Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 66454 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66454 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
“I understand this man held you captive, and that you are suffering because of it. This man is withholding information on a Gabriel Durand. He’s murdered his own partner in cold blood. He’s committed crime after crime, and you’ve testified to those facts.” His cold eyes bore into me as he asks, “Have you not?”
Tears prick my eyes and my heart squeezes with unbearable pain. I only did it because he told me to. Tears flow freely down my cheeks. I look back at Kade. He gives me a soft smile, and it breaks my heart. A sob is ripped from my throat.
“Yes,” I answer barely above a murmur.
The man looks between me and Kade with disgust.
“No further questions, your Honor.”
I grip onto the edge of my dress and hold my breath as I listen to the judge deliver his sentencing.
The hearing continues in a daze, as if it isn’t real.
“How do you find the defendant?” the judge asks.
The clerk looks straight ahead as he answers, “The jury finds the defendant guilty.”
My stomach sinks and churns with a sickness threatening to come up. The words sink in slowly, and my grip loosens. My lungs empty and refuse to fill.
The judge nods his head and addresses Kade. “Kade Barrow, although you engaged in activity you felt was required while you were acting on behalf of the police force, you’ve testified to several illegal activities that were in clear and direct violation of the law. You refused a direct order to abort, and therefore you will not be able to hide behind the guise of an officer of the law.”
My ears fill with white noise and my vision goes black. My hands and body chill with a numbness as the judge sentences Kade to fifty years in prison.
Soft murmurs fill the courtroom, but I’m silent, refusing to believe what’s happening.
“The jury is thanked and excused. Court is adjourned.”
The gavel slams down hard with a loud bang and people stand around me. They’re going to get up and do whatever it is that’s waiting for them.
I stare at the back of Kade’s head, waiting for him to look at me.
But he doesn’t. He stands and walks behind the bailiff. He never turns.
My throat closes and my face heats.
A door opens to the left of the judge’s bench for them to walk through.
I just need one look from him. Just one sign that I mean anything to him. I need to know it was real between us. That I’m not crazy.
But they walk through the door and it closes behind them without him ever looking back at me.
I collapse forward and cover my face with my hands. I don’t care that they can see me. I don’t care who hears me. I break down like I never have before. My heart is beyond broken, it’s shattered.
Kade
This isn’t the first time I’ve been given this offer.
I stare down at the sheet I’m about to sign. But I can’t even wrap my head around it. I can only think about her. It’s been ten days since the hearing, and every day I’m filled with regret.
I needed to do it for her though. I thought I was going away for fifty years. I couldn't let her even consider waiting for me. She would have, my sweet angel. I know she would have. And I don’t want that life for her. She deserves a man who will be there for her, someone to give her children and a life worth living.
With this deal, I can be that man for her. It’ll be a few years. But I can give her that, if she’ll wait for me. If she wants me.
“You aren’t promising millions of dollars this time though, so maybe it’s more believable,” I say without any humor in my voice as I tap the pen against the table.
“You’ll be heavily compensated for your enrollment in the program,” the man in the suit, Mr. Smith, says. A Mr. Thomas was the one who offered me and James the deal that got me into this shit.
“It’s three years overseas, or fifty years in jail.” Mr. Smith stands up from the table, straightening out his tie. “Your choice.”
I leave tomorrow. A plane’s going to take me to Nepal and then god knows where else. For the next three years of my life, I’ll be doing the government’s bidding. Making up for my past crimes.
“We’re here,” the taxi driver says. I’m quick to get out and pull out my wallet.
I pay the tab, giving him an extra ten in cash and turn to look at the building.
It’s her house.
I have one night of freedom. They gave me a single night, and I came straight here.
I never told her how I felt. I didn’t get a chance to explain anything. I shove my hand in my pocket and feel the note I wrote her.