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"She didn't do it!" the voice called again. Everyone turned around. The girl with the messy hair in her face had stood up from her seat in the back of the courtroom. She pushed her hair out of her eyes. It was Connie!
"Oh my God!" Skye screamed, "that's Connie!"
Everyone it the courtroom was flabbergasted. You could hardly hear the judge pounding his gavel, calling for order.
"Order!!! ORDER!!!"
Finally he got the room quieted down.
"Your honour," Bobby said, "in light of this latest development, we ask that we may call this young lady to the stand-"
"I am not finished with my cross-examination of the defendant!" Dara yelled.
"Your honour-"
"Besides, the defendant is your last witness, you can't just put her on the stand all of a sudden-"
"There was an APB out on Connie Peterson, your honour, and she was on our list of witnesses as to be called upon her being found. We move that the court allows her to testify-"
"Your honour, this is ludicrous! This could very well be a ploy by the defense to delay the proceedings-"
Connie's gaze went back and forth between Bobby and Dara as they argued, as if watching a tennis match. The poor young girl was trembling, so nervous, so confused, so scared. Finally, she spoke up.
"Please, let me say what I have to say," she squeaked. "I know that Skye didn't kill Mr. Corinthos."
"I do not like my courtroom being made into a circus," the judge said sternly, "but I don't see how I can not let you testify. However Ms. Jensen must get to finish her cross-examination of Ms. Chandler Quartermaine. Bailiff, have Ms. Peterson sequestered and guarded in the witness room until such time that she is needed to testify."
Dara threw her arms up. "Your honour, I have no further questions for the defendant." She sighed. Her case was shot to hell already; what was the point of badgering Skye until the jury felt even more sorry for her.
The judge closed his eyes in a look of sheer annoyance. He opened them again, and clasped his fingers together. "Very well. The defendant may step down. Ms. Peterson, please take the stand. But I am warning you, Mr. Donnell, and you, young lady--any funny business and you will both be held in contempt."
Connie's eyes widened. She wished she had paid attention in law class. She had no idea what he was talking about and she wasn't sure she wanted to. But, she cleared her throat, and shakily made her way up to the stand. She was sworn in and she sat down, her fingers drumming nervously on the rail. The judge looked at her. She stopped.
Bobby approached the stand. "Can you please state your name for the record, young lady?"
"It's uh- it's Connie Patterson."
Skye's jaw dropped. Patterson?
"Connie Patterson?" Bobby repeated. "I may be wrong, but didn't my client identify you as Connie Peterson?"
"Th-that's not my real last name. I was using the name Peterson when I applied for the job, but my real name is Connie Patterson."
"Why did you lie about your last name?"
"M-my mom told me to."
"Who is your mother?"
Connie coughed nervously. "Rebecca Patterson. Most people call her Becca."
Skye's hand flung to her mouth in surprise. Connie was Becca's daughter!!! And the last name Patterson...that was Althea's maiden name!! She had used the name herself for a while, back in Pine Valley. Could that mean....
"And why did your mother tell you to use a different last name?"
"She, uh...she told me that she didn't want her reputation to ruin my chance of getting the job. I guess she did some bad things, I don't know...she wouldn't tell me what she did, but she said that if I used a different name, it would be better for both of us."
"I see. And Miss, uh, Patterson...did you give my client a purse a few months ago?"
"Yes."
"Why was that?"
Connie took a deep breath. "I spilled coffee on her old one. I was really upset and I left. I told my mom what happened and asked her for advice. I didn't want to get fired when I had only had the job for a couple weeks!! So she went out and bought a purse and told me to give it to Skye as a gift. So I did."
"Were you aware that there was a listening device planted inside one of the inside pockets of the purse?"
Connie shook her head. "No. I had no idea."
"Miss Patterson, were you aware of the connection that your mother had to Sonny Corinthos?"
"Well, kind of. I heard her on the phone with someone when I got home from work one day, but she must have heard me come in. I heard her say "Gotta go, Sonny, she's home", and then hang up really fast."
"Did you ask her about the call?"
"No."
"Why's that?"
"I....well I don't really like to get up in her business. She doesn't like that."
"Okay, Miss Patterson. When my client was testifying, you stood up and said in front of this entire courtroom that you know that she was innocent. Is your statement true?"
Connie nodded. "Yes. It is."
"Can you tell me how you know this information?"
Connie began to wring her hands nervously. She swallowed before speaking. "It was August 25th. I was worried because my mom wasn't at home when I got home from work at Titans. She always is. So I waited and waited and waited, but she never got there. I was getting pretty scared. I called her cell phone but it was turned off. So, I mean, I didn't know where she was- her phone was off, her car wasn't in the garage-"
"Miss Patterson, if I may interrupt," Bobby said, "may I just ask what kind of car your mother has?"
"A dark blue Alero."
"Thanks," Bobby said with a smile. "Please continue."
"OK, so I was frantic, right, and I didn't know who to call. I don't have any relatives or anything, and I didn't know of any friends she might have had. So I went up to her room and started lookin' around, to see if I could find any clues about where she could be."
"And did you find anything?"
"Yeah. She had left her day planner on her dresser so I flipped through to that day's schedule. It said 'meeting with Sonny', circled. I remembered the name Sonny from what I heard on the phone, cuz, I mean not that many people are named Sonny, you know? So I copied the address from the book and took the bus to the stop closest to the warehouse."
"What time did you arrive there?"
"It was a little after 11pm."
"What did you see when you got there?"
"Well I cut through the parking lot and there was three cars, my mom's, Skye's, and a black one. Sonny's, I guess. So I knew my mom must be in there, so I went in. I hear some voices so I went down the hall. The door was open a bit so I looked in. My mom and Skye and the guy with greasy hair were screamin' and yellin', and Skye was crying. My mom was freaking out and it really scared me, so I didn't dare go in. And then....and then..." Connie stopped, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. She covered her face with her hand.
"Miss Patterson?" Bobby said softly. "I know this must be very hard for you, but I am going to have to ask you to continue your testimony, please."
Connie wiped her eyes with her sleeve, and nodded. "O-okay."
"Then what happened?"
"My mom killed the guy!! I mean she just blew him away! She shot him twice and then Skye went to help him, and my mom hit her, and put the gun in her hand. She..she headed for the door and I got really scared so I hid behind a big crate, and she didn't see me as she ran out. So then I went back and looked in, and I saw Skye pass out. Then I ran out of the warehouse. But--" She bit her trembling lip.
"But what?"
"My mom was still in the parking lot, and she grabbed me and put me in her car and we drove home."
"Miss Patterson, this is all very helpful information, but why did you wait until now to tell it?"
"I was sc-scared. You don't understand my mom. Sometimes I think she's CRAZY. Like really wacko nuts. She doesn't make sense sometimes, and it really freaks me out. And she was tellin' me I couldn't leave the house and I couldn't tell anyone what happened or else something really bad would happen to me. So she kept me in the house while she ranted and raved like a lunatic, drinkin' and swearin' and just really scaring me."
"Then how did you get to the courthouse today?"
"I guess she had too much to drink last night, cuz this morning she was just passed out, sprawled on the couch, leaning over the edge. I mean she was out cold. And I was really worried about Skye so I wanted to come and see what was going on. So I took the bus down here and watched from the back."
"Why didn't you tell us what you knew at the beginning?"
Connie looked down at her hands. "I..I know I should have, but I couldn't turn in my own mother! She may be nuts and she may treat me bad sometimes, but she's also really great sometimes. And I...I love her. I didn't want to turn her in unless I had to. But then it was getting near the end and things looked really bad for Skye, and I couldn't let her go to jail. She's a great boss, and she's always really nice to me. I like her a lot and I couldn't watch her go to jail for something she didn't do."
"Thank you, Connie. Now-"
"Your honour, how can any of this be proven?" Dara bellowed. She was getting really annoyed. "For all we know this little show here was orchestrated by the defense because they knew the defendant was going to be found guilty! If this kid can't back up what she's saying then I request that her testimony be stricken-"
"But I do have proof!!!" Connie interrupted. She pulled something out of her pocket- a tape recorder. "I got it right here."
"Your honour-" Dara cried.
"Your honour, I request that this evidence be presented to the court, if it can prove what happened to Mr. Corinthos, one way or another." Bobby cut in.
The judge sighed. "I'll allow it, but I'm warning everyone, this courtroom better not be made into a circus sideshow."
"Thank you your honour," Bobby said. He turned back to Connie. "Now, Miss Patterson, can you tell the jury what you have there?"
"It's a tape recorder. My mom gave it to me to take to work. She said I should tape what went on at work so she could make sure they weren't takin' advantage of me, you know like child labour laws? So she told me to tape all my days at work so she could listen to them when I got home. Well the day of August 25, I had one of those superlong tapes in. I had taped some stuff at work that afternoon, but shut it off. But I guess in my frenzy to find my mom that night, I must have hit the record button and not known it. This morning when I rewound it and listened, I realized that I had taped everything that went on at the warehouse."
Bobby got the judge's permisson to play the tape. Connie was right- it had taped everything from the time Becca explained to Skye who she really was, until the time when Becca and Connie were in the car, and Becca was yelling at her to keep her bleeping mouth shut. That's when the time ran out on the tape.
Listening to the tape, Skye began to get pieces of her memory of that night back. It all fit now! Becca was Althea's daughter! So that meant the little girl in her dreams was her sister! Or at least, adoptive sister. Becca was the one who was spying on her, sabotaging her company, and framing her for murder!!! Oh my God!!!!
"Your honour, in light of this new evidence, I ask that the charges against my client be dropped completely."
The judge looked to Dara for an argument. Instead, she just slammed her briefcase shut and crossed her arms. Damn it, she had lost yet ANOTHER case!!
"The witness may step down. All charges against Skye Chandler Quartermaine are to be both dropped and erased from her record. Court is adjourned."
Skye couldn't believe it! She was free!!! She jumped up and gave Lindsay a happy hug. Then she turned to Jax who was grinning from ear to ear in the seat behind her. He wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her. Bobby returned to their table, and Skye gave him a cheerful hug as well. Hell, she was so glad to be free, she would have hugged Carly at this point. Then she saw Connie approach them nervously. She stepped away from her lawyers and walked to the trembling girl.
"Skye, I am so sorry," she squeaked, tears falling down her face. "You must hate me-"
Tears of her own began to form in Skye's eyes. "Oh, Connie, I don't hate you. You saved me! But, honey, I am so sorry that you have had to put up with this. You poor thing." She took Connie in a nervous embrace. Connie at first was distant, but then hugged her boss tighter and began to sob uncontrollably into her shoulder.
A few minutes later, Skye, Jax, Connie, Bobby and Lindsay were quickly heading out of the courtroom amid a sea of reporters. Jax tried to shield Skye from the cameras and microphones being spewed at her. They were just about to the door when another small group of people pushed their way towards them. They tried to push through, when someone got right in Skye's face. Skye stopped dead in her tracks.
"Hi there Sis. Thought you could get away?"
Before Skye could respond, Becca put her hands around her neck. Skye tried to scream but she was cut off by the all-too-familiar sound of a gunshot. Her and Becca fell to the ground to the sound of hundreds of surprised and fearful screams.
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