Grayson Todd
Trial day two.
Last night had been a great reprieve between these trial days—even if Lily's showing up had been awkward as fuck. But for the first time since their agreement to let Emma make all the first moves, she'd made a first move. It was a kiss on the cheek sure, but Gray didn't think any kiss on the cheek had felt so special since college.
Of course, today wasn't going to be so wonderful.
In fact, it was going to be awful.
The first person on the stand was going to be Aaron, and Grayson had no idea what to expect from him. McFee didn't know what to expect from him. Hell, Gray would be surprised if the man's own goddamn lawyer knew what to expect from him.
Early again, as is wise to be, Gray and Emma were wandering the halls of the courthouse, waiting for the second session to come to order. As much as Gray wanted to be more affectionate than he was being currently, as much as it pained him not to, this trial was not over, even if both their testimonies were. Appearing anything but professional at the moment would most certainly hurt the case, especially since the defense was targeting them both already.
Not to mention, neither of them would find a scolding from McFee very pleasant.
"I don't have to watch, do I?" Emma eventually asked quietly.
She'd done okay yesterday, with Gray sitting directly between her and Aaron's lines of sight, but today they wouldn't be on a sideways plane, they be facing each other. And that wasn't something, unfortunately, Gray could protect her from. "No," he told her. "As long as the judge knows that you're here, and you haven't skipped out, you don't have to watch. She's aware of your circumstances."
Emma nodded gratefully. "Okay," she murmured, sounding a little more relaxed. "Do I get a dog again?" she asked, though her expression told him she was only half serious.
Gray chuckled. "They walk around. I'm sure you could flag one down if you wanted."
There was a pause, before she continued with a grin, "Can I keep it?"
He shook his head, laughing. "I'm not sure our building is dog-friendly." Because that was the problem, not because that was technically theft of a service animal or anything.
"Darn," she replied, snapping her fingers.
Approaching the courtroom, Gray didn't need to see the man to know that Aaron was coming again. The group of security officers was enough. Thankfully this time the pair of them were in front of the doors, and Aaron didn't need to walk by them. Gray stopped Emma and turned her around, and she tensed, sensing the reason for it. He then stood with his back to hers, blocking her tiny frame from Aaron's sight with his entirely.
Even though Aaron definitely tried as he was dragged into the room.
"....Is he gone?" Emma whispered once she heard the door close.
"Yeah," Gray replied quietly, letting her come back around to his side. "He's gone."
"And he's about to be for a very long time," came McFee's voice from behind them. Gray and Emma looked up as the District Attorney came around to them. "I don't think we'll be here as long as we think."
Gray furrowed his brows. "I dunno. We could be here longer, Warrick."
The lawyer smiled and shook his head, as if Grayson were a small child. "You heard Perkins yesterday. Aaron is unstable. Everyone agrees. He can try to talk us in circles all he wants, eventually the judge is gonna get annoyed and shove him off the stand herself."
Gray and Emma both snorted.
"Besides, his defense is a mess, they're all over the place. They could barely even question you two—and you both saw how poorly she did after that yesterday."
He had a point there. "So you're saying we got dressed for nothing?"
McFee grinned. "Please. You got dressed for your victory celebration. We've already got his head in the bag; his attorney's punching it trying to get him out. I'm starting to feel bad for the woman." McFee shuddered. "Ooh. That was something I never thought I'd say."
The attorney's optimism was helping Gray's optimism. Though he was leaving Emma again, Gray wasn't as worried about it this time. Today was going to go well.
Well, if you counted a probable fiasco as "well".
"Well" in terms of, they were getting the conviction.
After the judge reclaimed her courtroom from the chatter, banging her gavel and calling for order, the room calmed. A few start-of-session formalities were addressed, before she invited the defense to call upon their first witness.
Grayson shook his head as Aaron was sworn in, knowing full well he was committing perjury just by uttering the oath. Whole truth and nothing but the truth, my lily white ass.
The defense started asking Aaron questions that, essentially, McFee had asked Grayson just yesterday. Though he did suppose it was only fair to ask about the Akers crime scene. When the defense showed Aaron pictures of all six of his victims, one by one, asking if he recognized them, he replied, "Oh sure, I know those women. They were my cases." He gave a very hammed-up nod. Gray refrained from rolling his eyes.
"Just your cases, Mr. Matthews?"
Aaron paused, then pointed at Emma's picture. "Well, I did take her, but you knew that already. Otherwise, yep! Just cases. Totally."
"Can you tell us where your wife, Emily, is, Mr. Matthews?"
His gaze went from his attorney to Gray, just for a brief second. "Isn't she right outside? I just saw her."
Right in front of Gray, McFee leaned against his elbow, rubbing his temple. Gray could've sworn he heard him mutter, "This is a fucking circus."
"No, Mr. Matthews, your wife Emily died eight years ago."
"Uh-huh. Eight years ago. And then again like a year later. And then four more times. She's a funny one, Emily. Don't think the current incarnation is workin' out though, honestly."
The lawyer...wasn't sure how to proceed with that. The judge was staring at Aaron as well. "I don't....Mr. Matthews, what are you saying?"
Aaron gave her a warm smile. "Oh, honey. You did try. And I appreciate that. But let's be real; I'm not walking out of here without cuffs and a swanky jumpsuit." He sat back in a leisurely fashion, without a care in the world. "I've had seven Emilys, technically. Of course, the original one, and six others, five of which I rather unfortunately had to toss out; didn't exactly live up to standard, y'know?"
The judge opened her mouth as if to stop him, but he continued.
"The sixth one, aha, the sixth one. She's not been a very good girl lately. I'm not exactly in a position for spring cleaning anymore, so—Oh I know, Gray, buddy, do me a favor, clean up my mess like old times?"
Grayson averted his gaze and clenched his teeth. It wasn't exactly a picnic getting called out in the middle of a courtroom by a raving lunatic.
"Mr. Matthews," the Judge exclaimed, but Aaron waved her off.
"I'm not done confessing, Your Honor, bit of courtesy? Thanks. Anyway. Emily six has outlived her usefulness, but there's nothing I can do about that now. Emily five found some shit she shouldn't have in the morgue, coulda busted me, so I busted her first. Her hair was a pain, so I cut her loose early. Sad, really, but c'est la vie. Emily four was a bartender I'm pretty sure, not bad, but she talked way too much. Emily three was by far my best, because she totally came onto me first—it was the badge—but she had this habit of telling really bad puns, and I just couldn't let her continue on this planet, amirite. Emily two was meh, found her at a concert, and she cooked pretty well, but she sang like a harpy and had no sense of when to shut the fuck up."
At this point, the entire courtroom was too appalled to say anything.
Aaron leaned forward again, and his cold gaze met Grayson's. There was this godawful smile on his face and evil in his eyes. "Emily one was a nurse."
No.
"Why her husband didn't come pick her up from work is beyond me. Walking alone at night is dangerous for pretty young women. But oh, she was a fighter Emily one—I think all you lovely folks know her as Rosie."
McFee had turned to look at Gray instead of Aaron. The detective was struggling to keep his composure.
"Yeah~," Aaron murmured in a reminiscent tone. "I really thought she was a winner, y'know. I didn't even have to change her hair. But she talked back. A lot." There was a glimpse of that anger that always made Emma tremble. "I let it slide for a good while. Thought 'hey, give her some time, she'll come 'round'. And boy did she come round."
"Stop it," Grayson muttered.
"Oh hey buddy, was that you? I totally forgot you were here. Oh good, you should hear this. So I go down one day, right, and I find her standing in front of a mirror, in nothing but her skivvies, mind you, and I dunno how I didn't notice it before, but there was a belly on her she didn't have when I picked her up, if y'know what I'm saying."
McFee stared at Gray, attempting to keep his attention. Then the attorney snapped his fingers at someone and gestured for the door. Sabrina scooted her way past and dashed down the aisle.
"And I knew for a fact that wasn't my doing. Little whore cheated on me. God knows how, but whatever she had growing in that belly wasn't mine." Aaron's voice grew a tad sinister. "And we couldn't have that, could we?"
"Shut up," Gray snapped, clenching his fists.
"Detective," McFee murmured, still trying to get Gray's attention, and failing.
"She saw me. And she went so pale. She begged me not to hurt her. Not to hurt her baby. But it was her baby; I had no reason to care about it."
The courtroom doors opened again but Gray barely noticed it. It wasn't until Aaron himself broke eye contact with a grin. "Aw there she is~! Hey Em, you're just in time for the good part~."
Emma ignored him—though it was clearly difficult for her—as Sabrina led her to Gray. She sat down beside him and pulled his face away, forcing him to look at her. "Hey," she murmured. "Don't....D–don't listen. Just don't listen."
"'Don't listen'? Emily, I thought I taught you better than that."
"Someone get him out of here!" the judge finally commanded, and more than a few security personnel stepped forward. The jury, as well as the public, were in horror.
As Aaron was being dragged away, he fought for one last thing he had to say. "I grabbed that bitch by the hair, called her out for the whore she was, and I snapped that pretty little neck so easy I had to do it twice just to check!"
If Grayson had his firearm on him, he would've shot that fucker in a heartbeat. The judge pounded her gavel and demanded order as the courtroom exploded into chatter, now that Aaron was gone. But all Gray could focus on was his anger, his pain, and the tiny woman currently and quite literally dragging him from the room.
If Aaron wasn't convicted and sentenced to death, Gray was going to do it himself.