Cascade (40 page)

“
Who did they leave
with?”

“
Michael Scully, Jr.”

“
Your husband?”

“
He wasn’t my husband then,” Honey
said.

“
Ok, thank you Mrs. Scully,” Ann
Campbell said. “The prosecution would like to reserve the right to
recall this witness.”

“
You may cross, Mr.
Blanchard.”

Honey swallowed hard at the cruel look on her
sister’s attorney’s face. She’d been warned that he would ask her
about every detail. This part of the case was to make her look
stupid. She smiled at him. She’d spent a life time with her sister
trying to make her look stupid. He was going to have to work very,
very hard to gain any ground with her.

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday morning – 10
A.M.

Sandy sat near the front of the courtroom with
Nash on one side of her and Noelle on the other. She marveled at
how easily the day had started. She made love to Aden. Like most
mornings, he had talked to the baby. He was so sure they were
having a little girl. He always called her ‘Josie.’ While she’d
made coffee, he woke the kids for an early breakfast. The kids went
back to bed and Aden left for work.

It was an easy, happy, loving
morning.

When Samantha Hargreaves name appeared on the
caller ID, Sandy knew what was going on. She didn’t need Samantha
to say the words, ‘Aden will have his hearing today.’

She just knew. Aden would go to jail and she
would be alone. Alone with his kids. Pregnant and alone. Alone to
deal with her father’s crap. Alone. Like metal shutters slamming
down on a room in her mind, her emotions shut down.

She woke the kids and told them the news.
Sullen and sad, the kids began to get dressed. Sitting in the
living room, Sandy had stared off into space. She wasn’t thinking
when she’d answered the knock at the door. There was a knock and
she answered it. She hadn’t even looked to see who it was. She just
opened the door.

Anjelika stood on the other side.

Anjelika chastised Sandy for not asking or
looking to see who it was. When she saw Sandy’s blank response,
Anjelika smiled.

“
Now is the time you need a
mother,” Anjelika had said.

Without another word, Anjelika sat Sandy down
on the couch. She made her some tea with Delphie’s special honey.
She’d turned on some piano jazz for Sandy to listen to. Anjelika
then helped the kids get ready. She’d arranged for a car to take
them to the courthouse. She’d made sure there was a bodyguard
waiting to protect Sandy at the courthouse. She even coordinated
with Jacob, Sam and Delphie regarding who would be at the
courthouse.

In fact, Sandy was pretty sure she would not
be sitting in this courtroom if Anjelika hadn’t arrived at her
doorstep. She reached over to hold Noelle’s hand. Nash’s hand was
tucked under her arm. She could feel the pulse of nervousness run
through the kids. They had no idea what would happen
today.

They only knew it would change their
lives.

Possibly forever.

CHAPTER
EIGHTY-ONE

My fairy tale ends

Wednesday morning – 10:15
A.M.

At the doorway to the court room, Aden stopped
walking to look around the courtroom. Judge Alberts had closed the
courtroom to the press. The only people allowed in the courtroom
were family members and people associated with the case. Aden
expected to see Sandy and the kids, maybe Sam and Jacob, but the
sitting area was filled with men and women wearing various uniforms
and suits. His eyes drifted over these strangers until they rested
on his family.

Aden flushed. In a breath, he took in the
terror on his children’s faces and the blank look in Sandy’s eyes.
His impulsive act had placed fear in their hearts and minds. He
smiled to reassure them as he walked by. Noelle waved, Nash nodded
and Sandy winked. But nothing changed. His children were terrified
and the love of his life had shut down.

He followed Samantha Hargreaves to the defense
table. He had just sat down when the bailiff called for everyone to
rise. They stood and waited while the judge got seated. Sitting
down again, Aden felt the heat of the judge’s eyes on him. If the
elderly man’s eyes seemed to bore into his soul. Aden couldn’t bear
to meet his gaze.

“
I called this emergency hearing.
So if you were wondering who called it, I did,” Judge Alberts said.
“I wanted to get all the players together and see what we can work
out. Mr. Norsen?”

“
Yes, your honor.” Aden jumped to
his feet.

“
Sit down,” the judge said. “We’re
going to be here a while. You’re here because the Federal Bureau of
Investigation would like to charge you with…”

The judge looked at his bailiff and the man
placed a paper in front of him.

“
Obstruction of justice,
disruption of a federal investigation, interfering with a felon,
tampering with evidence… Well, it’s a quite a long
list.”

“
Your honor, I don’t think…” a man
said from the prosecution table.

“
That’s the Federal Prosecutor,
Mr. Norsen. Why don’t you introduce yourself Mr. Xavier? You’ve had
plenty to say about Mr. Norsen in private. You may as well say
hello.”

“
Sir, it is not
necessary…”

“
This happens to be
my
courtroom, Mr.
Xavier, and
my
trial. You don’t get to tell me
what’s necessary and what is not. Now sit down or I’ll have you
removed.”

The Federal Prosecutor sat down.

Samantha Hargreaves leaned over to whisper in
Aden’s ear, “This isn’t normal. Something’s going on.”

“
Now, if Ms. Hargreaves has
finished?” the judge asked.

“
Yes, your honor.”

“
I will continue,” the judge said.
“See these people in the audience? They’re all here to make sure
Mr. Norsen is held responsible for the death of their key witness.
Their reasoning goes something like this: if Mr. Norsen hadn’t
acted when he did, their witness’s arrest would not have been so
public. And, possibly, their active pedophile witness would still
be alive and ready to perpetrate his evil upon the children of
Denver.”

“
Objection, your honor.” Samantha
hopped to her feet. “You cannot take one minuscule assault case and
make the accused responsible for an international child pornography
scheme that has been going on for decades!”

“
Sit down, Ms. Hargreaves,” the
judge said.

“
But…”

“
Sit down, Ms. Hargreaves. I’m
about an inch away from putting every single lawyer in the City and
County of Denver in contempt of court!”

Samantha sat down.

“
Sandra, nice to see you,” the
judge said.

Aden’s mouth open with shock. He turned in
place to look at Sandy. She shrugged at him.

“
Uncle Howard,” Sandy said. “How
are you?”

“
Angry, my dear. Angry,” the judge
said. “You must know how heartbroken we are about all of
this.”

“
Your honor, I hardly see…” the
District Attorney said jumping to his feet.

The judge pointed at him and he sat
down.

“
I bring up the fact that I know
the victim in the larger case. She is my brother’s step-daughter
and my niece,” Judge Alberts said. “Even though I am the senior
justice, and this case falls in my specialty, I had no intention of
trying any of these cases. My duty was to oversee the entire
debacle while other judges can hear these cases. It’s my
understanding that death threats have been received by our
justices. Is that correct, Lieutenant Robinson?”

“
Yes, your honor,” said a
uniformed police officer standing in the back row of the audience.
“They are in protective custody.”

“
We have death threats against
judges. A pedophile who the Feds were willing to leave roaming the
City and County of Denver looking for victims until they got around
to arresting him. And surprise, surprise, the cretin ends up dead.
The FBI, CIA, UN and a bunch of other people irked at the cretin’s
death. In the middle of it all, we have… what was Ms. Hargreaves’s
term? Ah yes, a miniscule assault case.”

Nervous, Aden shifted in his chair.

“
Mr. Norsen, no doubt you remember
who I am?”

“
Yes, sir,” Aden said.

“
Do you remember what I said to
you the last time we were in a courtroom like this?”

“
Yes, sir.”

“
Good,” the judge said. “Ms.
Hargreaves? Your motion to dismiss?”

“
Yes, your honor.”

“
I’m going to set that matter
aside for the moment.”

The judge put his hand over his microphone and
said something to his bailiff. The bailiff brought a stack of paper
over to Samantha Hargreaves. Samantha looked at the top sheet and
then began reading in earnest.

“
Mr. Norsen, given my relationship
with a relative of the victim in your case, and the victim of the
larger case, are you willing to allow me to try this case? That
means you would give up any chance to appeal over judicial bias or
judicial prejudice.”

“
May I have a moment to speak with
my attorney?”

“
Go ahead,” the judge said.
Pointing to the prosecution table, he added. “I need to talk to
these guys anyway.”

Aden turned to Samantha. She was digging
through the stack of papers.

“
What is that?” Aden
asked.

“
It’s charges!” Samantha’s words
came out in a panic induced rush. “And all the documentation about
why they should or shouldn’t charge you with… everything. Aden,
you’re in real trouble here. I don’t know if even I can defend you.
We might want to get someone older, more experienced
and…”

“
Samantha, you’re losing it. I’m
supposed to lose it today, not you.”

“
Oh, right.” Samantha let out a
breath then gave him her most beautiful smile. “I’m
back.”

“
Can they charge me with all of
this?”

“
Yes,” Samantha said. “I doubt
they could convict you on all of them. They can easily add them to
this case. Or they can open a new case against you in Federal
Court. We’d be held up in court for… years. If they grant our
motion to dismiss, the entire case will shift to Federal Court. If
we proceed…”

Samantha looked over Aden’s shoulder for a
moment. Her eyes were vague and thinking. When she turned back to
Aden, she was present.

“
I think we should allow him to
try this case,” Samantha said. “We lose our right to an appeal but
only over judicial prejudice due to family relationship. That’s
okay. Your goal is to get this over with right?”

“
Right,” Aden said. “I want to get
on with my life.”

“
Then, let’s move forward,”
Samantha said. She gave him a vague smile. “Sorry I lost my cool. I
never imagined something like this might happen. But I can do this.
And if I can’t, I know people who can help.”

“
Let’s move forward,” Aden
said.

They turned back to the court just as the
prosecution was returning to their table.

“
Your honor,” Samantha said. “The
defense agrees to allow you preside over this assault case. Mr.
Norsen waves his right to appeal on the grounds of judicial
prejudice due to familiarity with the victim.”

“
Thank you, Ms. Hargreaves. Please
let the record show that I will preside over this hearing,” Judge
Alberts said. “Is your client aware of the repercussions of this
agreement?”

“
Yes, your honor,” Samantha said.
“My client understands the nature of his crime and is anxious to
get this matter settled.”

“
Good. That’s good news. You’ve
changed quite a bit, Mr. Norsen.”

“
Yes, your honor,” Aden
said.

“
Have you received a written plea
agreement?”

“
Yes, your honor,” Samantha
said.

“
Your honor,” the Federal
prosecutor said.

“
And where do you stand with the
plea bargain, Ms. Hargreaves?” the judge asked.

“
The defense accepts the plea
bargain. We signed the documents and have filed them with the
District Attorney’s office yesterday.”

“
Good girl.”

For the first time, the judge leaned back in
his chair. He even smiled at Samantha.

“
Does the District Attorney’s
office agree to the terms of the plea bargain?”

“
Yes, your honor.” The District
Attorney stood with his back faced the Federal prosecutors. “The
City and County of Denver signed the plea bargain and entered it
into court record first thing this morning.”

“
Perfect,” the judge said. “This
court hereby accepts the plea bargain including the stipulation
that no further charges will be added to this case or this
defendant.”