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away even as the other agent, Marisa, was escorting Presley into this room. She d protested but
Marisa had assured her Seth would join her soon. Now the only question was, when was soon?
There was a small niggling fear in her heart she wouldn t see Seth again. What if Evan kept them
apart?
She straightened her spine when the door swung open. Evan and another man with a briefcase
bustled in, smiling and shaking her hand.
Miss Johnson, I m Art Lancaster, the prosecutor for this case. Thank you for coming today.
It was jolting to hear anyone call her by her former name. She took a deep breath and nodded.
I m glad I could be here. I m honestly anxious to get my testimony over with.
The door swung open again and Seth came in with four coffees. Presley wanted to jump up from
the table and kiss him. She needed him and she needed the caffeine. He passed out the coffees and
settled in a chair next to hers.
Presley didn t miss the glance Art gave to Evan. It didn t look like a happy one. Is there
something wrong, Mr. Lancaster?
Call me Art. Art looked over at Seth, who was serenely sipping his hot coffee. It s unusual
for another party to be included in these preparations.
She had never met Art but he appeared to be a by-the-book kind of guy. Seth would love him.
Presley, however, wasn t going to be dictated to. She d been through too much in the last two months
to let anyone intimidate her. Seth is an involved party. Can we get started?
She smiled sweetly but she kept her tone even and firm. Art s eyebrows shot up but he nodded
and pulled a stack of papers from his briefcase.
First, here is the subpoena from the Grand Jury. It s a moot point now since you re here of your
own volition, but you may want to read it over. He handed her a set of folded papers, which she
passed to Seth. She trusted him to look through them while she listened. Art didn t miss her action
and frowned. You, of course, should not discuss your testimony with anyone.
Seth held up his hand. Excuse me, but she doesn t have to keep her testimony a secret. There s
no law or obligation to do so. I m not saying she wants to talk about it, but telling her she has to is a
misleading statement.
Art s face turned a shade of red. You are correct. I was asking as a courtesy.
Presley s respect for Seth grew exponentially. His law enforcement background made him a good
ally. Evan leaned forward, his brows drawn together. He s right, Art. Presley s here of her own
free will, but let s keep what s legal separate from what we re asking her to do as a favor. I didn t
encourage Presley to get an attorney since I thought this would be a friendly exchange. If it s not
going to be, she needs counsel.
Art s brows drew down even further. Who s Presley? He shuffled through papers as if looking
for the reference.
Presley placed her hand on top of the papers, the rifling grating on her nerves. I am Presley. It s
my new identity. Katie Johnson was killed in a car bomb in south Tampa.
It was quite freeing to say it. Katie was gone and even when she was free from Randall, she
wouldn t be coming back. Presley was alive, however. It was a watershed moment and she snuck a
look at Seth, but he seemed to be unaware of the gravity of what had just happened.
Art shook his head and turned to the first paper on the pile. Fine. This is a friendly discourse.
I ll just prepare you for testifying. He picked up a picture from the file folder. Answer the
questions truthfully. Listen closely to the questions, and answer only the question I ask. Give no
extra information. Don t go off topic and don t speculate. Keep your answers short, simple, and to
the point. For example, if I hold up this picture and ask you if you know the person in the photo what
do you say?
Yes. She d seen every episode of Law and Order ever made.
Art nodded approvingly. Good. I didn t ask you who it was, only if you knew him. Excellent.
Keep that up and you ll do fine. Now let s go through some of the questions I m going to ask you.
An hour and a half and two more coffees later, Art turned over the last piece of paper in the
stack. Presley sighed and rubbed her neck. She d been sitting too long in one place.
Are we done? When do I testify?
Art s expression was concerned. We re done. He seemed to be looking for the right words.
Ms. Johnson, are you being completely truthful today? I asked you questions regarding documents
and incidents that happened months ago, the only two months you were actually in Simon s office.
Yet you recalled them as if they were yesterday. No juror is going to believe your memory is that
clear. You seem quite genuine, but I have trouble understanding how you could remember something
from that far in the past. Most people can t remember what they ate for lunch the day before
yesterday.
She felt Seth stiffen in the chair beside her and placed a soothing hand on his thigh under the
table. I understand your concern. I have an excellent memory. Better than average. My stepfather
once had me tested for an eidetic memory.
Evan pursed his lips. Eidetic? That s like a photographic memory, right?
Presley shrugged. Something like that. I didn t score high enough on the test, but they did say I
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