Kitt hit a button on a remote to pause the video, framing Barr at the center of the screen. “Very distinct buttons, indeed.”
If I’d thought the uproar from a few minutes ago was loud, it was nothing compared to the pandemonium that broke out now. The judge didn’t even bother trying to bring the room back toorder and instead, called for a recess before stepping away from the bench.
Who knew just a few dozen people could make enough noise to rival a stadium?
If I didn’t know better, I would have thought I’d been dropped into the stands of the Superbowl with how much commotion everyone was making.
Eventually, someone remembered I was still there and escorted me off of the witness stand. As I walked past the defense’s side of the room, I couldn’t help but smirk as I watched them panic.
They deserved it. Not only had these monsters abused me, but they also dared to question my memory of their abuse.
Too bad for them, my mind came with more receipts than they were prepared to handle.
CHAPTER 25
Jordy
That first courtdate wasn’t the end of things. Not by a long shot. Such a complicated case couldn’t be wrapped up so easily. There were still weeks of hearings, testimony, appeals, evidence review, and so forth. It was all very boring stuff that I luckily didn’t have to handle. That was Kitt’s job. I only cared about the final result.
Finally, after so much struggle, the day came.
The jury had deliberated. The final verdict was in.
I stood with Clay and the other witnesses in the audience waiting to hear what the final decision would be, clutching my friend’s hand so hard both of our fingers were going numb.
The axe descended with the utterance of a single word.
Guilty.
My celebration was surprisingly silent. I, along with Clay and many of the other victims who’d shown up to testify, couldn’t utter a sound as we were all struck with a wave of overwhelming emotions. Other people were able to make noise. Some shouting, some cheering. The judge had to ask for silence several times inorder to explain the full ramifications of the guilty verdict. Guilty on all counts. Life sentences without parole.
However, the other victims and I were silent.
I didn’t realize until later that, from the moment I heard that blessed word,guilty, there were tears streaming down my cheeks. For the first time in my life, I cried for a happy reason, and I didn’t even know it until it was over.
With a numb sort of fascination, I watched as both Vanshaw and Barr were led away by security, marched right out the door to immediately begin their life behind bars.
Maybe now they’d finally know how it felt to be held captive against their will.
Probably not. No matter what prison they were sent to, it would never be as bad as the life the bell ringers made me live, but at least now, I could rest easier knowing those monsters weren’t still out walking the streets making more victims just like me.
When my emotions finally calmed down enough to think straight again, I looked around the room for Kitt. I expected to find him celebrating like the rest, or maybe handling whatever lawyers did to end a case. Instead, I found him silently slipping out of a side door, staring at his phone with an urgent look on his face.
There was no second thought in my mind. I followed him.
I didn’t have to go far. Just a few feet away in the empty hallway, he stood in front of an open window. Rays of afternoon sun streamed around him in a golden halo as he took a deep breath, then answered the phone.
“Hello? Cadence?” He paused, listening to the person on the other end of the line with an unreadable expression, like his face had been paralyzed. “Yeah. I still have the same number.”
I bit my lip and clung to the nearby doorframe to keep myself from snorting. This man collected phone numbers like otherpeople collected baseball cards. He probably had at least three different phones on him right now.
Despite my effort not to make a sound, Kitt still noticed me. He looked over, meeting my eyes, though he never paused in his conversation.
“Oh, you’ve been following the case? Yeah, we won. It’s... it’s been a lot of work, but the result was worth it.” There was a pause, and even from across the hall, I could see his eyes shifting back and forth as he struggled with his words. “How, um... how have you been?”
That was when it hit me who he was talking to. I hadn’t recognized the name Cadence, but I’d only seen such an uncomfortable look on his face once before when he was telling me about his sister.
Kitt’s sister had called him. His hopes that getting rid of the bell ringers would fix things with his family had come true in the best way possible, and his sister had actually been the one to reach out first.
