“In light of these decisions, I have the duty to uphold the law, Mr. Porter. You are sentenced to four years in a state penitentiary. Time served. Eligible for parole in two years.” He hits his gavel, and I exhale in relief.
This was the easy one. Next week, it’s my job to put Jeremiah away for a lot longer.
“I can’t go to prison,” Randall yells, swiping his table of all his paperwork.
“My ruling is final, Mr. Porter. This court is adjourned. I suggest you leave quietly with the deputy.” The old man walks towards him, preparing to cuff him, but Randall jumps away.
Before I can react, a wall falls in front of me. Not a wall… Hayes.
He stands between us as Porter throws a temper tantrum. The older deputy attempts to grab him, but fails again. Within seconds, Sheriff Malec is striding to the front of the room.
“Randall Porter, you are being detained per Judge Fulton’s ruling. If you resist, you will be charged with resisting and causing a disturbance.” He grabs his arm and easily yanks it behind his back to put him in cuffs.
“Fuck you,” he spits at the Sheriff. “And fuck you, too!” He yells towards me.
Hayes stiffens, but he doesn’t react rashly, and I know it’s solely for my benefit. He doesn’t want to embarrass me atwork.
“Make sure he gets in the transport van with no issues,” Malec tells the other deputies as they take Randall off his hands. “I had a feeling there wouldn’t be a smooth ending to this. If Jeremiah’s trial goes without trouble, I’ll be shocked,” he says as I start packing up my table.
Hayes is too still beside me.
“It’ll be fine.” I squeeze his arm, and he finally nods his head, shaking off his rigidness.
“I wanted to wait until today’s proceedings were over, but I’d like to discuss some things with you regarding your stalker,” Malec says under his breath.
There are still plenty of people in the room that I’d rather not know about my personal situation.
“Sure, let’s go to my office.”
Hayes grabs my briefcase before I can and holds the swinging gate open to lead me out of the courtroom. I’m afraid that I’m getting too comfortable with this special treatment.
“What is that smell?” My face pinches as I step into my office. “It smells like pee.” If someone pissed in my office, I’m going to freak out.
Jensen is the first one to investigate, sniffing around to find the source while Malec calls for someone to bring him his forensic kit.
“It’s your lunch.” He leans into the brown bag that Miley brought me. I left it untouched before the verdict.
“It didn’t smell like that before.”
“The food was fresh. It might have hidden the smell, but now it’s been sitting for an hour.”
“Someone peed on my lunch?”
He shakes his head. “I think it’s ammonia. They used it all the time in the prison.”
“Don’t touch it,” Malec tells him, pulling on rubber gloves. He gently opens the bag, pulling out the sandwich inside, and puts it into a crime scene bag.
This is unreal.
“Your assistant brought you this?” Malec asks after he seals all the bags.
“My intern. But she’s just a kid. She wouldn’t have done this.”
“You didn’t ask for lunch, Liv. She brought you this willingly,” Hayes says, his face hard with anger.
“We get this from the restaurant across the street almost every day. I always order the same thing, she was just being nice. What if someone came in here after we went down to the courtroom?”
“Maybe.” Malec looks at me like he’s trying to choose his words wisely. “I’ll have to question her.”
