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There was a collective gasp from the jury and the judge’s eyes went wide.
“Kidnapped? By whom?” she exclaimed.
“By a man and woman that he hired.” Molly threw out an arm, pointing at her ex. “Mandrew Pate and Karen Geners. Zach had them take me out to an abandoned building. He told Pate to…to kill me and bury my body where no one would ever find it!”
Molly’s voice was shaking and she could barely get the words out, but she had to speak her truth. She was afraid if she didn’t get it out now, she never would.
There was another collective gasp from the jury and Zach’s lawyer started shouting,
“Objection, Your Honor! Objection!”
“Order! This courtroom will come to order!” Whack-whack-whack! Judge Hudson pounded with her gavel, raising her voice over the confused babble. Slowly, the noise died away. “Now—you, Officer… what did you say your name was?”
“Officer Hatchet, Your Honor,” the policeman said. “I can’t say who was behind the kidnapping, but the lady in question was definitely in the act of getting assaulted when her husband, er, Mate came in and stopped it.” He nodded at Torus.
“Your Honor, I must object—this kind of talk is going to taint the jury!” Zach’s lawyer exclaimed again. “In fact, it probably already has! I move for a mistrial.”
“Overruled and denied,” the judge snapped back. “You know good and well that the jury has already returned a verdict—we’re all just waiting to hear it. As for the rest of this mess, Officer Hatchet, I am directing you to take Mr. Wyndham into custody directly after this trial concludes, so you can get to the bottom of all this.”
“Yes, Your Honor.” The police officer nodded respectfully.
“I object!” Zach’s lawyer shouted again.
Judge Hudson pointed her gavel at him.
“For the last time, overruled! And if I hear one more word from you, Councilor Troy, I’m holding you in Criminal Contempt.”
Zach’s lawyer sat back down with a sullen look on his face and Zach immediately began whispering earnestly to him. The judge turned her attention to the jury.
“Madam Foreperson, I understand you have a verdict for us?” she asked.
“Yes, Your Honor.” A woman who looked to be in her fifties with long silver hair rose from her seat.
“Proceed to read it please,” Judge Hudson directed her.
The woman cleared her throat.
“Ahem. We the jury find the defendant, Commander Torus not guilty of any of the charges the plaintiff, Zachary Wyndham, accused him of because Commander Torus was defending his wife, which he has a right to do.”
“I see.” The Judge nodded. “And the countersuit?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” the woman nodded. “We the jury also find Zachary Wyndham guilty of inflicting emotional pain and trauma on Molly Byrne and of ruining her career and her good name with his malicious actions. We unanimously voted to award Ms. Byrne eighty-eight million dollars to compensate her for her pain and suffering. Thank you.”
Judge Hudson nodded.
“Thank you, Madam Foreperson. And may I say that I find your judgment to be extremely fair. You?—”
“Eighty-eight million dollars!” Zach’s anguished howl interrupted her words. “That’s all of it! That’s everything I have! Hell, that’s more than I have—I’ll have to sell my houses and cars to pay that fucking amount!”
Whack-whack-whack!
Judge Hudson pounded with her gavel.
“Councilor, instruct your client to be quiet!” she exclaimed. “I will not have this kind of outburst—or that kind of language—in my courtroom!”
“Be quiet!” Zach’s attorney hissed at him. “Be quiet or you’ll get us both in trouble!”
“But it’s not fair!” Zach whined. He glared at the jury. “You can’t fucking do this to me! You’re going to be sorry—all of you!”
