Miss McCall adjusted her glasses, focusing her attention on me. "Well, there was a lot of yelling. It woke me up. I looked out my bedroom window and saw the sheriffs boy."

"Did you notice anything unusual about him?" I asked.

She scoffed. "You bet your sweet ass I did."

A few laughs arose from the courtroom.

"Language." The judge said.

Miss McCall rolled her eyes. "Anyway, that little asshole came running out of the house, blood all over his shirt. He was talking to someone on the phone. No doubt his good for nothing father."

"Language!" The judge ordered.

A few more laughs rang out.

I suppressed a smile of my own. "What happened after that?"

"Well, he took off running so I called the police." She finished, sitting back in her seat.

"Did anyone else see any of this?" I asked.

"The whole damn neighborhood came outside when they heard the screams. They might be easily manipulated, but they aren't blind."

I nodded to her. "Thank you, miss McCall. That's all for me, your honor."

The judge called Benny up.

He strutted over to her, a big smile on his face. "Good afternoon. I'm glad you could join us today."

"Yeah, bite me." She replied.

"Miss McCall, I will not allow any more of that kind of language in my courtroom. One more word and I'll hold you in contempt of court. Is that understood?" The judge asked.

Miss McCall rolled her eyes again but nodded anyway.

Benny nodded to her. "So, ma'am, you said something interesting before. 'They might be easily manipulated, but they aren't blind.'"

"What of it?" She asked.

"I noticed you're wearing a pair of glasses today. May I ask, are they prescription?"

"Well, they certainly aren't designer." She replied.

Benny let out a little chuckle with the rest of the courtroom. "Could you remove them for me?"

She looked to me, then to the judge, who nodded.

Miss McCall removed her glasses while Benny started walking to the back of the room. "Were you wearing your glasses that night, ma'am?"

She squinted, trying to focus on him. "No, like I said, I was sleeping when I heard the commotion."

Benny stopped at the end of the room, raising his arm. "Miss McCall, could you tell me how many fingers I'm holding up?"

She squinted even more, a look of anger crossing her face. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Answer the question, miss McCall." The judge ordered.

She sat back then, defeated. "I don't know."

Dakota squeezed my hand. "Oh no..."

I looked to her before letting out a sigh. "Dakota, I..."

She just shook her head. "It's all my fault..."

"Im through, your honor." Benny said.

The judge released miss McCall, slight murmurs breaking out amongst the courtroom.

Miss McCall wiped at her eyes, flashing me an apologetic look before exiting the room.

The judge rapped her gavel. "Court is adjourned for today, we'll pick this up tomorrow..."

   I sat in my cell, tears welled in my eyes.

   "How're you holding up?" Teagan asked.

I just shook my head.

She stood up, walking in front of my cell. "Is there anything I can do?"

   I wiped at my eyes as a few tears leaked out. "Could I just have some time alone?"

   Teagan let out a small sigh. "Sure, just don't go anywhere."

   That got a little smile out of me. "Yes, ma'am."

   She smiled back before exiting the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts...

   I walked into the jailhouse, immediately running into Dakota's guard, Teagan.

   "Good afternoon, miss Cross." She greeted.

   "Afternoon. How's she holding up?"

   Teagan shrugged. "Not great. What happened at court?"

   I looked down. "Nothing good..."

   Teagan nodded. "Well, wish her luck for me."

   "Will do." I said before walking past her.

   Then, a thought occurred to me. "Uh, hey, who's guarding her cell?"

   Teagan turned to me. "No one, she just wanted to be alone for a little while."

   I nodded, my mind racing. "Could you do me a favor?"

   She folded her arms over her chest. "What kinda favor..?"

   The door to my room opened and I looked up, seeing Valerie walking through.

   "Oh, hey." I greeted.

   She stood in front of my cell. "Dakota... I'm sorry about how things went today..."

   I stood up with a shrug. "It's not your fault..."

   She took my hand through the bars. "Maybe not... But, I promise I will do better..."

   I met her gaze then, a sudden silence falling between us.

   "Valerie?" I asked.

   "Yes?"

   I looked down. "Can I-"

   She cut me off, pulling me against the bars, pressing her lips to mine.

   I reached my arms through the cell, wrapping them around her, deepening the kiss.

   Then, I pulled away. "Wait, what about the camera?" I asked, looking to the security camera in the corner of the room.

   She smirked, giving me a little shrug. "I may've pulled a few strings to get it turned off for an hour."

   I looked at her then, my breathing becoming heavy, my eyes darting between hers and her lips.

   "So... Mind if I keep you company for a little while..?" She asked, slowly pulling her jacket off.

   I nodded slowly. "Please..."

   She smirked, undoing the first few buttons on her shirt.

   I hesitantly pulled my shirt over my head. "Come here..."

   She did so, meeting me through the bars for another fiery kiss.

   We frantically grabbed at each other, the bars making it a lot more difficult then it had to be.

   She ripped the rest of the buttons from her shirt before dropping it to the floor.

   I pulled her as close to me as I could, my hand traveling up her bare thigh, disappearing under her skirt.

   She let out a moan as her hand traveled down my waist and past my sweatpants.

   I wrapped my free hand around the back of her neck, pulling her back towards me.

   My breathing was heavy, her delicate fingers exploring the inside of my pants. "Valerie... Oh my God...

   She pressed her lips to mine, her fingers moving faster. "We're running out of time..."

   I rested my forehead against hers, my knees becoming weak. "Then hurry up..."

   She smirked before sinking down to her knees, pulling my sweat pants down. "If that's what you want..."

   After a little while, Valerie and I leaned against opposite sides of the cell door, out of breath.

   "That was... A lot harder then you'd think..." She said.

   I chuckled a little, knocking on the cell door. "If only this stupid thing wasn't in the way."

   She leaned her head back, looking sidelong at me. "I will get you out of here, Dakota..."

   I met her gaze, a slight smile spreading on my lips. "I believe you..."

   A silence fell between us again before I spoke. "Valerie..?"

   "Yeah?"

   I let out a small sigh, looking down at my hands. "I wanna take the stand..."