Page 33 of After Anna

“Way to go, Maverick!”

“Tom saves the day.” Maggie got more nervous as the next scene came on, Maverick getting chewed out with his partner Goose, the pilot who died.

“I get it. He wants to be number one. Because testosterone.”

Maggie kept her eye on Goose. “Anna, I’m still wondering if we should watch a different movie. This has sad parts. It’s a movie about pilots.”

Anna looked over, getting the message. “I’ll be okay. I’m not a little kid.”

“Okay, good,” Maggie said, but she worried as the movie progressed, one iconic scene after the next. Room service arrived, filling the air with the delicious aromas of tomato and mozzarella, but Anna never took her eyes from the screen as she set her tray on the bed.

“Jester seems like a jerk.” Anna sipped her soda, and another aerial battle came on.

“He is.” Maggie took a bite of her eggplant parm. Anna seemed to be having fun, giggling when the scene changed to beach volleyball.

“These guys have sick bodies!” Anna ate hungrily, and so did Maggie, and they both finished their meals, wisecracking through the movie, then falling uncomfortably silent when the love scene came on. Maggie couldn’t believe how dumb she had been to pick a movie with sexanddeath for her first night with her daughter. The scene finished, then inevitably, the fatal aerial battle filled the screen.

“Oh no.” Anna watched the fighter jet whirl in the sky, corkscrewing downward, losing altitude. The scene was so realistic that even Maggie imagined Florian during his crash, wondering what his last moments had been like as their plane hurtled toward earth.

“Oh no!” Anna gasped as Goose ejected, then limp and lifeless, parachuted down toward the sea. Anna turned to Maggie, stricken. Her lips parted, and her blue eyes brimmed.

“Anna, I’m so sorry.” Maggie got up quickly, went to Anna, and hugged her as she burst into tears.

“I know… it’s only a movie… but…”

“It’s okay, honey,” Maggie said, holding Anna close and rubbing her back as sobs wracked her body. Maggie could feel all of Anna’s sorrow as the girl cried hard, and Maggie made a vow that she’d never let Anna go again.

No matter what.

Chapter Seventeen

Noah, After

TRIAL, DAY 5

Noah’s gaze swept the gallery, but Maggie still hadn’t appeared. He felt relieved that she would be spared his testimony.

Linda stood in front of the witness stand, her legs planted like a human sawhorse. “Dr. Alderman, let’s return to the night Anna was murdered. You testified on direct that you left work at 6:30P.M., did you not?”

“Yes.”

“You drove directly to the gym, did you not?”

“Yes.”

“It took you approximately twenty minutes to get to the gym, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“You had your cell phone with you, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t have any phone conversations on the way to the gym, did you?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Did you attempt to have any telephone conversations on the way to the gym?”