Page 102 of The First Gentleman

It’s almost ten. Should I wait until morning? Screw it. I need to know what’s going on.

I call his office, and as I expected, it goes straight to voicemail: “This is Dr. Cameron Graham. Please leave a message.”

No way I can ask him about this Doc Cams thing on a recording. I need to talk to him, preferably in person. So, for now, I just make nice. “Hi, Dr. Graham. It’s Brea Cooke. The courthouse pass is great, so thank you. Need to talk to you when you have a minute. Bye.”

I hang up and turn on the television. I scarf down two slices of pizza while I watch Court TV’s recap of today’s testimony.

Another New Hampshire state trooper testified about finding a grave-size hole on property belonging to Cole Wright on Lake Marie. The prosecution tried to suggest that Wright was attempting to get the bones buried there to hide them away. But Tess Hardy got the trooper to admit that the property wasn’t secure and that anybody could have dug that hole.

The next person on the stand was a woman named Stacey Millett. She’d worked at Gillette Stadium during the time Cole and Suzanne had dated and confirmed it was an open secret that they were together. Everybody there also knew about Cole’s temper, she claimed, backing it up with a memory of hearing him talking rough to Suzanne after practice one day, saying something like “Suzanne, I’m gonna wring your pretty little neck!”

Tess Hardy poked holes in Millett’s memories. Then she asked her why she’d never reported these threats to the police if she was so concerned. Stacey’s answers weren’t great. I turn up the sound as they show the same clip for the third time.

The camera is focused on the witness box. Poor Stacey looks a little bewildered and tired. Not used to this kind of pressure.

Tess Hardy’s voice comes from off-camera. “Ms. Millett, have you ever been angry at someone?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I meanreallymad.”

“Sure.”

“In the heat of the moment, have you ever said anything like ‘I could kill you right now!’”

“Well, yeah,” says Millett, “but I didn’t really mean it. I was just letting off steam.”

“So you’ve never actually killed anybody?”

“Objection!” Bastinelli’s voice.

“Overruled,” says the judge. “Ms. Millett, you may answer the question.”

“No! Of course not!”

“I didn’t think so,” says Hardy.

Another point scored for the defense. But the game clock has just started.

CHAPTER

95

Cole Wright’s private cell phone buzzes on his nightstand.

He grabs it. Only two people in the world have this number. “Hello?”

“Hey there, it’s me. Did I wake you?”

Cole rubs his eyes with one hand. “Hey, Maddy. No problem. I’m up. Good to hear your voice.”

“Good to hear yours too.”

He jams a pillow behind his back and sits up against the headboard of his bed at the inn in Kingston, New Hampshire.

“I’m sorry I had to leave before court was adjourned today,” Maddy says. “Serbia’s threatening Kosovo again, and the Chinese are expanding their territorial waters.”

“So I heard,” says Cole. “You worried?”

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