Page 114 of The Wrong Side of the Law

“And each and every one of them was betrayed.” Anderson’s voice is a stage whisper, and everyone in the room leans forward, not wanting to miss a single syllable.

“These young people were picked because their skills werejustgood enough to be credible, but they were unknown enough to be expendable, and they were poor enough that they couldn’t afford the kind of dream team legal defense that might have been able to save them.”

The reporter is looking down again, her hands busily working at her phone, but not out of boredom. Her eyes flick back and forth between Anderson and the screen. Is she looking up the names?

“These young people—and many, many others over the past few decades—had no idea that they were only pawns in one unscrupulous man’s plot! They had no reason to suspect that they would have narcotics planted in some cherished possession, a gift given to them either at this man’s orders or--” his voice drops to a whisper again “—perhaps by his own hand!”

Oh, this is gonna be good. If Anderson actually says the name, this is going to crank the pressure up to eleven. There’s no going back, after that. And isn’t that what we want? We want Ferry on trial here, not Frank. And it’s going to absolutely infuriate John Whitehall, who just wanted Frank Wilson to vanish quietly into a prison cell.

We don’t want that to happen, though.

We. What we?

Me and Emily, of course.

The ache in my chest is back, and a leaden queasiness fills my gut. I want to turn back and look at her, see what she’s thinking. But I can’t. God, Emily, why did you have to go and do that? With Anderson pushing this, and the way he’s playing the jury, we might have been able to make this work without making you a sacrificial lamb.

“Frank Wilson is on trial today, ladies and gentlemen, because of the perfidy of his employer! He stands accused before you not for anything thathedid, but because it suited his employer’s pathological need for the spotlight! Mister Griffin and Mister Chamberlain before him, and Ms. Yee as well, they fell victims to the same man, as have untold numbers of others before them! Over the next few days the defense will show that my client is not the criminal. He is the victim.”

How much of this performance is from Anderson, and how much of it is from Emily? Just a few short weeks ago he was begging his client to accept a bullshit plea deal. He had no confidence that Frank was innocent. He had no idea that there was anything beneath the surface of this case. Only since Emily came to him, since she was ripped away from me, has this new man surfaced.

Does Emily even realize the effect that she has on other people? Does she understand how completely this worn-down public defender has been transformed under the pressure that she’s put on him? Is she aware of how much strength her brother is drawing from her? Can she tell that she makes everyone around her want to be the best possible version of themselves?

I certainly didn’t understand it. Not until she was gone, leaving nothing of herself behind but a ragged hole in my heart and a hint of lavender on my pillowcase.

Why? Why did she have to bethisperson? The one with all the strength, and all the commitment; the one willing to make any sacrifice to protect the ones she loves most?

But if she was any other person, would losing her matter?

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client isn’t the criminal here. My client is an innocent victim, on trial for a crime he did not commit! A crime perpetrated by a man named Robert Grant. A man who each and every single one of you knows by a different name.”

In the middle of the floor, Anderson stands in front of the judge’s bench, reveling in the electric atmosphere he’s created inside the courtroom. Every eye is fixed on him, wondering what he’s going to say next.

“A man whoyouknow as Robert Ferry.”

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