Page 5 of Love Set Me Free

Since this was an appeal, there was a panel of judges. They walked in, and Paisley paid her respects along with everyone else and stood, but her eyes remained on the back of Kydrick’s head. He stood just in front of her since Steve moved over to make room for him. He was so close she could reach out and grasp his shoulder-length locs that looked in dire need of a re-twist. She recalled how he told her that there were men on the inside who knew how to do hair for commissary trades.

While she got her fill of him, she missed all the opening words and rules and regulations they were to follow in order to present the appeal. She knew she should pay attention. She knew she needed to take notes, but Kydrick had her in a trance, as he often did.

She almost missed the sound of the courtroom doors opening with a loud thud, but there was no way she could have missed the shrill voice at the back of the room.

“Thomas Jensen! Thomas! What did I tell you? I told you that would be your last time putting your hands on me!”

Paisley turned with her arched brows pulled together, and her eyes almost popped out of their sockets when she saw Annie Taylor swaying from side to side with a bottle in her hand. Time had beat her ass, and it looked as though someone else had too. She had gained a lot of weight. Gone was the petite girl with silky hair and bright blue eyes. In her place was an overweight woman with stringy hair and a bruise covering her cheek. Tears and snot dripped down her face, and her eyes were bloodshot.

An officer stepped forward to restrain her, but it happened so fast. One second there was no gun, and the next, there was. It was as if it came out of nowhere.

There were gasps as people ducked behind the wooden benches lining the room. A strong hand wrapped around Paisley’s stomach before she was pulled behind Kydrick. He blocked her from the scene before them with his massive body.Tugging at his waist, she pulled them both down so they crouched, but Kydrick still covered her as they watched the scene unfold, their hearts racing. Paisley just knew Annie was there to finish Kydrick off. She had already done so much to mess his life up. Why not go ahead and end it now?

“Stay back!” Annie cried, pointing the gun at the officers. “I came here to say something, damn it! And I’ll be heard!”

The officers held their hands up in mock surrender, leaving the room at Annie’s mercy. Paisley’s heart dropped as tears fell down her face. Kydrick noticed her tears, and while keeping an eye on Annie, he pulled Paisley against him, allowing her head to bury into his shoulder.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he whispered.

Such simple words, but they gave Paisley an immense amount of courage. It had been a long time since she’d been able to feel his warmth, and if she had to die that day, then this was how she wanted to do it—in Kydrick’s arms once again. At last.

Her eyes popped open from the ominous thoughts at another shriek. The gun in Annie’s hands now pointed toward Thomas and his family.

“For twelve years… twelve damn years of my life and five fucking kids later, you have tormented me, Thomas Jensen. You have beat me, humiliated me,rapedme, and you’ve scared me away from talking.

“I’m not even the only one you’ve treated this way. I’m just the only one who was lucky enough to marry you.” She scoffed, using her arm to wipe the snot from under her nose as she wobbled on her chubby legs. “I came here to set the record straight. Thomas Jensen is the one that raped me twelve years ago. He is the one who beat me. It was the first time it happened but definitely not the last. Kydrick Sutherland is innocent. Kydrick… He tried to help me, and instead of being brave andtaking that help, I allowed Thomas to threaten me into going along with his story that painted him as a hero.”

“Oh my God,” Paisley whispered, her hand flying to her mouth. She felt Kydrick shaking next to her, but she didn’t dare take her eyes off Annie, who suddenly had her eyes on them.

“Kydrick, I’m sorry.” She turned to the judges. “If you need proof of my statement, check my phone. I left it unlocked in my car. There are messages from Thomas just hours ago, reminding me to stay home and shut up about what really happened. There’s more than enough proof if you go back far enough. Trust me. His father helped him bury the truth, using Kydrick as a scapegoat.” She turned to Thomas again. “I’ve dreamed of killing you for a very long time, Thomas, but that would be too good for you. Your punishment will be spending the rest of your life in prison.”

Annie lifted the gun so the barrel sat right under her chin. Paisley gasped, and Kydrick pushed her head into his chest to protect her from what was about to happen, but no gunshot rang out. By the time Paisley pulled away from his chest to see what was going on, Annie had been tackled to the floor.

“Gun jammed,” Kydrick said. His voice came out in a breathless spurt as he kept his eyes on the officers handcuffing a wailing Annie.

“Order! Order!” one of the judges shouted, but Paisley knew it wouldn’t be that easy to bring order to this courtroom. Not after what just happened. Not after the truth had finally been told by someone other than herself and Kydrick.

Sleep was for people who had time to waste. That was not Paisley. In fact, she hadn’t had a second of time to waste for the past twelve years. After the fiasco in the courtroom, the judges immediately moved to exonerate Kydrick, but further investigation had to take place first.

It only took a couple of hours for Thomas to crack under his simmering rage. When that happened, the police officers who were interrogating him were surprised to find the calm white man who had worked with them so well over the past several years was capable of harming them. If Thomas had been a Black man, he would have been handcuffed and maybe even beaten. But in that room, Thomas was able to freely jump over the table, past the half eaten burgers and fries, and choke one of the officers damn near unconscious while breaking the other officer’s hand for trying to interfere. The switch happened too quickly, and it took a full minute to restrain Thomas.

What made him snap? Pressure. All that built up pressure from twelve years, probably longer, of lying and forcing people to lie for him. The facade had finally slipped, and after going through both Annie and Thomas’s phones, it didn’t take long for the courts to rule Kydrick a free man.

That all took place over the course of a couple of days, and Paisley hadn’t slept a wink the entire time. If she wasn’t holed up in her office working with Steven to expedite things, she was home, cleaning and making sure she had everything ready for what was destined to happen at this point. Even in the few moments of quiet she experienced, nerves, anxiety, and excitement twisted knots in her stomach, not allowing for space to sleep.

Kydrick is coming home. The thought swirled around her mind, grounding her and causing her to spin out of control all at the same time. She wouldn’t allow it to fill her with relief just yet, though. Not until she saw him walk through the doors of the prison, which would be any minute.

The vibrating of her phone startled her, causing her to stop pacing in front of her light blue BMW truck. She fished her phone out of the pocket of her gray sweats and noticed it was her sister calling, who was probably at her parents’ house and surrounded by the rest of her family. With a loud sigh, she swiped her thumb across the screen and answered.

“Yes, Tiana?”

“Are you guys home yet?” she asked, excitement oozing through the phone.

“I told you I would let you know when we’re home. I really need you guys to stop calling me. It’s making me anxious.”

Paisley squinted her eyes up at the sun as she tilted her head back, enjoying the oddly nice weather on this autumn day. Normally, it was at least twenty degrees cooler at this time of year, but God definitely knew Kydrick deserved to come homeon the perfect day. That made her smile, but it faded when Paisley heard Nasir grumbling in the background.

“I told you to leave her alone.”

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