I step through the wooden gate that divides the court from the audience. Part of me wants to lower my eyes. I don’t want to meet the gaze of the judge or the jury. And I especially don’t want to see Joe Causey, even though I can feel his dark gaze on me. I saw the back of him when we walked in. He looks crisp and clean-cut in a suit. The kind of man who inspired trust. In contrast, I’m a woman. An orphan. A ward of the state, until relatively recently. And a woman of color. I already know we aren’t believed as much as a man like Causey.

I climb a few steps, wobbling in my low heels, and take a seat. The chair is like the kind you’d find in a doctor’s office, vaguely uncomfortable despite the thin cushion. A microphone protrudes from the wooden bench like a long, spindly finger—accusatory.

The judge’s seat is clearly the highest point in the room, but he seems even higher now that I’m right next to him. He looks down at me through two half-curved spectacles. “What’s your name?” he asks, brusque though not unkind.

“Jane Mendoza.”

“Ms. Mendoza, do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

I swallow around the knot in my throat. I never imagined that I was someone who might lie or do anything to prevent justice, but I also never understood how it would feel to be threatened. It’s not just me that Causey might injure in retaliation. It’s Beau. And Emily. And Paige. I risk everyone by speaking the truth. “I do.”

He nods to Lauren, who gives me a gentle smile. “Jane. Can I call you Jane?”

I manage a short nod, which probably doesn’t help. I’m supposed to appear likable and trustworthy, the way Joe appears. But that’s the problem with people like him. He’s a chameleon. He can change his appearance like it’s a jacket. I can only be myself. And the real me, deep inside, is off balance and shaky right now.

“Jane. Can you describe the first time you met former Detective Joe Causey?”

“It was after the fire.” The insistent beeping from the machinery comes back to me. “I was in the hospital. Smoke inhalation. Beau had stepped away, and I was resting. Causey came in and started asking questions.”

“What kinds of questions?”