Page 14 of The 24th Hour

THE NIGHT BEFORE the trial, Yuki’s sleep was split between waking anxiety and frightening dreams. At some time during that fractured night, she had a nightmare that stayed with her. Mary Elena as Olivia was prancing in front of the jury box wearing a pink bra and ripped leggings, flirting with the jurors.

Yuki woke when a siren screamed past the bedroom window, shattering the night irreparably.

Brady stirred, asking, “You okay?”

“Uh-huh. Fine. Go back to sleep, sweetie.”

It was 3:17 a.m. In six hours, she would be in court with a clear-cut mission: convict Tyler Cates and get justice for Mary Elena. Disturbingly, sensational reporting on the case had made her the butt of late-night TV jokes and social media wisecracks. Yuki would need to utilize every bit of her law school training and on-the-job experience with the San Francisco DA to send Tyler Cates to jail.

She knew what she had to do, but still one piece eludedher—and it was critical. Did Cates know that Mary Elena had a dissociative disorder, or that she had more than one functional personality? Or did he really believe that he’d had sex with a woman called Olivia?

Yuki stared up at the ceiling and pictured the jurors as she rehearsed her opening statement, reviewing what she knew about them, imagining their faces. She thought about Mary Elena sitting at the counsel table, listening to Yuki tell strangers about the deeply personal traumatic assault that she didn’t remember happening.

She thought about Parisi shaking his head, saying,Yuki, I warned you.

Yuki closed her eyes and moments later, it seemed, opened them. It was just after 5:00 a.m., and from the hints of pale light filtering through the windows, it would soon be dawn. She rolled onto her side and moved closer to Brady, tucking her knees behind his, exhaling as she laid her cheek against his bare back.

When he felt Yuki’s body against his, Brady turned over, reached his massive arms around her, and drew her close. This was what she loved: the scent of him and how she was able to fit so comfortably against him, and how he could slip back into sleep while surrounding her with the best safety zone she’d ever known.

The next time Yuki’s eyelids flew open, it was almost six thirty. It took a few seconds to orient herself and remember that she was meeting Mary Elena at eight. She tried to slip out of Brady’s grip but he tightened it, cupping the back of her head with one hand, throwing a leg over her hip.

Yuki said, “Lover, I gotta go.”

“Court,” he acknowledged. Brady opened his eyes and relaxed his hold on Yuki. “Call me at lunch recess,” he said. “You’re going to do great.”

“There are many unknowns,” she said.

“You’re not one of them.”

He tipped her chin up and kissed her. Yuki wanted more but couldn’t take the chance. She kissed him lightly and squirmed out of his arms.

WEDNESDAY

CHAPTER 12

ONCE YUKI’S FEET touched the floor, she moved quietly through the apartment. She’d once lived here with her mother. The carpeting was soft and thick, and so were Yuki’s memories of Keiko Castellano, bride of an Italian soldier who had died before Yuki was old enough to know him. Keiko had also since passed away, but not before she’d imparted volumes to her daughter over the years on how to be a good wife.

Keiko had been a spiritual woman. Yuki sometimes still heard her mother’s voice, even if it was only in her imagination. And sometimes, she answered her.

Now, Yuki stared down at the two suits she’d laid out on the green slipper chairs in the spare room before going to bed last night.

Her mother’s voice was in her head.The striped one, Yuki-eh. Save red for closing.

“Done,” Yuki said out loud.

She dressed in the gray striped suit, projecting herself toward lunch recess, hoping that when she called Brady, she could tell him, “It’s all good.”

CHAPTER 13

IT WAS JUST after seven forty-five in the morning when Yuki pulled her car into the All Day lot on Bryant Street. She reached out her hand to the shy young man in the booth, who gave her a ticket and without making eye contact said, “Go get ’em.”

Yuki said, “Count on it, Lanny, and wish me luck.”

“You know I do,” he said. “Hurry though. It’s fixin’ to rain.”

“Hmm. Well, I have to wait for someone,” she said.

Yuki parked at the rear of the lot in the only spot facing the street. The Hall of Justice, a large, gray, granite block of a building, was directly across Bryant. Yuki undid her seat belt and got out of the car.