Chapter 15 #2
Once the people in the courtroom settled, closing arguments began, and after listening to both sides, the evidence was strong for a conviction, but who knew how it would go? From what she had learned of the Garcias, she wouldn’t be surprised if they threatened or paid off the jury.
At the conclusion of the closing arguments, the judge gave the jury instructions as to the expectations, including explaining the legal principles applicable to the case, and she informed them what they needed to consider to reach a verdict.
The jury rose and exited the courtroom to begin their deliberations in the jury room.
She tried to read the jurors’ expressions as they exited the room, but not one of them made eye contact with her.
However, one short, stout woman who looked to be in her early forties shared a long glance with Sebastián’s father.
The fear lacing the woman’s gaze sent an eerie chill to snake up Hannah’s spine.
That was the juror the Garcias had gotten to.
She’d stake her life on it. This would not end well.
Hannah spun around and watched the people exit the courtroom.
There were so many people and press in the room.
It had to be the Garcia family that drew the attention to this case, because it certainly wasn’t her small family or limited circle of friends that filled a room that was bursting at the seams. Thinking of her friends made her think of Bianca, who’d seemed to fall off the face of the earth.
The old man with long gray hair and matching beard, who showed up every day, stepped into the aisle and headed toward the exit.
He didn’t so much as glance in her direction on his way out, but recalling his familiar eyes from their many shared glances had her racking her brain to figure out how she knew him.
He had to be at least in his mid-sixties.
Had he been a friend of her father? When the man stepped into the threshold, he glanced over his shoulder, meeting her gaze. He nodded and exited the courtroom.
“Still don’t know who that is,” Kane said to her.
Lance shook his head in unison with her.
“I’m going to see if I can catch him in the hall. Figure it out, so you know,” Kane said as he made his way to the exit.
He returned a few minutes later and joined her and Lance in the hallway.
“I couldn’t find him. I looked all over the hall, lobby, and even outside. It’s like he vanished into thin air.”
“I feel like he’s here rooting for me, but why?” she said.
The jury deliberated for a couple of hours, then broke for the evening. They resumed deliberations at 8:00 a.m. the next morning. Hannah was sure she hadn’t slept a wink and she felt as exhausted as she’d ever been.
At 9:30 a.m. court reconvened. Hannah’s nerves were rattled, as the jurors returned to the jury box.
Mistakenly, she risked a glance at Sebastián.
If looks could kill, she’d be six feet under.
That look from him meant he was worried.
Good. He should be. But she was worried, too.
If found innocent, would he—his family still retaliate?
If found guilty, she was sure of it. How had it come to this?
How had her life come to this? Since all this started, she felt like a pawn in a game she had no control over.
She glanced at her brothers, who sat to her left in the first row.
Both offered reassuring looks. Needing a bit more reassurance, she looked for the old man.
He wasn’t in his usual spot. Every day he’d been in the courtroom, and today of all days, he wasn’t.
Of all days not to be here, the day she needed him most. What a strange thought, that she needed this stranger, but she did.
The door creaked open, and he stepped through the threshold.
He limped his way to the second row and squeezed himself into the aisle seat.
Never had he sat this close to the front.
Now that he was closer to her, she noticed that despite the gray hair and beard, he didn’t look that old.
His skin was not wrinkled. Not even around those warm, familiar eyes of his.
The judge spoke, pulling her attention away from the stranger, and she focused on the front of the courtroom.
The jury foreperson rose. “On the charge of attempted murder, we find the defendant not guilty.”
Sighs of relief sounded on the opposite side of the courtroom.
Hannah’s blood froze in her veins. Dread coiled in the pit of her stomach.
Her pulse pounded, and she broke into a full-bodied sweat.
Sebastián was going to walk. How could this be?
The prosecutor glanced over her shoulder.
The woman looked shocked, but not nearly as shocked as her brothers.
What would this mean for her—them? Would they have to look over their shoulders for the rest of their lives? She couldn’t breathe.
Kane placed his hand over hers.
“On the charges of kidnapping and assault, we find the defendant guilty.”
A cry from Sebastián’s mom rang out. Hannah snapped her head in that direction.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Sebastián’s movement.
He lunged toward her, knocking over his chair and his attorney.
Hannah lurched to her feet to get away. The old man from the second row threw himself between her and Sebastián.
Her brothers positioned themselves between the old man and her.
Sebastián fought to get around the old man, only to be tossed aside like a rag doll, even with the sling on the man’s arm.
The court security officer pounced on Sebastián and pulled him to his feet.
Still, Sebastián spewed comments of hatred toward her over his shoulder as the officer pulled him out of the courtroom.
Sebastián’s dad had stood and made a move toward her, but Kane and Lance stood in his way.
He threw his hands in the air submissively, but the stone-cold look in his eyes let her know this wasn’t over.
The man’s gaze bore the same hatred as Sebastián’s.
Once the chaos settled, Hannah looked around for the old man who’d saved her from Sebastián’s hands. There was no sign of him. Kane and Lance stepped away from Mr. Garcia and moved closer to her.
“Where is the old man?” Lance asked her.
“I don’t know.”
“You didn’t see him leave?” Kane asked.
“No, I was focused on Sebastián and his mom and dad,” she replied.
Kane quickly made his way to the exit. Dipped into the hall for a moment, then returned.
“I didn’t see him in the hall. He was so quick to fly out of his seat and hurdle over the railing. I couldn’t believe it. He moved like he’s twenty years old,” Kane said.
“Who is that guy, and why does he show up here day after day? It’s like he comes in late and is the first to leave so that we can’t find out who he is,” Lance said.
“Maybe he’ll be at the sentencing and we can find out more about him then,” Kane said.
Though Hannah was more than curious to find out more about this mystery man, she was more interested in Sebastián’s sentencing hearing. She’d hoped the judge would pass down the sentence right away, but with all the chaos just now, she suspected a delay, which was common practice anyway.
The judge slammed the gavel down. “Order!”
“We will take a thirty-minute recess and reconvene for the sentencing.”
Hannah looked at the prosecutor. She looked as shocked as she felt regarding the immediate sentencing.
It was a long thirty minutes as she, the prosecutor, and her brothers discussed the verdicts.
The prosecutor was in complete disbelief about the not guilty verdict on the attempted murder charge.
She was convinced the Garcias got to the jurors, but if that were truly the case, he should have received not guilty verdicts on all the charges.
The best she could hope for now was a long sentence for the kidnapping and assault convictions.
Hannah followed the prosecutor back into the courtroom.
Her nerves rattled and her skin felt slick with sweat.
They sat and waited. The room was eerily silent.
The court security officer entered the room with Sebastián in his grip.
She’d never seen such anger and disdain on a man’s face as her ex displayed.
Their gazes locked, and his heated gaze practically burned holes in her irises.
No matter what happened with the sentencing, this would not be good for her and her brothers.
The Garcias had already taken her parents and Alyssa from her.
In her heart, she knew it, but there was no evidence to support that theory, so they would get away with it.
They rose when the judge entered the courtroom and then sat.
Hannah placed her entwined hands on her lap. Her grip was firm. She swallowed hard and braced herself for the outcome.
“The defendant shall rise,” the judge ordered.
Sebastián stood.
“Having considered the overwhelming evidence in this case and the conduct displayed by Sebastián Garcia in the courtroom, it is the judgment of this court that you, Sebastián Garcia, are sentenced to ten years for the crimes of kidnapping and assault.”
Sebastián’s mom cried out. His dad looked stunned, and his gaze flew to the jury box. The man’s deadly glare was enough to scare the devil.
Hannah’s hand flew over her mouth. This wasn’t good for the jurors, or the juror Sebastián’s father likely threatened to get the not guilty verdicts.
Why wouldn’t the jurors not go along with the not guilty on the kidnapping and assault, and only the attempted homicide charge?
What price would they now pay? What price would she pay?