Chapter 8
Dr. Park's evaluation started the next Monday, and Daniel's deposition for Kelsey Reeves was set for the Wednesday after that. Patel said Daniel hadn't wanted Kelsey involved at all, but Yates subpoenaed her anyway because her name was now in the GAL report and in the financial trail. Since the courthouse had no free conference rooms, they booked the small study room at the county library, the one with the glass walls that looked out onto the parking lot.
I wasn't supposed to be there. Depositions were for lawyers and the witness. But Patel let me sit in the hallway outside with a book I didn't read, because she said if Kelsey got upset and left early, she wanted me close enough to talk right after.
Through the glass I could see them. Kelsey wore the same beige collared blouse she'd worn in court the first day, same thin gold necklace. Her hair was down and she kept pushing it behind her ear. Yates sat next to her, not close. Patel sat across with her laptop open, and the court reporter set up her little machine.
For the first hour I heard nothing but a low murmur. I watched Kelsey fold and unfold a tissue. Then Patel's voice came a little louder, not shouting, just clear.
"Ms. Reeves, who took the photographs that are now sealed as Exhibit One?"
Yates said something I couldn't make out. Kelsey looked down at the tissue.
"I did," she said. Loud enough that I heard it through the gap where the door didn't quite latch. "A couple of them. On his phone."
My stomach turned. I put my hand flat on my belly without thinking.
Patel asked another question, quieter. Kelsey answered, then shook her head.
"No. He said it was just for us. Funny pictures. I told him Lexi didn't think it was funny."
Yates shifted in his chair. Daniel wasn't in the room, but Yates kept glancing at his phone, like he was getting texts.
Later Patel asked about the apartment. Kelsey said she didn't live there, that she stayed over sometimes. She said Daniel had told her he had full use of the house on Cumberland, that the divorce would be over quick, that he'd keep the money because Emma would settle. She laughed once, a short sound with no humor.
"He said she'd take the cash and leave him alone with Lexi. That's what he promised me," she said. I could see her mouth moving. "He said she cared more about the apartment and the baby money."
Patel didn't react. She just typed.
When it was over, Kelsey came out first. She saw me on the bench and stopped. Her eyes were red at the edges. For a second I thought she would keep walking.
"I'm sorry," she said to me. It was quick, under her breath. "I didn't know he was going to bring Lexi into it. I told him to delete them."
I didn't know what to say. I nodded because I couldn't speak without crying.
She walked fast toward the parking lot doors and didn't look back. Yates came out and told Patel he'd send the transcript in a week. Patel stood in the hallway with me and closed her laptop.
"She contradicted him on three big points," she said quietly. "He told the GAL the photos were a misunderstanding and he'd never asked anyone to take them. He told his financial affidavit Kelsey had no access to his accounts. Now we have her saying she was there, she took some, and he talked about keeping the house and the funds as if custody was leverage."
Outside the library windows, I saw Kelsey's white sedan back out and leave. She didn't park near Daniel's truck. She left alone.
Patel touched my shoulder. "Her distancing helps you. It hurts his credibility. That's what the judge will see."
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I watched the empty space where her car had been. "She looked scared," I said.
"She is," Patel said. "But she told the truth when it mattered."
