Page 10 of The Book of Wrath

Chapter 9

Megan

The courthouse is slow as fuck and if one more person asks me if I’m okay I swear I will gouge out their eyes with a melon baller. I get it, I am covered in cuts and bruises and look like I got hit by a truck. That still does give the right for Betty and Susan to ask fifty million questions and then make assumptions on what happened and put their two cents in.

“Ms. Monroe?” The clerk behind the desk called out my name and I thanked whatever god or goddess for getting me away from those two presumptuous ladies. The lady behind the desk was a petite woman, her large round glasses enhanced his blue eyes. The way she had a pencil warped up in her bun made her black hair look a frayed mess. She couldn’t have been any older than twenty-five. I stopped just short of the desk and took a deep breath. “Ms. Monroe, Officer Barker will be taking you back to a more private room now that your lawyer is here.”

A tall dark male dressed in a nicely pressed bailiffs uniform came closer to me and smiled. His short black, curly hair was cut closely to the scalp, but his rich brown eyes looked like that had seen some shit. I nodded my head. Ethan came up behind me, Officer Barker raised an eyebrow at him, but I interjected. “He’s with me. I can’t be doing this alone.” Officer Barker nodded and turned away from us, the only signal we had to follow him.

He walked us through a large waiting area, each section was split apart but fogged glass partitions, each section sat across from a door on our left. The far wall ahead of us and to our right by the seating areas were floor to ceiling length windows with a view of Wilmington’s downtown area. It wasn’t a very pretty sight. Officer Barker stopped outside of the last door, “Your lawyer will be out shortly Ms. Monroe. Please have a seat out here.” His voice was smooth as silk, deep and rich. He sounded like Michael Duncan Clarke, kind of looked like him too. I wonder why I didn’t notice it before.

“Thank you,” I replied as I took a seat on the wooden bench attached to the glass partition. These seats were not comfortable at all. Officer Barker headed back through the waiting room; his boots muffled by the carpet throughout the room. “I’m sorry we are wasting our whole day here.” I muttered to Ethan as he took his spot next to me.

“Girlfriend, if I didn’t want to waste my day with you, I wouldn’t. You know this. You are not going anywhere out of my sight for at least a week,” he chuckled, opening his book back up. He loved thriller novels, and I knew better than to get him talking about this new one. He would end up telling me the whole story and ruining the ending for me.

The door across from us open, Mr. Garrity poked his head out and looked at me. “Hello, Megan. Are you ready to come in?” He asked me. He was a frail looking older man. His salt and peppered hair was always slicked back, held together with way too much product that smelled of sandalwood. It was a true assault on the nose, but he was a gentle and sweet man. He was my father’s law firm partner until his passing. As soon as he heard I needed help, he was grateful to help.

I stood up and walked over to the door, my dress swaying just above the carpet. I was grateful to Ethan for finding me something that wasn’t destroyed. Ethan followed me to the door and before Mr. Garrity could say something I put my hand up. “He comes with me.” I announce. Mr. Garrity looks between us and just shrugs, moving out of the way of the entrance and ushering me into the first room on the right.

“This is where we are going to be discussing most of what’s to come over the next few months. Mr. Paxley has lawyered up, which I am sure you’re already well aware of, given his history,” Mr. Garitty paused and looked at Ethan before taking his seat.

“You can speak freely in front of Ethan, Mr. Garrity. He has been my best friend since we were children. He’s here with me to keep my from losing my mind,” I say as I sit down in a much comfier chair than the ones I’ve been in for the last two hours.

“Okay, well. Mr. Paxley is stating that you did this to yourself because you were drunk. You were upset over a conversation the two of you were having and you feel down the stairs and that’s how you got injured. The tox screen that was done at the hospital blows his story out of the water. His lawyer is currently trying to make the doorbell footage and the footage from the camera in the living room inadmissible, but luckily for you, the judge wants to see the footage. I requested Judge Moore be removed from the case since he has had a track record of letting Mr. Paxley off with just a slap on the wrist in the past. The court agreed and has placed Judge Belinda Miles on the case. She is a fair judge, but I do think that his lawyer will try to have her dismissed for a male judge. All things considered though, if he does that it won’t look good for him or his client.” Mr. Garrity rattled off the small details, emphasizing the need for the female judge, Ryan’s lawyer not liking that it’s a woman.

“They sound sexist,” Ethan grumbled from the end of the table, causing Mr. Garrity to pause his prattling.

“That’s why having a female judge is perfect for this case. If he tries to take this to a trial hearing, that will put Ryan in the hot seat in front of a jury of men and women. If his lawyer tries to dismiss a female judge and request a male judge instead, it won’t play into their favor. Megan, I know you don’t want to hear this, but his family can try to buy his way out of this,” Garrity said as he shifted some papers around on the table. “Here is the restraining order paperwork. Everything has already been presented to the judge per your requests that he come with an officer to get his things from your home. I also made it well known to the judge and his lawyer that you will be present to make sure no more damage is done inside the house. His lawyer blew a top saying he can’t be kicked out of his home. Thankfully you didn’t put his name on the deed and all payments have been made by you. Has he ever given you cash for rent?”

“No, my money took care of all the bills. He lived by the, his money is his money, and my money is his money. I have it in text if they need proof. I also have a written contract with him that was notarized when he moved into the house that he would not damage the house, the property within and outside the house and that if he was asked to leave, he would vacate the premises with no further contact. It also states that he has fourteen days to remove his property from the home. Dad drew up the contract with Larry Wilbur for anyone who wanted to move in as a roommate or such. There are several copies on file with no names filled in at the office. It wasn’t tailored for him specifically.” I said as I pulled a file from my bag and handed it to Mr. Garrity.

“You were always a bright child. Since the house was yours for three years before you two moved in together, he has no claim on the house and never can. You have cameras on and inside the house correct?” Garrity inquired as he scribbled some notes on a legal pad.

“Yes, and before you ask, he does not have access to the cameras. It also states in the contract that there are cameras in the house as a safety precaution and if anyone damages the cameras that they will be liable for damages.” I sat back in the chair. I knew enough legal bullshit to get me through this mess. Ryan didn’t realize how much I paid attention to my dad when I worked at the firm. I may not have been a lawyer, but I wanted to be a legal aid. Keyword there; wanted.

A knock came at the door and a tall, pale-skinned man walked into the room. He took a seat next to Mr. Garrity and smiled at us. “Hello Megan. I don’t know if you remember me, but —” I put my hand up, stopping Evan from completing his idiotic sentence.

“I remember you, Evan. Why are you here?” Ice filled my voice; this man was not a friend to me or someone I trusted. I leaned toward the table, placing my elbows on the tabletop and resting my chin on the back of my now intertwined fingers. Total power play move.

“I’m running paperwork between the firms,” he said lowly, placing a paper in front of Mr. Garrity. Garrity knew I didn’t trust Evan and the way he tried to get in good graces with my dad. Matt beat the hell out of him for trying to force himself on me in the copier room. There must be a reason he was allowing him anywhere near me.

“Megan, he is the only person on the lower end who can help us. Also, the officer who made the call and got injured by Mr. Paxley’s vehicle is being called in as a witness since he was the one who found you in the parking lot. I want to talk to him about his options if he so chooses to take action against Mr. Paxley as well,” Garrity wasn’t a man to play games, he’s going to hit the Paxley’s where it will hurt the most. Their wallets.

“How soon do you think he can get his stuff out of my house? I have a lot of damage that I’ve already had to clean up and a lot of stuff that’s been destroyed that I have to figure out how to replace,” I state, the biggest thing I need right now is the restraining order so he can’t come to the house, except with an officer to get his things and so he can’t come to my work or within a certain distance of me. Hopefully it will also stop him from contacting me through text or phone calls or even social media messaging.

“We will be going in shortly to discuss the matter at hand. I think it would be best for your friend to stay here since Mr. Paxley is going to be here, even though he will be on video in a different room. They won’t put him anywhere near you. Do you have the pictures printed out of the damages to the house?” Garrity asked while flipping open his computer.

“Yes, here they are,” I slid a Walgreens photo envelope across the table. “Did you get the videos from the camera already?” I asked as he typed away on his computer.

“I did, they have already been sent over to the judge for her to watch before the hearing. Most likely she is watching them as we speak. His lawyer and I have been going rounds since this morning over her watching the videos. Thankfully, she wanted to see them so she could get a better understanding of the situation. There it is,” Garrity announced to the room as if it was some big discovery.

He turned his laptop around so I could view the screen. Three pictures were pulled up on the screen. A picture of me in the hospital from the day after the attack, a picture of a brunette covered in cuts and bruises, and a final picture of a girl with auburn hair covered in blood, cuts and bruises. I wanted to look away from the screen. Who were these other women?

“Meet Alice Peterson and Melissa Riley. Both are former classmates of Mr. Paxley. They gave me permission to share these photos with you. They were Mr. Paxley’s first victims. He assaulted these women both physically and sexually. Both women feel for you and wanted to help get him put away for good so he couldn’t do this to someone else. They tried back in June of 2006, but the Paxley’s paid off the judge and their parents so there was no trial. Neither girl received any money from the Paxley’s, only their families did, and they both have cut ties since,” Garrity filled in the blanks of the school they attended with Ryan, suggestions to me for therapy and how they coped with what happened to them. Bile crept up my throat. I was going to be sick.

Ethan put his hand on my back, I must be either completely pale or I look green around the gills. I turned the computer back to Garrity and put my head in my hands. I wanted to puke, I wanted to cry. Hell, I want to run out of this room, change my name and leave the country! I wish Matt was still alive, I wouldn’t be in this situation if he was. A sob escaped from my lips, guilt and despair made the walls feel too close. Garrity either didn’t notice or didn’t care that I was three seconds away from a full-blown mental breakdown. Evan noticed which pissed me off.

Another knock came at the door, this time it was Officer Barker who entered, announcing the Judge was waiting for us. Garrity put his laptop and notepad back in his bag and waited for me to come to the door before we left the room and entered the large court room. The walls in here look like someone decided the color of pale skin was perfect for the room. Wood paneling accented the walls and ceiling, and at the head of the room sat the very large, very tall Judges bench. I wonder if her chair was comfortable.

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