SECRETS: Passion, Deceit, And Revenge (Beauty 0f Life Book 8)

by Laura Acton

Dan nodded, and Mike offered to inform the attorney.

  “I’ll wait outside with you,” Mason said.

  “Don’t need a babysitter!” Dan groused and whipped around when someone bopped him on his head. “What the hell was that for, Winds?”

  “Bad things happen to you when left alone. We’ve learned from the past. About time you did too.”

  Dan rolled his eyes. “Alright, Rafiki. Pumbaa goes with me.”

  “Knew you’d see it our way.” Winds smiled. “Rafiki suits me, I think.”

  “Yeah, you’re a crazy baboon sometimes.” Blaze chuckled.

  Mason grunted. “If I’m Pumbaa, Jim must be Timon. But who is Blaze?”

  “The squawky bird,” Winds put forth and moved out of Blaze’s range, laughing at the evil glare shot his way.

  William peered at his son. Damn glad Daniel has men like these in his life.

  Outside Club Ed – 1605 Hours

  Mason leaned up against the tan and grey brick building, sipping hot coffee to stay warm and keeping watch as Blondie paced the concrete, twenty-one space parking lot. The kid gave the impression of a lion stalking back and forth attempting to walk off his rage. The discussion with Leroux was short but not sweet, though he did agree Blondie should not be in the courtroom.

  The lawyer indicated Pletcher fessed-up to taking part in Blondie’s interrogation, only getting him drunk, not anything physical except a few blows. He said he had no control over what Mousa’s men did. Mason found it odd at first the man would willingly admit to a role in the abduction and torture of a soldier, but they discovered why. At the core, Pletcher was a yellow-bellied, spineless turncoat.

  When Mike caught him, he had enough of running and desired to live out his days in the relative safety of prison. He understood his crimes would put him away for life with no prospect of parole, so he wanted to take down Plouffe too. The only condition he placed on giving testimony was an assurance he would not be incarcerated in the same facility as Plouffe because he feared the major would kill him the first chance he got.

  Leroux came to talk to Blondie once he established Pletcher’s evidence would hold up, but he said he must take Pletcher through events that occurred during the time Blondie was held. The prosecutor also expected Plouffe to go full force against Pletcher in cross-examination and attempt to lay the blame at Pletcher’s feet. To check any of Plouffe’s moves, Leroux needed to identify the last player, and he expected things would become quite ugly. He fully anticipated having to display the sketch of the bastard who tortured Blondie with needles. Something the kid did not need to view ever again.

  In many ways, Mason was glad to be standing outside even though the frigid weather condensed his breaths into white wisps. It helped they had brought and wore their toasty warm parkas and gloves, pieces of his uniform he rarely wore due to working in Afghanistan so often. He and Blondie alike swapped out their berets for Yukon fur hats borrowed from Montoya and Navarro.

  Mason became alert when a suburban entered the restricted area. He noted Blondie halted and stared as he did when the driver exited, moved to the rear door, and opened it, but that is not what drew Blondie’s or his attention.

  Dan gazed at the passenger side of the vehicle as he recognized the man exiting. Striding forward, he said, “Frank, what are you doing here?”

  Frank Hudson of TRF’s Delta Team grinned when he spotted Dan. “Well, hello to you too.”

  Puzzled by the lack of an answer, Dan halted again when the back-passenger door opened and another familiar face appeared.

  Turning, Frank asked, “Do you need any help?”

  Tammy glanced up and sweetly smiled. “No, I got him.” She tucked the blanket closer around her sleeping infant and ensured his fuzzy cap covered his little, pink ears.

  Mrs. Claudia Middles unlatched the car seat as she said, “I’ll take the diaper bag and your purse for you.” She gathered the items and hopped out.

  Frank waited until Tammy exited with the baby seat then shut the door.

  Dan gaped and asked again, “Why are you here?”

  “Come on dear, let’s get the little one inside. It is too cold out here for him,” Claudia urged.

  His question still unanswered, Dan followed the three, well, four, into the building. At the front desk, each provided their identification, and a guard was sent to the waiting area to retrieve Corporal Grasett.

  Tammy turned to Dan and her face beamed as she said, “I would like to introduce you to someone very special.” She twisted the carrier so Dan could peer at her baby. “This is Aaron Daniel Plouffe. He is named after two exceptional men.”

  A lopsided grin grew on Dan as he tugged his hands out of his gloves and tucked them into his pockets as he gazed upon Aaron’s four-month-old son. “Hello, Aaron. Your dad was a hero. I hope you grow up knowing he was an exceptional and honorable man.”

  “He will,” Tammy said, as she caught sight of an enormous man wearing a dopey smile standing off to the side of Dan. The soldier suffered a terrible injury judging from the facial disfigurement, but instead of making him bitter and cold, she perceived he possessed a warm heart by the way his eyes embraced the face of her child.

  Dan posed his inquiry a third time, “What brings you here?”

  Tammy’s face fell and she teared up, so Frank answered, “She is here to testify. I came along as protection for Tammy, Aaron, and Mrs. Middles.”

  Corporal Joshua Grasett hurried forward to the group. “Ms. Middles thank you for coming, ma’am. Did you bring it with you?”

  “Yes.” Tammy glanced at Frank. “Please hold him a moment?” After giving Arron to Frank, she dug in her coat pocket and handed over a thin rectangular object about the length of a large paperclip and some cords. “It is charged now, but I brought the charger and the USB cord so it can be plugged into a laptop.”

  “Much appreciated, ma’am. Please follow me. I arranged a separate waiting room for you and the others. You will be called next.”

  Dan fell in step with them, curious why Tammy would be testifying and what was contained on the device. He withheld asking anything more, to avoid compromising the prosecution in any way.

  Mason followed along, keeping quiet. Never a dull moment with Blondie.

  Club Ed – Courtroom – 1615 Hours

  Martha Kenric opened the instant message from Grasett when the notification popped up on her laptop. She scribbled the text on a notepad for Bonomi and Leroux … Secret weapon arrived and ready.

  William’s stomach twisted as he listened to Pletcher give evidence. When showed the face of the man who tortured Daniel with burning needles, Pletcher identified him as Rifat Qasim and indicated Qasim was also a bomb maker for Mousa. William decided to keep the name from Daniel, not wanting his son to go after the bastard who broke him repeatedly, yet William would assign an intelligence task force to ferret out any information on the animal.

  Mousa’s elusive organization and Qasim became his number one targets. William noted the same determined expressions on Tom, Blaze, and Winds. He assumed Mike’s would be identical, but Galloway stood guard behind him so he couldn’t observe his reactions.

  As Leroux expected, Plouffe created a spectacle and William fully believed the major continually displayed the photos of Daniel, taken by Jasper to document the severity of Daniel’s wounds, solely to torment him. Only years of practice holding his emotions in check kept William from shedding tears as the pictures flashed. Keeping himself erect and stoic through the entire charade, he didn’t give the asshole the satisfaction of witnessing any emotions, difficult to do because the only other time he viewed them he threw up.

  Until today, William was unaware these photographs still existed. When Daniel separated from the service, he ordered Merrill to shred all visual evidence of Danny’s injuries. This is one more example of how Merrill betrayed me. Damned Merrill! How did I not perceive his deceitfulness?

  When this court martial ended with a guilty verdict, and all appeals ran out, wh
ich he acknowledged Plouffe would seek, William would ensure the disturbing pictures of Daniel were destroyed. He never wanted to view them again, nor did he want his son to become aware of their existence.

  For now, he would instruct the others never to reveal they existed. William didn’t expect any arguments, having witnessed their grim expressions as one after another sickening image of his son’s, their brother’s, shredded, bloody, bruised, and abused flesh was exhibited. Plouffe was the only one not repulsed, in fact, his lips twisted into a cruel grin upon viewing them. With Plouffe’s reaction, the malevolent man could’ve easily received life in a treatment facility if he pled insanity.

  “Isn’t it true you are working in collusion with General Broderick to create this sham? I mean you are testifying from an,” Plouffe made air quote motions with his fingers, “undisclosed location.” He dropped his hands, making fists. “Who is to say you are actually in jail?”

  Stomping back and forth in front of his table as he spoke, Plouffe glared at Pletcher. His former ally goaded him, told about all the secret conversations, the money transfers, the arrangements they had for delivering arms shipments and how much they got paid. He had been trying to deflect all blame on Pletcher, but for some reason, the damned man no longer feared he would turn him over to Mousa or could ensure he ended up dead.

  “You are so full of crap, Plouffe. Give it a rest. Are you so stupid you can’t tell the gig is up? Or did syphilis eat away all your brain cells?”

  “It isn’t syphilis, it’s herpes,” Plouffe yelled, not realizing what he revealed.

  Several snickers sounded from around the room as Pletcher baited Plouffe. Whatever Leroux told the traitor when he talked with him appeared to remove his fear, and Pletcher now met Plouffe head-on in cross-exam.

  “Well, whatever. Wasn’t sure what you got or gave Murphy when you had him drop his pants, bent him over your desk, and used the guy so perversely. I don’t know what leverage you had on him to make him submit to being your fuck toy, but whatever it was must’ve been significant.”

  Mason thought he might hurl as he listened to the abuse of power and depravity Plouffe subjected on a subordinate, and he was not alone based the disgusted countenances of the others. Over the years, Mason caught the major eyeing him, Brody, and Blondie once or twice with lustful expressions which he brushed off as being his imagination.

  Now Mason realized he had not been wrong in his reading of Plouffe’s intentions. A tiny part of him wished Plouffe had sought to assault him like he did Murphy. No trial would be necessary now if Plouffe had ever tried to make me bend over or go down on him. Puffy’s first attempt would have been his last. The revolting, malevolent asshole would already be dead.

  Pletcher continued his taunt because Plouffe didn’t stop him. “I could always sneak up on you, your situational awareness is pathetic. I was in your tent when you forced Murphy to give you a blow job at the remote base. The day Murphy reported to you that Dan Broderick had been rescued and lived. I overheard you order Murphy back to the main base with instructions to murder Broderick and make it appear like a suicide.

  “Your childish, delusional temper tantrums every time your toy soldier survived brought out the cruelest bastard I’ve ever seen. Poor Murphy paid the price many times for your ineptitude. I may have been in this for the money, but you derived perverse pleasure in causing others pain. You’re even worse than Merrill with his damned bobbleheads.

  “Time you realize the Brodericks bested you, and you will spend the rest of your days in prison. You fail at everything. Your so-called plan to break General Badass by sending photos of his son was useless. I guess we should refer to Dan as Badass Jr. since he survived more than twenty attempts on his life.

  “The Brodericks remain at the top of the food chain, and you will always be nothing more than fodder. Even with all your machinations to drive a wedge between father and son, they defeated you at every turn.”

  Plouffe lost control. He grabbed the plastic water bottle off his table and hurled it full force at the video screen. Within seconds he was restrained by Angus, Hal, and Duncan.

  “Guess you will never learn to control your rages,” Pletcher said, safe in his prison as water dripped on his pixeled image.

  Judge Bellerose had enough. “Major Plouffe, your behavior is unbecoming an officer. You will confine yourself to your seat, and if you cannot curb your outbursts, I will have you put in shackles. Do you understand?”

  Fighting his rage, Plouffe nodded.

  “I require a verbal answer, Major,” Bellerose demanded.

  “Yes, Your Honour.”

  Noting the remaining projectiles available to Plouffe, Bellerose ordered, “Corporal Weber, please remove all items from the defense table.”

  Duncan moved to do as instructed and took the pen, pad of paper, and three other bottles to the back of the room.

  “Now, Major Plouffe, do you have any additional constructive questions for this witness. Understand, the court is at its limit of patience for your shenanigans and verbal sparring.” Bellerose waited for an answer.

  “No further questions.” Plouffe’s hatred for Broderick grew a hundred-fold as Pletcher testified against him. His hand slipped under the tablecloth and caressed the gun as he imagined the hole he would put between William’s eyes before today ended.

  “Commander Leroux, you may call your next witness.”

  Pierre stood. “Your Honour, I beg the court’s indulgence. A new witness and evidence have arrived which were not available at the time of discovery. With your permission, I would like to call the witness now.”

  “This is highly irregular. Defense counsel has not had an opportunity to review the evidence,” Bellerose said.

  “Neither have I, Your Honour. However, my aide, Corporal Grasett, located a voice analyst from the RCMP’s major crimes division who is standing by and can attest to the authenticity,” Leroux explained.

  “I’ll allow the testimony.” Bellerose waited for an objection from Plouffe, and when none came, he glanced over and noted the defendant remained beet red and brooding. Today had been a long day, so he added, “This will be the last witness for the day.”

  Bonomi rose and went to retrieve their witness.

  Judgment Day

  34

  January 26

  Club Ed – Courtroom – 1630 Hours

  Dan entered with Mason and made a beeline for his father who still sat in the second row of the gallery. He nodded to Sutton who remained seated next to the general, and settled into the chair on the opposite side, closest to the defendant table. Dan didn’t bother looking at Plouffe but took a moment to study the eyes of his dad.

  He noted sadness in their depths and possessed a decent idea of what caused the only emotion visible on the general’s exterior. In a quiet voice, Dan said, “You’re not going to believe who is here to testify.”

  Before William could ask who, a familiar woman strolled up the aisle towards the witness stand. Dressed in trousers and a two-button blazer of charcoal grey, with a crisp white blouse, and low-heeled, black, leather pumps, Tammy Middles’ svelte figure moved with confidence. Her hair, a medium shade of brown, styled in a straight bob came to her shoulders with deep side-swept bangs covering a portion of her forehead. The short strand of off-white pearls and manicured nails painted in a French tip completed the image of a poised young woman.

  Tammy attempted to project self-assurance, something she found easier to do lately. She discovered, with the help of her mother and Aaron’s parents she possessed strengths she had been unaware of before Aaron’s death and the birth of her son. After being sworn in, Tammy sat erect, with her hands clasped in her lap. She refused to peer at Aaron’s dastardly, reprehensible uncle. Instead, she allowed her eyes to find Dan and General Broderick, giving them a slight smile before focusing on Commander Leroux.

  Leroux stood and said, “For the record, please state your name and occupation.”

  “Tammy Marie Middles. I
am currently on a year’s maternity leave, but normally I teach high school science at Maple Creek Collegiate Institute.”

  “Ms. Middles, are you acquainted with the accused?” Leroux asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Please explain how.”

  Tammy took a glance at Nigel, noting his glower, and turned her eyes straight across from her, concentrating on an older man who wore the insignia of a general. He appeared to be kind when he gave her a friendly grin as she answered, “Nigel, I mean, Major Plouffe is … was my late fiancée’s uncle. Aaron’s father, David, is Nigel’s brother.”

  Having been informed of the relationship by his aide, Leroux probed so the panel would understand the connection. “Your fiancée was Aaron Plouffe?”

  “Yes.”

  “How did you come to meet the major?”

  “He came to visit a couple of times while I dated Aaron, and he came to Aaron’s funeral.”

  “Please tell the court how Aaron died.”

  Plouffe surged up. “I object. My nephew has nothing to do with this, and neither does this little twit.”

  Patience near exhausted, Bellerose commanded, “Sit down, Major. You are fined two-thousand for showing disrespect towards the witness. Don’t make me shackle and gag you.” Softening his voice, he turned to the young lady. “Please continue, ma’am.”

  Her clasped hands tightened, it still hurt losing Aaron, but her voice came out steady as she shared, “Constable Aaron Plouffe was killed in the line of duty as he saved Constable Daniel Broderick’s life during a confrontation with gang members last July in Rouge Park.”

  Dan’s head lowered as emotions related to his failure to save Aaron threatened to reveal themselves, something he didn’t want to do in the same room as Plouffe. His father’s hand appeared on his thigh and patted it, just like the day in the church. Boosted by the support of the quiet gesture, Dan lifted his head, in control again.

  “Would you please explain for the court what brought you here today?” Leroux decided an open-ended inquiry would allow Tammy to express her path in terms which would touch the panel, rather than him leading her through a series of dry yes and no questions.