"It's good to see you again, come in, come in" Bryce greeted as Dawson and I entered the homicide unit. He looked sharp, despite the day, he had still worn his suit and tie, professional

Dawson gave me a small nod as I followed Bryce into the office, closing the door behind us before disappearing down the hall towards Isaia who stood at the other end, leaning into a computer screen with narrow eyes

"How have you been?" Bryce asked, sitting opposite me

"Alright" I sighed "Ready for this to be over.."

"I can imagine" He opened his folders, setting them neatly out on the table "Hopefully it won't be too brutal and we can have this done within a few weeks, he doesn't have much of a leg to stand on, I was very surprised to see that he was pleading not guilty.."

"Are you confident he'll be found guilty?" I asked

He half shrugged "I can't be confident of anything, anything can happen at any point, we just have to play along as we go.."

I nodded as I wedged my hands underneath my thighs, warming my fingers and blocking them from imminent fidgeting

"So I'll start from the top, I spoke to Judge McCaffery in regards to your request to be present during the entirety of the trial.."

My heart sped up, nervous of the outcome

"He decided that based on the case and what is being presented that it would be fine for you to attend, there is little evidence, little witnesses, he decided that there is not enough before you take the stand that could impact your testimony"

I breathed a lengthy sigh, relieved, thankful I would be there from the start, to the end.

"The trial has been ordered to remain private, only selected members of the victims family and media will be allowed to enter the room, your identity will remain within that room and that room only" He assured me

Bryce continued onwards for the next two hours, addressing my statement, ensuring I recited it word for word. He asked me some firm questions, upsetting questions, preparing me for the ruthless barrage of attacks the defence would throw my way. It was amazing how quickly he could switch roles, terrifying, and it hadn't taken me long to feel overwhelmingly grateful he was on my side.

Wyatt had somehow managed to hire a wealthy attorney with many years of experience. Bryce didn't feel too threatened by him, but I knew that the moment he looked toward me with hungry eyes keen on taking my statement down, I would feel understandably threatened.

I had known little to nothing about how a courtroom worked, how a trial worked, and according to Bryce, every little detail mattered. The way I wore my hair, my makeup, my outfit, even my posture could have an impact on the jury's decision. With guidance, Bryce instructed me on what would be most suitable. My main marker was to ensure my hair was pulled back enough to emphasise the noticeable scar across my forehead, this would produce sympathy. I could not fidget, I could not fold my arms, I could not smile, I could however cry, I could hesitate, I could weep and I could allow my true fear of Wyatt to be visible to the jury and judge. Bryce had also enforced that when I made my public identification of Wyatt being the shooter, my attacker, I would be confident and firm, pointing directly at him, speaking clearly and without hesitation. There were a lot of rules, there were a lot of formalities, but Bryce did his best to put me at ease, even while preparing me for the complete worst case scenario.

When I became overwhelmed, Bryce leaned back, smiling gently toward me "We should take a break.."

I nodded, thirsty, agitated

"There are a few more things I want to go over, but take an hour for yourself, soak in what we've already been over.." H stretched his arms out

"Okay" I stood, heading for the door, heading in search of the water cooler outside of the office

The moment I exited the office I noticed how much warmer it had been inside the small space. I breathed in the cold air, pushing my sleeves to my elbows before pulling a plastic cup from the dispenser nearby

"Jasmine, hey!" A voice came from behind me, spinning me around

"Hey June" I smiled, genuinely happy to see her "How are you feeling?"

"Oh I'm fine" She rolled her eyes, unbothered "How are you though? That seems to have healed nicely" She narrowed her eyes on my forehead, my scar

"Oh I'm fine" I mimicked her response

"I heard the trial begins tomorrow, bet you're nervous, but you're in good hands.." She smiled, patting my upper arm

"I'm keen to have it over and done with" I sipped my water when Dawson entered the conversation, his hands on his hips as he moved beside me

"Dawson" June greeted him, her expression transforming into something stiff, rigid

"June" He replied just as coldly

"Well good luck tomorrow Jas, you'll be fine" June gave me one last small smile before returning to her desk

"Thanks" I told her before turning to Dawson, narrowing my eyes on him

"What?" He questioned, knowing well what I had been thinking

"You know what.." I shot, forcing back a smile at his attempt to act innocently "Be nice to her"

He shrugged "I can't.. not yet anyways.."

I shook my head as Bryce began to approach us, my smile quickly fading when I noticed his expression

"You two, come with me, now" Bryce pointed directly towards Dawson and I, his eyes darkened

Confused, Dawson and I looked at one another before following in his trail, moving to the office.

Bryce closed the door roughly behind us before tossing his suitcase onto the table in the centre of the room. He began to rub his temples and then he sat down

"What's the issue?" Dawson asked, just as puzzled as I was

Bryce raised a finger to hush him, leaning forward to remove a laptop from his suitcase, opening it in front of himself.

"I got an email.." Bryce began "From Steven Lawrence"

"Wyatt's attorney?" Dawson enquired

Bryce nodded, standing again, this time looking between us with clear frustration

"You told me there was nothing they could use, when I asked you if there were any little secrets, any little nooks the defence could use against you.." He was staring at me, angry at me. My heart raced as I tried to understand what he was saying

"And you.." He turned his attention to Dawson beside me "You should know better damn it"

"Bryce would you tell us what the hell is going on?" Dawson grew tired of the angst

Bryce scoffed and turned his laptop around, hitting play on the screen where a grainy video began in front of us

Instantly I recognised the images, it was tilted downwards from the ceiling of the holiday home in Hartley, positioned above the kitchen.

"What is this?" Dawson snapped as we watched the video

It was quickly clear as to what Bryce was showing us. Moving into the kitchen was Dawson and I, the moment we had shared our first kiss, our bodies close, our intimate moment replaying.

My hand went over my mouth, embarrassed, shocked, confused, overwhelmed. It continued when Dawson lifted me onto the kitchen bench, our lips entwined, my legs wrapping around his middle, my dress pulled from my skin by Dawson's hungry hands.

I closed my eyes and turned, unable to watch anymore. I realised what Bryce had said, piecing it together. The video had been emailed to him, by Wyatt's attorney, this was leverage, bribery, something that could be manipulated and twisted into something dangerous, something that could potentially damage the murder case.

"Thank god you moved upstairs for what I can only imagine was the rest.." Bryce slammed the laptop shut

"How did.." Dawson stumbled

"The security system was hacked, Mr Lawrence likes to cover all angles, when he found out where you were staying and with whom, he went digging, looking for anything he could use against us.."

"That has nothing to do with the case Bryce and you know it.." Dawson began as I turned back around, ashamed

"Do I?" He seethed "How long has this been happening James?"

"That.." He folded his arms over his chest "That is stamped with a date, a time, it was after the identification, after the charges.."

"How do I know that? How will the jury know that it hasn't been adjusted, tampered with?" Bryce continued, this time looking to me

"The jury?" I repeated, panicked

"Lawrence has 'requested' that you stand down from your testimony in exchange for the video to remain quiet" He explained

"That's bribery Bryce, he can't do that" Dawson argued

"Actually he can" Bryce shrugged "If you decide to testify against Wyatt, this video will be shown, they will say that you and Jasmine have been involved for months, planned it all, for all we know, you told her who to point out"

"I chose Wyatt and Trey out of that lineup because they were the men who robbed the store, they were the ones who shot and killed Tony, Wyatt was the one who hit me on the head with his gun" I fought back angrily

"They are also gang members who the police department are currently on a crime crackdown with, your boyfriend could have told you exactly what to say to have them arrested" Bryce argued again

"You know that isn't what's going on here" Dawson snapped

Bryce looked between us and gave a deep sigh "Look, I don't care what's going on here, I really don't, but this case, this case is in serious jeopardy, Dawson you knew the repercussions here, you know the system, you know how these things work.."

Dawson's head dropped for a moment, defeated "So what do we do now?"

Bryce sat down again, leaning back as he thought "We can do as Lawrence wants, remove Jasmine and hope to hell we have enough without her, or.."

"Or?" I urged him to continue, knowing my testimony was crucial

"Or we ride out the video, hope to hell the jury believes that a cop with a vendetta against rising gangs hasn't set up the star witness"

Both options were crushing. I didn't know which was worse.

"This is what Wyatt wanted" I scoffed "It's just another way to intimidate me, to get me to back down and shut my mouth, it's what he has wanted since day one, I have no doubt that he wishes to this day that he'd shot and killed me alongside Tony.."

I knew what I needed to do, I needed to tell the truth, for myself, for Tony and hope to hell as Bryce had said, that they would believe that

"I'm not giving up now, I'm not just going to throw the towel in because of that" I pointed to the computer shoved back into his suitcase "That has nothing.." I emphasised the word strongly "Absolutely nothing to do with what he and his brother did to Tony and I" I firmly told Bryce, my eyes on his confidently

He watched me, slightly nodding "Okay"

He then turned to Dawson "You alright with that?"

Dawson looked to me and then back to Bryce, nodding

"This'll change both your time up on the stand, Lawrence is going to slam you both for this" He flicked his laptop "He is going to make you both as uncomfortable as he can, he's going to try to make you both out to be liars and cheats, conspiring to put a man away for something completely unrelated to the murder"

"So what can we do to help?" I urged

"Sit" Bryce directed to the chair beside himself

I did as I was told while Dawson leaned against the nearest wall, guarding himself, keeping distance. I could see that he was agitated.

Bryce pulled a thick book from his case, flipping it open to an already busy page, clicking a pen out as he began

"Telling the truth is key, but sometimes even telling the truth can do damage.."

I watched as he wrote a bunch of dates down

"So I assume that wasn't a one time thing, when was the last time that.. that happened?" He looked up between us

I already felt extremely uncomfortable, and as I shifted I noticed Dawson had too

"The questions I'm going to ask are going to be merciful compared to what Lawrence will swing at you, trust me.." Bryce warned "I'm asking you these things for the case, not because I want to know.."

With a sigh, Dawson answered "Friday"

He wrote Friday's date down as though it had some kind of importance, his messy handwriting creating a timeline.