Chapter 6
Bastain waited for his turn to speak and was disappointed that he had to wait so long. There were so many people in line for the prosecution that he was sure that he’d never get a chance to do his part in making sure that justice was served.
“Mr. Smith? Do you have anything to add to this clusterfuck?” He was so shocked by the judge’s question that it took him a few minutes to answer.
“I’ve had five witnesses say the same exact thing in the past twenty-five minutes.
I don’t suppose you have anything to say about these proceedings that will make things go faster? ”
“I do, your honor.” He picked up his file and took it up to the judge.
After giving him a few minutes to read what it said, he told him that the evidence showed that his client was in New York when the murder occurred.
“There are witness statements to the facts as well as plane tickets that he used to get back and forth. Mr. Winehouse wasn’t even aware that his wife was in the house when the robbery took place until her body was found several days later.
The police didn’t look very hard when they were searching the house is all I can say. ”
They talked it over, and he stood where he’d been standing, out of the way of the other people.
It was going to be a long day today if he had to keep saying the same thing over and over.
Like the judge, he was sick of hearing the same words coming out of their mouths like they’d been trained to say the same thing.
He just wanted this day over with so that he could get back to other important things, like moving into his new home.
It was a great deal bigger than they had planned on.
With six bedrooms and five baths, it was big enough to house all of them rather than just him and his mom.
But she was happy with it, and so was he.
There was also a house on the property that was called a mother-in-law’s home that his mom was thinking about taking as her own when he ever found another wife.
He wasn’t, so her moving out there was pointless, and he told her so. He had a sudden thought of Trinity.
“You’ll be out there all alone, and I’ll be in here wishing you were here.” She said that she loved him as well. “I do love you, and having you in another house defeats the purpose of us buying a house together so that we can be in one house. I thought that’s what you wanted.”
“I did. I do. I just want to have my options in line if anything changes. It’s a nice little house. Two bedrooms and two baths. I like it out there, too.” She smiled at him. “How about if I call it my she cave?” They both laughed.
There were other features to the house that he loved.
It had a gas fireplace that would keep him from having to chop wood, but there was a nice fire ring off the deck that they could use when the weather turned cooler.
He especially loved the kitchen that had an eat-in area where they could have their breakfast at.
He loved his new home. And it wasn’t far from where he worked either.
After the pretrial was over, he packed up his things and thought of Trinity again.
It was his turn to go in and sit with her tonight, and he was looking forward to it.
She was on the mend, to which he was grateful, and once he had the trial finished up for her aunt, the day after tomorrow, he’d be sending her away to prison so that she’d not bother the younger woman again.
Trinity had been treated badly, and he’d be the first one to admit that he wanted Tilly Shafer to spend as much time behind bars as he could get.
He was just getting in his car when he heard from Mark.
“I had her sign a prenup, but she’s fighting me on it.
” He said that women usually did, that his own ex-wife had done the same thing.
“She’s not getting anything. Even the building downtown is going to be sold so that I can get out from under it.
I don’t have any idea why she was so hyped up about the money that was in the Social Security checks.
I was paying the rent on the place and have been for the past ten years.
I don’t suppose you need any good antiques for your new home, do you?
I’m going to have someone come in and tell me what sort of prices I should get out of the things there. There is a lot of it, too.”
“I’ll have a look. That might be kinda fun to have a look at.” Mark told him that she’d been collecting things for the past ten years, so he didn’t know what might be in the place. “I could use some furniture in the bedrooms. I don’t suppose you know if there are bedroom sets in there.”
“I would imagine that there are. I think she’d get them really cheap at auctions, then have them cleaned up.
” He laughed. “I think that the one that is in our bedroom set is from an auction that she paid a couple of bucks for. It’s really nice.
I’m selling my house too soon.” He asked why he was selling.
“I’m leaving town. I have this beautiful place down in the Smokies that I’m going to go and live in.
Giving up my practice and having my life just the way I want it. ”
“Good for you. I might have a buyer for your home. My brothers are all looking for homes of their own, too.” He said that he’d give them a good deal if he didn’t have to deal with a realtor. “I’ll tell them. The one that I think is looking the hardest is Dayton. He’s been looking the longest, too.”
“Great. I have his number. I’ll give him a call.
I have some cases that I was going to ask the two of you to take over anyway.
Nothing big. I think I’ve been wanting out of this job for a while now and didn’t take all that much on.
” Bastain said that he’d take on a few of them.
“Wonderful. One less thing I have to worry about. Once I get the house sold, I’m going to be packing up just what I need to start over.
I’ve been wanting out of the rat race for a while now, and this is the perfect opportunity.
With Tilly gone, and I do hope that she gets out of my life, I’ll be able to do what I want when I want.
No more trouble with her and what she’s been up to lately. ”
“I hope that you aren’t pissed about the things that are going up against her.
” He said that it had been going on for a while now and he’d just didn’t pay any attention to them.
“I’m sorry about that. I had the same thing with my wife.
She wanted to go out partying every night and damned me if I had to get up early to go someplace else the next morning.
” He told Bastain that his wife wanted them to go to auctions every weekend so that he could tote stuff for her.
“That sounds like something that Debra would have done had she thought about it. Anything to spend money.”
The two of them talked about their ex-wives and were laughing over some of the tricks that they played.
He had some horror stories about Debra that he kept to himself, but he thought that Mark had a few of his own that he was holding back on.
Just as he was pulling into his driveway, they hung up.
Bastain sat there in the driveway just thinking about his day.
His mom came out on the deck and asked him if he was all right. Going into the house, he told her who he’d been talking to and the conversation that they’d had. He grinned when his mom shivered when he talked about Debra.
“I know you never liked her, and I should have listened to you when you told me not to marry her. If I had to do over, I would have listened to everything you said about her and her ways.” She told him that she’d been off since she’d met her. “I know. You’re good at scoping out bad people.”
“I tell you who I really like, and that’s Trin.
” He asked her why she’d bring her up now.
“I don’t know. She’s been getting to know your brothers really well, and they all love her like a sister.
It’s good for them to have someone in their lives who treats them as well as she does.
You do as well.” Bastain asked if she was setting him up.
“No. I’d never do that. But I will say you couldn’t do any better than to have her at your side.
Even as banged up as she is, there is something about her that makes me want to take her under my wing. ”
“I want nothing to do with her romantically.” He touched where his heart was.
“I’ll help her out with this case, but that’s as far as I want to go in seeing her.
Don’t be up to any of your tricks.” She asked him what he was talking about.
“I know how you are. You want one of us married off so that you can have grandchildren. Talk to one of my brothers about that. I’m off the market. ”
“Never say that. This perfect woman could be out there for you, and you will have your heart shut off from her before she can get to you.” He said that was just the way he wanted it.
“Don’t be like that, Bastain. Just because Debra was a terrible first choice doesn’t mean that they’ll all be like that.
Besides, you came out on top of it anyway.
I’m glad you had her sign that prenup so that she didn’t take you to the cleaners. ”
“I’m just glad that you reminded me to have one with her.
There is no telling where I’d be without that.
” She said he’d have nothing. “That’s about right.
She thought that I should pay her support because she got used to living it up with me.
I should have known something was off with her when I started hearing about the affairs that she was having. ”