Chapter 67: Friday Temptation

He turned back toward the witness. Naomi sat very still in the back row.

This man.

He was good. He was terrifyingly good. Dorian moved away from the witness stand and toward the large screen positioned at the side of the courtroom. "I’d like to draw your attention to the screen."

An image appeared. Mr Helsher’s house, apparently.

"I paid a visit to your home, Mr Helsher."

The prosecutor looked ready to object again. Dorian glanced toward her almost lazily before continuing.

"And with permission previously obtained for the defense investigation, I looked through your bedroom window."

The next photograph appeared. Naomi leaned forward slightly. It showed the street from inside the bedroom.

Dorian gestured toward the image. "Of course, I parked my car across the street."

Another photograph.

His mercedes stood on the opposite side. "You were right...The street is clearly visible from that window. The distance from your bedroom to the opposite curb is approximately thirty feet."

Naomi realized court might actually be fun if you knew what you were looking for. Dorian turned back toward the witness.

"But you didn’t see my client fleeing the scene that night."

"Objection!"

This one came louder. The judge frowned.

"Mr Heathcliffe."

Dorian lifted one hand. "I’ll rephrase." He turned back. "You testified that you identified my client from your bedroom window while he was approximately thirty feet away from you. Correct?"

"Yes."

"And you were certain?"

"Yes."

"Certain enough to give police a detailed physical description?"

"Yes."

Dorian smiled. "Mr Helsher, you wear corrective lenses?"

"Yes."

"For distance?"

"Yes."

Dorian walked a few steps closer. "And without your glasses?"

"I can still see."

"How far away does a person need to be before their facial features become difficult for you to distinguish without corrective lenses?"

Mr Helsher looked uncomfortable now. "I don’t know."

"You don’t know?"

"No."

Dorian looked toward the jury. "Would thirty feet qualify?"

"I said I don’t know."

Dorian nodded. "Let’s talk about your glasses."

Whatever trap he had been building, he was finally closing it.

"Were you wearing your glasses when you looked out the bedroom window that night?"

Mr Helsher swallowed. "No."

The jury became noticeably more attentive.

"Your glasses were broken during an altercation with my client earlier that same day."

"Yes."

"And later that night, without those glasses, you claim you stood at a bedroom window and positively identified that same man running thirty feet away in darkness."

"Objection!" The prosecutor was standing again.

The judge was talking. Dorian was talking. Everybody was talking. Naomi understood maybe half of the legal language flying around the room.

But she understood the important part. Mr Helsher was short-sighted. Without his glasses, the man could barely distinguish someone at the distance he claimed he had identified Dorian’s client.

And those glasses had been broken in a fight with the same man he later accused of fleeing his wife’s murder scene.

Dorian went further. He had a demonstration prepared. A person standing at approximately the same distance from the bedroom window.

Mr Helsher was asked what details he could make out without his corrective lenses. The answer was painfully little.

Naomi watched the case unravel in real time. It was almost beautiful. The prosecutor tried to repair the damage, but there was no putting the certainty back into the witness once Dorian had torn it apart.

By the time the judge called for adjournment, the entire atmosphere in the courtroom had changed.

Naomi stayed seated for a few seconds after everyone began moving. She was floored. She had known Dorian was a lawyer. She knew he was successful.

But she had never understood it until now.

That swagger.

The way he let people answer themselves into corners and then calmly shut the door behind them.

He had looked dangerous. And God help her, it was sexy. She stared toward the front of the courtroom and genuinely wanted to walk down there and kiss him right in the middle of the room.

That would probably create another headline. She had already contributed enough to the local press this year.

Dorian was still speaking to his client, his attention focused on the conversation, so Naomi quietly stood and slipped out into the hallway.

Naomi leaned against the wall and looked around. This was his world. This was where Dorian Heathcliffe truly looked at home. Her phone rang. She looked down.

His name was on the screen. Naomi picked up immediately.

"Hey, you..."

"Hey. I saw your missed call. Everything alright?"

"Yes, sure." Naomi smiled to herself. "I was just missing you."

she heard him chuckle. "Mrs Heathcliffe, are you in love with me?"

Naomi’s smile vanished. "What? Excuse me? Would you get your head out of your ass?"

"I had to ask."

She could still hear that faint amusement in his voice. "Well, no...I thought to tell you just how sexy you are."

The other end of the line went quiet. Naomi’s grin returned. She leaned back against the hallway wall.

"And it got me thinking," she continued. "If you were home right now, you’d have absolutely no chance of keeping your clothes on."

"Naomi?"

She heard the warning in his voice. Which naturally encouraged her. "Yes?"

"It’s Friday."

"I know."

Dorian lowered his voice. "You’re doing this on purpose. Trying to get me all wound up again, aren’t you?"

"I’m just complimenting my husband."

The courtroom doors opened. Dorian stepped into the hallway with his phone still against his ear.

"Hello, Sexy Counselor..." she called from behind him.

Dorian turned slowly. The surprise was obvious. So was everything that followed it. His brows lifted slightly, and then his eyes lit up in a way Naomi was beginning to recognize. He was happy to see her.

Naomi smiled exuberantly. He stood there for a moment with his phone still pressed to his ear, staring at her as though his brain had taken a second to catch up.

"What... uh..."

Then he laughed. An actual laugh. Naomi liked that far too much. He ended the call and walked toward her.

"What are you doing here?"