ll be okay” Martin smiled. “Besides, I told you I’m not going to get into a fight over her”

“Well” Bo sighed, joining Martin at the doors. “Your leaving will accomplish one thing”

“What’s that?”

“It will get Daisy so mad at you you’ll be glad our miles away” He laughed. “Much as I love my cousin, she is ugly when she’s mad!”

Martin laughed. “I’ll risk it” His cell phone rang.

“Your funeral” Bo scoffed, as Martin answered it.

Bo stood to one side of the vast hallway outside the courtroom, as Martin took the call. He thought of whether or not he should risk telling Daisy that Martin planned to move on. Or even that Martin and Bret had had words, sort of. Maybe he should tell Luke, and have Luke tell Daisy. Yeah, he thought, that was the safest way. Well, it would keep all his body parts in working order anyway.

“Hey” he said, as Martin made his way over to him. “I have an idea about this Lax case. What if we threaten to make public Daisy’s diary, that way Lex may just go away with no civil suit or private compensation”?

“I don’t think that will be necessary” Martin said, putting his phone back into his pocket.

“Well, we have to do something. Lex getting a pay off after what he’s done is nothing short of criminal. There must be a way to get justice for Daisy”

“She just got it” Martin said softly.

“What?” Bo frowned.

“She just got justice. Alessandro Conelli was pronounced dead thirty minutes ago” Martin paused so Bo could take in what he was saying. Then repeated it out loud again, for his own benefit.

“Lex is dead”