Page 60 of Lucifer's Revenge
“Yeah, like we said, we have to go through these files, but apparently what you saw, recorded, and went to the police about happened in several other towns before he arrived in yours. Wesley Quinn is a result from one of those towns, again, from the girls he kidnapped and started having sex with when they turned fourteen. Did you follow his trial?”
“No, after I gave the information to the police, and they did their investigation, and raided Wilson’s home, on the advice of the Chief of Police and my parents, I was to back away and stay out of it. They didn’t want me to be a target. All I know is that I saw the sentencing on TV, and read it in the newspaper. Wait,if he really is Wilson’s son, is that true, or is he one of the boys Wilson started kidnapping while he lived in our town.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Merril Wilson went after little girls, however, during the case ofmyinvestigation, he had been known to kidnap little boys for his friends to do ungodly things to. I’m not going to spell it out, we can all imagine. So, my question, is Wesley Quinn really Merril Wilson’s biological son, or is he a kidnapped victim from years ago, and grew up thinking Wilson was his father. After the raid, I don’t know what happened to the victims in the house, the girls, or the young boys.”
“Shit,” Fred said as he looked at the stack of folders. He turned to Thomas. “Overtime for the junior lawyers?”
“Yes, but let’s hold off and get a DNA test first. We have Merril’s already on file. If it’s not in these pages, then it’s in the system. It wouldn’t be hard to get Quinn’s, however, I’m going to go by the book and request a court order to obtain it.”
“One question,” Luc said as he sipped his coffee. “I don’t mean to play devil’s advocate, but say for example that he is a kidnapped victim, could his lawyer try to say something about nurture vs nature and it’s all because of what happened to him? Try to get him a reduced sentence?”
“They could try, but I have five accredited psychiatrists willing to testify that he’s nuttier than a fruit cake, and needs to be locked up and monitored for his own safety, as well as the safety of the general public.”
“Got it.” They sat there for a few seconds before Lilith drew in a deep breath and asked quietly,
“What about Sally? I thought I might have been called in to testify against her.”
“That won’t be necessary, with all the documentation you sent over the years to your district office, they were able to testify that you did everything legally by the book. We feel that she’s notas crazy as Wesley, but she’s out there. The trial should be done next week, if you want to come in and watch the last couple of days, sit behind Thomas and I, because she’s taking the stand in her defense, maybe seeing you will trip her up or something.”
“You’ll give me the dates and times? I can coordinate it with my district manager to attend. Luckily, I only work two blocks away.”
“We’ll let you know,” Fred said. “However, after the verdict comes down, and the judge reviews the case to rule on his sentencing, I want the two of you to give victim statements to see if the judge will be harsher on them once he hears how their actions have impacted you.”
“We’ll work on them.” Luc nodded and stood, knowing the meeting was over. Their last look at the two lawyers was them both reaching for a file from the stacks before them to begin reading.
Chapter 26
Lilith stood tall when her name was called, and walked up to the podium in the front of the court room. Sitting at a table to the side, with her lawyer, was Sally Barclay, a woman she had deemed her best friend at one time. She laid her papers out before her, looked at the judge, and when she nodded, instead of looking at the statement she’d written, she looked directly at Sally.
“I was going to come up here and be angry and pissed at you for what you did to me, but I realized if I did that, then I would be playing right into your hands. None of this would have happened if you would have said two little words to me. All you had to say was‘I’m sorry’. You were too prideful to do that, and look where you’re sitting now. You judged a man without having ever met him before. You got on your high horse saying you knew it all. If you know it all, then why are you sitting there in an orange jumpsuit, wearing handcuffs on your wrists and feet, while I’m standing here free?
“You thought you were better than me by acting all high and mighty. I would have forgiven you if you would have said those two little words. Because your pride, which is one of the seven deadly sins, by the way, but because of your pride, and you thinking you were better than me, you not only lost your job, but you took it upon yourself to trash my home and everything I owned. Why? Did you think it would make me come crawling back to our friendship? Then you lied on an application to get a job to come after me and my boyfriend. That didn’t work either. Again, your sin got the better of you, and you and your cohorts kidnapped me, drugged me, and attempted to rape me for what? That I’ll never understand.” Lilith shook her head and never took her eyes off Sally. After only speaking five words, Sally hadhung her head and refused to look at Lilith, but Lilith had a plan for her next part of her speech.
“I need you to look at me when I say this next part. I will stand here all day until you do.” It took three minutes, but Sally finally looked at Lilith, and she repeated the words she had to Merril Wilson all those years ago.
“I willneverforgive you. Everything you did to me you thought you broke me. You couldn’t be any more wrong. Your actions only made me stronger. You lied about me getting you fired, I proved you wrong. I received a promotion last week. You told me the man I was interested in was a scummy biker. He has an MBA, owns his own successful business, and happens to like to ride two wheels. I now ride on the back of that bike with him and together, we enjoy our freedom and the open space. You trashed my house, ruining everything I owned. My insurance paid out, and I was able to sell the house for three times what I bought it for. So, I can say thank you for making me richer. Then you kidnapped me, tried to do some witchy shit on me and who was arrested? It sure as hell wasn’t me.
“So, yeah, I will never forgive you, but I will thank you for making my life better. For every single act you pulled on me, I was able to turn it into something positive. As for forgiving you, you don’t deserve it, because you acted like what you did to me you were entitled to. I hope whatever your sentence is, you think of me every single day as you sit there with your thoughts, and have your dreams filled with me living my life to the fullest with the man I love, laughing and loving, enjoying family and friends, along with my freedom to do so while you’re stuck wherever you’re being sent.” Lilith picked up the papers and taped them on the podium. “I would say I hope you survive where you’re going, but I’m not going to say that, instead, I’m going to say this. I hope you rot in hell for what you did.”
Lilith turned on her heel and went back to her seat next to Luc. She saw Sally had watched her, and she gave the other woman a slight nod when Luc reached over, wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed the side of her head. It gave Lilith satisfaction to see anger and hatred in Sally’s expression.
“Okay,” the judge said, and picked up her own stack of papers and taped them on her bench. “Will the defendant please stand.” Everyone watched as Sally and her lawyer stood.
“Sally Jane Barclay, you were found guilty on all charges by a jury of your peers. I will now sentence you. Because of the charges against you, I sentence you to life in prison.”
“Why?” Sally’s lawyer demanded, then held up his hand and shook his head. “I’m sorry, I was out of line.”
“Yes, you were. However, the guilty verdict was for three felonies. Since Ms. Barclay already had a felony on her record, and this state has a three strike rule, that gives her four felonies and an automatic prison sentence of life, without parole.” She picked up her gavel, banged it, and stood. It was a flurry of activity for the next few minutes as the state police came forward and took Sally away, however, Lilith and Luc only sat back down to wait, because in fifteen minutes, Brenda would be brought in for her sentencing.
When it was time for Luc to get up to give his victim statement, he stood tall, and straightened his suit jacket. They had decided to have Lilith speak at Sally’s hearing, and Luc at Brenda’s.
Luc didn’t waste any time as he cleared his throat, received the nod from the male judge on the bench, and turned to look at Brenda.
“It’s people like you that make this world a shitty place to live. You act all high and mighty if you don’t get your way. You think because you might be more attractive than the average person, everything should be handed to you on a silver platter.Life doesn’t work like that. If you want something, then you need to go out and work for it. After you went after my employees with your lies, and was kicked off the Halloween team, you made the mistake of thinking your entitlement would work in your favor. Instead, your stupidity got you where you’re sitting right now. In my opinion, that is where you belong. Oh, and orange really isn’t flattering on you. I hope you have to wear it for a long, long time.
“I’m taking a page frommy girlfriend’sbook and saying this. “I do not forgive you for what you did. You can rot in hell for all I care. You are nothing but a spoiled, entitled little brat that acts violently toward those that don’t cater to your every whim. Good luck with that attitude on the inside, because you’re not going to last long.”
