EIGHT


Annora walked back into the room holding her inhaler when she heard knocking on the door. "Hey! Hey, you guys in there?!" Annora looked scared as she walked closer to Connor who lightly rubbed her back. "Who is that?"

Wes whispered back at her staring at the window, "Asher." Connor left Annora's side walking forward as Asher yelled. "I see your car in the driveway, Connor! Annora! I know you're home! Are the others there too?! Open up the damn door!"

Annora's breathing started to get heavy again, Connor noticed and took her hands in his, feeling the inhaler in her palm. "A, breathe in with me. 1, 2, 3. Slow breaths okay." She followed his actions as he breathed with her. "1, 2, 3." Laurel nudged Connor so he'd pay attention, "Okay, what is he doing here?"

Michaela who was still sat in the corner whispered, "It's my fault." Connor forced out a laugh removing his hands from the trembling girl in front of him. "Of course it's her fault. I mean, who else's fault would it be, right." He sat down against the wall as Asher yelled out again.

"Is Michaela in there with you?! I want my freaking trophy back!" Annora went over to the corner folding herself up as she rocked back and forth. "I want my mom. I want my mom. I need Frank." Tears streamed down her face as she caught another glimpse of Sam's body. "I need Frank!" She whispered to herself, choking out a sob, causing her to place a hand over her mouth.

"Open up! I know you're in there!" Asher pounded on the door again after quiet moments causing the young girl on the floor to jump. Rebecca pulled Wes down as she also dropped to the floor. "Everyone, get down." Connor stood laughing covering his mouth as Asher went knocking on the window.

"Are you bitches seriously trying to ignore me right now?" Annora covered her ears continuously rocking, "Go away." Connor slowly laid on the floor right where Sam Keating laid staring into his eyes. "Let me in! And you guys call me immature?! I'm like the most grown-up grown-up ever!"

The students sat in the courtroom listening as Annalise and Prosecutor Parks talked with the judge. The judge ended up setting the bail at maximum, though Annora hadn't paid attention to was more focused on the fact Frank hadn't tried to speak with her. She hadn't known what she had done wrong for him to leave her at the bar and not speak or even look at her.

Annora had walked into the study after taken her medication just in time to hear Frank announce 'shooting star time'. Bonnie sat off of the desk walking with Frank, "Who's your pick?" She asked then Michaela asked what the ordeal was. Frank crossed his arms looking around, "Hair Gel's got ice in his veins. Doucheface is too dumb to care."

Bonnie tilted her head chiming in, "Wallflower's pretty sensitive. Nora couldn't care less." Frank smiled brightly crossed his arms. "My bet's on Prom Queen. She's wound way too tight." He went back over to the desk as Michaela gave a fake smile to Bonnie. "What the hell's a shooting star?"

Just then Annalise opened the door, her and Wes exiting her office. "We need a copy of Rebecca's confession tape and detainment logs, otherwise there's no getting her out on bail." She said to Bonnie as soon as she left her desk office. "Be creative."

Asher showed up behind Wes whispering in his ear. "She took away the trophy right?" Annalise stepped forward into the middle of the room, "Mr. Gibbons is off the Rebecca Sutter case. You do not speak or even look at her unless I specifically ask you. Understood?" Annalise spoke as she turned back around at Wes. "Let's go we have a new client waiting."

"Marten Trudeau is founder and C.E.O. of the brokerage firm Trudeau securities. Her firm transacts $90 billion a year in trades." Annalise spoke as they entered a very modernized building. "She's the stockbroker of choice to the mainline."

"And owns the most extensive collection of Mapplethorpe in the city, according to Google. Baller." Asher who was walking behind Annalise and Frank, on his phone, added. The group made way to the elevator as Annalise chimed in. "Our client came from nothing, put herself through school by cleaning offices. Started trading out of her apartment, clawing her way to the top of a field notoriously dominated by men."

Her eyes flickered between Asher and Frank, the both of them standing next to her. "I need you to take this case seriously." As the elevator opened, Wes was the one who spoke, "What's the charge against her?" Annalise turned entering the elevator first. "Insider trading." Once they were upstairs in the building they saw many of the FBI taking boxes of items from the office.

While the workers argued or made phone calls. They walked through the desks just a woman in a horribly styled cheetah blouse stood on a box of papers.

"Your hooked are looting this place like it's a damn fire sale. And you have no right." She spoke to an agent who stood in front of her. "Ms. Trudeau, this warrant says otherwise." He held up the paper allowing her to take it. "Oh, this warrant?" She took out a lighter lighting the papers on fire.

Annalise stepped forward as the workers cheered. She took the paper from her telling her that's enough. Annalise dropped it on the floor stomping on it along with the agent. He turned back around to her as she stepped down. "Are you insane?"

She ignored him facing towards Annalise. "Annalise Keating. The exact charge?" Annalise spoke to the agent who crossed his arms at her getting too close to her face for her daughter's liking. "Your client purchased stock in Edson pharmaceuticals in advance of a favorable FDA ruling arising from insider knowledge."

Asher lowered his sight, eyes flickering between the two, "Was any of that in English?" No one paid any mind to him, Annalise continuing her conversation. "I still see no proof of my client's connection to Edson pharmaceuticals." The man mockingly smacked his lips pointing his arm out to the side. "Right. I almost forget that part. Will you excuse me?" He moved between them opening a laptop while another man came with a box. "You want proof? How about a little light viewing?"

The footage showed the woman sat on a desk sharing very intimate kisses with a man before he bent down throwing things off of the desk allowing the agent to pause on his face. "Ms. Trudeau, do you have any idea who that man might be?" She rolled her eyes speaking in an annoyed tone of voice, "Elias Edson."

"Elias Edson. And that would be the C.E.O. of Edson pharmaceuticals?" He played the video showing her getting bent over the desk. Annora covered her eyes with her palm hearing the heavy breathing. "There's your proof." Hearing the moaning coming from the video Annora spoke up in the big room. "For the love God and his son. Can you turn it off?!"

"Preliminary hearings are won by the prosecution ninety-nine percent of the time. The judge only needs to prove that there's a probable cause of crime to go to trial, so the only way to keep Marren's case out of trial is to find the real culprit." As soon as she stopped speaking Frank stepped forward holding many stacks of files in his hand.

"There are fifty-two employees at Trudeau securities. Your job is to interview them pretending it's case research, of course, until you find us a traitor." He handed out stacks of files to each student as he spoke.

When he handed the last stack to Annora he tried to make eye contact, still holding the file as she took it in her hands. She had only looked at him once, waiting for him to let go of the file so she could look through them. "Happy hunting."

Wes was confused and decided to cure it, "How do you know it's one of her employees?" Annalise turned around to face him as she was leaving to go into her office. "I don't. I just know everybody hates their boss." She gave the five students looks while she smiled at Annora before she spun around continuing her walk.

Michaela sucked her teeth glaring at the door. "She's right. I hate her." Laurel had a playful smile as she looked towards the girl who took a seat. "Careful. Her daughter's sitting right there. Might go run to mommy." Annora rolled her eyes noting she was going to spend the night looking through the files in her room.

"How are we supposed to find time to study for torts?" Michaela asked in a snotty tone. Annora took her backpack hanging it on her arm about to leave but decided to speak to Michaela first. "The same way I do and most students do. Time management." She walked away heading up the stairs, frowning as she heard Michaela mocking her voice downstairs.

She was already upstairs by the time Frank came to her defense. Missing his fraction of care for her. "Mock her again and that's your job." He growled out glaring at the woman who turned her head back down to the files in her grip.

"It's funny, right? We're driving so far out of the city to buy some lighter fluid when... we're already screwed." Connor glanced at Wes who held Annora tightly in his arms. She could almost fall asleep if it wasn't for the feet of her dead father being so close to her.

"I mean, I hate to be all negative here, but Asher knew that we were in the house, and there's that, th-tha-tha-that eyewitness cop, our fingerprints, and hair and-and skin cells at the crime scene," He turned to Michaela and Laurel in the backseat, smiling at the women as if this was some big excitement. ", the fibers from this rug now embedded in my car, these street camera recording us this very minute. Everyone say hello to the police. Hi!"

Annora choked on a sob into Wes' chest. "Connor, stop. You're scaring her." Connor's face changed expressions in the blink of an eye. "She should be scared! We're all going to go to prison because of you and your girlfriend!"

Annora looked up at Connor through her teary eyes lowly speaking, "Enough, Connor." He shakes his head and chuckles, placing his hands on the steering wheel. "You're right. Why-why freak out about things out of our control?" He then turned on the radio which started to play Christmas hits. "Perfect!" He hoarsely laughed turning it up. "Don we now our gay apparel! Fa la la la la, la la, la la!"

Connor was violently hacking at the body while the others watched in fear. Annora couldn't handle it so Wes had taken her some feet away allowing her to sit on the ground.

She slowly rocked herself back and forth looking out at the trees. "The other night dear, as I lay sleeping. I dreamed I held you in my arms." Wes looked over tearfully at her as she sang softly, her voice cracking at moments due to her tears. "But when I awoke dear, I was mistaken. So I hung my head and I cried." A tear leaked from her eye as she sang the song her mom used to sing on scary nights.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away." Wes was worried for her as he feared she was at her breaking point in the ordeal. He softly called out to her yet she didn't respond.

"I'll always love you and make you happy. If you will only say the same. But if you leave me and love another, you'll regret it all someday." On her previous words, when she sang she thought of Frank her mind picturing him.

Connor had evidence Marren's assistant, Paxton, was the Benedict Arnold and had committed suicide in the building after Marren's words towards him. That night the group figured out who his accomplices were.

The next day the students were in class listening to Annalise speak. "Getting a witness to confess is perhaps the most challenging yet fun parts of being a trial attorney." She walked around the classroom smacking a pen against her palm in an elongated rhythm. "You start with softballs, questions about their personal life, family, anything to warm them up. You're no longer a lawyer. You're a detective in an interrogation. You don't ask for the truth! You pound it out of them, relentless in your pursuit of the answer you want."

Marren clapped as Jimmy and Talia were handcuffed and brought to walk through the office. "Let's hear it for the greedy little pigs!" The office then started to join her applause. "Looks like you flattened yourselves up for the slaughter." Talia turned around glaring at her. "I was just doing what you taught us. You would have done the same thing, Marren."

Marren smirked her eyes big, "No. I would have made my own company. As I did. Did you really think that you could burn me? And you took trusting, naive Pax down with you. Enjoy your stay at club fed." The office began clapping at the two criminals were walked away from the office.

"Griffin was on top of her. Lila was shouting for help, screaming, scratching at him. He had his hands around her neck." Annalise turned to Bonnie who sat with a proud smile. "How'd you finally get this?"

"Wendy's assistant has a messy desk. Maybe something fell off." She shrugged and Annalise congratulated her. "No?" Rebecca's eyes flickered to the side as she was asked a question. "You were sitting?" Her eyes flickered once more, "Yes."

Her voice was unsure. "Which means you were close enough to hold her legs." She gave a fearful nod staring behind the camera. "Yes." Wes ignored Connor as he commented on his taste in women. "Go back," Annalise commanded causing Bonnie to rewind. "Right there."

In the courtroom, Annalise showed the footage to the judge as Rebecca was being off in her questioning. "Your honor, this section of the video was not a part of the written confession. Clearly, it's because my client was manipulated into saying that she was touching the victim's body by the detectives in order to further incriminate her."

Wendy Parks spoke from behind her rolling her eyes. "She's reaching, your honor." "I'm not. The video completely undermines the reliability of the document."

"Objection. Relevance." Her voice was pleading as she walked to the stand. "I agree with Mrs. Keating. The video shows coercion. In light of this, I'm reducing bail to $100,000. I am also initiating an inquiry into the interrogation of Miss Sutter. Ms. Parks, I'm not happy." The judge banged his gavel allowing them to exit the courtroom.

Annora stood banging on an apartment door at six am. With no answer, she banged harder whimpering. The door soon opened allowing her banging to halt. "Where have you been? I've been calling you all night. None of you are answering your phones." Annora pushed herself into him wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm scared."

He pulled her inside closing the door, putting his arm around her. "What's wrong?" Annora bit her lips silencing her cries. "I can't tell you, Frank. Please don't leave me." He pulled away from her holding her face in his hands. "It's okay. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere." He inched his face down connecting their lips in a long kiss.

When they separated he pulled her back into his chest staring at the door. "I'm not going anywhere." He glared at the door cursing at the person or thing that made her shaken up.

Laurel, Wes, Michaela, and Connor walked through the woods carrying the rug-covered body while Annora walked behind them shining the flashlight.

"Remind me again why Nora isn't helping?" Michaela rolled her eyes her arm tiring out. Wes stopped walking glaring up at her. "Because she shouldn't have to."

Michaela didn't exactly mean to come off rude she was only tired especially after what she saw tonight.

Suddenly they heard a woman laughing with leaves crunching under her feet. "They're totally wondering where we went right now."

A deep male voice followed hers walking with the girl. "No way." The five silently hurried behind a thick tree that had a small drop behind it shielding them from the intoxicated students.

They dropped the body on the ground just as Wes whispered for Annora to turn off the flashlight, which she did. "Hey, hey. Jen cannot find out about this, okay?" The girl grabbed the man's coat bringing him closer to her.

"Deal." He shrugged the coat off of his arms with her doing the same. "Okay." The two had just started to kiss when Laurel's phone began to ring. The girl whipped her head around in their direction but was not able to see them. "What was that?"

Laurel tried to decline the call but her glove was stopping her from doing so, which allowed Michaela to see her screen. It was Frank which a picture of him shirtless taking a selfie.

She took her glove off with her mouth-ending call then throwing her head back in relief. The guy heard the noise stop which caused him to become curious.

"Hey! Who's there?" He began to put his coast back on when the girl grabbed his forearm getting scared. "Can we go?" He gripped her arm pulling her to follow him out of the woods.

Laurel let out a sigh when they were finally gone. Michaela glared down at Laurel questionably, "Why is Frank calling you?" At her words, Annora's head shot up her face contorting into confusion as to why he would call her... unless they're hooking up.

Laurel looked back up at her faking her confusion. "What?" Not falling for her act Michaela quickly hissed out, "I saw your phone, Laurel. What the hell's going on?" Everyone stared at Laurel who only looked off in the woods.

Wes looked at her with wide eyes not believing her confusion. "Laurel, please don't say you told Frank about this." She looked back at him when Michaela suddenly hissed at them, "You people tell me that I can't call Aiden, and you called Frank? I swear to god, Laurel, if you told him anything-"

Laurel then confessed something that made Annora's heart stop. "I slept with him. Okay? I didn't call him. He's calling me bec- It doesn't matter." She glared at Laurel, her eyes becoming glossy. "You what? You slept with Frank? You and Frank had sex?" Laurel nodded her head looking away from the now crying girl.

Annora rubbed the tears down her face kicking the dirt. "Fucking bullshit. Lying son of a bitch." She stood up weeping as she kicked more dirt, it flying around. Wes quickly rose to his feet as she started to hit her thighs in pain.

He grabbed her arms pulling her back to his chest. "Annora," Wes spoke her name in worry for her mental state. "He's a fucking liar, Wes. H-h-he, he, he-" Wes turned her around pulling her into his chest to quiet her heart aching sobs. Her voice muffled against his coat.


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