by Mack Collins
“Okay, in your report to the police you said that I lifted the knife and walked towards you in a threatening manner, right?”
She shook her head in response.
“Answer the question with a YES or NO answer,” the judge interrupted.
“YES, you did” she confirmed.
I looked at her pensively then turned my back towards her for a brief moment and walked towards the jury saying, “If I was chopping carrots, then I had to be lifting my hand up, because that’s how people chop stuff,” with that statement I lifted my hand up and down pretending to be chopping something.
“OBJECTION YOUR HONOR!” this time Mr. Leer was the one interrupting.
“She was walking towards the witness with the knife why didn’t she just remain where she had been standing chopping her carrots? Why did she start walking towards Mrs. Jarrett in a threatening way raising her voice at the young woman?” He seemed to have known almost everything that had happened that evening.
I quickly interrupted him before he tried to further disparage and implicate me for an innocent disagreement.
I walked back over to the witness stand and made my final statement to her, “Ana, now you know I was not threatening you, I was walking towards the fridge to get some more carrots and celery for the stew. You know that, so stop lying.” With that I took a look at the jury and said, “This woman wants to take an incident where I was cooking in someone else’s kitchen and turn it into something ugly, I guess I should have not been cooking for her in the first place,” I returned behind the desk next to Robert and waited to hear what the judge would say.
“Do you have any witnesses that you would like to call Miss Carter?” he asked giving me a serious look.
“Your Honor I’d like to call Mr. Robert James to the stand,” I said firmly, looking over at Robert, who had a shocked look on his face. I had not told him that I would be calling him to take the stand. In fact, I had decided to place him on the stand a few minutes ago. I needed someone who was in my corner to testify and let the jury know that I was not a bad person.
Robert took slow strides towards the witness stand, and finally took the oath when he got there before taking a seat. I walked over to him and began with my questions.
“Mr. James, you know Molly and me better than anyone else in this room, so tell the court what our relationship was like?” I asked him with a desperate look on my face. I needed him to redeem my good name.
“Well, you guys have always been close. You go to each other’s homes, celebrating all holidays together as well as other things.”
“Do you have a brother Mr. James?” I asked.
“Yes, I have three brothers,” he replied with a warm smile on his face.
“Do you guys have disagreements?”
“Yeah sure, we fight all the time. But that does not mean that we hate each other nor does it mean that we will try to kill each other.” He replied with a serious face.
“How would you compare your relationship with your brothers to the relationship that I have with my sister, Molly?” I asked. I was secretly praying and hoping that he would be able to do this question justice, and help prove my innocence.
“Well Molly’s your only sister, and everyone who knows you both, knows that you guys are pretty tight. I don’t think me and my brothers’ relationship can ever be as good as your relationship that you have with Molly,” he finally added.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Finally the truth was coming out. “Thank you Robert,” I said with a slight smile on my face. I returned to my previous position, allowing Mr. Leer to cross examine Robert.
Mr. Leer approached stealthily, without even uttering a word.
“I’m gonna keep it brief Mr. James,” he said looking directly at Robert.
“Were you having a relationship with Molly’s sister, the defendant, Miss Linda Carter? Because from what I heard you too were pretty chummy, so I would not be surprised if you are trying to cover up a little more than attempted murder over here,” he had a wicked look on his face. Like he was onto us and he wanted to expose our secret to everyone in the court room.
Thankfully Robert kept a straight face, and gave him a quick no-nonsense answer.
“I love my wife, Mr. Leer; I also respect both her and her sister. I have never had any sexual or inappropriate relationship with Linda Carter. She’s like a sister to me.”
Mr. Leer looked at Robert with disbelief in his eyes, “So you are not seeing Linda Carter,” he said to Robert.
“Nope I am not seeing Linda Carter.” Robert answered firmly.
Mr. Leer walked over to the jury and finally said in a very cold, distasteful voice, “Look at this man, he is lying up on the stand. Did you know he even had the balls to cruise into this court room with Linda Carter, the person accused of trying to kill his wife? And now he has the nerve to say that they are not together.”
‘OBJECTION YOUR HONOR!” I exclaimed, leaping across the room to the jury. “Apart from my aunt Gretchen over there,” I held out my index finger pointing it to my aunt who was sitting in the back wiping her tear-filled eyes with a tissue. “I don’t have any family other than Robert, he’s like the brother I never had. I could never sleep with someone I considered to be like my brother,” I assured them. A line of tears made its way down the side of my cheeks as I pleaded with them to let me go home to focus on being with my sister during her final days.
“I only have one sister, just ONE and instead of being able to be at her bedside during this crucial time, I’m here in court being accused of all sorts of crazy stuff.” I was desperately trying to fight back my tears.
“I’m not guilty of anything. I love my sister and I only want what’s best for her, I grew up taking care of her, working every day after school, slaving away in the café to put her through school, when our parents died.” I could see the compassion residing on most of the faces of the jury members. They seemed to be connecting with me and it felt great.
Finally the judge interrupted and called for a recess to allow the jury time to make their decision.
Court resumed later in the afternoon about three hours after the morning session. I shook as my palms were literally dripping with the sweat from my nervousness. I did not know what they would do to me. At that point I felt a little remorse; I wished I had done things differently.
“I’ll be a lawyer behind bars,” I whispered to Robert who was also very nervous. I could not hold back the stream of tears that made their way out of my swollen eyes.
The group of people who had been serving on the jury walked in and sat down in their respective seats inside of the court room.
“Has the jury reached their verdict?” the judge asked curiously.
“Yes we have,” a gentleman from the group stood up and replied handing over a small white piece of folded paper to the bailiff. The bailiff then walked over to the judge and handed him the paper.
I stood there unable to control my shaky legs, my heart thudded as I tried to control my breathing. I felt like I was about to have a panic attack. I looked over to Robert, whose calm disposition had completely changed and he too looked even more nervous than I was.
The judge took a look at the inside of the folded paper and handed it back to the jury.
The same man who had handed the bailiff the paper read the verdict.
“In the case of assault with a deadly weapon we the jury find the defendant – Not Guilty”
I breathed a small sigh of relief, as I gripped tightly onto Robert’s sweaty hands, terrified of what the next verdict would be.
“In the case of attempted murder, we the jury find the defendant – Not Guilty.”
The judge looked me directly in the eye and said, “You’re free to Go, Miss Carter.”
I stood still for a second or two, I was completely shocked with the outcome of things. Then I began to come to my senses. I was a FREE woman.
“OH my God, I’m free Rob. I’m free.” I was jumping up and down in
my heels, excited to finally be done with all this court drama.
“Where to now?” Robert asked with a huge smile on his face.
I thought about his question for a moment and then answered. “I want to go share the good news with Molly,” I said with a smile on my face.
CHAPTER SIX
When we arrived at the hospital I rushed over to Molly’s room.
“Can I have a minute or two with her?” I asked Robert, who had been with me all along.
He did not hesitate and quickly obliged to my request. I took my sister’s frail almost lifeless hand in mine and gently massaged it, planting a soft kiss upon the back of her hand.
“I’m so, so, so sorry Molly,” I whispered to her as the tears streamed down my face. I pulled the chair that had been a little distance away from the bed, closer to her bed side and took a seat.
“I’m free now, you see just like I told you, I would never pay for anything. ANYTHING you understand me,” my look had changed from a warm happy look to an intense dangerously hateful one. I squeezed her hand tightly in mine, knowing full well that she could not feel a thing. I remembered clearly how our last fight had ended.
“I’m gonna fuck you up bitch. You want to steal my man, and have his baby. And then live a happy life with your husband you must have lost your fucking mind.” These were my last few words to her, as I stormed out in a rage, determined to get back at her. I had just gotten a call from a friend at the lab confirming that Molly’s daughter Lilly was actually my ex-fiancé’s biological daughter. My sister had her husband Robert thinking that Lilly was his daughter all along, knowing full well he was not the father. I was now putting the pieces of the puzzle together; why Dave suddenly could not make our relationship work anymore, why Lilly never seemed to have a very close connection with Robert.
I knew their relationship would be over by the time I told Robert the truth and I rushed over to his office. But even before I told him the news, I had something even better planned for Molly. I had found a way to get her out of the picture completely.
Suddenly I felt the tight grip on my hand, reciprocated, I looked down and my eyes almost popped out of its socket. Molly’s eyes were wide open. She had awakened from her deep slumber. As she looked at me I could see the look in her eyes, the look of pure hatred. The same look that I had given her a few minutes earlier.
“You think it’s all good don’t you,” she muttered. “We’ll just have to see about that,” she whispered as she reached over and pressed the red emergency button at the side of her bed.
“What the hell are you doing that for?” I asked curiously.
“I don’t want anything to do with someone who wants me dead,” she replied in a cold emotionless voice. In all my life I had never seen this look in her eyes. She was serious, a little too serious for comfort. I had to do something about Molly; I had to find a way to shut her up permanently.
****
The End
Other Books by Mack Collins Available on Kindle and Audio
Addicted To My Sugar Daddy
Seducing The Good Cop: The Encounter (Part 1)
Seducing The Good Cop: Sweet Seduction (Part 2)
Seducing The Good Cop: Erotic Law (Part 3)
Toxic Seductress (Part 1) Dangerous Family Secrets
Toxic Seductress Part 2 (A killer Amongst Them)
