Chapter 127 - Shadows in the Courtroom

It had been two weeks since Roger was arrested. Two weeks of clipped breaths, whispered strategy sessions, and the hollow, rehearsed calm that comes before a storm. It was finally the day he'd be dragged into a courtroom and the law — or whatever passed for justice these days — would have to reckon with him. Cameras already clustered like gulls outside the courthouse; flashbulbs waited like impatient wasps. Reporters' voices had the cheery cruelty of people who knew blood sold better than silence.