THE TRIAL
Devlin Sinclair owned the courtroom, this was his show and everyone inside of that room knew it, including the district attorney and the judge; who just happened to be a close personal college buddy of his father. Sinclair walked with the authority and confidence of a God. Only he could make his opponent shake and stutter, and unable to perform his own job.
Aries sat at the defense table. He wasn't the least bit worried; he had all the confidence in Sinclair, and the fact that all the evidence against him was circumstantial. He also knew about a particular witness who was going to clear things up about Lana's role in this entire situation.
Nomi Larue on the other hand was a mess, she could barley keep from crying; at several times she had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from yelling out and cursing anyone who said anything wrong about her man. She had a box of fresh tissues for each new day of court, unable to prevent the tears that continually leaked from her eyes. She wanted to hold Aries desperately; she needed to feel him close to her, and she longed to reassure him and put his mind at ease. Regardless of the fact that her old superstitious paranoia was telling her that something had to go wrong, she was trying to be strong for him. Her superstitions were kicking in times three, and she began to dwell on her disastrous and deadly streak of bad luck. She just prayed it had not rubbed off on him.
Merritt Jacobi testified for the defense. When the soft spoken veterinarian had finished, he stepped off the stand and left the court, hand in hand with his new girlfriend, the lovely Miss Ida VonHolmes. Things had ended perfectly for him with a new woman who just adored his daughters, who happened to be a wealthy widow. He was already starting to rebuild their new life; he just had to get Lana Lutz and all of her lies out of his system and out of his life, and doing his duty at court to help free an innocent man had inevitably cleansed him.
Next came Leslie Malone. Her testimony had the courtroom in tears; everyone listened as her love for this man still cried out though her words, her despair and pain obvious to every sobbing jury member. Then she finally lost it, and broke down in deep anguished sobs when she listened to the message Brad had left on her broken cell phone. hearing his voice echoing through the large courtroom had been her complete undoing. She knew now, beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was the last time she would ever hear his voice again.
But it was Raul Fitz that had the courtroom locked in a dead silence, the only noise was that of the man's nasally lisp as he spoke of the events from the night Brad Lowell was murdered.
"Lana had been seeing Brad off and on for months." He sat there, fidgeting with his expensive tailored jacket, making everyone in the courtroom and most of the members of the jury wonder how a man on a chauffer's salary could afford a suit like that. He was nervous to be there, but he was more nervous of the repercussions if he had not shown up.
"While she was dating Mr. Aries Stark?" Devlin Sinclair asked.
"Yes."
"How would you describe Miss Lutz and Mr. Lowell's relationship?"
"She seemed to be having a good time with him for a while, but I watched Brad make the same mistake I've seen many different men make over the years,"
"And what is that?"
"They fall in love." He looked down then, finally showing a glimpse of what people would assume was his own troubled love over Lana. "Love is definitely not in Lana's nature."
"I object your honor, it's purely speculation." Kenneth Blioki stood up.
"Your honor, we've already established that Miss Lutz had been having relations with the chauffer for over five years. Since he spent the majority of his time with Miss. Lutz, as we have well documented, it is safe to say he is the only one with any knowledge of the true relationship between Brad and Lana. He may be able to shed some light on Lana's state of mind at the time of the murder and the days leading up to it."
"Over ruled," the judge said, and Sinclair grinned smugly at Kenneth who promptly lowered his head.
"Thank you your honor," he bowed his head a bit.
"Please continue." Judge Mackey was beyond impressed with Devlin, if he had a son, he would have wanted him to be exactly like him. He was smart, observant, calculated and undefeated. Once the trial was over, he had all intentions of contacting his old college buddy and expressing his approval, followed with congratulations and cognac.
"Their relationship had become rocky at best, but it was the night he learned of her true plan that things went straight down hill." Raul shook his head thinking of that night.
THAT NIGHT...
Brad Lowell took one last pull from his cigarette before walking into Lana's apartment. Brad was changing, for the first time in his life he felt like he was thinking for someone other then himself. He had never wanted children or a family, he always wanted a career, but after such a tumultuous relationship with a superficial bitch with slivers of stone imbedded in her dead heart, and the news that she was pregnant, he was ready for a change. For the first time in his life, his career was the last thing on his mind.
His father had been a bastard on his best days, and gone the rest of the time. Brad had learned early in life that he had only himself to count on, and he had always liked it that way; until he foolishly fell in love with Lana. Now he had bigger dreams, he wanted to satisfy something other than his bank account and his desperate need for acceptance and adulation; he craved that family love he had been denied in his childhood.
But Lana had other ideas.
He knew exactly what she was about; she was going to pass that baby off as Aries Starks'. Brad knew how much he looked like Aries, and knew it would be easy. There was just one minor detail she had forgotten in her plans; there was no way in hell Brad would let any man raise his son as long as he lived. As much as he loved Lana, he saw her for what she was and knew she would use that child as leverage at every opportunity she could get. She knew this baby meant a lot to her career, her financial state, and was detrimental in her plan to keep Aries all to herself.
Brad would not allow that to happen; he would do everything in his power to prevent it. He would change Lana's mind, even if he had to keep threatening to tell Aries about her affairs. He wanted to make it work with Lana, and he would use tonight for his last attempt. But after tonight, if she was still singing the same tune, he would go back to the place he knew he was wanted, with the woman he knew would be more than happy to help him raise his child.
"I can not let it happen," Brad said, sitting at her dining room table, a plate of oysters before him.
"You don't have a choice Bradley," she said taking a sip of her red wine.
"I do have a choice and there is no way in hell I will let you pass my child off as Aries baby." He shook his head, "I love you with all my heart Lana, but I will do anything in my power to stop you."
"But you can't stop me darling, it's already done."
"Well what ever you've done will be undone in the morning after I talk to Aries."
Lana was furious, she knew Brad was going to pull this, he was in love with her, she knew that for a fact, and it was one of the reasons he refused to let her go through with her plan. In his simple, little mind he honestly believed that baby would bring them back together. Well, she didn't want his family, and she no longer wanted anything to do with the threat-throwing, clingy man.
"I wouldn't advise it," she said, taking another sip of her red wine.
"Lana, sweetie, don't do this to me, please, let's just try this family thing for a little while, we'll make great parents, I'm ready to be a father, let me take care of you."
"On what income? You can't even land an acting job anymore, your Aries look-a-like factor is over-played, and no one wants anything to do with you," she laughed. "Did you honestly think I would chose you over Aries? Your stupider than I thought." She shook her head.
"Fine, then I guess our discussion is over." Brad had pride, and as much as he loved her, he could only take so much. He rose from his chair; this was a dead issue and now he was starting to get a strange feeling.
"You're sure I can't change your mind?" she asked.
"There is no way in hell I will ever change my mind, this is my baby and I want to raise it with or without you," he said briskly. It was the first time that he had ever really appreciated Leslie Malone; he missed her, her loyalty and her compassion. He knew now that she would be there for him. She would help him raise his child. She alone had been the only one he could ever rely on, and he had taken her for granted—well no more. He was getting the hell out of this mansion and away from Lana and her infectious doom, and he was going to beg Leslie for her forgiveness after he told her the whole sordid story.
"Fine, then I am sorry Bradley, but I cannot allow you to destroy my future." As she spoke, the chauffer walked in, "or the future of my child," she grinned smugly, "Aries' child."
Brad was smart enough to know what was going on, without another word, he ran as fast as he could through the opposite dining room door and into the main lobby, he had just yanked open the door, took a breath of the air outside, thinking he was free, when suddenly he was overpowered. No matter how hard he fought, the hulking man had him trapped, dragging him back into the house. Lana quickly locked the front door and grabbed the poisonous gas with the attached mask. Raul held him still, his knees on Brad's arms, and the rest of his huge muscular body on Brad's torso and chest, immobilizing him
"You did this to yourself, Bradley," Lana said as she bent down next to Brad's head.
"Wait," he pleaded.
"It's too late for that now." She shook her head in disgust before looking at Raul, "Hold him tight," she said trying to slip the mask over his face.
"NO! LANA, PLEASE NO!" he shook his head back and forth.
"Hold his head still!" she snapped at Raul, who promptly held the man's head in one large hand.
"Please!" he cried right before she slipped the mask over his face, stifling all sound...
Raul abruptly snapped back to the presant day; sitting there on that stand looking out on a sea of horrified faces.
"It was horrible, she watched him until the last second, just smiling as he died." Raul shook his head, hating to think back to that demented day when everything spun out of control. "After that she had me dispose of his body, and to make sure no one ever found him but in case they did, she requested I made him unidentifiable."
"Is that why his teeth were smashed and his fingers and toes removed? " Sinclair asked, noticing the horrified look on the face of every juror.
"Yes," he sobbed hard, the tears openly and unabashedly falling from his eyes. "I warned him, I told him Lana loved no one and no way would she ever fall for him, but he wouldn't listen. He was convinced he could change her mind," he said taking a large drink of water, then setting the glass back down. "If only he had listened to me, he would be alive today."
