Delayed Justice

by Constance Bretes

  * * * *

  “Your next witness, Mr. Yates.”

  “I’d like to call Deborah Wilkes to the stand please.”

  Deborah Wilkes was sworn in and sat in the witness chair.

  “Please state your name and your relationship to the defendant,” Mr. Yates said.

  “My name is Deborah Wilkes, and I’m Tom Wilkes’s cousin.”

  “Did you grow up with the defendant?”

  “Yes, I’ve known him all my life. We lived several houses apart and were always together.”

  “How would you describe Tom Wilkes as a child?” Mr. Yates asked.

  “Tom has always been very sensitive and quiet. He was always kind and never hurt anything or anyone.”

  “What do you know about Tom’s relationship with Carol Shields?”

  “Well, Tom loved Carol very much. He couldn’t believe that he could have such a wonderful relationship with such a great girl. He was excited and happy when he found out she was pregnant, thinking they were going to get married and raise a family. He did mention that Carol became unhappy about the pregnancy, but he confided to me that he thought she’d come around. He was devastated when she was killed in the bombing at Glacier Pharmacy.”

  “Did he admit to any involvement with this bombing?” Mr. Yates continued.

  “No, he did not.”

  “Do you think he’s capable of a crime like this?”

  “No, not at all, not the Tom I know. He’s a gentle soul and wouldn’t hurt even a fly.”

  “Did he mention anything about Carol wanting to get an abortion?”

  “No, he didn’t tell me anything about that,” Deborah replied.

  “No more questions for this witness, Your Honor.” Mr. Yates sat down.

  * * * *

  “Counselor, do you wish to cross-examine?”

  “Yes, Your Honor. When did you find out that Carol Shields was pregnant?” Dani asked.

  “Um, sometime in June 2008.”

  “And after the defendant told you she was pregnant with his child, when did you see him next?”

  “Oh, about two weeks after the bombing.”

  “So you really don’t know what the situation between the defendant and Carol Shields became before the bombing, do you?” Dani asked.

  “I, um, guess not,” Deborah stated.

  “I have no further questions for this witness, Your Honor.” Dani sat down.

  * * * *

  “Your next witness, Mr. Yates?” the judge said.

  “I’d like to call Gloria Wilkes to the stand.” After Gloria was sworn in and sat down in the witness chair, Mr. Yates said, “Please tell the jury your name and your relationship with the defendant.”

  “My name is Gloria Wilkes. I’m Tom Wilkes’s mother.”

  “Mrs. Wilkes, tell us what your relationship with Tom Wilkes is like.”

  “Oh, he’s a fine son. He’s always looking after me and taking care of things around the house and taking me to places when I need to go to town and so on.” Gloria showed pride in her son as she spoke.

  “Did you know about the relationship between Tom and Carol, and her pregnancy?”

  “Yes, I did. We were very excited for Tom. We felt that he’d found a good girl, one he could love and who would love him back, and of course, I love all my grandchildren, even the ones that were on the way.”

  “Did Tom say anything to you about the fact that Carol decided to terminate the pregnancy?”

  “Yes, he did mention that, he said he tried to talk her out of it.”

  “Okay, now take us back to the day of the bombing—July 11th, 2008—did you see Tom that day?”

  “Yes, I saw him that morning and later in the afternoon after the bombing occurred. That morning he seemed to be in a cheerful mood. He said that he and Carol had patched things up and were going to get married and have the baby. I was so happy and excited for him.”

  “Did he give any indication that he planned to do anything sinister or harm anyone?”

  “No, he did not. He seemed very happy.”

  “What was his behavior like after the bombing incident?”

  “Well, of course, he was devastated and heartbroken. He told me he felt like his whole life had been ripped apart.”

  After listening to the melodramatic story, Dani got impatient and spoke up. “Your Honor, I fail to see the relevance of this witness.”

  “It goes to character, Your Honor. The defendant’s state of mind.”

  “Overruled. But move it along, counselor,” Judge Harding said.

  Mr. Yates continued. “Did Tom indicate to you that he had any involvement with the bombing?”

  “Oh no. My Tommy wouldn’t do such a thing. He was such a gentle child and is an equally gentle young man.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Wilkes.” Mr. Yates went and sat down.

  * * * *

  “Do you wish to cross-examine, Ms. Spencer?”

  “Yes, Your Honor. You say that Tom Wilkes was a gentle child and is now an equally gentle man. Is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yet, when he was a child, he liked to torture animals, and he had to get psychiatric treatment, didn’t he?”

  Mrs. Wilkes looked over at Mr. Yates nervously then quickly drew her eyes back to the district attorney. “Um, yes, he had to have some counseling.”

  “He had a history of tormenting children in school and got expelled several times, didn’t he?” the district attorney asked.

  “He went through a rough spell for a while, but I caught it early enough to get him the help he needed.”

  “Is that so?”

  Mrs. Wilkes looked back and forth between the defense and the district attorney.

  “How did his psychiatrist handle the situation?”

  “They put him on medication.”

  “So, while he took his medication, he functioned normally and behaved normally, is that what you’re saying?”

  “Yes.”

  “What was his diagnosis?” Dani asked.

  “Um, he was diagnosed as a psychopath,” Mrs. Wilkes answered nervously.

  “But when he turned eighteen, he stopped taking his medication, didn’t he? And he hasn’t taken any medication since?”

  “Yes, he did stop taking his medication, and as far as I know he hasn’t taken any other medication.”

  “Okay, now, I want you to think really hard about this—you said that Tom Wilkes seemed devastated when the bomb went off and killed Carol Shields, is that correct?”

  “Yes,” Gloria responded nervously.

  “How do you know that he seemed devastated? Did he come home and tell you or telephone you?”

  “He came home the day of the bombing and told me.”

  “Exactly what time did he come to your home and tell you?”

  “At one-thirty in the afternoon.”

  “Are you sure of the time?” Dani asked, her eyebrows raised.

  “Yes, I’m sure.”

  “How can you be so sure of this?”

  “Well, he came home just as my favorite television show was coming on.”

  “How did he know that a bomb had gone off and Carol had been killed?”

  “Um, I don’t know how he knew.”

  “Interesting, Mrs. Wilkes, because the bomb didn’t go off until one-fifteen that afternoon. I have no further questions, Your Honor.”

  * * * *

  After Dani finished with the cross-examination, the defense rested its case, and Dani then gave her closing argument to the jury. “Ladies and gentlemen, you have heard from a witness that the defendant was at the crime scene just before the bomb went off. You have also heard from experts that the victim, Carol Shields, was pregnant with the defendant’s child—an unwanted pregnancy, which she planned to terminate. The defendant did not want her to do that, and he wanted her for himself. He decided if he couldn’t have her, then no one would have her, and he set about making a pipe bomb. We’ve proven to you that he had acces
s to the materials used to make the bomb. Once he made it, he followed Carol around until he found an opportunity to detonate it. We’ve proven beyond reasonable doubt that this defendant had motive and opportunity. You must then declare this defendant guilty as charged and send him to a long prison sentence. Thank you.”

  “Mr. Yates, do you wish to make a closing argument?”

  “Yes.” He stood up and walked to the jury box. “The district attorney would have you believe that this is a pretty cut-and-dried case. My client is guilty, end of story. However, in my opening statement, I indicated that if there is reasonable doubt, then you must not convict. Reasonable doubt...Dr. Bellamy put in the reasonable doubt. He said that they give their patients a week to think about the abortion before they do it. Carol had not made an appointment with them even after two weeks. We can conclude this meant she did not plan to terminate the pregnancy as the district attorney suspects. We also have the issue with the fingerprint—Sami Parker’s fingerprints were found near the body. The ‘evidence’ they claimed they found at Tom Wilkes’s mother’s house is strictly circumstantial, there were no fingerprints on any of the items that were found. The district attorney has not proven their case beyond reasonable doubt, therefore you must not convict. To do so would be a travesty of justice.” Mr. Yates sat down.

  The judge issued his orders to the jury and sent them out to deliberate.

  Sami swiftly left the courtroom once it was recessed. She drove home in despair, feeling hurt, angry, and brokenhearted again. Just like her grandmother, just like her mother, both jilted by men and left alone. She thought she’d done better than her mother and grandmother. She’d made a life for herself. After all, she was an author and had four best selling books under her belt. But she still felt like a failure.

  She began looking on the internet for some places where she might like to live. One neat thing about being a writer was that once your royalties started coming in and you were making money, you could live just about anywhere you wanted. She knew she was running away, but she just couldn’t stand the pain of being around there.

  * * * *

  Later in the day on Friday, Sami received a call from the district attorney’s office. The jury had reached a verdict and would be reconvening at four o’clock that afternoon. She left home and went to town to hear the verdict. The bailiff brought the court to order, and the jurors piled in, and the judge then came in and was seated. “I understand that the jury has reached a verdict.”

  The jury foreman replied, “Yes, Your Honor.”

  She handed the paper to the bailiff who gave it to the judge. After the judge read the verdict, he handed it back to the bailiff and the bailiff handed it back to the jury foreman.

  “What say you?” the judge asked.

  “We find the defendant, Thomas Wilkes, guilty of attempted deliberate homicide, a felony, as noted in Montana Code 45-5-102.”

  Chapter 15

  Shadow Dancer performed another ritual and smoked the peace pipe. The Great Spirit had advised Shadow Dancer that the day would end in tragedy if Makeeta didn’t get to Sami in time to avert it.

  Shadow Dancer called Makeeta at his son’s home. “Hello, Granddad,” Makeeta answered.

  “Makeeta, I don’t have time for small talk. I need you to get back to Milne City right away. I’ve been warned that Sami’s life is in danger and if you don’t hurry to get there, it could turn into a tragedy of epic proportions.”

  Makeeta hesitated for a few seconds. “Okay, Granddad, I’m leaving now. Thank you for the warning.”

  * * * *

  During the commotion that followed the reading of the verdict, Sami left the courtroom and walked into the hall. She glanced around, looking for Makeeta, but didn’t see him. As she exited the building and walked to her rental car, she looked for the sheriff cruiser, but it wasn’t there.

  Sami drove home and went to her computer and answered a bunch of emails, then did some work on her new novel. As she was adding what she had witnessed and experienced inside the courtroom with the guilty verdict, a knock sounded at her door. She hadn’t even heard a vehicle pull up. Glancing out the window, she saw a sheriff cruiser parked in her driveway, but it looked different from the one Makeeta always drove.

  She answered the door and there stood a man in a deputy sheriff uniform. He had blond hair and gray eyes and looked to be in his mid-thirties. The name badge on his shirt read Deputy Carl Sargeni.

  “Can I help you?” Sami asked.

  “Yes, you can, we have a hostage situation in town. Tom Wilkes is holding three people hostage. He says he’ll release them if he has you. I would like you to come to town and work out a deal with him to release the hostages,” he told her tersely.

  “Where is Makeeta? I would want to talk to him first.”

  “Well, you’re not gonna be able to talk to him. He’s out of town for the weekend.”

  “Oh.” Sami stiffened from the chill that went down her spine.

  “We need to act quickly before any more tragedies happen.”

  “Has something happened to one of the hostages?”

  “We heard gunfire and believe that one of the hostages is either dead or injured. Get your coat, we are headed to town,” he commanded harshly.

  Sami grabbed her coat and her purse and walked out to the cruiser with the deputy. Something didn’t feel right, but she didn’t know what else to do with Makeeta being out of town. She somehow doubted Makeeta would have contacted her over a hostage negotiation, and if he did, he would have explained everything to her, even if he did despise her. She pulled out her cellphone and listened to the message that he left her the day they’d argued. She knew that he’d called but she didn’t answer the call or listen to his message until now. She called his number, but it went immediately to voice mail.

  She remembered that this particular deputy was running against Makeeta for sheriff and Makeeta didn’t think much of him.

  She asked the deputy, “Is this right, taking me to town to handle a hostage situation? I thought there were trained law enforcement officers who negotiated hostage releases.”

  Deputy Sargeni replied, “Let me make myself clear to you—I think you’re guilty as sin in the bombing that took place five years ago. I think you got off when you shouldn’t have. If I had been sheriff at the time, I would not have released you. I think it’s only fitting that since the two of you were in this together, you should be replacing those hostages, and what you do to each other is up to you.”

  Sami sat in the back seat shocked beyond belief. Her jaw dropped, and her blood went cold. She rode the rest of the trip in silence and in terror.

  They pulled up in front of a Victorian style house, white, with large picture windows. Judging by the other vehicles and deputies at the scene, Sami assumed this was the place the hostages were being held. Sami wondered how Wilkes got loose and managed to get the hostages.

  They got out of the cruiser, and Deputy Sargeni grabbed Sami by the arm. “Here she is,” he snarled. “We’re going to try to get him to take her and let go the others.”

  “Carl, this is not the way to handle this, and it’s not right,” one of the deputies countered. “We don’t swap or trade hostages.”

  “I’m in charge here, and we’ll do it my way. The town will be better for it,” he hollered menacingly. Deputy Sargeni shoved Sami up the sidewalk of the house, sometimes practically dragging her as they headed toward the front door.

  * * * *

  Makeeta’s phone beeped when he got into the area where there was a cell tower. He had several messages, and one of them almost made his heart stop. One of his deputies had called to tell him that Tom Wilkes had taken Carol Shields’s parents and sister hostage, and Deputy Sargeni went and got Sami and dragged her back to town with the intention of trading her for the hostages. Makeeta swore and cursed the man as he slammed on the gas pedal and hightailed it to Milne City.

  He called his deputy for an update and was informed that Sami was
being forced to walk up the sidewalk, about to go into the house.

  “Dear God, don’t let him kill her.” Makeeta asked the deputy, “How the hell did Wilkes get loose?”

  “Sargeni and Kent were taking Wilkes to his cell and suddenly he spun on Sargeni and managed to get his gun. Wilkes fired a shot at Kent and grabbed his gun before he got out the door and before they could react.”

  All Makeeta could think was that Sami would pay the ultimate price if he didn’t get there in time to save her. God, I love her so, please don’t take her from me. “Get the hostage negotiator there and get started on trying to bring this to an end.”

  “Yes, sir,” the deputy said.

  * * * *

  Sami knocked on the door, and Tom Wilkes opened it with one gun pointed at her and the other pointed at Mr. and Mrs. Shields and Cathy Shields. Cathy appeared to have a wound—blood spilled all over her clothing from her shoulder. Sami held her hands up, showing Tom that she didn’t have any weapons. She heard the police talking into the bullhorn. “Tom, you have Sami Parker now, as part of the deal, it is your turn to release the other prisoners.”

  Tom looked Sami over and sneered at her, “So you’re finally at my beck and call. You thought you did so good to try to lay that bombing incident on me, and you damn near succeeded. I’ll be damn if I’m gonna rot in jail while you walk around free.” His teeth were clenched.

  “But I didn’t commit any crime, Tom,” Sami replied quietly, looking over at Mr. and Mrs. Shields and then at Cathy.

  “So what? You told the whole world you saw me there, and that caused the jury to believe that I planted the bomb.” He growled, teeth still clenched.

  “I’m here now, so let these hostages go. She needs medical attention,” Sami said gently as she nodded toward Cathy.

  “You stay right where you are. If they decide to fire at the house, you will be the one they hit,” Tom threatened.

  “Okay, but let the hostages go, okay?” She motioned to the parents with her hands to exit out the back door. They took her hint, and helped their daughter to leave.

  “Tom, why would you want to take hostages? You know they won’t let you get away with it,” Sami said quietly.