Page 101 of The Proving Ground

Before sitting down, I took the signed subpoenas to the rail and handed them to Cisco.

“Go get them,” I said. “Each subpoena has an eleven o’clock arrival. I’ll keep Brenda on the stand till then.”

“Then I’d better get going,” he said.

I returned to the plaintiff’s table and sat down to wait for the judge to take the bench.

“It’s just you and me now, Brenda,” I said.

“Good,” she said. “I like it better this way. I couldn’t take much more of Bruce, to tell you the truth.”

“Well, you are probably going to have to take a little more of him, because I’m putting him on the stand. Probably right after you.”

“Do me a favor and don’t be nice.”

“I won’t be.”

The judge took the bench and called for the jurors. Once they were seated, she turned to address them.

“You’ll notice that there has been a change and that there is only one plaintiff by Mr. Haller’s side. This is nothing for you to be concerned with and should not enter into your evaluation of the evidence and eventual deliberation of a verdict. When the case is over, I am sure you will get a fuller explanation from the attorneys involved. Now, Mr. Haller, do you wish to call your next witness?”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” I said. I stood and headed to the lectern. “I’d like to call Brenda Randolph to the witness stand.”

As I had instructed earlier, Brenda went to the stand clutching a packet of tissues in her left hand. After she was sworn in and seated, I began a carefully strategized course of questions that took her through the worst time of her life. She managed to hold back her tears until I asked her to describe her daughter’s ambitions.

“She wanted to go into medical research,” Brenda said. “She told me she wanted to research vaccinations. She wanted to help prevent people from getting diseases.”

“Why vaccinations specifically?” I asked.

“Well, she lost her father during COVID. He had asthma and he got sick before the vaccines were developed. He didn’t make it…”

She paused to use a tissue to wipe her eyes and then continued.

“Her father was on a ventilator for three weeks and we weren’t allowed to even be in the same room with him. And then he died,and Becca felt she’d never had the chance to say goodbye. It made her want to do something. So that’s when she started talking about wanting to be a researcher and help save people from diseases in the future.”

More tears came and I asked if she wanted to take a break to compose herself, but she declined.

“I cry every day,” she said. “I’m used to it.”

I stole a glance at the jury and all I saw was empathy on the face of each juror. One of the women was crying as well.

“After her father—your husband—passed, did you and Becca become closer?” I asked.

“We were always close,” Brenda said. “She was an only child. But after Rick died, we were all each other had. Yes, we became much closer.”

“And she started dating a boy named Aaron Colton when she was fourteen?”

“I’m not sure you call it dating anymore, but yes, they became boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“How well did you get to know Aaron?”

“Um, not that well. He came by the house a few times and he seemed like a nice boy. But they liked their privacy. They would go in Becca’s room and play games on the computer.”

“Do you know what games?”

“Yes, I always tried to watch over that as best I could. They played a few different ones where they were like a team working together.Minecraftwas one.Monster Hunter. Then Aaron started playing a game calledLeague of Legendsand Becca tried it but stopped.”

“Did she tell you why?”