“The prosecution always paints the defendant as a crazy mad man who unjustly flies off the handle due to having PTSD,” Dr. Roth answers.
“Much like what the prosecution tried to do in this case against Mr. Bradford?”
“Precisely,” says Dr. Roth. “And it’s a shame that our men and women who so valiantly defended our country come back to be met with this sort of stigma against them. Whether they do, or do not, have PTSD, they don’t deserve to be made out to be automatically guilty of any crime. They are still innocent until proven guilty, just as any non- service member is as well.”
“Objection,” says ADA Stemple.
“I do believe you’ve gotten your point across, Ms. Morrell,” says the judge. “Sustained.”
“No further questions, your Honor.”
“You are free to leave, Dr. Roth,” says the judge. “Thank you for your time.”
And now once the expert witness exits the courtroom, it’s time to deliver the cherry on top of my trial performance today: my closing statement.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the prosecution wants you to think that Jensen Bradford is violent and that he over-reacted due to having PTSD. It’s unfair to portray him— as well as people who do have PTSD— in this light merely because they served our country. As has been shown here today, the prosecutor— as well as the entire District Attorney’s office— has a habit of claiming that because a person accused of a crime served in the military, they must have PTSD, and they are therefore guilty. They never bother to inquire whether the accused really do have PTSD, or whether someone who has PTSD was actually affected by it during the commission of the alleged crime. This is a travesty for our veterans and I am calling on you as jury members to stop the cycle of unfairness. I am asking for justice for my client Jensen Bradford, who is an upstanding citizen and an innocent man. And I am asking for justice for all veterans in his position, so that the DA’s office will stop unfairly prosecuting them.”
I return to my seat and meet Jensen’s triumphant smile. The judge delivers last-minute deliberation instructions to the jury and then calls a recess after excusing them.
“Now what?” Jensen asks me.
It’s obvious— and cute— that he’s nervous, but trying to hide his emotions.
“Now we wait for the jury to return with their verdict. And you can rest easy, knowing your case was in the competent hands of your attorney, and that the verdict will be not guilty. Let’s go to lunch.”
“How do you feel about having lunch with my mom and brothers?” he asks, looking more nervous about that than the pending verdict.
I laugh. “Fine, as long as you agree to have dinner with my parents with me this week.”
“It’s a deal. I just have to warn you— my family is really crazy.”
“Then we have more in common than I thought.”
Chapter 24
We don’t even get out of the courthouse before Riley’s cell phone goes off.
“What is it?”
I’m on pins and needles. I trust Riley and I saw with my own eyes that she did a kick- ass job with my case. But anything can happen.
“The jury’s back already,” she says breathlessly.
“What does that mean?”
“I means we’re about to get really good news,” she says, embracing me in the lobby, obviously not caring who sees us. “It would definitely have taken longer than this to resolve any question of reasonable doubt one way or the other.”
I can’t help but look around. “I hope that hotshot douchebag ex- boyfriend of yours has a court appearance today, so he can see us now.”
She laughs. “He’s never in this court. It’s only for lawyers slumming it with low- stakes criminal cases, like me. But don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll hear through the grapevine.”
I can’t help but give her ass a little squeeze before we turn around to go back up the elevator.
“It would have taken a lot longer than that if the jury had any doubt as to your innocence,” Riley says proudly, as we walk back into the courtroom.
“Has the jury reached a verdict?” asks the judge, once he’s called the courtroom back to order.
“We have, Your Honor,” says the foreman, looking directly at me with a kind smile.
“In the matter of the State of New Mexico versus Jensen Bradford, for the charge of assault and battery, do you find the Defendant guilty or not guilty?”
“Not guilty,” says the foreman resolutely, and applause erupts from the gallery.
“That’s my boy,” my mom shouts, as if we’re at my high school wrestling tournament instead of my trial for a crime I was just acquitted of.
And yet, her pride and enthusiasm tugs at my heart. My mom and I haven’t ever been close, but it was amazing of her to show up to support me. And I have Riley to thank for that. I look over at her with love and tenderness as the judge bangs his gavel and says, “Quiet in the courtroom! Mr. Bradford, you are free to leave. Members of the jury, the State of New Mexico thanks you for your service. You are free to leave as well.”
Free to leave. Free to leave this mess behind me and figure out what I want to do with my future. Looking over once again at Riley, I know I want it to involve her.
An hour later, we’re at Cecilia’s Café: Mom, Ramsey, Harlow, Riley and me. If you had asked me just a month ago if I ever thought this would happen, I would have said no fuckin’ way. And yet here we are: a big happy family, although still dysfunctional of course, because we’re the Bradfords.
“So Ma, you done seeing that Bill Warner guy for good now?” asks Harlow.
“Well maybe every now and then, whenever I’m lonely or need a little company…” Mom starts, but Ramsey cuts her off as the rest of us groan our disapproval.
“Mom, you have to stop going around dating losers,” Ramsey chides.
I can’t believe that everything has turned out so well, both with my case and with my personal life. I squeeze Riley’s leg under the table, which is a variation of pinching myself to be sure I’m not dreaming. To my delight, she squeezes my hand, and then moves it a bit closer to her inner thigh, seductively.
“How about we get the check?” I ask everyone at the table. To Riley, I wink, signaling that this is my cue for us to get out of here and start the one- on- one celebration we deserve.
Ramsey reaches for his wallet but I shake my head. “I’ve got it,” I boast. “I didn’t have to pay a cent for my lawyer here, so she’s worth at least a lunch.” Everyone laughs. “No one can accuse me of buying witness testimony after the fact.” I nod at my mother. “And I really do appreciate your support,” I say to my brothers. “You’ve earned yourselves a free meal as well.”
“Hell, I should have ordered the filet mignon,” Harlow jokes.
“So now that you’ve been officially acquitted, do you think you’ll be coming back to the Air Force?” asks Ramsey, switching the conversation to serious mode, with a curious look on his face. “Joining us again in Special Ops?”
“Actually, I think this is a case of getting all that you wanted, and then realizing it’s not really what you wanted,” I say, and sneak a glance at Riley. She holds onto my fingers tight underneath the table.
“I like the contracting gig, and I like that I don’t have to be deployed.” I kiss Riley on the cheek. “I want to stay put with my former lawyer and new girlfriend for a while.”
“Oooooh, Jensen has a girlfriend,” Harlow chides. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
“That’s enough syrupy sweet stuff,” my mom breaks in, looking annoyed.
I glance at her, afraid she’ll get upset out of jealousy and ruin the lunch like she has ruined so much before in my life, but she doesn’t say anything further.
Ramsey saves me by changing the subject slightly.
“I might take a look at joining you in the private sector,” he says.
I look at him, aghast. “That would be great!”
I want to explore the ide
a with him further, but the check arrives and I’m anxious to explore something else first.
Outside, I give Riley a gift I bought for her prior to today’s trial— a motorcycle helmet.
“It’s perfect,” she says, as she runs her hands along the pink edges.
“I don’t know about that, but it’s safe,” I tell her. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”
I pull her close and kiss her.
“Thank you for always protecting me,” she says. “I guess I’m officially a biker’s girlfriend. Can’t say I ever really thought that would be the case.”
“Don’t worry,” I joke back, rubbing my nose against hers. “I never thought I’d have a lawyer girlfriend.”
I give her a ride on my bike to my place. It’s a small, sparsely decorated apartment that prompts the expected jokes about it being my “bachelor pad.”
“Are you saying you want to leave?” I ask her, with a wink, as we’re standing in my living room looking at my framed poster of Walter White from Breaking Bad as a Dia de Los Muertos skull.
“Not at all,” she says, and kneels down in front of me, just like that, on the carpet on my living room floor.
“Woah!” I say, surprised but impressed.
I knew she was a good catch, but an impromptu blowjob was beyond my wildest expectations.
“Shhhhh,” she says, as she takes my belt off and begins unzippering my fly.
“But you just got me out of a big jam,” I tell her. “I should be the one thanking… and spoiling you…”
“No,” she says, looking up into my eyes in a very genuine stare. “You got me out of a big jam I didn’t even know I was in. Thank you.”
She removes my pants and runs her hand up and down my shaft, while staring deeply into my eyes. My cock is so hard I can barely stand it. When she takes me inside of her it feels like ecstasy. Fireworks go off in my mind.
She is good at what she does, and she does it until I’m on the edge of pleasure. Gasping for breath, I pull her head back so that she is looking straight at me.
“Stop,” I tell her. “I want to be inside you.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to…”
“There’s plenty of time for that another time,” I tell her. “Right now, I just want to take you.”
She looks around, as if expecting me to carry her to my bedroom the way I’d carried her up the stairs to hers.
“Right here,” I tell her, pulling off her blazer.
She moans, and I’m pleased that having my cock in her mouth turned her on so much. I unbutton her silk blouse and then lift her tank top over her head. Finally I unsnap her bra.
“So many clothes,” I complain, but she’s keeping me ready with her hand. Not to mention the look of her ample breasts and already- erect nipples.
“They made me dress like this to get you off your criminal charge,” she jokes.
“And I’m making you undress to get me off in a different way.”
“Very funny,” she says, as she pulls my own shirt over my head.
I grab the condom I’ve been keeping in my wallet since the first night we got it on, while she shimmies out of her skirt. She’s sitting on her bottom on my living room floor, and I pull off her pantyhose slowly and seductively.
“Turn around,” I tell her, once we’re both naked except for her panties. “I love that you wore a thong today. You just knew that we’d be doing this. I want to see that amazing ass of yours.”
She gets on all fours in front of me, and it’s exactly how I’ve been wanting to see her. I trace my fingers along the curves of her ass, and then pull her panties to the side.
“You have the most gorgeous body I’ve ever seen,” I tell her, as I put on the condom and then insert my eager cock into wet pussy.
“Right back at you,” she says, and then groans once she feels me enter her.
I hold onto her hips while I thrust in and out of her, establishing a mind-blowing rhythm between us.
“Jensen,” she says, as she tightens around me, and it causes me to orgasm along with her.
“I’m coming,” she says, as I feel her tighten her legs and wrap her insides around me.
“Me too. Me too.”
We collapse on the living room floor with my arms around her and my head on her breasts.
“You’re perfect,” she says. “I love you.”
“I love you too. More than you could ever know.”
Chapter 25
“Here goes nothing,” I say, as I finish setting the table at my house. I stare at the three empty seats, fearing how this evening’s dinner will go.
“It will be fine.”
Jensen comes up behind me and gives me a peck on the top of my head, his strong hands massaging my shoulders. In the week since the trial, we’ve been spending nearly every day together. Although it seems impossible, we just keep getting closer and closer.
“And what if it’s not?” I spin around to face him, wanting him to see how serious I think this is.
“So what?” he asks with a cavalier shrug. Then I see the worry cross his face. “I mean, what’s the worst that can happen?”
“Look Jensen, you said that your family is ‘crazy’ and I think I know what you were getting at…”
“Gee, thanks,” he says, and laughs.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. I just mean that from what you’ve told me and from my interactions with her, your mom has… some… issues… and I know you’ve had a sordid past with everything she did to your dad and your brothers. And I know things with your brothers don’t always run smoothly even though for the most part you’re close.”
This time he tenses up and now I’m the one comforting him. I wrap my arms around him in a tight hug.
“I’m not trying to upset you. I’m just trying to say…”
“That it’s obvious how fucked up my family is.”
“Well, my point is that my family is crazy too. I guess every family is in its own way, but mine is more… lurking beneath the surface. Everything on the outside looks nice and perfect, but the second someone challenges it, everything starts to boil up to the surface, if not just plain erupt, and I’m afraid…”
“You’re afraid that dating someone like me will cause your parents to go ballistic,” he finishes my awkward run- on sentence for me.
“I… yeah. I do want you to know that no matter what, I want to be with you. But I’m not sure that it’s going to be easy.”
“That’s fine,” he says, kissing me once again. “That’s all I needed to hear. And by the way, nothing worth fighting for is ever easy to obtain.”
“Oh sage wise one,” I joke, as the doorbell rings.
Here goes nothing.
“Hello, Dear,” says my mom, as soon as I open the door.
She’s holding a pie, and my dad and sister Amy are behind her.
“Hi Mom, come on in,” I say, and step aside to let them through.
“This is my boyfriend, Jensen,” I say. “Jensen, this is Mom, Dad and Amy.”
“Well, hello,” says my mom, as if she doesn’t know what else to say. I watch my dad’s eyes size up Jensen’s tattoos while his mouth curls into a distasteful snarl, as Jensen shakes my mom’s hand and then moves on to meet my father.
“Jensen, huh?” asks Amy, when it’s her turn to meet him. “An interesting name for an interesting choice for my sister.”
Her tone is both flirtatious and condescending, a combination that only Amy can pull off. Her long blonde hair glides along her skinny back as she turns away from Jensen, and I swear she wiggles her almost non- existent ass. I think about calling her out but I don’t want to ruin the evening before it even begins.
We head to the kitchen where I serve the chicken cacciatore I made earlier today.
“Very nice, Riley,” Mom says approvingly.
“What happened to the low carb diet?” Amy bursts out.
“I ditched it.”
I take a defiant bit
e of my dinner. Amy sizes Jensen up again, and he graciously says, “I don’t think Riley needs to be on a diet. She looks great the way she is.”
“Thanks, honey.” I smile and squeeze his hand under the table. He squeezes back reassuringly.
I can tell that Amy wants to ask how a completely in shape guy could like a fatty like me. It’s something I wondered myself, before something changed. At some point I realized that Jensen was really into my body, and that I should be too. And I feel confident enough around him to wear the spaghetti strap dress I’m wearing tonight.
Amy doesn’t ask that question. I think even she knows that would be taking things a bit too far. Instead, she asks, “So what happened to Brian?”
“Amy dear, that’s inappropriate,” Mom says.
“But what did happen to him?” asks my Dad.
“I ditched him too,” I shrug.
Just before Jensen knocked him out cold, I think, but don’t say. I decide a half-lie is better than the whole truth. He is technically the one who dumped me, but there’s no way I’d want him back.
“Riley, you know I respect your choices but this is a bit of a shock to us,” my mom says. “One day we’re at the Albuquerque Country Club with your fiancé and his father who is the head of the firm you work at, and the next day we’re…”
“At my house with my new boyfriend?” I ask them. “And by the way, it’s the firm I used to work at.”
My father sets his silverware down and clears his throat. I gulp, scared yet proud of myself for putting it out there right away. I could anticipate that asking about my job and career was next on their agenda, and I wanted to be in control of the conversation, for once.
“I’m sorry, what?” Mom asks, her smile fading.
“This is great entertainment, Riley,” says Amy, as she stuffs her face. “And to think I almost went to the movies instead.”
“Please stay out of this, Amy,” Dad says. “Riley, what are you talking about?”
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