“That’s enough!” I yelled at the darkness. “I am done with this!” I got up from the witness stand and was about to storm off the set when out of the corner of my eye I saw Devon give a thumbs up to the producers. A thumbs up? What? Then it hit me. They wanted me to walk. They were driving me to quit! They had lost faith in the picture and wanted to shut it down. If I walked off the film, I’d be to blame, and insurance would have to cover the loss…they’d be off the hook.

And I’d be playing dinner theater in Wichita.

Shaking and furious, I turned around, climbed back up on the witness seat, and sat down.

“I want my line!” I yelled at the dark stage.

Verona and the actor playing the judge toggled their eyes between me and Devon, confused.

“Forget it, guys, I’m not fucking quitting. What is my next line?”

“Because he had cheated on me,” Steve Connigan called out.

“Steven!” Devon warned.

“Goddamnit Devon, let her finish the scene.”

Devon and the mucky schmucks whispered frantically. The crew was still, presumably awaiting orders. Finally, the A.D. called out, “We are still rolling!”

Now the actors raced back into their places. The extras playing the jurors rushed into the stands. Katie ran up to me, but I held up my hand, motioned her away, and blotted my forehead with my sleeve.

“Where from?” the script woman asked.

“From the top,” I said. I took a deep breath and banished Devon, the crew, and the studio from my mind as I pivoted my look around the courtroom. I took in the judge, the jury, and then I rested my gaze on Robert Verona.

His steely blue eyes had softened. He nodded for me to begin.

“Call me Junie.”

“Okay, Junie, why were you following the victim?” he urged.

“He had asked me to go to his room.”

“Did you go?”

“Well yes, I was suspicious.”

“Of what?”

“Because he had cheated on me!”

I was shaking, my voice quivering, the words tumbled out, my rage at Devon, and the suits propelling me. “So, I followed him. But I didn’t go there to kill him. Yes, I was angry, I even hated him, but I wanted him. I wanted him to love me.”

“Who had he cheated on you with?”

“I…I can’t say.”

“May I remind you, Miss Sommer, you are on trial for your life.”

“I didn’t do it!” Tears sprang to my eyes.

“Who cheated?”

“My…my sister.”

The jurors let out a gasp.

“Yes, my sister. I found them together. She betrayed me.”

“When?”

I turned to the judge, tears pouring from my eyes. Holy shit, it was working!

“Do I have to answer this sir?”

He nodded gravely.

“It was last May, just…before…”

Robert Verona walked toward me, slowly. “Before what, Ms. Sommer?”