Delayed Justice

by Constance Bretes

  “Everything okay?” Sami asked.

  “I’ve got to go, love. There’s a four-alarm fire in town, and it’s threatening to take out a few buildings in addition to several houses.” He dressed quickly, came around to the side of her bed, and bent down and kissed her passionately.

  As he pulled up, he looked lovingly into her eyes. “I’ll catch up with you later. If you go out today, be careful driving.”

  She laid there all huddled with her arms wrapped around her knees as she heard him leave the cabin, then get into the cruiser and start it up. His lights came on and he backed out of her driveway and sped down the side road.

  Sami became frantic with worry when she realized she’d gotten distracted and hadn’t told Makeeta about the baby. She should have told him at dinner, or at least when they arrived at the cabin. But she felt so thrilled being with him—she didn’t feel angry or hostile at him anymore—and she hadn’t wanted to spoil the mood. Now, as a result, she didn’t know if she would get the chance to talk to him about this before she took the stand to give her testimony.

  She stayed home all day Wednesday, hoping Makeeta would call her. She didn’t want to call him knowing he was really busy. Finally about six that evening, she called his cellphone, and it went to voice mail. “Makeeta, this is Sami. I need to talk to you before we go to the courthouse tomorrow. When you get a second, could you call me?” She closed the clip on her phone.

  * * * *

  Shadow Dancer was offering his prayers through his peace pipe when he caught a vision that disturbed him. His vision told him that Makeeta and Sami had reunited briefly last night but would be pulled apart again because of a secret. A secret that couldn’t be revealed to him.

  Shadow Dancer became concerned. “Will they be able to overcome this?”

  “Only if they can totally forgive each other,” The Great Spirit said to him.

  “What should I do?” Shadow Dancer asked.

  “Talk to Makeeta and Sami about forgiveness.”

  Shadow Dancer called the sheriff’s office to talk to Makeeta but was told that he wasn’t available at the moment. He left a message with Makeeta’s secretary to have Makeeta call him back.

  Later that morning, Makeeta called his grandfather. “Granddad, you left me a message to call you?”

  “Yes, I need to talk to you. Are you available for me to come to your office for a few minutes?”

  “Ah. . .sure, I don’t know how much time I’ll have since I’ve got a fire investigation going on, but if you make it within the hour, I should be able to meet with you a few minutes.”

  “I’m leaving now. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  About forty-five minutes later Shadow Dancer arrived at the sheriff’s office and was led to Makeeta’s office.

  Makeeta closed the door and walked around to his desk. “What’s this about, Granddad?”

  “I offered my prayers through the peace pipe this morning and I had a disturbing vision.”

  “What was the vision?”

  “It was about you and Sami. Something is going to happen that’s going to require both of you to forgive each other. I don’t know what it is, but you need to work at earning Sami’s forgiveness. Without true and complete forgiveness, your relationship with her will never work.”

  “She’s starting to come around, I think,” Makeeta said.

  “Something is going to happen that will test the both of you, and it may pull you two apart. The Great Spirit told me that unless you forgive each other, you won’t be able to overcome this.”

  “I wonder what it could be?” Makeeta asked.

  “I don’t know, but it’s serious.

  * * * *

  Makeeta was on the phone talking with the fire chief when Dani came into his office. She laid her coat on a chair and opened her briefcase, pulling out some arrest warrants that had been signed and were ready to be executed. Makeeta ended the call and hung up the phone, giving Dani a slight smile.

  “Quite busy today, huh?” he asked.

  “Yes, I figured I’d get these things out of the way while I had a free day from court. How are things going here?”

  Makeeta shrugged. “Okay, I guess.”

  He watched her as she tapped her nails on his desk. He knew when she wanted something.

  “Would you like to do dinner and a tangle in the sheets tonight?” she asked.

  Makeeta stared up at her and then slowly shook his head. Dani looked surprised by the response.

  “Who is she? Is she someone who wants to settle down and have children?” She glanced out the window at the courthouse. She had her sights on bigger things.

  Makeeta ignored her question, and asked, “Did you make up your mind about running for State Attorney General?”

  Dani drew her attention back to Makeeta and smiled. “Yes, I think this case we’re doing now will give me the edge I need to run for Attorney General. Will I have your vote?”

  “I’ll decide who to vote for as the election gets closer.” Makeeta watched as she gathered her stuff.

  “Okay, see you in court tomorrow,” she said, and she walked out the door.

  Makeeta felt a deep connection with Sami. He knew she was indeed his soul mate, and she gave of herself as well. He felt they were on the way to healing their relationship and starting over. With Sami as his soul mate, he would not attempt, or be tempted, to go to bed with any other woman. He was concerned, however, that she said she needed to talk to him, and with Granddad’s vision and warning... He hoped they didn’t end things before they even started.

  * * * *

  About nine-thirty that night, Sami’s cellphone rang.

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “Hi, Sami. Sorry I couldn’t get back with you sooner, it’s been very hectic.” Makeeta spoke quietly, as he always did.

  “How bad was the fire?” she asked.

  “It destroyed four houses. Unfortunately, two people died, and now we’re shifting through the evidence, trying to determine if the fire was deliberately set or if it was due to faulty wiring or something else.”

  “Do you think it was deliberately set?” Sami asked.

  “Don’t know just yet. We can’t rule it out though. Anyway, you sounded kind of concerned in the message you left on my cellphone. What’s up?”

  “Oh, I...I, um, need to talk to you, but in person. I have something to tell you that’s pretty important. I’d like to talk to you before court tomorrow,” she answered kind of sadly.

  “Well, I don’t know if I can get to you before court tomorrow. I’ll try, but I’m still working and will be working into the night, and I have a meeting tomorrow morning at eight and I probably won’t get to court until it’s being called to order. I’m sorry, Sami, but it’s my job and I have to do it at the expense of everything personal.”

  “I understand, Makeeta.” She let out a sigh.

  Chapter 13

  Thursday morning the temperatures got up near the thirty degree mark, and it became a bright and sunny day. Sami’s heart weighed very heavy when she got into the rental car. They had plowed her road last night, so she could now get out of her driveway and over to the main road. She got to the courthouse early, hoping that maybe Makeeta would be able to break a little earlier and meet with her. Makeeta came in at eight forty-five. She dreaded what she had to do.

  “I really need to talk to you before I get up and testify,” she told him. “Can we go someplace more private for a second?”

  “Okay. Let’s go out outside.” They left the courtroom and walked to one side of the hall. “What’s up, Sami?” Makeeta asked.

  “This isn’t easy for me to tell you, but the district attorney told me that I should tell you what I’m going to be saying on the witness stand.” Sami swallowed.

  “Okay.” Makeeta raised an eyebrow as he waited for her to continue.

  Unable to meet his gaze, Sami looked down at the floor. “Um, no one knows about this, except the district attorney, and she
only found out the other day. Before the bombing incident, I got pregnant with your baby. I lost the baby due to the explosion.” She slowly peeked up at him.

  It took a few minutes for him register what she’d just told him. His face went from concern, to confusion, and then to anger. “You were what?” he almost shouted at her. “How could you keep that information from me?”

  She could tell that he had a hard time keeping his cool. His hands went into fists and then he released them. The hardness returned to his face.

  “Look, I can talk to you more about this later, right now I have to go in and testify, but I didn’t want you to hear it from me while I was on the stand and at the same time everyone else hears about it. I have to go in now, Makeeta,” Sami said quietly and walked away.

  At nine, the bailiff called for order, and the judge came in. Sami looked around her and did not see Makeeta.

  “Counselor, are you ready to call your next witness?” Judge Harding asked.

  “Yes, Your Honor, I would like to call Sami Parker to the stand.”

  Sami felt weak and fearful as she stood up and made her way to the witness box. After she was sworn in, she sat down in the box.

  “Please state your full name and occupation for the record,” Dani said.

  “My name is Samantha Parker, and I’m a mystery writer.”

  “You write murder mysteries, is that correct?” Dani asked.

  “Yes, that is correct.” Sami took a moment to look at the back of the courthouse just as Makeeta arrived and seated himself in the last pew by the door. She also noticed that her friend and lawyer, Gail Sample, had showed up for moral support. Mr. and Mrs. Shields were sitting behind the district attorney. Cathy sat beside her parents, staring at Sami in anger.

  “So, Sami, let us start by going back a few years to your childhood. Tell me about your childhood.”

  “Objection,” the defense attorney declared and stood up. “What does her childhood have to do with any of this?”

  “Shows the character, Your Honor.”

  “Overruled,” the judge said. “You may answer the question.”

  “I grew up here in Milne City. I had an unhappy childhood. I lived with my grandmother, who became a bitter woman. Her husband left her when she was pregnant with my mom, and then my mom left me with her, and she didn’t send any child support or visit me or anything. She pretty much abandoned me, and my grandmother was upset about that. I don’t know who my father is,” Sami replied, her voice low and halting.

  “What happened when you were thirteen years old, Sami?” Dani asked.

  “My grandmother died, and I became a ward of the state and was placed in various foster homes. I started being promiscuous and sleeping around with boys to earn extra money.”

  “How long were you like that?” Dani prodded.

  “Until I was about seventeen years old. The state placed me in a foster home with an older woman named Stephanie Powers. She took an instant liking to me and helped me to see the importance of graduating and working at a good job. She worked at the hospital as a billing representative. She taught me all the billing codes and showed me how to do billings. After I graduated from high school, the hospital hired me as a billing representative.”

  “What happened to Stephanie Powers?” Dani asked.

  “She died of cancer. The last six months of her life I spent all my time taking care of her in between working at the hospital.”

  “What did you do after she died?” Dani leaned against the railing, looking at each of the jurors.

  “I decided that I love to write, so I put myself through college. I took up journalism and writing, I won several awards and then submitted my manuscript to a publishing company and they liked it.”

  “When did you meet Sheriff Robertson?”

  “I met him in November 2007.”

  “Did you have an affair with him?” Dani asked, looking at Sami.

  “Yes, we had a six month affair that ended in May 2008.”

  “Who broke off the affair and for what reason?” Dani pushed wave after wave of questions to Sami.

  “He broke off the affair, saying he had decided that he would honor his parents’ wishes and marry Carol Shields.”

  “That must have hurt, didn’t it?” Dani asked.

  “Yes, it hurt a lot. I really...um, cared for him.”

  “Do you think that he cared for you?” Dani asked.

  “No,” Sami replied rapidly.

  “Okay, Sami, take us through the day of July 11th, 2008. Start at the beginning of your day.” Dani made eye contact with Sami and smiled briefly.

  “I got up and went to work, my hours were nine to five. At twelve-thirty, I went out to get some lunch.”

  “Where did you go?” Dani asked.

  “I went to Milne Diner, which is across the street from Glacier Pharmacy.”

  Dani nodded for Sami to go on.

  “After I ate, I decided that I would run into the pharmacy to see if the new books were out on the shelf yet. When I got there Carol Shields was standing at the end of the aisle looking at magazines. I started to look through the books that were next to the magazines, and I saw two men walk by.”

  “Did you say anything to Carol Shields?” Dani asked.

  “No, we’d never spoken to each other, I only knew of her.”

  “About what time did this occur?” Dani asked.

  “Um, about one in the afternoon,” Sami replied.

  “Okay, go on,” Dani encouraged.

  “One of the men had on jeans and a hooded sweat jacket with the hood pulled over his head so I couldn’t see his face. The other was the defendant.”

  “Did you know the defendant?”

  “No,” Sami answered.

  “Did you notice if Carol saw and recognized the defendant?”

  “I don’t think she saw him, no.”

  “Go on,” Dani urged.

  “The pharmacy didn’t have the book I wanted, so I started looking at other books. I was reading the back cover of one of them, and the next thing I remembered, I came to lying on the floor. I looked around me and I saw dust and debris flying and smoke, I smelled smoke and saw flames off to the side of me. I became confused in the darkness about what happened. My back hurt really bad, and I felt liquid. I put my hand to my nose and smelled blood, and I knew I was bleeding. I managed to get to my knees and crawl a few inches, my hands groping for anything I could get a hold of. I called out for help to anyone who could hear me. I felt like I was moving in a fog, and I couldn’t hear anything. I saw a hand, and so I tried to move over to the direction of the hand, only to look up in time to see a beam on fire, coming down on me. That is all I know until I woke up in the hospital.”

  “Did you see either of these two gentlemen leave?”

  “No.”

  “Did you see them hanging around where you were at?”

  “No.”

  “Is the gentlemen that you identified in a photo lineup in my office last August, and in a subsequent police lineup, in this courtroom today?”

  “Yes. The defendant,” Sami replied.

  “What were your injuries?” Dani asked.

  “I had numerous broken ribs, my back was covered with shrapnel, glass, and nails, and some penetrated through to my spleen and liver. I had a broken hip, a concussion, and third-degree burns on my legs from when the beam came across it. I lost a lot of blood, and...I lost the baby.” Sami’s voice became almost a whisper.

  “You were pregnant?” Dani asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Who was the father?” Dani continued on.

  “Sheriff Makeeta Robertson.”

  “Was he aware of the pregnancy?”

  “No, I never intended to tell him that I got pregnant. When I found out we had already broken up and he was engaged. I made plans to leave town and move to California. I had an apartment ready for me to move into and I had just signed a contract for a book I had written. I put Stephanie’s house up for sale
. I planned to raise the child by myself.” Sami looked at Makeeta as she talked. She couldn’t read his face, it looked like it turned to stone.

  “What do you remember when you woke up at the hospital?” Dani prodded on.

  “Makeeta stood next to the bed, and he wanted to ask me some questions. I didn’t know how to answer him because I couldn’t remember what happened. He said that he’d come back in a few days and see how I was doing.”

  “Did he come back?” Dani asked.

  “Yes, he came back a few days later, and I was still in a fog, but I remembered bits and pieces. After three weeks in the hospital, I began to remember what happened and I told him what I just told you and the jurors.”

  “Did you know that Carol died immediately from the bombing?” Dani asked.

  “No, I didn’t know that.”

  “How did the sheriff react when you told him what happened? Did he believe you?”

  Sami looked at the back of the courtroom where Makeeta sat. “I don’t think he believed me, or at least, he seemed very skeptical about it.”

  “Why was that?” Dani asked.

  “Objection, she wouldn’t know what the sheriff thought.”

  “I’ll rephrase. What did the sheriff say to you?” Dani asked.

  “After I told him what I remembered, he asked me if I had anything to hide, or had anything to do with the bombing, or had any knowledge of it. I replied no, I wouldn’t do such a thing, why would I ever do something like that? He told me that if I had done it, I had just effectively removed the competition. I didn’t know what he meant. He said then that if I had anything to do with the bombing, I’d be facing murder charges as Carol died in that explosion.”

  “What happened then?”

  “I was in shock. I didn’t know she had died. Makeeta said that he would probably be in touch with me later and asked if I had any plans to leave town. I told him that my plans to move got canceled. He replied ‘good’ and he left.”

  “What happened in your next encounter with the sheriff?” Dani asked, leaning against the prosecutor’s table.

  “As I was getting ready to be released from the hospital, Makeeta walked up to me with another deputy and wanted to take me to the station for questioning. They took me to the station, and a crowd of people was standing outside the sheriff’s department shouting at me and calling me a murderer, and reporters were getting into my face as I was led into the station. I sat there for about two hours before Makeeta and the other deputy came to talk to me.” Sami stopped to take a breath and to see what Dani wanted to know next.