“As a friend?”
“And as an employee. It was New Year’s Day. Most of the employees were off on holiday.”
“So you grabbed Owen and left?”
She nodded. “Right. I didn’t want to leave Owen alone, with me being so far away. He stayed in the hotel with one of Jason’s friends while we worked.”
“Did you talk about staying in Central America?”
“We talked about coming back to visit. It’s beautiful there. Warm. I’m not used to New York winters.”
“I’ve lived here my whole life and I don’t like them,” Clive said, looking around the courtroom.
Laughter filled the room.
“When did you first hear from the courts about the Colemans’ petition for custody?”
Rachel’s brief joy vanished with his question. “When the police escorted me out of my office at work.”
“Why did they do that?”
“They told me I had violated a court order and they needed to question me.”
“But you never saw the court order.”
“I didn’t.” Rachel looked directly at the judge. “I swear to God I never saw any letter.”
Once again, Deyadria rolled her eyes and this time muttered something to her lawyer.
Clive handed another paper to the judge. “This is in your packet.”
The judge handed it back with a nod. “This is the paper from the service that sent you notice of the Colemans’ case. Have you seen it before today?”
“No.”
“Is that your signature?”
“No.”
Clive walked back to his stack of papers. “I’d like to bring into evidence signature cards from Rachel’s bank as evidence that this is not her signature.” He handed the paper to Mr. Yanez.
“Any objection, Mr. Yanez?” Judge Sherman asked.
“No.”
The judge addressed the court reporter, giving the evidence a number.
“We’re almost done here, Rachel. Do you know where Owen is right now?”
“No.” She wanted to cry.
“When was the last time you spoke with him?”
“The morning he was taken to the foster home. You advised me not to contact him without permission from the court.”
“And did you follow that advice?”
“I have.”
“Do you know why he ran away?”
“Yes.”
Clive turned back to the judge. “I’d like to submit a recording of Owen from his personal cell phone into evidence.”
“Objection.”
Clive didn’t wait for a ruling. “Your Honor. Owen left a video recording the afternoon of his disappearance. It will show his state of mind and offer some light as to his relationship with the petitioning party.”
“Objection overruled.” She lifted her hand out.
The courtroom sat in silence as Judge Sherman listened to Owen’s message.
Clive ended his questioning.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jason noticed the moment when Rachel put a rod through her spine to face cross-examination. So far, he thought they were doing really well. He couldn’t read the judge, but it didn’t seem as if the Colemans had any real evidence against Rachel.
“Good afternoon,” Mr. Yanez addressed Rachel.
“Good afternoon.”
The pleasantries were making Jason ill.
“I’ll be brief, Miss Price.”
She glanced at Jason, tried to smile.
“You testified that you took a job in Manhattan.”
“Yes.”
“What is your position?”
“I’m in marketing at Fairchild Charters.”
“Marketing. How did marketing play into your need to go to Costa Rica? Wouldn’t risk management or public relations be better suited for damage control?”
Rachel looked at Jason again. “Yes. But—”
“Let me guess, you volunteered to jump on a plane and leave the country.”
“Jason asked me to go with him.”
“Jason? That would be Jason Fairchild, the CEO and co-owner of the company?”
Jason lifted his chin as the attention in the courtroom centered on him.
“Yes.”
“At what time did you learn about the ill-fated Fairchild jet that went down?”
“It was early, five thirty, six in the morning.”
“How is it you and your boss were together that early in the morning on a holiday?”
Rachel swallowed. “Jason and I share a personal relationship.”
“You’re lovers?”
“Objection, Your Honor. This is irrelevant.”
“I disagree, Your Honor. Showing Miss Price’s ability and intent to leave the country is incredibly relevant to this case.”
“Overruled. Answer the question, Miss Price.”
Jason kept his eyes on Rachel’s.
“Yes. Jason and I are lovers.”
“And you work for him?”
“I am an employee of Fairchild Charters.”
“Mr. Fairchild is a pilot, is that right?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Has he flown you anywhere?”
Rachel’s eyes started to lose focus. “Yes.”
“Would you say he has the freedom and ability to fly anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice?”
Rachel took her eyes off Jason and stared at Yanez. “He owns a company that charters private jets, of course he has them at his disposal.”
“And with you as his girlfriend, they are at yours as well, isn’t that right?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s not like that.”
“What is it like, Miss Price?”
“I would never ask Jason to fly me anywhere.”
“But you could.”
“Objection. Does counsel have a question?”
“Sustained. Ask a question, Mr. Yanez.”
“Did you fly a lot before moving to New York?”
“No.”
“And Owen, has he been on many planes?”
“No. We drove to New York with the move.”
“How is it, then, that you both have passports?”
The direction Yanez was going became apparent. “We got them before Emily died.”
“So you could leave the country if the Colemans sought custody?”
“No. It wasn’t like that.”
“Why would you need a passport, if not to leave the country?”
Rachel sat forward. “Emily thought there might be a treatment for her overseas. She made sure Owen had his passport in case a cure was found.”
“That’s convenient, since Emily isn’t here to tell us otherwise.”
Rachel winced.
“Objection!”
Jason wanted to object with his fist.
“Mr. Yanez, skip the comments and ask the questions,” the judge warned.
“Miss Price, do you like the Colemans?”
Her gaze moved to the couple. “No. I don’t.”
“How do you propose to ‘foster a relationship’ with them for Owen’s sake when you don’t care for them?”
“The same way I tolerate my Uncle Barry. We don’t have to like our family to be around them.”
Some spectators chuckled.
“You said you believed Owen should know his biological family.”
“I did.”
“Do you still feel that way?”
She was torn, Jason could see it in her eyes. “Not at the risk of Owen’s safety.”