Jeremiah’s mother takes the stand, and they start droning on about how sweet Jeremiah was as a child and how easily he was influenced as a boy.
As if him being meek as a kid changes the fact that he nearly murdered Curtis. It doesn’t.
A wave of dizziness hits me, and I have to blink through it. I really need to eat, but I’d never halt the trial for that.
A hand knocks against my thigh, and I glance down at a piece of gum resting there. I shouldn’t take it. It’s not professional to chew gum during legal proceedings. But neither is passing out.
The cinnamon gum burns my tongue as I slide it into my mouth without drawing attention to myself.He swoops the wrapper from me without prompting, and I focus on quietly letting the tingling flavor boost my focus.
“Miss Greenwood, do you have any questions for Ms. Porter?” Judge Fulton asks.
“Yes, your honor.” I stand, subtly depositing the chewed gum into Jensen’s hand as I round the table. He doesn’t flinch as he hides it away under the table.
“Ms. Porter. You said that Jeremiah was a kind boy. He loved his big brother, but you worried about him hanging with the wrong crowd.”
“Yes,” she replies, stiffly, looking at me with utter disdain.
“Did you ever consider that he was the bad crowd?”
“No, not my boy.”
“Right. And, I’m sure your other son, Randall, would never have committed fraud or conspired to a kidnapping… But he did.”
“Now you listen–” She starts, but I cut her off.
“And you never would have believed your husband and brothers, all now deceased, would have been involved in human trafficking… But they were.”
“That has nothing to do with my boys!” She yells, and Judge Fulton clears his throat in warning.
“Right. They were innocent…” I say sarcastically. “Your entire family simply got mixed up with a bad crowd. Your father thought he was above the law, too. Right? And he’s now deceased. Correct?”
She locks her jaw but doesn’t speak.
“That’s okay. I have the police report here.” Jensen clicks the remote, displaying what I need on the screen.
“Reverend Jefferson Porter confessed to his crimes of drug trafficking, human trafficking, and kidnapping before hepulled a weapon on Sheriff Malec. Suicide by cop.”
“You’re a rotten little bitch,” she sneers, and I only smile smugly in response as Judge Fulton knocks his gavel, reprimanding her language.
“No further questions, your honor.” By the time I make it to my seat, my knees are nearly gelatinous.
“We need a recess, but the prosecution hasn’t had a chance to call any witnesses yet today. Do you want to proceed, Miss Greenwood?” Judge Fulton asks, and even though everything in me is begging for a break, I need to get the final word in before the jury breaks for a late lunch.
Then I’ll hammer them right away when we get back, too.
“If you don’t mind, Judge Fulton. I’d like to call my first witness, Sheriff Malec. It will be short and sweet.”
“Proceed.”
Malec comes to the front of the room and takes his oath, as I prepare my questions, breathing through my lightheadedness.
“Sheriff Malec, can you tell me about the night of the arson at Second Chance Sanctuary?”
“The barn on the far side of the property was torched after being doused with lighter fluid. That resulted in a large outpouring of response as everyone either searched for Mr. Dane’s missing niece or worked to put out the fire.”
“Was his niece found?”
“Yes, luckily, she was fine. It was a distraction technique to take attention away from the other side of the property where Jeremiah was able to kidnap JoAnna Montgomery and then attack Curtis.”
