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that?”
    â€œJust give me a minute. I’ll get dressed.”
    At the government center complex, she leaned against the car as he kissed her. “Why do you park here? Don’t you know they can see you from the jail?”
    â€œWell,” she said, nuzzling him and softly biting his ear, “maybe I might be able to park underground one day.”
    â€œWhere the judges park?”
    â€œWhat do you think?”
    â€œI think there’s a good possibility if that’s what you want. Do you know I recommended you for my replacement?”
    She didn’t and was pleased. “Thanks, and that was before tonight.” She smiled, unlocking the door to her Honda. She started the ignition and waved and then stuck her head out the window. “To be continued, huh?”
    â€œRight,” he said, “to be continued.”

TWO
    WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13
VENTURA, CALIFORNIA
    â€œI thought you might want this,” Lily’s clerk said, placing a cup of black coffee on her console.
    â€œThanks, Susie, you’re a godsend.” Lily quickly returned her full attention back to Clinton Silverstein. She was embarrassed that her clerk thought she’d been asleep on the bench. When the pain in her back became unbearable, she had no choice but to take pain pills and if she didn’t keep herself oiled with coffee, she sometimes became drowsy. She hadn’t been asleep, however. Part of her brain was listening while another part was reliving the memory of that first night with Richard Fowler.
    The attorney caught her eye again and she turned away in embarrassment, wondering what he would do if he knew what she’d been thinking. Her sexual awakening had been tainted only a short time later when she and Shana were raped, and it had taken years for her to regain the ability to experience the kind of pleasure she had that night.
    Her relationship with Fowler had ended years ago, and it had ended unpleasantly. It was sad, because they had been coming together as a family. Shana had grown close to his son, Greg. Theywere both only children and Shana thought of Greg as an older brother. She wondered if they still kept in touch with each other.
    Whatever love Lily had held for Richard was long dead. She was even miffed that he’d agreed to represent Noelle Reynolds. Since the girl was virtually penniless, she knew he must be defending her for the publicity. It was sad to see a once great attorney sink to that level. Of course, Dr. Reynolds might have finally managed to get his hand out of his pocket, particularly now that his daughter’s life was on the line.
    Focusing on Silverstein’s opening statement, she liked the direction he was taking, depicting the defendant as a spoiled rich girl who’d cheated and lied her way through life. Since Reynolds had no prior criminal record, which was considered a mitigating factor, the prosecutor had to make certain he established significant circumstances in aggravation or the death penalty would never fly.
    â€œThe people will produce irrefutable evidence,” Silverstein continued, his voice elevating, “that the defendant attempted to kill Brandon months before she locked him in the trunk of her car and left him to die. To prove how callous the defendant is, we will produce numerous photographs of her posing for seductive photographs at various nightclubs in Los Angeles around the time of her son’s death.”
    Everyone had seen these pictures. The media had relied heavily on them to sensationalize the case. They were clearly damaging as they showed Reynolds smiling and partying directly following her son’s disappearance. The photos had also ruled out any possibility the defense might have of establishing that the boy’s death was accidental. The images depicted almost everything there was to see of Noelle Reynolds’s body, but what they didn’t show was the face and actions of a grieving mother, the one