Sentencing Sapphire

by Mia Thompson

  Then again, Aston Ridder had never been a man to believe in happy endings.

  • • •

  “All rise!”

  Everyone stood as the judge entered. Sapphire looked at Mr. Goldstein’s empty seat, then over her shoulder again. Where the hell is he?

  He said he’d be here on the phone, but was nowhere to be found.

  Sapphire admired the sea of familiar faces behind her. For as long as she could remember, she’d feared being exposed as the Serial Catcher, believing they’d all turn on her. But the faces behind her today weren’t filled with hatred. Vivienne, Chrissy, Uncle Gary, Julia, Antonio, and Elsa, were all smiling at her in support, though the baby’s smile was probably just gas.

  Perhaps, Sapphire thought, feeling the warmth in her chest, she had underestimated them the whole time.

  Her eyes stopped on Father O’Riley. His wife and her children sat next to him. He kissed his cross then nodded to the sky and mouthed to her: I’ve got this.

  She gave him the thumbs up, right as she noticed Officer Barry Harry. Somehow, she’d thought Aston would be here today, no matter where they stood. But Barry sat alone and looked morose.

  Sapphire’s stomach tightened when it became clear to her. Aston wasn’t coming. Aston was never coming.

  The judge spoke. “Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a decision?”

  “We have, Your Honor,” a female juror stood up with a document.

  “Please read the verdict.”

  “We, the jury, in the matter of the State of California vs. Sapphire Dubois on the charges of second degree murder on Charles Dubois and Richard Martin, find the defendant…”

  Sapphire’s heart drummed along with her presumption. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

  “Not guilty.”

  Sapphire’s mouth opened in shock. They gave her self-defense. The spectators—her people—clapped and whistled.

  “Order!” Judge Biggs banged the gavel.

  “We, the jury, in the matter of the State of California vs. Sapphire Dubois on multiple accounts of obstruction of justice as the vigilante the Serial Catcher, find the defendant…” the juror looked up from her document. “Guilty as charged.”

  Sapphire felt her heart stop beating. The silence spread through the crowd and the word hung in the air. Guilty.

  The juror sat and Judge Biggs studied Sapphire. “When I woke up this morning, I had every intention of giving the defendant the minimum mandatory sentence, followed by community service. Considering the men she trapped were all, in fact guilty of murder, I thought to myself, didn’t she do all of us a favor?” His eyes slid over the room. “Then I walked into the courthouse.”

  Sapphire closed her eyes.

  “I overheard too many people say that Ms. Dubois was a hero and that they wished there were more like her. I realized, should I go easy on the defendant, I’d be sending a statement that the law is disputable and that there is no need for our law enforcement. The last thing I want to do is encourage anyone out there to follow in her footsteps. If I were to choose to look away today, tomorrow’s world could be one of anarchy.”

  Sapphire’s body turned to stone. She was ready to face her punishment, but it didn’t remove the dread of what was to come.

  “Therefore, I sentence Sapphire Dubois to serve ten years at the California Institution for Women…”

  Sapphire felt like she was going to pass out. Ten years. People’s angry hollers grew behind her. The court’s guards were getting ready to grab her and take her to prison. The walls were closing in. She glimpsed some regret in Judge Biggs’ eyes as he raised the gavel.

  “Waaaait!” Her lawyer slammed the court doors open. “Stop!”

  “Mr. Goldstein, this is the second time you’ve burst in late!” Judge Biggs put down the gavel. “Do you not own a watch?”

  “May I approach the bench?”

  The judge threw his hands up. “Can I stop you?”

  Mr. Goldstein huffed and puffed on his way up. “A few days ago, I got a very interesting phone call from the Detective who brought in Sapphire Dubois. He knew my client wasn’t the Serial Catcher, so while the trial was going on, he found the true Serial Catcher.”

  Mr. Goldstein motioned toward the door. Everyone in the room turned their heads and held their breath as the door opened.

  Chapter 23

  Shelly McCormick entered the courtroom. The True Serial Catcher cursed inside her, trying to claw her way to the surface.

  “The Serial Catcher herself,” Mr. Goldstein said.

  Shelly took a breath as she moved up the aisle. She forced the True Serial Catcher down, trying to contain her. The drugs her doctor gave her helped, but weren’t enough to obliterate her second personality.

  “Is this true, Ms…?” The judge asked, pointing his gavel to Shelly.

  “McCormick, and yes.” Shelly nodded, and glanced at Sapphire.

  “Come forward.”

  “As you all can see,” Mr. Goldstein said loudly. “Ms. McCormick bears a striking resemblance to Ms. Dubois. Which would explain the footage Detective Capelli saw and how Richard Martin confused the two for the identity of the Serial Catcher.” He turned. “No need to feel embarrassed, Detective. I would, but hey.”

  Shelly watched the man, Detective Capelli, blush as all eyes turned to him. He tried to sneak out of the room, but was stalked by a few reporters.

  Mr. Goldstein opened his briefcase. “I will be representing Ms. McCormick. I also have the statement from a Detective Meadows in Modesto who has witnessed the Serial Catcher’s activities worsen during the time Sapphire Dubois was abroad. This here…” he pointed to the doors where an ecstatic-looking woman in a cowboy hat entered, “is Colette Marmon, Ms. Dubois’ former employer from Paris, who assures her alibi during various estimated times of the deceased serial killers.”

  “Ha-y, ya’ll!” The woman in the cowboy hat shot fake bullets from her index fingers.

  “Excuse me!” A pushy woman handed Shelly a card. “Nikki Pierce, L.A. Times. I’ll make you a hero.”

  Shelly clenched the card, and felt the nerves build as she moved toward the judge. The people in the benches talked among themselves as Mr. Goldstein went through paperwork with the judge.

  “Shelly,” Sapphire whispered and grabbed her. “What the hell are you doing?”

  Fear raged inside Shelly as she lowered her voice. “After the church, I remembered it all. Everything she… I did, who you really are, the men I killed. When Detective Ridder took me to a hospital, I asked him for this.”

  “You’re going to go to prison, Shelly,” Sapphire hissed.

  Shelly’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m not okay, Sapphire. I did those things because a part of me wanted to. It was me.” She wiped her tears. “Mr. Goldstein told me my record of split personality is a shoe-in for mental illness. I’ll be put in a psychiatric institution, not a prison. I need to be somewhere where I can’t do those things anymore.”

  “I can’t let you take on my charges. Had it not been for me, you never would’ve been in this position in the first place.” Sapphire stood and looked at the judge. “Your Honor—”

  “Shh.” Shelly pushed her back down.

  The judge glance at them, then went back to his conversation with Mr. Goldstein.

  “Sapphire…” Shelly squeezed her eyes shut as the True Serial Catcher chanted vile things inside her. “I don’t need you to feel bad for me. I need you to help me.”

  Sapphire studied her face, then nodded in reluctance.

  “Ms. McCormick.” The judge called in a gentle voice. “Please step forward.”

  Shelly stepped up next to the stenographer and looked back at the doors where her family entered. They nodded at her encouragingly behind tears.

  She’d spent the last four days explaining to them what she’d done and what she had to do. They were the reason she took on Sapphire’s cases too. She had to make sure she got locked away for a long time. She had to protect them fr
om herself.

  The True Serial Catcher scratched to get out, telling Shelly she’d kill them all, hurt Miriam, when she got the chance.

  “Like hell you will,” Shelly McCormick mumbled, then looked up at the judge and drew a breath, ready to do anything to silence the monster inside her.

  • • •

  After Shelly McCormick confessed, Colette attested, and a detective from Northern California came in, the judge set a new date for both Shelly’s trial and Sapphire’s official re-trial which would clear her name. Then he said the magical words. “Ms. Dubois, you’re free to go.”

  Sapphire got up, mouthing a merci to her old boss. Colette waved it off, seeming happy to finally have gotten her trip to the States.

  Somebody slapped Sapphire’s ass. She turned to see the prosecutor shoot her a wink, before vanishing out the door.

  Sapphire rubbed her stinging butt as her lawyer approached her. “Please tell me Shelly will be okay.”

  “I’m going to make sure she gets the best treatment and that her family gets plenty of visitation.” Mr. Goldstein grabbed Sapphire by the shoulders. “Now, stay out of trouble.”

  “Thank you, for everything.”

  “Then again…” Mr. Goldstein hoisted his shoulders. “A hunt on tsain iz ois hunt, you know what I mean?”

  Sapphire smiled up at him. “I never do.”

  “A dog without teeth just isn’t a dog.”

  He walked off and Sapphire made it four steps before she was stopped by the coffee cart where Gary ushered a reluctant Petunia toward her.

  “Congrats,” Petunia said.

  “Thanks,” Sapphire matched her cousin’s icy tone. “Sorry I’m not in prison.”

  “I’m not talking about the trial, I’m talking about DubCorp.” Petunia rolled her eyes. “The Krafts pulled out from the Vanderpilts before Dad signed. They signed a silent investment alliance with us instead. They don’t want to take us down. They want to help us grow.”

  “What?” Sapphire frowned in disbelief. “So nobody’s losing their job?”

  “It’s more than that,” Petunia said. “You don’t know what this means?”

  “It means,” a voice came from behind them. “DubCorp is going to become a fortune five hundred company. Your personal worth will go up to a billion.”

  Petunia, Uncle Gary, and Sapphire turned to face Chrissy.

  “You did this?” Sapphire rushed to embrace her friend.

  Chrissy pulled away, looking proud. “I told my dad that if he didn’t help DubCorp, I’d marry an illegal immigrant without a pre-nup.” She eyed the guy behind the coffee cart. “No offense.”

  “I’m from Ohio.”

  “Of course you are.” Chrissy winked.

  Gary nudged his daughter forward again. Petunia sighed then held her hand out and spoke mechanically. “The company is officially ours and it looks like we’ll be working together for a long time, so maybe we can call our past differences water under the bridge. Are you in?”

  She looked at Petunia’s hand. For the first time in her life Sapphire wanted to be a part of the family business. She wanted to do it for Charles, to honor his wish. She owed him that much.

  She grabbed Petunia’s palm and shook it. “I’m in.”

  “We’re doing some remodeling, so take a few weeks, then I’ll see you at DubCorp. We have an empire to build.”

  Sapphire nodded, then watched Petunia and Gary walk away. Perhaps, running a business and hunting serial killers weren’t so different. Both jobs involved blood thirsty men and cut-throat deals.

  Chrissy hooked her arm into Sapphire’s and moved toward the doors.

  “Since you’re about to be worth an official billion, you’re off the blacklist. The country club should be sending you a new membership within days. Thank God! You have no idea how boring it is there without you.”

  Sapphire felt the weight of being ostracized fall off her.

  “Not as fun as hunting serial killers though, is it?” Chrissy added nonchalantly.

  Sapphire stopped. “The other girl confessed.”

  “Yeah, not buying it.” Chrissy shrugged. “I guess I always knew you were up to something. Sometimes your mouth and eyes go all wide for no reason, then you’re all ‘I gotta go’ and take off. I call it the Sapphire face.” She looked proud. “Plus, I realized you were the one who saved me at the cabin, so it kind of makes sense.”

  Sapphire studied her friend. “You going to tell anyone?”

  “Ew, no.” Chrissy snorted. “Weirdo.”

  “Guilty,” Sapphire nodded.

  They stepped outside, and the heat blasted them. The first thing Sapphire noticed was the non-presence of reporters. She took a breath and looked up as the grumbling sky above them opened. Heavy drops of rain splattered on them.

  People in L.A. tended to freak at rain, but after such a long drought, everyone around them stopped and looked up at the cooling drops. The drought was finally over, and Sapphire had never felt freer than she did in this moment.

  All the pain, the fear, and confusion she’d gone through in the past months washed away with the quenching drops. All but the painful absence of a blue-eyed cop.

  Chrissy yanked Sapphire’s arm. “Anyways, now that you’re not social dog poop, I think we should host a charity at the country club. Like an actual one for real poor people. Do you know any real poor people?”

  Sapphire turned to Chrissy in shock. “Did you hit your head?”

  “Yes!” Chrissy shouted in amazement. “On John’s headboard last night. Like repeatedly. How’d you know?”

  “I didn’t mean—” Sapphire said then her mouth and eyes went wide.

  “Yes,” Chrissy pointed. “That’s it. Hashtag Sapphire-face.”

  Sapphire stared at him through the crowd. He leaned against his car, hands in his pockets, looking back at her.

  “I gotta go.” Sapphire hugged Chrissy without taking her eyes off him. “I’ll call you later.”

  He came. He came, was all Sapphire thought as she rushed down the steps of the courthouse and toward Aston Ridder.

  • • •

  Aston watched her fly down the steps.

  He’d seen Capelli do the same earlier. When his ex-partner made it to the bottom step, he’d spotted Aston, who did exactly what he told Capelli he’d do once the prosecution lost. He smirked, and became what his enemy once was: a smug fuck.

  Aston and Goldstein already knew the outcome of today. The jury would find Sapphire not guilty on the murder charges, but—due to Moore’s and Capelli’s testimonies—guilty as the Serial Catcher. They’d been working on getting everything set up for the evidence for days.

  Sapphire made it to the last step and ran toward him. Aston pushed himself off his car as she threw her arms around his neck. She kissed him, and he let her… for a second.

  He gave her hips a gentle push and Sapphire looked up at him. He knew his face was serious. What was about to happen was the most serious thing Aston had ever done.

  “You didn’t come because you’re okay with what I said, did you?”

  “No,” Aston said, earnestly. “I don’t think I’ll ever be okay with what you said.”

  Sapphire pulled back, her face crestfallen. “Then why are you here?”

  “I have something to ask you.” Aston motioned to his car. “Can I give you a ride home?”

  Sapphire nodded and he felt a contradictory burst of tension and relief. She didn’t need a ride; he could see her Range Rover from where they stood.

  They rode in silence until Sapphire saw his duffle bag and big box in the backseat. Her eyes pulled away and she exhaled the words. “Going away?”

  “Have my heart set on it.”

  Sapphire looked out the window with a solemn expression. “For a while… or forever?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe for a while.”

  Sapphire looked around in dismay. “Why are we on the freeway?”

  “Um…” Aston’s pulse skyrocketed. “Th
ought it would be quicker.”

  “Well, that’s my exit,” Sapphire pointed as they passed it.

  “Oh crap.” He looked in the rearview mirror. “I’ll take the next one.”

  “So,” Sapphire took a breath, “what’s your question?”

  Aston’s gut took a dive. “When I heard you say it, I realized how truly fucked up you are. I was appalled.”

  “Mhm.” Sapphire looked out the window again. “Exit.”

  “I went home and it was clear to me that whatever we were, we were never meant to be.”

  “Yeah, I get that you feel that way,” Sapphire sounded annoyed. “The next exit is coming up, so move over.”

  Aston had time to go, but stayed in the middle lane.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Sapphire stared at him and grabbed the door handle. “Pull over and let me out!”

  Aston calmly placed his hand on the override lock. All four locks popped down to trap Sapphire. “You know, as a cop I feel I have certain duties to society, whether I like them or not.”

  “Jesus,” the distress rose in Sapphire’s voice as she yanked on the handle. “Where are you taking me?”

  “After hearing what you said, I should do everything in my power to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

  “I’m not dangerous, Aston! I had a moment where I thought I was, but I know I’m not.”

  “I know that too,” Aston glanced at her. “But I also know your mind works differently.” He exhaled. “With everything you are, and your parents are and were, you’re bound to be fucked up for life.”

  Sapphire looked at the freeway signs. The last exit back to Los Angeles was coming up. “What are you going to do with me?”

  Aston stopped and put the car in park in the middle of the freeway.

  “Have you lost your mind?” Sapphire screamed as cars honked and swerved around them. They sat in front of a freeway divide. The freeway on the right would take them back to L.A. The freeway on the left led to the Mojave Desert. “You’re going to get us killed! Drive!”