"Great, just great," Tony said. "Now I know why you're being threatened in the courthouse. Do you have a death wish?"

Evan yelled, "What threat?"

"Jeanette was threatened out in the lobby. A disembodied voice. In the

courtroom, I saw Rutherford gesture a shooting gun at her. Hell, I felt chills, and it wasn't even aimed at me."

"Somehow, they must have found out about the press conference," Evan said.

"What are we doing about security in the courthouse?"

"I've told the security officers, but I'll call the feds. Maybe they'll go out on a

limb long enough to confirm they have Rutherford under investigation for federal crimes and send some U.S. Marshals over here."

"Do they? Have Rutherford under investigation for federal crimes?" Jeanette

asked.

"You didn't tell her?" Tony looked accusingly at Evan.

"I thought you did."

"No."

"Suffice it to say, neither one of you bothered to tell me."

Jeanette pushed her hair out of her eyes. She was furious.

"It's obvious to me that Rutherford knows someone or has contacts in the

local federal prosecutors' office. Wouldn't you say?" Tony said.

"Then why in the hell is he still here? Didn't we think he would run if he knew his little games were being looked into by the feds?" Monique asked.

"Maybe he isn't afraid of the feds," Tony said.

He merely voiced the grim reality of what everyone was thinking.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE Jeanette couldn't eat her lunch. Her mind was too busy digesting dark and depressing thoughts.

It was giving her indigestion.

"Stop fretting and eat," Lynn urged.

"I can't. I keep wondering about the man who threatened me and my child. Then I worry about Dubois asking me questions like he did at the deposition. I know he has nothing, but it's the way he looks at me and the tone in his voice."

"The judge and Evan will protect you from the looks and tone," Monique said. "This judge doesn't like counsel intimidating witnesses. You'll be fine."

Jeanette cast the woman a grateful glance. "I'm sure I will. I just don't want to lose the case for Lynn."

Lynn felt for, then patted her shoulder. "You can't lose the case. In fact, your testimony made the jury sit up and take notice. I predict several more of the people harmed by Rutherford will be knocking on your door to testify for them after this is all over."

"Oh, no. I couldn't go through this again."

Monique laughed. "You won't have to. Lynn's right about your testimony, but since it is now a public record, all those other plaintiffs' counsel will be asking for a transcript in order to enter your testimony into the record. So, don't worry. You won't have to become a professional expert on Rutherford and the living lens project."

Evan and Tony finally arrived from wherever they'd rushed off to after court.

Tony frowned when he noticed her plate. She gritted her teeth, daring him with her eyes to say something about the untouched food. He just shook his head and sighed.

Evan didn't catch the byplay, because the first words out of his mouth after he sat down were, "Jeanette, you need to eat. It will be a long afternoon."

Monique tugged on Evan's jacket, then whispered to him, saving Jeanette the need to explain once more. It was nice they were concerned, but she had to cope with all this in her own way. And eating was not on her list of coping mechanisms at the moment. Maybe later, when this was all over.

She took a sip of her cola. The sugar and caffeine would keep her going.

"Jeanette? Jeanette?"

How long had Evan been trying to get her attention?

"Yes?" She looked over at the lawyer.

"The courthouse security has brought in more men. Tony has three more of his men coming to sit at the back of the courtroom. We'll use them to get you to the press conference."

Evan's serious face expressed his deep concern. "We won't let anyone get to you."

"What's going to happen next?"

"Dubois will put on his experts and try to countermand our experts. Then he'll probably finish up with Rutherford."

"Then he'll call me to the stand. Why did he do it that way?"

Evan scrunched his forehead. "I think he hopes Rutherford will charm the jury. And they count on you falling flat on your face in cross, casting doubt on your..."

"My what?" Jeanette hadn't meant that to come out as shrill as it had.

Monique sent a disgusted look at Evan, then answered for the red-faced man. "On your morals, your brains, your memory -- whatever Dubois can think of to discredit you in the eyes of the jury."

Well, it was what she'd feared all along, but now that it was voiced and out in the open, she wasn't as scared as she thought.

"Since I have nothing to hide," she said, "what can he do to me? Plus, it isn't about me. It's about Lynn. Right?"

"Right." Monique and Evan said together.

The first few witnesses called by Dubois didn't make a dent in Evan's carefully constructed case. Two of the expert physicians wouldn't stake their reputations to validate that Rutherford's studies were as successful as had been claimed. Obviously, they were in the courtroom during her testimony and had processed the large holes in the patient data. They did testify that in 'appropriate cases' the living lens procedure was the only hope some patients had. Heck, Dr. Van Hoven had said much the same thing. But Lynn Barrios wasn't one of those appropriate cases.

Then Dubois called Bruce Jessup, a registered nurse and ophthalmic technologist from the Epi Study, to the stand.

Jeanette cringed.

After taking Jessup through the preliminaries, Dubois asked, "Mr. Jessup, did you have occasion to work with the plaintiff, Lynn Barrios?"

"Yes. I did her pre-op history and her post-op follow-up. What little she had."

"Could you clarify what you mean by 'what little she had?'" Dubois cast a recriminatory look at Lynn.

"She stopped coming. I only saw her two, maybe three, times."

"In your opinion as a trained nurse and ophthalmic technologist, could her

failure to do the post-operative follow-up have contributed to her bad results?"

"Yes, definitely."

"When you dealt with Ms. Barrios, what was your impression of her mental

state?"

Evan stood up. "Objection, your Honor. While Mr. Jessup may be a trained nurse and technician, he is not a qualified psychologist."

"Sustained."

Dubois glared at Evan, then turned back to Jessup. "Let me try this another

way to satisfy my esteemed opponent. Describe how Ms. Barrios acted when

you saw her after the surgery."

Jessup looked as if he was seriously considering his words. Yet Jeanette suspected he'd been taken over his testimony in this case many times, just as Evan had with her.

"Well, Ms. Barrios would get hysterical during her post-op visits. She refused to follow the simplest instructions. Kept insisting that the doctor had done something wrong. I thought she was very unstable. Of course, that is just my opinion."

Jessup threw a snide look at Evan.

"Thank you. I have no further questions of this witness."

"Mr. Devereaux, would you like to cross-examine this witness?"

"Yes, your Honor."

Evan remained seated. He flipped through his notes. The courtroom was

blanketed in silence.

"Mr. Jessup, you stated in direct examination that you've been employed by the study for one year, give or take a week. Is that correct?"

"Yes, sir."

Evan stood up. He handed a set of papers to Dubois and took another set with him. He walked toward Jessup in slow, measured steps.

"Would you please look at these and tell me what they are?"

Taking the papers out of Evan's hand, Jessup said, "They look like payroll

records for me."