Page 85 of Desert Loyalties

The courtroom exhales, tension snapping like a wire.

Cheng nods, closing his notebook. Christina smirks, knowing the tide has turned.

Cheng clears his throat and rises, flipping through his notes. “Your Honor, the government calls Serena Albright to the stand. She’s available to testify tomorrow morning.”

Judge Keller nods, “Very well. We will adjourn for the day and reconvene tomorrow with Ms. Albright’s testimony.”

She glances at both tables, “Counsel, be prepared to proceed promptly at 9 a.m.”

The gavel strikes, and we’re done for today.

Chapter 35

MANDRAKE

Yesterday was good, at least, that’s what Christina said. She claimed even Judge Keller looked like she was over it, the whole mess of a case starting to smell like what it was: thin air and bad guesses.

We’ve been at the courthouse since eight. It’s past nine now, and we’re all watching Serena get sworn in. She’s dressed like a substitute teacher again, blouse buttoned up to the throat, skirt to the knees, like the guilt might crawl out of her skin if she doesn’t press it down hard enough.

Same song, second verse. How do you know Mr. Lloyd? How did you know Mr. Donahue?

Cheng adds a new one this time, trying to be slick:

Did you sleep with Mr. Donahue?

She nods, eyes wide like an innocent when she’s anything but.

Cheng almost strolls back to his table when it happens.

The courtroom doors swing open. A suit rushes in, breathless. He says something to Cheng who says, “Your Honor, may I approach?”

He’s holding a flash drive. Judge Keller raises one eyebrow, barely moving, then nods. He heads straight to the bench. Christina’s right behind him. They lean in. Low voices. Tight whispers.

From where I’m sitting, I can’t hear anything, but I don’t need to.

Cheng’s got a smirk like he just pulled a rabbit out of his ass. Christina looks pissed.

Then Keller straightens in her seat. “We’ll take a five-minute recess,” she says, voice cool as granite.

She doesn’t leave the bench, just takes off her glasses and leans back slightly while the court deputy calls the recess. The room stirs, murmurs buzzing like flies.

Christina’s back at my side a moment later, kneeling beside my chair, Skye comes to stand beside her.

“They’re saying they finally got access to Donahue’s cloud account. On it was the same video he sent to the police, but this one’s different. It’s dated. Time-stamped.”

I clench my jaw. “Didn’t you get that video tossed?”

She nods, tight and frustrated. “Yeah. The one the cops had didn’t contain metadata. That’s how I got it suppressed. Argued it could’ve been altered, no chain of custody, no timestamp, no verification. But this? This version shows it’s legit. Clean chain. And the judge just ruled it admissible.”

“So, what now?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

“Now,” she says, straightening, “they’re calling Munez back to the stand to testify about it. Today.”

She glances back at the bench, then back to me.

“But don’t worry. I’m ready.”

A few beats later, Judge Keller leans forward again, adjusting her robe. “Court is back in session.”