People crowded the hallway. The chatter of voices and the sound of footsteps increased the ache pounding at the base of her skull and the tension gripping her shoulder muscles. After three hours of deliberation, the jury acquitted the bastard. She’d tried her best, but a witness lied and the jury believed him. The whole verdict hinged on his false alibi. The dirt bag should rot in jail for shooting that young, innocent woman, a single mother with no family. Unfortunately, he walked out of the courtroom a free man. She wanted to shut out the court’s decision and not think about the deceased woman’s baby being swept up into the child welfare system. She worried about the baby’s future. Would she be adopted by loving, caring parents or end up being shuffled from foster home to foster home? Hope gave herself a mental slap. What was the matter with her? She usually didn’t become so involved in any of her cases, but the baby reminded her of how her own mother had died in a hit and run accident.
