Justice in Love

Ch. 22 Long Day

Court was interesting the next day. Mrs. Robinson introduced evidence left and right. It was really adding up against the defendant.

I hadn't wanted to go, but Dad and Reed dragged me. I had to be there; I had to testify. But I didn't want to.

I wanted Mr. Pauley to go back to jail, but I was tired. I didn't want to go through every detail of that night for the thousandth time. I didn't want to relive it. Each moment I did, it was like I was losing my mother all over again. It was devastating.

I dreaded having to sit in front of my peers, in front of lawyers I worked with on a daily basis, and falling apart. I dreaded waiting for Mrs. Robinson to call me as a witness.

All morning, I had a pit in my stomach. I couldn't shake it. I just felt genuinely terrible. I wasn't nervous, just ill. I felt nausea at the thought of testifying again, but I knew I had to do it.

When Mrs. Robinson finally called me to testify, I took a breath and stood. I went to the stand.

I was sworn in and sat at the stand. I hated not being able to sit as a judge. Sitting at the stand felt weird.

Mrs. Robinson came over to me. "Judge Monroe, what were you doing on the night of January 4, 2014?"

"I helped my mom close up her candy shop, then we decided to take a walk."

"Did you have a destination?"

"We were going to see my father and my fiancé at the law firm we worked at."

"You worked with your father and your fiancé?"

"Yes, at the time, I was a defense attorney."

"And that's how you met the defendant? You knew him?"

"Yes, that's how we met. My father and I were about to appeal his mother's case."

She looked a little surprised. "You were going to appeal the case about his mother that you lost prior to the night in question?"

"Yes, my father had just finished the paperwork the night before."

She nodded. "What happened on the walk with your mother?"

"We talked about wedding stuff. Most everything was done for the wedding, but she insisted we have a candy bar. We were discussing that when the defendant came up to us."

"And what did the defendant do?"

"He looked at me and greeted me. He asked who the woman beside me was, so I introduced them. He nodded, said it was nice to finally meet her. That's when he pulled the gun from around his back. He pointed it to my mother and shot her in the chest twice and once in the forehead. He muttered something about an eye, then he began to run off."

"Then, what happened?"

"I ran after him and tackled him."

"Why?"

"I couldn't let him get away. I worked with criminals at the firm all the time and I knew that if he got away, he'd go off the grid and my mom would never get the justice she deserved."

"Tackling a man with a gun is risky."

"I-I know, but my mom was dead. I did what I had to do."

"And what if he had shot you?"

"At that point, what would it have mattered?"

Evan locked eyes with mine. He looked incredibly sad.

"You were getting married. Didn't you worry about your future or what your fiancé would do if you were killed?"