“Nothing I know of.”

The door at the rear of the courtroom opened and a somber Andrea Fitch strolled up to her table, looking at neither Reecey nor Gavin. Gavin took that as a good sign. Then Lila came in, but she did not go to counsel table; instead, she took a seat in the back. Gavin contemplated the significance of this subtle change in protocol but decided that it meant nothing.

The hearing began, and the discussion unfolded just as Leo Reecey had thought it would—one after another the State’s arguments fell to the floor. When Andi had exhausted all of her options, the judge called the attorneys back to her chambers. Reecey had predicted this move, telling Gavin that judges often explained a decision in chambers—especially one that might be hard for one of the parties to accept—before stating her ruling from the bench. Reecey also said that Fitch would dismiss the case rather than wait for an adverse ruling. The hearing was playing out exactly as Reecey had said it would, which raised Gavin’s opinion of his lawyer—if only slightly.

Andi and Leo stood and followed the judge through a door behind her bench, leaving the jailer, the bailiff, Gavin, and Lila alone in the courtroom. Gavin wanted to say something pithy, gloat over his victory, but he held it in. He wasn’t going to be that last soldier.

Then from the corner of his eye, he saw movement. Lila had risen to her feet and was walking his way. Gavin kept his eyes forward. The swinging gate that divided the well of the courtroom from the gallery squeaked as she walked through. She stopped in front of him, facing him, barely an arm’s length away.

“It took me a while,” she said, “but I remember you.”

“I don’t think you should be talking to me,” Gavin said, his lisp slipping out.

“I knew your voice but I didn’t understand why. Now I do.”

“You need to leave.” Gavin looked in the direction of the bailiff, who watched Lila with curious fascination.

Lila reached into her jacket pocket, and for a split second Gavin expected her to pull out a gun. But it wasn’t a gun; it was a picture. She slapped it to the table in front of him. Gavin glanced at the picture and recognized himself, sitting on a chair at a party, his eyes fixed on Lila. Gavin’s blood went cold and thin in his veins.

“You think you’ve won,” Lila whispered, her eyes pinned on his. “But I won’t let that happen.”

Then she turned and walked out of the courtroom.

Chapter 57

It took nearly an hour for the jailers to book Gavin out, an excruciating march of time that caused Gavin’s heart to pound. He was close—so damned close.

As he waited, he relived Lila’s actions. There was no way that her memory had miraculously returned after eight years of amnesia. It didn’t work that way. If she accused him, it would be a lie. But did that matter? Even if she concocted an absolute fairy tale out of bits and pieces, she had a photo to back it up. Where the hell did she get a photo?