Zac rode in the car with Taylor on the way home from the courthouse. There was no one else in the car and it was a very tense atmosphere. Neither of them were speaking to each other due to Taylor's testimonial during the trial. Although Taylor didn't say anything Zac didn't already know, and said it with the utmost respect, Zac couldn't help his mind from wandering back nine years to when these events occured.
He and Taylor never had that conversation; the one where everything was unleashed, all the unpleasant details, all the true facts, and Zac knew he should talk with his brother about it because it was more than likely to all come out in court. Looking over at his brother, Zac could tell Taylor was silently wishing they wouldn't talk. Zac decided to wait until they got home.
When they did arrive back at the hotel, Taylor reluctantly agreed to speak to Zac. They went into the bedroom and Zac made sure nobody came in because nobody needed to hear what they were going to talk about.
"I don't think this is such a good idea, Zac," Taylor said, watching as Zac sat down in front of him. "We agreed we'd never talk about it again..."
"Taylor, it's either now or in court. Don't think they're not going to ask you every detail possible about it."
"They didn't today."
"Don't worry, they'll call you back up at some point. I...I just think it'd be better if I heard it from you personally instead of in a room of a hundred people and Court TV taping."
"Heh...you remember when we put Court TV in a song? You--"
"Taylor."
"I'm sorry," Taylor said. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything. When did it start?"
"After you introduced me to her--that night." Zac sat back and shook his head. He was already regretting this but he knew he had to hear it. "We didn't have sex the first night."
"Then what did you do?"
"Zac..."
"Tell me."
"We made out for a while, then she, uh, she went down on me." Taylor was looking away and speaking low, his face red and embarrassed.
"So when did you sleep together?"
"The next time we met--I think it was something like a week later."
"Where was I?"
"Asleep. She left your room and came into mine." Zac shook his head again; all this time he convinced himself that it was purely Taylor's fault, but so far Ginger seemed the forward one. "She went back to your room immediately afterwards."
"Then what?"
"Then you guys left. When she came and stayed with us for those three weeks...that's when it got really bad. Anytime you were gone we'd go at it. As soon as you were out the door she'd find me, or I'd find her. When you were asleep she'd come find me."
"So what made you stop? You did stop before I found out, didn't you?" Taylor nodded.
"Yes. We stopped when I met Kris. As soon as I met her I told Ginger I wasn't going to do it anymore."
"Oh, so you cared enough about Kris to stop it, but your own brother didn't matter."
"That's not true--"
"How many times did you sleep with her?" Zac asked, not allowing Taylor a chance to redeem himself. Taylor sighed, counting mentally.
"Eleven?" he guessed. "Maybe twelve times."
"Jesus Christ, Taylor," Zac said.
"I'm not happy about it."
"I know that--you got caught!"
"Not just that, Zac!"
"Why'd you do it?" Taylor paused. He had nine years to prepare for the question and still wasn't quite sure of the answer.
"I was selfish. I saw her, I wanted her, so I worked at it until I got her and I didn't care who I was hurting in the process. It was completely physical. I didn't want a relationship wih her. I didn't love her or anything close to it. She was very beautiful and I was attracted to her. It wasn't until I met Kris that I actually knew what it was like to be in love. I didn't want to ruin anything with her, ever, so I stopped it. I finally understood how you felt about Ginger and I knew how furious I would be if I found out anybody else was sleeping with Kris, no matter who it was. I didn't even begin to think about you until then, Zac, and now I know how you must have felt. I don't understand how you could have ever forgiven me, though."
"Because, Taylor," Zac said, "you're my brother. Afterwards I realized how sorry you really were about the whole thing, and no matter how mad I was, you are still my brother. You deserved it. After all, I forgave Ginger pretty much as soon as I saw her again."
"Well it's not like it was the first time it happened."
"That is true," Zac said. "You did have a habit of that, didn't you?"
"Unfortunately, yes. I was too selfish to care about anything or anybody else." Zac nodded. "But I think that's about it...unless you want to ask anything else."
"How was she?"
"I-I have no idea how to appropriately answer that." Zac nodded again.
"Yeah, it's probably better that you don't, any way you answer I'll get mad," Zac said. "But I feel better now that I know everything...I do know everything, don't I?"
"Yes," Taylor said quickly.
"All right." Zac stood up. "I'm going to find my little girl." He left the room. Jenny was watching another movie in the living room--she didn't have much else to do inside and Zac knew she must be going crazy. There just wasn't a way for her to be safe outside. The press knew what she looked like and would know any of the people Zac trusted with her. She wouldn't be able to go outside without being hounded. That was the last thing he wanted.
"Hey Daddy," she said.
"Hey darlin," he said back and sat down next to her. "How was your day?"
"Boring. When can I go to the park again?" Zac stiffened at the sound of the park--it was where Ginger was killed.
"Jenny, we talked about this. It's not safe for you to go outside." Jenny crinkled her nose and turned back to her movie. Zac put a protective arm around her and Jenny rested against her father. "When all of this is over and we can go home, you can play outside all you want."
"When is it going to be over?"
"I have no idea, sweetie."
Things were looking good for Zac's case until the one-month mark of the trial. Surprisingly enough there hadn't been much progress so far in the first month, as far as the status of a final verdict went. Everything was in Zac's favor until the prosecution pulled a surprise witness--Ginger's mother.
"Please state your name for the record," the opposing lawyer said.
"Lynn Stevens."
"Mrs. Stevens, you are the mother of the late Ginger Stevens, correct?"
"Yes," Lynn said.
"What the HELL is this?" Zac whispered to Mark.
"Don't ask me, I had no idea."
Lynn Stevens had been looking to put Zac away since the moment she found out he and Ginger were dating. She hated him and everything he stood for. Most of it spawned from her hatred for her daughter; anything that would make Ginger happy she immediately had a vendetta against. She also had bipolar disorder, putting her in and out of psychiatric hospitals since before Ginger was born.
"Mrs. Stevens, how old was your daughter when she gave birth to your granddaughter Jennifer?"
"She was barely eighteen."
"Were she and Mr. Hanson married at the time?"
"No! They weren't even engaged at that time. Of course I wasn't present when the baby was delivered. I've seen photos of her but I didn't met her until after my daughter was killed."
"That's beause she was in the psych ward for about ninety percent of Jenny's life," Zac whispered to Mark.
"Really? What for?"
"Bipolar. They can't seem to find a medication that works." Mark nodded and leaned back to one of his assistants, whispering some kind of request. The assistant made a quiet but quick rush out of the courtroom.
"Mrs. Stevens, could you tell us, in general, Zachary Hanson's temperament?" Lynn nodded.
"Zac has always been very curt with me. He's never invited me to anything concerning my daughter or my granddaughter. I wasn't invited to the wedding, to Jennifer's christening...to any of her birthdays. Some of those I wouldn't have been able to attend, with the two of them in New York and me in Florida, but it would have been nice to receive an invitation, or at least a notice."
"How was your relationship with Mr. Hanson before he married your daughter?"
"He and Rosemary--"
"Who?"
"Rosemary, my daughter. She went by Ginger, her middle name, professionally, but her given name was Rosemary. Anyway, they were never around. This is when she was sixteen! When they were around it seemed they spent all their time in Rosemary's room doing God knows what."
"Was there ever a time when Mr. Hanson seemed ill-tempered, irrational, or maybe violent?"
"Well when they were up in her room I often heard crashing and when I was in there later, I'd notice things were broken--" Mark looked over at Zac in question.
"We had wicked hot sex," Zac whispered. Mark bit his lip so he wouldn't smile at Zac's blunt comment.
"--And I do remember a time," Lynn continued," when Zac came over one day and basically kidnapped my daughter."
"Kidnapped?" the lawyer asked.
"Yes. Rosemary was still sixteen--they both were--and they hadn't been dating very long when he barged into the house and demanded my daughter leave with him. She didn't want to go--"
"That's a lie," Zac whispered.
"Shh," Mark said.
"--but he forced her to. He wouldn't even let her pack a bag before he stuffed her into his car and drove off. I had no idea where they went but they were gone for three weeks before she finally returned. I don't know what he'd done to her but she was not my daughter when she returned. He'd changed her. She wouldn't listen to me when I told her he was no good for her, and I was right. It wasn't a month later when he broke up with her. She was devastated."
"What are your general feelings towards Mr. Hanson?"
"I still think he's no good for her, obviously. Here we are on trial for her murder with Zac as the prime suspect." Mark's assistant returned with a manila folder and handed it to him.
"Thanks," Mark said. He opened the folder and quickly looked over it as the prosecution wrapped up with Lynn.
"Mr. Jacim, would you care to cross-examine the witness?"
"Yes," Mark said. He stood and brought the folder with him as he approached Lynn. "Mrs. Stevens, in 1979 you were diagnosed with bipolar disorder, is this correct?" Lynn looked a little shocked.
"Yes, it is."
"And since then you've spent a number of years in and out of St. Joseph's Psychiatric Hospital in Florida, correct?"
"Yes."
"You've already switched medication a number of times--"
"Objection, I don't see how this is relevant," the prosecuting lawyer said, standing.
"Mr. Jacim, is this going somewhere?"
"I just think if Mrs. Stevens isn't mentally stable, how do we know if any of her testimony is true? How do we know if any of this actually happened, or, if it did happen, that she interpreted my client's actions wrong?"
"Objection overruled; continue Mr. Jacim."
"So, Mrs. Stevens, do you think my client Mr. Hanson was an abusive man?"
"Yes."
"Do you have any proof of that? Did Ginger ever come to you with the problem?"
"No."
"Did she ever have any physical marks--bruises, cuts, broken bones or anything?"
"No."
"Did she ever seem unhappy with him?"
"...No."
"Then what makes you think he was abusive?"
"Well, like I said, I'd often go to Rosemary's room after the two of them left and I'd find broken trinkets in the trash; I'd hear the crashing while they were up there."
"Mrs. Stevens, Zac and Ginger were sixteen, they were alone in her room, I suppose with a locked door--" Lynn nodded and answered positively. "--Did you ever think maybe they were doing something else besides fighting?"
"I don't follow."
"Possibly having sex?" Mark suggested and looked back at Zac, who was looking at the floor in embarrassment. "Which I have been assured can get out of hand."
Lynn looked shocked and appaled to think her daughter could do such a thing, but paused to think about it. "I-I supposed they could, but I doubt my daughter would do such a thing."
"But you already said you didn't see the two of them that much. For all you know, they could." Lynn didn't respond. "And this 'kidnapping' that you speak of, couldn't that be misinterpreted as well?"
"Possibly..."
"So you could have been wrong? They could have told you they were going somewhere and you forgot, which is easy to do in your condition."
"Yes...that could be the case, but I do remember quite vividly that Rosemary didn't want to leave."
"But you could be wrong."
"...Yes."
"And as for Mr. Hanson's attitude towards you, well that seems quite normal to me. I don't like my mother-in-law very much either, only Mr. Hanson is brave enough not to hide it. But let me ask you this, Mrs. Stevens, what exactly was your relationship like with your daughter?" Lynn paused.
"It was all right. Distant, but all right." Mark discreetly looked at Zac, who shook his head. Lynn was lying.
"Do you care to elaborate?"
"Well during Rosemary's childhood I was in and out of hospitals so I wasn't always around. I guess she resented me for it because we never got along very well, and I figured as soon as she met someone she'd be out of there, and it turns out I was right."
"So maybe your vendetta is against your daughter and not my client."
"My vendetta with my daughter in no way reflects my vendetta with Zac. They're quite separated," Lynn said.
"All right, well thank you, Mrs. Stevens. No further questions." Mark returned to his seat.