Page 136 of The First Gentleman

“Did you say anything?”

“I can’t remember exactly, but I think I made a joke like ‘Who’s choking now?’”

A murmur from the gallery. Dow shoots a look that way but doesn’t bang his gavel.

“Were you angry at Mr. Gervin?” asks Hardy.

“Of course not. We were just messing around.”

“And were you actually choking him?”

“No. I was barely touching him. It lasted for about two seconds. And, unfortunately, that’s when Mr. Donovan snapped the picture.”

“Mr. Wright, what are your thoughts as you look at that photograph today?”

Cole sighs heavily. “I’m embarrassed by it. It’s sexist. It’s disrespectful. It’s inappropriate. I wish it hadn’t happened.”

“No further questions.”

As a lawyer, I take my hat off to Tess Hardy. I’m staring at Cole Wright, the man who I’m convinced has done terrible things, and she’s almost making me like the guy.

CHAPTER

121

During recess, in the conference room at the back of the courthouse, Cole Wright is pumped. The young associates are too.

“I just heard from Maddy,” says Cole. “She thinks it went really well.”

“So do I,” says Tess. “You were solid on the stand. Likable even.”

Cole smiles. He feels like he used to feel during a big play, when he’d see an opening in the backfield and blow right through it. Cole can’t wait to get back into the courtroom, tell the rest of his story, convince the jurors of his innocence.

He looks across the table at Tess. “So when do I go back in?”

Tess stares back. “Never,” she says. “You’re benched.”

Cole cocks his head. “What do you mean? We’re just getting started!”

Tess glances at the other attorneys around the table. “Give us a minute.”

Cole asks his Secret Service detail for the same.

Tess gets up from her chair and closes the door after everyonefiles out. She crosses the room and takes the chair right next to Cole’s.

“Cole, I kept my word. I agreed to put you on the stand, and I did. You did a great job of neutralizing that photograph. So good that Bastinelli didn’t even want to cross-examine you.”

“Exactly. Isn’t that a win? Shouldn’t we capitalize on it?”

“Listen to me. If I put you up there again and get you to testify to what you’ve told me—that the watch was yours and that it was stolen, that the hole was on your property but you didn’t know about it, that Suzanne’s bracelet got broken in an argument but it was an accident—it opens up all those subjects to cross by the prosecution. Bastinelli will keep you up there for days, trying to make you look bad, and he’ll find every little inconsistency in your story.”

Cole is clenching his fists, trying to suppress his anger. He feels betrayed by the person he’s paying to defend him. “I’m innocent!” he shouts. “I want people to know it!”

Hardy stays cool, which makes him even more furious.

“Cole. This was nearly twenty years ago. At some point when you’re on that stand, your memory will slip, and you’ll get caught—maybe not in a lie, but in something that sounds like one. And it will take days for me to rehabilitate you.”

Cole is frustrated, burning with a need to talk, to tell his side. It all spills out in a torrent.

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