by Nicky Shanks
Heather Michaels…the new unicorn in town.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Julie
“Julie?” Randy’s voice echoes in the darkness. “Hey, Jules? Can you hear me?”
I can hear you!
My body starts to shake and sets into a panic. “What’s wrong with her?” Randy screams. “Help her!”
“The sedative wore off too soon and she’s going back into shock,” a male voice says. “She took a nasty fall. I’m going to give her more sedative and let her body rest a little longer. How long has she had anxiety issues?”
Randy clears his throat. “I…uh, wasn’t aware that she did.”
“Oh, sorry. I thought you were her brother.”
“I am. I just don’t know the answer to your question.”
They are silent for what seems like hours.
“Well…” the male voice says, and something smacks—I picture his hands clapping together. “She should sleep soundly for a while, and then when she starts to wake up again, we can just hope for the best.”
“Thanks, doctor.”
“No problem. Have the nurses call me if you need me.”
I need you!
I need you to wake me back up!
The drugs start to kick in and I drift back off deep into the darkness.
***
“All rise,” the man in the sheriff’s uniform shouts. “Let me introduce the Honorable Judge Vaughn.” His arm moves like he’s conducting a symphony toward a tall, thin woman stepping up in the middle of the long bench and gazing over the crowd seated in the courtroom.
“Be seated.” She purses her lips and sits down in her black leather chair. “This is the matter of The State of California versus Bob and Dianne Remington. You’re charged with nine counts of felony identity theft, sixteen counts of credit card fraud, and three counts of child endangerment and neglect. How do you plead?”
Bob and Dianne look at each other and then back at me. They’re sitting at a table with a tired-looking older woman who asked me a lot of questions a few weeks ago. The woman doesn’t bother looking back because she knows she’s going to lose and probably doesn’t even care.
“Not guilty,” they say at the same time.
“It was our daughter, Your Honor,” Bob pleads. “She was lying and stealing—she made all of those credit card applications and forged all of those signatures.”
My jaw drops open. I didn’t even want to be here, but my case worker said in order to move in with Randy’s mom, Helen, I’d have to testify against my parents.
And now they’re glaring at me like a stranger.
“Arrest her, she’s the one who did it!” Dianne squeals and points to me.
The judge bangs her gavel. “Calm down! You two are disgusting! You come into my courtroom after being caught and blame everything on your own daughter? So, I suppose the keeping her locked in a dark room for weeks was of her asking?”
She stares at them, but they don’t answer.
“And depriving her of basic needs like food and water? She wanted to be starved? I’m surprised you let her out to use the restroom, but from the looks of you two, you didn’t want to clean up the mess so you didn’t let it get that far. Counselor, you may proceed with your introductions.” The judge nods at the wired-up young attorney on the other side of the room who is itching to go crazy.
The rest of the morning was slow and boring; all anyone talked about was the money that they stole and the people they deceived. They stole over half a million dollars from twenty-five people, and some have still yet to be uncovered. People stole glances at me the entire time, but I stayed silent and kept my eyes forward like I didn’t notice.
I noticed.
“Next witness.”
The wiry young man looks at me. “The State calls Julie Remington to the stand.”
The entire room looks at me and time stands still. I know they all want me to burst out in tears and run to the stand to blame my parents for everything. I want to do that, but my legs won’t move.
Randy nudges my side. “Hey, I didn’t come all this way not to take you back with me.” He winks and it makes me feel loved for the first time in my life.
“Okay,” I whisper and stand up, walking slowly to the young attorney who waits for me next to the witness stand.
He swears me in and reads me everything he needs to read me before asking me questions. I tell him all about the credit card applications I found that lead us all here today. I tell him about the revolving door of people that come and go from my house with rolls of cash, about the time they asked me if I would sleep with an older man for money, and about all the times when they sent me out to do odd jobs and bring the money home to them.
I never tell them about the boy with the green eyes.
I never tell anyone about him.
“Miss Remington?” The man snaps his fingers and I come back into reality. “Is there anything else you know that you haven’t already told us?”
“Objection!” the tired woman sitting next to my parents says. “We are basing this case on the lies of a confused teenager. She’s not educated enough to be answering these questions.”
“Yes, I am,” I say and glare at her. “I know what happened to me and I know what they did and it sounds like you do too.”
The crowd mutters and the woman looks shocked. The younger man that was questioning me looks pleased. “Miss Remington, if the opposing counsel has no further questions, you are free to go.” He looks at the woman, who shakes her head. “You may step down from the witness bench; you did an excellent job.” He smiles at me and helps me out.
Randy is concentrated and frustrated through the rest of the day, and when the twelve jury members come back into the room, he squeezes my hand so tightly that it might fall off. We wait for everyone to be seated and then stand again for the judge to enter the room. Once everything is back to the way it was before we left, Dianne turns to look at me with sadness in her eyes.
“I love you,” she mouths.
I shake my head and she frowns and turns around. She doesn’t get to say that now, not when we’re here for crimes they committed. Randy lets go of my hand and pats my leg to comfort me. “Just a few more minutes and it’ll all be over.”
The main jury person stands up and addresses the judge, but I don’t listen to what they say. I’m just waiting for the word, “guilty.” The judge reads the paper that is passed to her and nods. “Madam Foreperson, in the matter of The State of California versus Bob and Dianne Remington, what say you?”
The woman clears her throat; she looks nervous. “On nine charges of identity theft, we find the defendants…guilty. On the charges of sixteen counts of credit card fraud…we find the defendants guilty. On the three counts of child neglect and endangerment…we find the defendants guilty.”
The judge nods her head as Dianne cries. “Well, you two, I guess you’re found guilty in my courtroom today. This holds the penalty and combined jail time of sixteen years each. Which, I find might not even be enough for what you’ve done to your daughter, let alone the other charges. I sentence you to sixteen years in California State Penitentiary with the possibility of parole after ten years.” She bangs her gavel, and Bob and Dianne don’t even fight when they are taken into custody. Randy manages to scoop me up and out the doors before any reporters ask questions.
“We’re meeting with Fern, your case worker, so I can take you home,” he says and sits me down on a stone bench away from the courthouse. “Here she comes.”
Fern walks to us and her wide smile comforts me. I’ve liked talking to her and it’s going to be sad to leave her behind, but I want to go home with Randy so badly that it’s hard to listen to anything she has to say just in case it’s bad.
“Randy.” She shakes his hand and her smile gets bigger when she looks at me. “Well, are you ready to board the plane?”
I swallow a hard lump in my throat. “I can go?”
She nods. “You can go. Your Aunt Helen wil
l be taking care of you. A case worker in New York has already set you up and you’re ready to live your new life.”
My new life.
A life in New York.
I turn to Randy. “Does Aunt Helen live near you?”
He nods. “She lives three miles away. You can call me anytime you want, and trust me when I say this—she’s nothing like Dianne.”
I smile. “Do I call her Aunt Helen even though she’s not my real aunt?”
They both laugh and Fern hugs me. “You can call her whatever you want: She’s a nice woman. I’ve spoken to her on several occasions and I wouldn’t be sending you somewhere you aren’t wanted.”
“She wants me?”
Randy nods. “She wants you, Julie. She knows how Bob is and wants to give you a better life.”
A new life.
A better life.
I never liked my life unless I was with people who treated me like a human being.
“Since you’re a little behind in school, you’ll be starting in eighth grade, if that’s okay.” Randy smiles at Fern. “We’ll make sure you don’t get too far behind, and Mom and I will take you shopping when we get home and settled in for school clothes and anything else you need.”
My eyes find the ground. “What about Marianna and Clyde? He’s still really little…doesn’t he need stuff too?”
Randy snorts. “He has what he needs; we’re talking about you.”
Fern squeezes my shoulder. “I have to get going, but I want you to know you can call me for anything, okay? Just because you’re in a different state doesn’t mean my job stops. I’m here for you, Julie, but your brother’s going to take good care of you.”
She leaves and Randy shakes her hand before she goes. “Thanks for everything.”
When she’s out of sight, he leans down and looks me in the eye. “Listen, don’t worry about Clyde or Marianna. He’s four, he’s more excited about meeting you than anything else. I never apologized for how long it took me to come for you, Julie.” A tear falls down his cheek. “Did they hurt you any more than what you said in court?”
“No.”
“Are you sure? I want to get you into counseling if they touched you—”
I violently shake my head. “No one touched me. That one time they tried to offer me up but nothing happened. I promise.”
He hugs me tightly and nearly squeezes my insides out of my body. “I just want you to have a good life now that you’re free of them. By the time they get out, you’ll be an adult and won’t have to worry about being sent back to them, but it’s still hurting me that it took so long to get you back.”
I smile and my lips are so dry that they crack. “I know you tried.”
He sniffles and wipes his tears away. “I promise that you’ll never have to live that life again.”
“You saved me, Randy.” The words that he desperately wanted to hear make the light return to his eyes. “You’re my savior. I owe you a lot.”
“You owe me nothing.” He stands up and takes my hand. “Let’s go home.”
Home.
My new life.
My better life.
Home.
***
My eyes feel like glue but I manage to open them anyway. I don’t know how long I’ve been out, but the bright lights above me burn into my eyes like fire and I have to look away. When I slightly turn my head to the right, Randy is softly snoring in a chair next to me. His hand is open like he was holding my hand and fell asleep; a blanket is draped over him like someone’s been in here and tended to him while checking in on me.
“Hey, Aunt Julie,” I hear Clyde whisper as he taps me on my other arm. His wild red hair is matted with sleep and sweat, and as he pushes it back out of his eyes, I see that he hasn’t actually slept and his eyes are red with worry. “Are you okay?”
I cough and try to sit up a little, but I’m so groggy that I can’t move. “Water,” I manage to get out, and he bolts up to pour a glass of water and hand it to me. After I struggle to take a few sips, I wiggle my cold toes and notice that I’m still wearing my street clothes and not a hospital gown.
“What happened?” I hold my head and try to concentrate. “Where’s Oliver?”
Clyde shrugs. “No one has told me anything yet. You’ve only been here for a few hours.”
I gulp loudly. “Hours? Clyde, go get a nurse for me, please.”
“Aunt Julie—”
I glare at him. “Find Oliver, Clyde, please.”
He nods and leaves the room without arguing anymore. Randy stirs next to me and opens his eyes, surprised to see that I’m awake and he was asleep. “Where’s Clyde?” He clears his throat and looks toward where his son sat just seconds before.
“He went to get information on Oliver,” I say and look at my socks. “What’s going on?”
He rubs his jawline and sits up in his chair. “That Casey guy, he had a gun and shot it off in the hallway as he tried to take you with him. Your friend Lucy managed to pull you into Oliver’s apartment and shut the door before you got caught up in all of that, but you opened the door to check on Oliver and had a panic attack when you saw the blood.”
I notice that I’m not wired up to any IVs or machines anymore. “So…I’m okay? I didn’t get shot?”
He shakes his head. “You’re fine, you just had some anxiety issues. Which…I didn’t know about until today.” Randy’s eyes fill with sadness. “When did those start?”
I shrug. “I don’t know…I’ve always been able to keep things bottled up. Just lately, my emotions are getting the best of me, and I can’t control them unless I’m around Oliver.”
Randy frowns. “I wish you’d let me help you when you started noticing the signs.”
“I just want to see Oliver.” I blink a few times at him and wait for him to argue. He doesn’t; instead he stands up and smooths out his clothes.
“I’ll see what I can find out.”
“Who did Casey shoot?”
He turns back to me before leaving the room and can’t make himself look me in the eye.
“Randy.” My voice shakes. “Who did he shoot?”
“I don’t know, Julie. I’ve been in here with you since the hospital called me.”
Panic starts to shake my bones. “I need Oliver, I need to make sure he’s okay.”
Randy nods and leaves me alone.
Silence.
Oliver Jackson, you better be alive or I’m going to kill you myself.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Oliver
“So, is he going to be okay, then?” someone says at the other end of the room. I open my eyes and Randy is standing with a doctor, nodding his head. “What about his mother?”
Veronica.
“She’s in pretty bad shape; the bullet ricocheted around and landed in her lung. We had to surgically remove it, but she lost a lot of blood and she can’t breathe on her own for now.”
“But, she’ll pull through?”
The doctor shakes his head. “It’s hard to say right now. But, if she hadn’t pushed him aside and took the bullet herself, he definitely wouldn’t be alive right now. The bullet would’ve pierced his heart judging from the way I was told it went down.”
Don’t say it, Doc.
“She saved his life.”
Fuck.
Are you fucking serious?
Of course she would do something like that to make herself seem like the good guy.
“Where’s Julie?” I demand, making the two men jump. “I want to see Julie right now.”
Randy holds out his hands. “Okay, I’ll take you to her, just take it easy, okay? You hit your head hard when you fell and it knocked you out.”
“I heard.”
He eyeballs me, telling me silently to stop being an asshole. “Oliver, listen to me. You’re still fuzzy in the head, just take it easy. Julie is fine, she’s down the hall in Room 311.”
My legs have never carried me as fast as they do in the three seconds
it takes me to run out of the room and down the hallway to get to Julie. Forget the fact that I thought I was dead—again—or that I had no fucking idea what Veronica did for me, but when I see her bright blue eyes as the door opens, nothing else fucking matters.
“Baby, are you okay?” I run to her and examine every inch of her body she lets me touch before swatting my hands away from her. “Are you hurt? I’m gonna fucking kill Casey.”
“Join the club, I’m there too,” Brandon says from behind me. He walks into the room with Heather. When he notices my reaction, he lowers his eyes. “Hey, uh—Heather and I will be outside the room, okay? When you’re ready for visitors, we’ll be right here. Let’s give them some space.” He looks down at Heather who doesn’t want to, but she agrees and shuts the door behind them as they leave.
“What are they doing here?” Julie furrows her eyebrows. “Did you call them?”
I growl and shake my head. “I don’t fucking care about them right now. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay.” Her voice is small and I wrap her into my arms now that I know she isn’t hurt. “Just a little groggy from the sedative, but I’m okay.”
I snort and lie down next to her in the bed. “I think I need to buy stock in this place judging from the amount of time and money we’ve spent here in the last six months.”
Julie laughs and snuggles into my side. “Let’s get married on New Year’s.”
“New Year’s? That’s like less than two months away—”
Her giggle is warm like honey and I want to devour her mouth with mine. “Unless you’re changing your mind and don’t want to get married…then I guess we don’t have to worry about picking a date.”
“No fucking way.” I tip her chin. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re already my wife.”
“One stipulation.” She holds up her index finger. “I want Veronica to be there.”
Shit. I didn’t tell her about that.
“Oh, uh—Veronica is…well, we have to see about that.” My fingers find my hair and they repeatedly run through the sweaty strands. Julie waits for a better answer, but all I can think about is how her heart is going to break knowing Veronica sacrificed herself for me. It may warm her heart, but for me it’s just something she owed me.
