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"Ma ma said not in Fel ’s Church,"Mrs Flowers repeated to Stefan "And that ht,"Stefan said "If he’s not there, then where else?"
"Well,"Elena said slowly, "it’s the police, isn’t it? They’ve caught him"Her heart felt as if it were in her stohed "I suppose so Ma ma should have told e influences"
"But the sheriff’s department is in Fel ’s Church What there is of it,"Elena objected
"Then,"Mrs Flowers said, "what about the police in another city close by? The ones who caemont,"Elena said heavily "That’s where those police that searched the boardinghouse were frouy came from, Meredith said"She looked at Meredith, who didn’t even -shot friends - and Tyler S to al those no-wo to al those no-women clubs with secret handshakes and stuff"
"And do we have anything like a plan for e get there?"Stefan asked
"I have a sort of Plan A,"Elena admitted "But I don’t know that it ork - you may know better than I do"
"Tell me"
Elena told hih "I think,"he said soberly afterward, "that it just an to think about Plans B and C so that they wouldn’t be stuck if Plan A should fail
They had to drive through Fel ’s Church to get to Ridgemont
Elena saw the burnt-out houses and the blackened trees through tears This was her town, the tohich, as a spirit, she had watched over and protected How could it have come to this?
And, worse, how could it ever possibly be put back together again?
Elena began to shiver uncontrol ably
Matt sat grio, and had found that the ere boarded over from the outside He wasn’t surprised, as al the s he knew back in Fel ’s Church were boarded up, and besides, he had tried these boards and knew that he could break out if he cared to
He didn’t care to
It was time to face his personal crisis He would have faced it back before Dairls to the Dark Dimension, but Meredith had talked him out of it
Matt knew that Mr Forbes, Caroline’s father, had al his cronies in the police and legal system here And so did Mr
Smal wood, the father of the real culprit They were unlikely to give him a fair trial But in any kind of trial, at some point they would at least have to listen to hiht not believe it now But later, when Caroline’s twins had as little control as olf babies were reputed to have over their shapes - Well, then they’d think of Matt, and what he’d said
He was doing the right thing, he assured hiht now, his insides felt as if they were made of lead
What’s the worst they can do to me? he wondered, and was unhappy to hear the echo of Meredith’s voice come back
"They can put you in jail, Matt Real jail; you’re over eighteen And while that h old felons with ho to be good news for you" And then after a session on the Internet, "Matt, in Virginia, it can be for life And theyou, don’t let them do this to you!
Sometimes it’s true that discretion is the better part of valor
They hold all the cards and we’re walking blindfolded in the dark"
She had gotten surprisingly worked up about it, ht dejectedly But it’s not exactly as if I volunteered for this And I bet they know those boards are pretty flimsy and if I break out, I’l be chased from here to who-knohere And if I stay put at least I’l get to tel the truth
For a very long tih the cracks in the boards that it was afternoon A man came in and offered a visit to the bathroom and a Coke Matt accepted both, but also demanded an attorney and his phone cal
"You’l have an attorney,"the rumbled at him as Matt came out of the bathroom "One’l be appointed for you"
"I don’t want that I want a real attorney One that I pick"
The usted "Kid like you can’t have any money You’l take the attorney appointed to you"
"My mom has money She’d want me to have the attorney we hire, not some kid out of law school"
"Aw,"the man said, "hoeet You want Mommy to take care of you And her al the way out in Clydesdale by now, I bet, with the black lady doctor"
Matt froze
Shut back in the jury room he tried frantical y to think How did they knohere his one? He tried the sound of "black lady doctor" on his tongue and found it tasted bad, sort of old-time-ish and just plain bad If the doctor had been Caucasian and one with the white er was rising in Matt And along with it a great fear Words slithered around hisand conspiracy and cover-up And outwitted
He guessed it was after five o’clock, after everybody who normal y worked at court had left, that they took hiured, the two officers who tried to talk to him in a cramped little room with a video cah it was sht as well confess everything, the other acting syot out of hand, right? We have a picture of the hickey she gave you She was hot stuff, right?"Wink, wink "I understand But then she started to give youpoint "No, ere not on a date, no, she did not give me a hickey, and when I tel Mr
Forbes you cal ed Caroline hot stuff, winkey winkey, he’s gonna get you fired, nals, but I’ve never seen theure one ’no’means ’no’!"
After that they beat hi the way he had just threatened and sassed theive up on hiation room, which, unlike the jury room, had no s Matt said over and over, for the benefit of the video ca denied my phone cal and ot hiood and bad cops into a completely empty courtroom No, not empty, he realized In the first roere a few reporters, one or tith sketchbooks ready
When Matt saw that, just like a real trial, and iined the pictures they’d sketch - just like he’d seen on TV, the lead in his sto of panic
But this hat he wanted, wasn’t it, to get the story out?
He was led to an empty table There was another table, with several well-dressedthat held Matt’s attention at that table was Caroline He didn’t recognize her at first She earing a dove gray cotton dress Gray! With no jewelry on at all, and subtle makeup The only color was in her hair - a brazen auburn It looked like her old hair, not the brindled color it had been when she was starting to become a olf Had she learned to control her form at last? That was bad news Very bad
And final y, with an air of walking on eggshel s, in caular this was, but they kept coh to fil the jury seats
Matt suddenly realized that there was a judge sitting at the desk high above hi? No
"Al rise for Justice Thomas Hol oway,"boomed a bailiff Matt stood and wondered if the trial was real y going to start without his lawyer But before everyone could sit, there was a crash of opening doors, and a tal bundle of papers on legs hurried into the courtroom, became a woman in her early twenties, and dumped the papers on the table beside hiasped
Judge Hol oway’s neck shot out like a tortoise’s, to bring her into his realht "You have been appointed on behalf of the defense?"
"If it pleases Your Honor, yes, Your Honor - al of thirty ht sessions, Your Honor"
"Don’t you be pert with e Hol oway snapped As he went on to al ow the prosecution attorneys to introduce themselves, Matt pondered on the word "pert"It was another of those words, he thought, that was never used toward irl or woman sounded just fine But why?
"Cal me Gwen,"a voice whispered beside hiirl with brown eyes and brown hair back in a ponytail She wasn’t exactly pretty, but she looked honest and straightforward, whichin the room
"I’irl, Carolyn?"Ghispering, showing a picture of the old Caroline at sos that went up and up to almost meet before a miniskirt took over, black and lacy She had on a white blouse so tight at the bust that it hardly seemed able to contain her natural assets Her makeup was exactly the opposite of subtle
"Her nairl, but that’s her - the real her,"Matt whispered "Before Klaus ca to her boyfriend, Tyler Smal wood But I have to tel you what happened when she found out she was pregnant - "
She’d gone nuts, hat had happened No one knehere Tyler was - dead after the final fight against Klaus, turned into a ful wolf in hiding; whatever So Caroline had tried to pin it on Matt - until Shinichi appeared and beca a cruel joke on her, pretending that Shinichi would marry her It was after she realized that Shinichi didn’t care at allthat Caroline had gone total y bal istic, and had real y tried tohole in her life Matt did his best to explain this to Gwen so she could explain it to the jury, until the judge’s voice interrupted hie Hol oway, "since the hour is so late Wil the prosecution cal its first witness?"
"Wait! Objection!"Matt shouted, ignoring Gwen’s tugging at his are’s rulings!"
"And the judge can’t do this tohis T-shirt back froers "I haven’t even had a chance to meet with my public defender yet!"
"Maybe you should have accepted a public defender earlier,"replied the judge, sipping frolass of water He suddenly thrust his head at Matt and snapped, "Eh?"
"That’s ridiculous,"cried Matt "You wouldn’t give et a lawyer!"
"Did he ever ask for a phone cal ?"Judge Hol oway snapped, his eyes traveling around the room
The two officers who had beat Matt up solemnly shook their heads At this, the bailiff, whouy who’d kept hi his head back and forth in the negative They al three wagged, al for it,"the judge snapped It see "You can’t de - "
"I object!" Matt shouted even louder "They’re al lying! Look at your own tapes of the - "
"Counselor,"the judge snarled at Gwen, "control your client or you wil be held in contempt of court!"
"You have to shut up,"Gwen hissed at Matt
"You can’t make me shut up! You can’t have this trial while you’re breaking al the rules!"
"Shut your trap!" The judge belted out the words at a surprising volume He then added, "The next person to make a remark without my express perht in jail and five hundred dol ars"
He paused to look around to see if this had sunk in "Now,"he said "Prosecution, cal your first witness"
"We cal Caroline Beulah Forbes to the stand"
Caroline’s figure had changed Her stomach was sort of upside-down-avocado-shaped now Matt heard murmurs
"Caroline Beula Forbes, do you swear that the testiive wil be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"
So He didn’t know if it was er or mostly fear or an equal coeyser ready to blow - not necessarily because he wanted to, but because forces beyond his control were taking hold of him Gentle Matt, Quiet Matt, Obedient Matt - he had left al those behind so Matt, that was about al he could be
Fro into his reverie And one voice pricked and stung like a nettle
"Do you recognize the boy you have named as your former boyfriend Matthew Jeffrey Honeycutt here in this room?"
"Yes,"the prickly nettle voice said softly "He’s sitting at the defense table, in the gray T-shirt"
Matt’s head flew up He looked Caroline straight in the eye
"You know that’s a lie,"he said "We never went on one date together Ever"
The judge, who had seemed to be asleep, nooke up