Hostile Witness Read Online Free PDF Page B

have a whole lot of time to figure out how much a stranger will get behind my kid. You’re not a stranger. I want you to help her.”
    Josie got up and turned toward her bedroom.
    “Okay.  I’ve got a couple of favors to call in. I’ll get my book. . . .”
     Linda moved fast, crossing the living room, pulling Josie back.
    “No. I want you to do it. I know you. You wouldn’t let her suffer. You know what it’s like to be a kid who’s afraid. You know what it’s like to be alone. . .
    “This isn’t the same, Linda. You’re helping your daughter, not running away from her. Besides, for all I know she could have done it.”  Josie pulled away. Some part of her was flattered by Linda’s confidence, another was wary.
    “And what would it matter?” Linda threw her hands up in frustration. “She’s still entitled to a defense. That’s the law. Isn’t that right?”
     “It doesn’t say she’s entitled to me,” Josie answered flatly.
    “But she didn’t do it, Josie.  Nobody did. It was an accident. Someone’s making a terrible mistake.  Josie, you were never mean or cruel. Don’t be now. My whole family is in turmoil. Hannah’s my baby,” Linda cried.  She babbled, trying to find the magic that would make Josie change her mind.  “She was terrified getting on that bus, being taken away from me. I followed them all the way out to Sybil Brand and they wouldn’t let me in. She’s alone. Help her. Stop making excuses and help us, damn it.”
    Linda’s fingers dug into Josie’s arms again. Her long nails were sharp but the rest of her was losing ground. Linda’s deep voice caught. She whispered frantically, pleading as only a mother can do.
    “Do it just this once, Josie. Just go see Hannah. That’s all I’m asking. If you saw her, you’d help her. The last thing you’d want is for a kid to be alone and scared.”
    They stood eye to eye, both of them taller than most men, both of them fascinatingly attractive, and both locked in an emotional tug of war.
    “They took her to Sybil Brand?” Josie asked cautiously.
    Linda nodded slowly, her face a play of concern and questions.
    “They said she couldn’t be released until they had a bail hearing because of the charges. That’s not going to be ‘till Monday. Josie, what is it?”
    “Juvenile offenders are taken to East Lake, Linda, not Sybil Brand. Your daughter’s in the women’s jail. The DA is going to charge her as an adult.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “That means she’s looking at hard time if she’s convicted. Chowchilla prison, somewhere like that. No sealed records. No short-term juvenile facility.”  Josie dug deep to find the courage to give Linda the worst-case scenario.  “If the DA tacks on special circumstances he could conceivably ask for the death penalty.”
     
     
    Linda was gone by eleven, leaving behind her phone number, her address, and a retainer.  Josie put the retainer check in the top drawer of her desk. It could be torn up as easily as cashed, but right now she didn’t want to see it. She just wanted to think.
    Leashing Max they walked to the Strand, crossing the bike path, wandering on to the sand. Josie headed north, wondering why she'd agreed to see Hannah Sheraton, and knowing it didn’t take a rocket scientist to come up with the answer.
    Tomorrow a sixteen-year-old kid would wake up scared and stay that way until this thing played out. Hannah Sheraton may never get over what was happening to her, but Josie could at least make sure there was an end to the ordeal.  If Linda had needed help Josie would have made that referral. This, though, was a child. This, Josie was drawn to. 
    Wanting to root around a bit, Max pulled Josie left.  The moon was high, the tide low, and the heat heavy. In the distance, party music mixed with the thin wail of sirens. The music belonged to Hermosa, the sirens to some bigger, more impersonal, more challenging place.  Thank God she didn’t belong to the sirens