Saving Riley

74

Riley

11am rolled around far to quickly, the only thing that made it feel better was the fact I was still on the high from last night. Whatever happens here I know that Lucas doesn't matter. He never should have in the first place
I've got James and that is all I will ever need

"All Rise" The Clerk said as the Judge entered. We did as instructed before taking a seat
"Alright good morning everyone. Am I correct in thinking that we have reached a verdict?" The judge asked, we all glanced over at the Jury to see one of the men stand up
All of this was now riding on what this one guy has to say

"We have your honour" He said before briefly looking at Lucas and then myself
"Alright, for Count 1, domestic abuse including but not excluding physical, emotional and mental abuse?" The Judge asked
"Guilty" The Man said making me take a big sigh of relief, James clutched my hand tightly smiling at me
"Count 2, 3, 4, 5, Assault with no weapon merely hands" The judge asked
"Guilty on all counts" The man said making me smile more

"Count 6, Breaking the terms of a restraining order" The judge continued, He was going down..
"Guilty" The man continued
"Count 7, Abduction against free will" The judge asked. That count always confused me. Why would it be called abduction if they went free will?
"Guilty" The man said making James have the biggest smile on his face that I have seen in a while
"We've got this babe" He smiled kissing my cheek

"Count 8, 9, Assault with weapon named Knife?" The judge asked, the moment that was mentioned. I felt a small tinge in the wound on my stomach. It had all completely healed but something about mentioning it made it hurt a little
"Guilty" The man said looking at me with a smile
"And finally, Count 10, Endangerment of an adult leading to malnourishment" The judge asked 
"Guilty" The man finished 

He was Guilty of all accounts, I was in shock. I was over the moon.
The judge glanced at me with a smile nodding. I know they are all meant to be unbiased but I think everyone else in this room can feel the joy around
"Thankyou Jury. You did your job superbly" The Judge said before dismissing them

I don't know why but I glanced over at Lucas to see his head in his hands. He just got handed his do's and now regret is kicking in
"Mr Daniels please stand" The judge ordered making Lucas rise to his feet looking at the judge
This was the time the Judge would say his final piece before sentencing him. This was when we would find out how long we are Lucas free for..

"As you have heard, you have been found Guilty of 10 counts" he started
"When I was given this case, I knew this would be how this ended. What you put that young lady through was disgusting, inhumane, repulsive" He continued
"You took a beautiful young lady and turned her into your play thing, your punching bag. Then when she got the courage to leave you. You had to follow, you made it worse for yourself
"I'm pretty confident from seeing cases similar to this before. Had you left Riley alone, you would still be a free man right now" he said before turning to me

"What you did can only be described as torturous, you knew exactly what you were doing, with every slap, every punch, every belittling moment. You knew you were hurting her but you didn't care" He said
"Did it make you feel like a man Mr Daniels? Did it make you feel strong?" He asked as Lucas bowed his head

"If I had my way, you would not live to see the light of day again, you don't deserve the forgiveness Miss Raymond showed you yesterday" He said before looking down at his book

"For Count 1 I sentence you to 5 years" he started making my eyes widen a little 
"For Count 2 to 5, I sentence you to 6 months per count. Making the total for 2 years" He said 
That was 7 years straight of off the bat 
"For Count 6. I sentence you to 2 years" He said shaking his head slightly
"For Count 7, I sentence you to 12 years" He said a little prouder
"For Count 8 and 9. I sentence you to 1 year per charge" He continued
"For Count 10, I sentence you to 10 years" He finished making me widen my eyes

"now Mr Daniels, usually in cases like this there are some signs of apologies, regret. You feel it now and I will give you that but you had no remorse up until the point you were found guilty and for that. You will be serving those sentences Consecutively" He said 
"That means you have to serve the full 32 years with no chance of early release" he said making me gasp a little
James looked at me with the same expression 

"Now Miss Raymond. I want to thank you and applaud you for your rapport through out this entire hearing. I know this wouldn't have been easy but I hope you find some piece in knowing you story was heard and listened to" He said nodding in my direction
"Case dismissed" He said before rising to leave

I sat there for a moment watching as they hand cuffed Lucas before taking him away, there was a little bit of satisfaction in knowing that he couldn't do anything anymore. I warned him when he came to Toronto. He should have listened
"Let's get outta here" James whispered into my ear making me smile
My forever starts now 

--

We walked out of the Courtroom to come face to face with Nathan who had the biggest smile on his face, the moment we walked out he scooped me up hugging me tightly
"You did it kiddo!" He smiled as he put me back down on the ground
"Hey, we may not have done it without you" I smiled
James wrapped an arm around me smiling at the pair of us

"I hear congratulations are in order" Nathan said smiling at the two on us, I looked up at James to see him looking down at me with the same smile I fell in love with at the small age of 15
"Congratulations to the pair of you. I hope the future has nothing but happiness for you both" Nathan continued
"Thankyou man" James said smiling in his direction
"We better get invited to this wedding tho" Nathan said pointing in my direction
"Of course" I smiled

It was over, the reign of Lucas has come to and end. And I could not be happier to see what is to come next