Page 61 of Lucifer's Revenge
He nodded to the judge, then went back and sat down beside Lilith. This judge did the same thing as the first one did by asking Brenda to stand.
“Brenda Smith, you were found guilty by a jury of your peers on all counts brought before this court. Because they ended in three felonies, you are hereby sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.” He banged the gavel, stood and left. No one moved as the police came in and took her away.
Later, Lilith looked at Fred as they stood in the vestibule of the court house. “Tell us again why Wesley Quinn didn’t stand trial for his crimes?”
They watched as Fred put his fingers to his temple, and when he pulled them away, he made an exploding gesture. “The powers that be determined that he wasn’t mentally capable of sitting through a trial.”
“Who?” Luc demanded. “Who made that determination?”
“The police, and their shrink, the doctors at the psych ward at the hospital, and our office.”
“Where is he now?” Lilith asked as she gripped Luc’s hand harder.
“Still in the psych ward at the hospital, however, now that the trials for Smith and Barclay are done, along with the sentencing, we will all band together and get him out of the hospital and into a state run psycho facility. Don’t worry, the one we’re looking into is considered a lock down facility. There are guards, bars on the windows, if he ever regains any clarity, then he can talk about getting the trial for his crimes.” Fred shook his head and leaned in closer and said with a lowered voice, “It’s not going to happen.”
“What is he doing to make him go there?” Lilith asked.
“For starters, he’s calling himself, and I quote,‘The Summoner’.”
“What the hell is that?”
“He tells anyone who will listen that he can summon the devil at will. When he’s in his cell, he sits crossed legged in the center of the floor and rocks back and forth mumbling mumbo jumbo nonsense. He even requested that all his hair be shorn off, so he is now bald. The facility drew the line at giving into his request to wear only white robes.” Fred shook his head in disgust. “He says that he needs to be pure in order for the Devil to make his appearance.”
“Ah, that type of mumbo jumbo.”
“Yes, and every time he gets something to write with, he makes a pentagram and starts chanting at it, trying to bring Lucifer to life again.” Fred looked at Luc with a grin. “You broke him.”
“I didn’t,” Luc gave his signature scowl at his friend. “He broke himself. I only went after my woman, and just happened to be dressed as Lucifer. If he’s not mentally strong enough to handle it, that’s on him.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“I don’t know if I can ask this,” Lilith said hesitantly. “Did you do a DNA test on him to see if he was related to Merril Wilson?”
“Yes on both counts. The DNA results came back that he is indeed Wilson’s biological son. He was born in Utah from one of the women that was kidnapped and held for Wilson’s sick fetishes. It turned out that someone called in suspicious activities and when they were raided, Wesley and his mother were taken away, along with several others, and in the mêlée Wilson slipped away into the night. He resurfaced several years later in your town, and then you did what you did, and he was finally caught.”
“Was Quinn’s mother contacted?”
“Yes, but she flat-out refused to know anything about him. She said she had done her parental duty of getting him to the age of eighteen, but since he was now an adult, she washed her hands of him. Because what she said was true, there wasn’t anything we can do. We can’t force her to come get him. In my personal opinion, he’s right where he belongs.”
They all nodded, and when Fred had to leave for his next case, Lucius and Lilith went out to his truck. They settled in for the drive home. He looked at her with his quirked brow. “Would you like to stop and get lunch someplace?”
“Not really, I am hungry, but I would prefer my favorite burger at Hell’s Coffin.”
Luc reached over, picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. “I like the way you think, Woman.” He held her hand for the entire drive, only releasing it when he slowed down to pull into the parking lot of the bar.
Once inside, he directed her to a table that had been set already, and in less than five minutes, both their meals had been delivered, along with their usual drinks. They ate in comfortablesilence, and when Luc pushed his empty plate away, he saw she was done and took her hand in his.
“I don’t know if you know this, but two years ago today, we sat in these very same chairs. It was the night Starr brought you here and we were talking about paranormal activity.”
“Has it been two years?”
“Yes, and tomorrow will be our second anniversary of our first date at the café.” He released her hand and rubbed them on the thighs of his dress slacks. He stood, then quickly dropped to one knee, reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the little black box that had been burning a hole in his pocket for months.
“Lilith, I think I fell in love with you the first night I met you. It started as a slow burn, and at every turn, no matter what life threw at either of us, you stood tall and proud. That made me love you even more with each passing day. Will you marry me so we can continue to weather what life throws at us?”
“Yes,” Lilith said on a sigh as she held out her shaking hand. As soon as the ring was on her finger, and she was in his arms, the bar erupted in applause. Lilith turned to see all the club members there, along with their partners, and several regulars. She turned back to Luc with a frown. “You planned this?”
“Yes, the only thing that hinged on this was whether you wanted to eat here or in town.”
