Page 114 of Ghostly

Gabriel chuckled back and gathered his papers into a stack. The trial was going well so far, and he’d felt the old exciting thrill as he faced down his opponent—even if Kletzman wasn’t a tough nut to crack.

No, the real worries were all contained outside the case.

Mrs. Ashford-Abernathy nudged him; he packed his papers into the slim briefcase, gave her a nod, and followed with a delay.

Gabriel hadn’t made it two steps out of the courtroom when someone nearly collided with him. Navy blue suit. Silver tie. Gabriel raised his eyes from his shoes—the man smudged the left one—straight into Anderson’s smug, Ken-like face.

“Vane.” Anderson smiled. “I heard you were back. Didn’t think you’d dare come to court already, though.”

“You must be misremembering,” Gabriel said, maintaining steel eye contact. “You were the one who always felt nervous before the court. Remember that mock trial where you puked on—”

“And a red tie, too. You must be feeling confident. Well…” Anderson gave an innocent shrug. “At least it’s not the half-open lotus this time. Although I did hear you and the lovely Ms. Ensfield got back together.”

“Jealous?”

Anderson narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know what problem you have with me, besides the fact I’m better than you, and you have to resort to charming smiles and witty remarks to get on the judge’s good side.”

Stay calm.

Anderson was good, no doubt—when he bothered to do any work. And he was even better at manipulation. This time, though, Gabriel would notget manipulated. “Like you said, youarethe best. And I learned all my manipulation tricks from the best.”

“Oh, please. I’m not this great nemesis you paint me to be.” Anderson took a few steps around him. “Those pictures? You think I had it in for you? I’d grab anything I could get my hands on. You turning out to be the former Mrs. Sinclair’s lover—that was just a bonus.”

“Which you decided to present in the most dramatic way possible. I see how you meant no harm.”

“Vane, if I meant you harm, I’d let Harvey Sinclair have at you. He suspected something was going on with his wife, but when he saw the pictures, saw it was you… oof.” Anderson tugged at his tie. “Don’t know what was worse, the rage or the jealousy. You should be grateful he doesn’t pack. Ah, well. Case calls.” He retreated down the hallway. “Good luck!”

Gabriel stared at his back, working out the nonsensical statement, when Wynona came from behind.

“You were amazing in there.” She smoothed his hair. “How horrible was that poem? But you got Kletzman good. Finishing off the cross-examination without another question—I always did say silence is the most powerful thing.”

Gabriel fixed his hair back. “You’ve never said that before.”

“Have to start one day. So, lunch?”

Gabriel’s stomach grumbled, but his mental barrier pushed against it. “Sorry. I have to run over the closing argument before we reconvene. We’ll be done today if this goes well.”

Wynona puckered her lips. “Fine. Do your best, close quickly, and I’ll take you to dinner.” She leaned in and whispered, “There will be champagne.” With an elegant wave of her fingers, she turned and strutted down the hallway.

As the court reconvened, Mrs. Ashford-Abernathy was called to the stand. Gabriel let the other lawyer do the cross-examination, then went in with the redirect.

“Mrs. Ashford-Abernathy. I’d like to return to the mention of the yoga instructor, Mr. Vanya Petrov. Your husband claims you hired the instructor because you were no longer satisfied with your husband’s performance.” Gabriel looked to the judge. “We’re not talking about yoga.”

A few people in the courtroom chuckled.

“Yes, I did hireaninstructor. Not him.” Mrs. Ashford-Abernathy raised her chin. “Despite what may be seen, I am not the youngest anymore, or the most flexible. I thought the practice would only help my marriage.”

“For the record, can you define ‘practice’?”

“Yoga practice. Downwards dogs, cats to cows, the standard stuff.”

“And you did not hire Mr. Petrov specifically?”

“No! A friend mentioned a Vanya, and I asked for her. I thought Mr. Petrov was a woman!”

“Because Vanya can be both a male and a female name.”

“Exactly. And the site I hired him on didn’t specify. Only said ‘Vanya’. I had no intention of making Leonard jealous.”