.
him.” She drew in a breath. “He was in bed with a...woman.” Callie had other names for Andrew’s former colleague but refused to lower herself to their level.
A choking sound from the back of the room had Callie and several others turning.
Heat suffused Callie’s face and spread through her body as she relived Andrew’s betrayal. There was the woman, standing at the back of the courtroom as if she belonged. So sure of herself that she’d come to observe Callie’s further humiliation. How long had their affair been going on? Was it serious or merely a one-night fling?
Callie didn’t care. Once a cheater, always a cheater. She’d never take Andrew back.
The judge gave her a little prod. “What happened next?”
Truthfully, Callie wasn’t a hundred percent sure. Everything had blurred as she’d run out of the apartment. The blood rushing in her ears had been so loud that if she had knocked over Andrew’s precious vase, she hadn’t heard or felt it.
“I ran out of the apartment and went home.” Callie shrugged her shoulders. “I have no recollection of knocking over his vase, accidentally or on purpose. I do know that I didn’t throw it.”
The next thing she remembered was waking to the ringing phone, her pillowcase wet from tears, thinking Andrew had wanted to apologize. Instead he’d wanted her to reimburse him for the stupid vase. The thing was ugly, with some kind of battle scene on it, but he’d bought it in Germany several years ago and claimed it was very expensive.
Callie had refused to pay him and a few choice words to describe her feelings about his betrayal had remained unspoken. In return, he’d offered her a few hours to think about her options. The only option she’d been interested in was the one where she’d never see him again.
She’d gone to work as usual the next day. When she hadn’t heard back from him, she’d assumed he’d come to his senses and realized it was unfair to make her pay for something she didn’t break.
The following morning she’d awoken to banging on her apartment door. Two officers were there to escort her to the Montgomery County Detention Center. She’d spent several hours in an interrogation room until her lawyer made arrangements for her arraignment. At least she hadn’t been subjected to a jail cell.
She’d sworn to herself right then and there that she would never, ever, get involved with an assistant state’s attorney again. Or a lawyer. Or anyone else who could put her in this kind of position.
For that matter, she was swearing off men altogether.
Period.
The judge drummed her fingers on her desk, appearing to want Callie to say more.
“Your Honor, if I did knock over Mr. Slater’s vase, then it was by accident.” Callie couldn’t help adding, “An accident caused directly by Mr. Slater’s own inexcusable actions.”
The judge’s brows rose but she kept her focus on Callie while raising a hand to quiet Andrew, who was halfway out of his chair.
He pinched his lips shut but not before glaring at Callie as he sat.
She guessed he didn’t expect his private “affair” would come out in public. He probably thought he’d scared her and she’d gladly pay for his precious vase now.
“Then you admit you broke the vase?” the judge asked.
“No.”
“No?”
“I don’t remember bumping into it or breaking it, so I can’t say for sure that I broke it. We only have his version of events, and I’m not about to accept the opinion of a known liar.”
The judge nodded. “Thank you.” She turned to Andrew. “Mr. Slater, did you see Ms. James break the vase?”
“Well—”
The judge nodded, pursing her lips. “That’s what I thought. Do you perhaps have a witness who will come forward to verify that Ms. James broke the vase?”
Andrew looked to the back of the room where the witch was now seated, shaking her head vigorously.
Andrew turned back to the judge. “No, I don’t.”
“So it’s a ‘he said, she said’ case?”
Andrew looked at Callie, disgust on his face. “Unfortunately yes, Your Honor.”
“And you still think you can be successful at trial?” The judge wanted to know.
Again Andrew glanced to the back of the courtroom before answering. He straightened. “Yes, I do.”
The judge addressed Callie. “I know you don’t want to accept the plea agreement from the state, but I have an alternative so as to stop wasting the court’s time and the state’s money.”
Callie waited for the judge to continue, her knees knocking. Maybe she should have just given Andrew the money for his ridiculous vase.
Then again, why should she give him the satisfaction? He’d already gotten what he wanted. Callie glanced back at the woman she’d last seen straddling him.
Callie straightened her shoulders and raised her head high. She had nothing to be sorry for.
“Ms. James, I don’t know whether or not you broke Mr. Slater’s vase. And if you did, I don’t know if it was on purpose or by accident. So my solution to this is Solomonesque.” From the confused looks the judge was getting from around the courtroom, Callie wasn’t the only one who didn’t get her meaning. “King Solomon, people. You know, cut the baby in half and all that?”
Callie still didn’t understand.
“Okay, Ms. James, you will pay for half of the vase.” She looked at the papers in front of her. “That comes to two thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars.” She looked at Andrew. “That means, Mr. Slater, you will be responsible for the other half.”
Neither party spoke.
“Is that agreeable to both of you?” the judge asked.
“But—” Callie was about to say no. The whole thing was not fair.
The judge held up a hand. “Let me remind you, Ms. James. If you don’t accept this agreement, then bail will be set and a trial date chosen. Mr. Slater will likely have time to convince a particular witness to testify and back his version of events, leaving you to defend yourself in front of a jury of your peers, and you seem to have no witnesses to make your case.”
Callie couldn’t believe it. Andrew was going to win because, no matter what she did, she would have to pay.
She spoke through clenched teeth, fisting her hands so tight that her nails dug into her flesh. “I have no other options?” She was an expert at controlling her temper, had done it out of necessity, but she was a hair’s width away from losing it.
The judge watched her carefully. “No, you don’t. And I’m going to add something beneficial to your overall well-being. I don’t know if you broke Mr. Slater’s vase, but, frankly, you appear to be wound way too tight. I’d like you to get some anger management therapy.”
Callie’s eyes nearly popped from their sockets. Was the judge kidding? Callie held back the hysterical laughter choking her. “Why do I need therapy when he’s the one who lied and cheated?” She pointed at Andrew, quite pleased with himself. She snapped her mouth shut.
“You’re making my point, Ms. James,” the judge cautioned. “I’m beginning to think you may have broken the vase on purpose.” The judge made a note on her papers. “So I need to know if you accept the plea deal. Pay for half the vase, seek therapy, and I’m going to add one hundred hours of community service to the deal.”
“Community service?” Her lawyer finally spoke up. “That’s completely unfair, Your Honor.”
“Mr.