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PART FOUR
A YEAR AND FOUR MONTHS LATER
SIXTY-SEVEN
BRYNN
There was a question Shavonne asked me the night I told her about my plan to get back at Dominic: “What do you hope to gain from this?”
At first, I couldn’t figure out the answer. I once was too afraid to look back at the events that had transpired, or to think about how badly he’d hurt me. It was easier to pretend it’d never happened or that I’d just had a stroke of bad luck, than to face the truth.
I would have rather lied to myself. After all, we humans do it best. We lie to ourselves and fabricate these stories in our heads so we can believe them. But eventually the story will crack, and the lies will spill out, and you’ll drown in the truth.
There was something about seeing Dominic as a state governor. Knowing he was this crooked man overseeing all those innocent lives and making decisions for others when his decisions were downright evil, did not sit right with me. Men like Dominic Baker and John Bolton are corrupt, and they hide behind their money to find loopholes in the law, so they don’t go down. They make sure everyone else is burned and charred before the flames dare come their way.
It finally hit me a few hours later that what I wanted out of this was simple: to win. I wanted Dominic and John Bolton to see that even at their superior levels, they could not prevail and that a simple woman like me could take them down, no matter what.
It’s been a year and four months since the events at the cabin and the verdict for the North Carolina v. Dominic Baker case will be read today. I wish it could’ve been Brynn Wallace v. Dominic Baker, but his wrong doings amount to much more with his status. After finding out what he’d done, everyone hated him. The state of North Carolina immediately impeached him after his arrest and didn’t waste any time arranging a trial. This trial has been the talk of the country for a very long time.
I’m sitting on a park bench with my phone in hand, oversized sunglasses on my face as my leg bounces relentlessly. John Bolton’s verdict was given two weeks ago, and now it’s Dominic’s turn. Of course, John got off with a weak sentence. He threw Dominic under the bus when the news came out that I’d been preyed on and raped, but his role as a New Orleans judge was still revoked. The police had asked why Shavonne and I had come to North Carolina, and I admitted that I wanted to face Dominic. I wanted him to own up to what he’d done, and I had Shavonne do most of that for me. I also told them that when Shavonne confronted him, he panicked about his role as governor and kidnapped her, then came after me, and that’s how the whole thing at the cabin transpired.
The proof about John was in the phone records between him and Dominic, as well as the unsigned nondisclosure that Dominic stupidly had left in a pile of old files. There were calls made several times between John and Dominic the night of my attempted murder, and witnesses who came forward to inform officials that John and Dominic had been eating at the same restaurant I was a waitress in. To my complete surprise, one of the neighbors in Marshview claimed to have been walking their dog when she saw Dominic pull up to the house with a woman of my description.
Dominic confessed that he’d spent a few nights in John Bolton’s rental. There was no proof of rape, so John didn’t get charged for that (some straight bullshit), but Dominic did confess to receiving drugs from John to make sure I couldn’t fight back or deny his advances. Despite Dominic’s confession, John still denied raping me. The only reason John confessed to the drugs is because they caught his dealer, who was willing to rat him out for a shorter sentence of his own.
John Bolton is now serving eight months of community service and is on house arrest for an additional six months. It’s a crappy sentence, but I knew from the beginning it would be hard taking John down after so many years had passed.
Is it crazy to say that despite what John had done to me, it still didn’t feel as bad as Dominic’s betrayal? I suppose a part of it is because I couldn’t remember much of what John had done, but what I do remember is the way Dominic watched, the way he negotiated with my body like I was nothing more than an object. Don’t get me wrong, both of them deserve to burn in hell, but the person I wanted to see go down the hardest was Dominic.
My breath stalls as the camera from the news channel pans to Dominic standing and facing the judge. He’s dressed in a decent suit and has clearly had his haircut, but he looks thinner and his face is hollow like he hasn’t eaten properly or slept in months. I hope he hasn’t and that if he does manage to catch a whisper of sleep that it’s filled with nightmares. I have dreams where I take a gun and shoot him in the chest. He comes alive again, just for me to pin him down with another bullet. He feels every ounce of pain and bleeds everywhere. I love that dream.
One of the jurors reads off the criminal charges, and Dominic is found guilty for every single one. I feel a flutter of a relief when I see Dominic’s shoulders sag with defeat. The camera zooms in and there are tears in his eyes. He’s handcuffed and dragged away with a mixture of shock and sadness. I don’t know why he’s so surprised. He had this coming.
After the judge declares Dominic’s prison sentence and the trial wraps up, the camera shifts to Jolene who is instantly swarmed by a flock of journalists. I should be there with her, but I couldn’t bring myself to go. I had a feeling if he was not guilty of any of the charges brought against him, I would’ve thrown a fit of rage, or at least, fled the courtroom to vomit. Shavonne and I figured it was best to avoid the court today, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t watch from somewhere else. Jolene is wearing a white blouse with a black pencil skirt. I’m not sure if it’s the belt with her outfit that makes her appear thinner. Samuel approaches Jolene with his security detail and pushes through the crowd with her until they disappear out of the courthouse and into a tinted SUV.
I haven’t spoken much to Jolene in between the trials. When we were “rescued” by the police, we were taken to the police station in the back of cruisers. We all had our story about Dominic, and we stuck to it, just as we’d planned in the hotel the week we met. Dominic was now going to prison with no insanity plea, despite his shark of a lawyer fighting like hell for it. And sure, Dominic’s lawyer was a good one, but mine and Jolene’s was better.
The hardest part about the night when we set Dominic up was going back to the motel after spending hours at the police station. As soon as Shavonne and I were inside the room, I sat on the edge of the thin, lumpy mattress, dropped my face into my hands, and sobbed. It was finally over. We could’ve died, or Jolene could’ve killed us if she wanted to, just to cover for her husband, but she didn’t. We’d risked everything, shoveled our money together just to get across the country and fulfill my crazy plan. I figured I’d end up in jail or worse, killed, but I was willing to go to jail if it meant Dominic was dead.
I admit, I was upset with Jolene for changing the plans at the last minute, but after having time to think about it, it made sense. She didn’t do it only to protect herself (because she’d have been fine either way) but she did it to protect me and Shavonne too. She must’ve seen how vengeful I was, and I admit that I wasn’t thinking clearly. Shavonne even had moments where she wanted to back out and fly back to New Orleans because I simply wanted to go to Dominic’s house, sneak in through a window, and shoot him point blank. I admit, I was a little unhinged. But Jolene spared me any heartache in the process, I suppose. I guess she figured I deserved better than going to jail and because she thought ahead, we’ve all come out on the winning side. It felt surreal to finally be able to confess it all to the police, in the courthouse during the trials, and to hear the confession Jolene milked out of Dominic through the recording on her phone. I also never felt more alive.
Prior to this plan, I was numb for months. I was lost and confused and afraid. But getting to this point, despite the hiccups, has given me a strength I never knew I had.
“And now we wait,” Shavonne had said when I’d finished sobbing like a baby in the motel. We both laughed, then we went to Cook Out and bought ourselves burgers and shakes. It was the best burger and shake I’d ever had—a victory meal we both deserved.
I turn off the screen of my phone and stare ahead at the lake. It’s early spring, butterflies flutter by, and the emerald water ripples beneath the sun. The sun feels good on my skin, giving me a sheer reminder that I’m here. That I made it.
No longer do I have to carry that massive weight on my shoulders.
No longer do I have to hide.
I won. I finally won.
SIXTY-EIGHT
JOLENE
It’s been a month since Dominic’s sentence, and I feel like an entirely different person. There is no fear inside me or worries over what I eat. In fact, I’m eating an oversized chocolate chip cookie right now as I sit in a café called Monet’s and wait for the person I’ve agreed to meet.
