Howie motioned to her and Hannah leaned closer so that he could whisper in her ear. “Relax,” he said. “You look like a deer caught in the headlights.”

“That’s because I am a deer caught in the headlights,” Hannah whispered back.

“Not for long. It’ll be over soon, Hannah. Just remember that when the judge asks you how you plead, you say, Not guilty, Your Honor. Don’t say any more, and don’t say any less. Just say, Not guilty, Your Honor. Are we clear on that?”

“Yes,” Hannah said, and then she added, “Did you bring Judge Colfax his coffee this morning?”

“I did, and it was an extra-large mocha, exactly what he likes. Stop worrying, Hannah. We should be just fine.”

Hannah thought about saying, That’s easy for you to say. Even if things weren’t fine, Howie wouldn’t be the one who was locked up in jail. That would be her, and she had a perfect right to be worried. And then the bailiff was calling her name and Howie was motioning for her to stand up and face Judge Colfax on legs that were suddenly trembling like leaves in a windstorm.

The bailiff read the charges and Hannah did her best not to listen. There were more than she’d thought there would be, ranging from misdemeanors to a final charge of vehicular homicide. And then Howie was prodding her. The judge must have asked her how she pled. And Hannah said, “Not guilty, Your Honor,” and clamped her lips shut.

Her words hung in the silent air and the room began to revolve slowly around her. Hannah knew she was close to fainting as Howie asked for bail. There was a buzzing in her ears that made listening impossible and she gripped the edge of the defense table tightly to keep from falling back into her chair. The judge wouldn’t like that. She had to show the proper respect and keep standing and facing him with a polite and servile expression, even though she was weak-kneed and dizzy, and she’d never been so scared in her life.

The moment seemed to go on forever, as if the clock on the wall had stopped and everyone was frozen in place. And through the buzzing in her ears and the gulps of air she was taking so that she wouldn’t do anything foolish like faint dead away, she heard the judge say, “Bail in the amount of fifty thousand dollars is granted. See the clerk.”

His gavel banged loudly against the wooden surface, and then Howie turned to take her arm. “It’s over, Hannah. I told you it would be all right. An officer of the court will escort you to the clerk’s office and stay with you there while your mother makes bail. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to be handcuffed until your bail is paid. It’s not a secure area.”

“That’s okay,” Hannah said, feeling a huge wave of relief wash over her, now that this part of her ordeal was over. “And once Mother pays my bail, they’ll take off the handcuffs and I’ll be free to go?”