Page 40 of Declan
“Yes, but it’s Yates now.”
“Yep, on my shit list,” she said, making Declan laugh.
As they waited for their meals, they talked about their day. He noticed Elise seemed nervous about something.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked.
“Will you tell me about you and Stephen?” Elise took a sip of her wine.
“Did you ever ask him?”
“I asked him what his problem was with you, and he said he didn’t have one.”
Declan picked up his drink and looked at her.
“Did he tell you how his wife died?”
“Yes. He said she died in a car accident.”
“That was all he said?”
“Yes, why?”
“She was killed by a drunk driver.”
Elise gasped. “That’s horrible. I hate it when people drink and drive.”
“Oh, it gets better. Johnston was driving the car. He was the drunk driver.”
“What?”
Declan nodded. “One night him and his wife, Dawn, were here, having dinner and he drank more than he ate.” He shrugged. “When they left, they had a big argument in the parking lot. According to witnesses, she wanted the keys, and he told her no. She told him she wouldn’t get in the car with him and started to walk back to the restaurant. I suppose she wanted to call someone to pick her up, then he ran after her, and practically dragged her to the car. When they left, he was speeding out of the lot.”
“Oh, my God. Then what?”
“The only thing I know after that is what he told the officer on the scene. He said as they drove home, someone crossed the center line, and he jerked the wheel and went over an embankment. She was killed instantly while he walked away without a scratch.”
“Drunk drivers are a menace. A risk to all of us. Couldn’t the officer smell the alcohol on his breath if he was drinking?”
“He said he didn’t smell any alcohol.”
“Maybe he wasn’t drunk.”
“Oh, he was. When another officer arrived, he made him take a breathalyzer test, which he failed. He was arrested for drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter. He should have gotten thefull sentence, which is up to thirty years in prison and a fifty thousand dollar fine.”
“Why didn’t he get the full sentence?”
Declan looked across the table at her, then sighed.
“The judge gave him a two-year probation period, since it was Johnston’s first DUI and he had references from several people in town about how he was such an upstanding citizen. I wish I could have spoken about him. I couldn’t believe that he only got two damn years of probation. I’m just waiting for him to fuck up again, and he will. I can almost guarantee it.” Declan sighed. “In my opinion, he got away with murder. If I ever catch him drinking and driving, I will do everything in my power to put him away for good. You should steer clear of him.”
The bar’s low, amber light pooled around their table as Elise set down her glass, the faint clink echoing between them. She frowned. “I won’t be seeing him socially again. The second night we went out, he couldn’t stop talking about you. So, the judge makes the decision in these cases?”
Declan leaned back; one elbow propped on the table. His whiskey, pale gold, caught the light as he lifted it to his lips. “Judges decide whether to tack on probation or just send you to jail outright. They look at everything; how drunk you were, how careless you drove, and any past DUI strikes. In Montana you can get sent to a treatment program instead of, or on top of, probation. Attending’s often a condition.”
Elise’s brow creased. “Did he have to do any of those programs?”
He exhaled, setting down the glass. “Yeah, but it did him little good. He’s a full-blown alcoholic. Montana law lets a judge issue a probationary license after a DUI, so you can drive under strict rules. As a real estate agent, he needed to drive to make a living. After two years of probation, the judge lifted the restrictions, and he was free to drive whenever.”
