Trust (57 page)

Right before the clock struck noon, Oscar popped his head into the room and asked what we’d all like for lunch. When he returned with our sandwiches, he informed Stephan that he would be up soon. I nearly lost the two bites of my meal I was able to choke down, and it was only Stephan helping me breathe through the panic and nausea that helped keep the food down.

Less than an hour later, there was a knock on the door before Emma, Agent Marco, and a guard walked in. Oscar wasn’t with them, so I assumed he was already in the courtroom waiting.

“They’re ready for you, Mr. Coleman.”

Stephan nodded and turned to face me. He held my face between both of his hands and rested his forehead against mine. “I’ll be right back.”

I nodded.

He faced Lily, and there was some sort of unspoken communication between them. She nodded and stepped forward.

Reluctantly, Stephan stood and trudged toward the door where Agent Marco and the guard were waiting. Lily quickly filled the seat he’d vacated moments before. Stephan paused at the door, looking back over his shoulder. His gaze met mine. There was an almost scary quality to his eyes, and I knew right then and there that he wasn’t scared of facing all those people and telling them what he’d done to save me. He was going to put his entire reputation on the line by admitting he’d broken the law—that he’d bought another human being.

“Stephan?”

He froze. “Yes, Brianna?”

“I love you.”

Stephan’s eyes hardened, and he marched back across the room to where I sat. Lifting me out of my chair by my arms, he planted a hard kiss on my lips and then circled his arms around me, hugging me to his chest.

Before he released me, he palmed the heart that hung from my collar and looked into my eyes with an intensity that made my heart hammer in my chest for reasons that had nothing to do with fear or panic. He didn’t speak, but I heard what he was saying loud and clear. I was his. He was mine. Whatever happened, nothing would change that.

Stephan

I didn’t make it more than three steps outside the room we’d been holed up in before the questions began flying from reporters.

“Why are you here, Mr. Coleman?”

“Are you testifying?”

Questions began mixing with other questions until I was no longer able to distinguish one from another. They all wanted to know the same thing, though. Since Agent Marco had publicly announced that I was no longer a person of interest in the case, one by one the media had begun going elsewhere for their stories. Whether I liked it or not, that was once again going to change.

Keeping my chin up, my shoulders back, and my eyes forward, I followed Agent Marco to the courtroom. He peeked inside before opening the door. I watched him nod to someone inside the room, and then he stepped inside, motioning for me to follow.

As I slipped inside the large courtroom, away from the flashing cameras, the first thing I noticed wasn’t all the people in the seats or even Ian Pierce himself. It was Brianna’s father. He was being led past Ian and out a side door. What struck me most wasn’t that he was there—I knew he had been scheduled to testify—it was the look in his eyes as he stared at Ian. I’d never seen that look from Jonathan Reeves. If looks could kill, Ian Pierce would be a dead man. Maybe, just maybe, Jonathan Reeves was beginning to grasp the horror his daughter had lived through.

“Who is the prosecution’s next witness?” The judge’s voice drew my gaze away from Reeves and back to the front of the room.

“The prosecution calls Stephan Coleman to the stand, Your Honor.”

Standing up a little straighter, I walked confidently to the front of the room. The bailiff met me once I passed by the tables where the lawyers and Ian were set up, and escorted me to the witness chair. “Please raise your right hand.”

I followed his instruction and lifted my right hand so that it was level with my shoulder.

“You do swear that the evidence you shall give relative to the cause now under consideration shall be the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help you God.”

“I do.”

“You may sit.”

Lowering my arm, I sat down. It wasn’t the most comfortable chair, but at least it had some padding to speak of. Thoughts of padding brought back the comment Brianna had made regarding Ian’s spanking bench. I directed my gaze to the man in question and hardened my stare. He smirked back at me. Unless he knew something I didn’t, he was being overly confident given the circumstances.

“Can you state your name for the record?”

Reluctantly, I turned my attention back to the prosecutor. “Stephan Coleman.”

“And Mr. Coleman, do you know the defendant?”

“Yes. I do.”

“How do you know Mr. Pierce?”

“I met him last May at his home. We’d conversed over the phone on two separate occasions prior to the meeting to set it up.”

“And what was the meeting about, Mr. Coleman?”

When meeting with Agent Marco and the prosecutor to prepare for trial, they’d instructed me to look directly at the jury when I delivered this next piece of information. Every last one of them was staring right at me, waiting for my answer. “I met with Mr. Pierce to inquire about purchasing one of his slaves.”

Several gasps were heard throughout the courtroom, including a few from those among the jury. It was followed by a flurry of commotion, and the judge banged his gavel several times to restore order. “Silence.”

Once things quieted down, the prosecutor continued. “So you met with Mr. Pierce at his home to discuss buying one of his slaves?”

“Yes.”

“And how did it come to your attention that Mr. Pierce had a slave to sell?”

“A friend of mine ran into Mr. Pierce and his two slaves at a party, and the subject came up that Mr. Pierce may be willing to part with his newest slave for the right price.”

“And your friend brought this to your attention?”

“Yes, he did.”

The prosecutor let my confirmation linger for several moments. “So your friend told you about Mr. Pierce and his slave—the one he may be interested in selling for the right price—and you went to meet Mr. Pierce at his home.”

“Correct.”

“Could you tell us about your meeting with Mr. Pierce?”

I nodded. “When I arrived, a young woman, who I later learned to be Alex, invited me into the house and took me to a room where Mr. Pierce was waiting. After greeting me, he dismissed Alex, leaving us alone in the room. I introduced myself, and we briefly discussed my reasons for coming. He followed that up by asking if I would like to see the merchandise.”

The prosecutor cleared his throat. “To clarify, the merchandise being discussed is a person? A young woman?”

“Yes.”

He nodded. “Continue. What happened next?”

“Mr. Pierce called Alex back and instructed her to go get Brianna and bring her to him. It wasn’t long before Alex returned with another young woman. The woman, Brianna, was instructed to stand in the middle of the room while I inspected her.”

“Inspected her, Mr. Coleman?”

“That’s right.” I wasn’t going into detail. The experience itself had been humiliating enough for both me and Brianna. I couldn’t see how knowing every move I’d made would be beneficial to the jury.

“What happened after you ‘inspected’ her?”

Again, I looked at the jury. “He asked if I liked what I saw and offered to let me try out her oral skills if I wanted.”

There was a collective gasp, and the judge was once more banging with his gavel. “Now that’s enough. One more outburst and I will begin removing people from the courtroom. Is that understood?”

He leveled a stern gaze over the expanse of the room before looking over at me and nodding. “You may go on, Mr. Coleman.”

“Thank you.” Turning back to face the prosecutor, I went on with my story. “I declined his offer and asked how much he wanted for her.”

“Did you buy the young woman from Mr. Pierce?”

“Yes. I did.”

“And what was this woman’s name, Mr. Coleman?”

“Her name was Brianna Reeves.”

The prosecutor nodded. “One more question, Mr. Coleman. Why did you buy this young woman from Mr. Pierce?”

“My friend, the one who saw her at the party, got the impression she wasn’t there of her own free will. After seeing her myself, I agreed with his assessment. I couldn’t, in good conscience, leave her there.”

“Why not call the police?”

“And tell them what? I had no evidence, just my gut telling me something wasn’t right. I had to do something, and I did.”

The prosecutor had me confirm that I had been granted immunity for my participation in a crime in exchange for my cooperation. Some of the jurors looked disgusted. Others had a mix of interest and confusion on their faces. Human trafficking cases in the US weren’t an everyday occurrence. I’m sure a few of them were at least trying to decide whether or not to believe my story. They were trying to figure out if the man on the other side of the table was capable of selling another human being. I knew for a fact he was. He was capable of that and a lot more.

Ian’s attorney kept it brief. He had me state my name, my profession, and to reiterate how I’d met Ian. I thought he was going to return to his seat after that, but he stopped and pivoted on his heel, facing me once more. “How old are you, Mr. Coleman?”

I was confused, but I answered him. “I’m twenty-five.”

“And as a twenty-five-year-old man, you have certain . . . needs, shall we say?”

Although I had a feeling I knew what he was trying to get at, I wasn’t going to make this easy for him. He was trying to defend the enemy, after all. “If we’re being literal, we all have needs. You’re going to have to be more specific.”

Instead of answering my question, he asked me another. “This woman you supposedly bought from Mr. Pierce, do you currently have a relationship with her?”

Ah. I knew where he was going. “Yes. I do.”

“And would you classify that relationship as being an intimate one?”

I took a deep breath and answered, attempting to keep my frustration out of my tone. The prosecutor warned us this was a possibility. The defense was going to be grasping at straws. “Yes. Brianna and I developed a relationship . . . an intimate relationship. She’s my girlfriend.”

“And she lives with you, does she not?”

“Yes.”

“I see. So you’re here testifying against a man who you claim held your girlfriend against her will. A man who you say then sold you the woman you are, by your own admission, currently living with.”

Gritting my teeth, I spat out my answer. “Yes.” I was beginning to understand what Oscar was talking about. With a few simple questions, Ian’s attorney had planted the seed of doubt as to my motives.

“Thank you. That will be all for now.” He returned to his seat and ended by asking the judge for permission to call me to testify again at a later time.

As I stepped down off the stand, irritated and in desperate need to hold Brianna in my arms again, the judge announced a fifteen-minute recess. I supposed he wanted to give everyone, including the media that was sitting inside the courtroom, the opportunity to vocalize their shock over what they’d heard since he’d put a stop to it earlier.

The only thing I could concentrate on was getting back to Brianna. That was easier said than done, though, when I was waylaid from leaving the courtroom by the prosecutor. “You did well, all things considered.”

“Thank you, but I’m not so sure about that.”

He shrugged. “We knew the defense bringing up your relationship with Ms. Reeves was likely. How’s she holding up?”

I glanced over my shoulder to where Ian was being taken out of the courtroom through the side door Reeves had disappeared through earlier. “As well as can be expected. She’s nervous, and rightly so.”

“I’ll do my best to protect her, but they are going to go on the attack. I’m surprised your cross-examination wasn’t worse than it was.”

“He wants to call me back up on the stand later.”

“Yes. That’s not unusual. And he will probably do the same with Ms. Reeves as well. It will give him time to dig up dirt . . . try to catch you in a lie or find something to tarnish your reputation in some way.” He paused. “Any skeletons in your closet I need to know about?”

I met the prosecutor’s inquisitive gaze. Before I could respond, however, there was a commotion toward the back of the courtroom. I glanced back to see Logan poking his head through the door. He saw me and motioned for me to come.

Excusing myself from the prosecutor and his questions, I strolled down the aisle to meet Logan. He nodded out into the hall, and I followed him. I saw Brianna searching through the throng of people. When her gaze landed on me, I saw some of the panic ebb from her eyes.

Reaching out for her, not caring who was around us, I pulled her into my arms. A large puff of air left her lungs blowing hot against my neck.

I stood there holding her for as long as I could, but all too soon, everyone began reentering the courtroom, including the judge.

Brianna stood a few feet outside the door, flanked by our friends. Jade and Lily were directly by Brianna’s side. They’d each been holding one of her hands when I’d walked through the door. Logan and Cal stood guard next to them. It was a rather impressive sight. I noticed Emma hovering directly behind Brianna. The five had her surrounded on three sides.