Page 74 of Tortured Whispers
I pushed all the air from my lungs and dug my nails into Cease’s leg. Judge Baxter had been there before. He saw what happened when someone killed themselves. I could tell by the look in his eyes he wasn’t going to take it easy on Ashley and she didn’t deserve for him to.
“Order!” Judge Baxter sounded his gavel then bored into Ashley with a stare so cold it sent a chill through the courtroom. “Miss Hartwell the crimes you committed were atrocious and heinous. They were heavily premeditated and torturous in nature. You had no mercy while you repeatedly urged the victim to kill herself. You orchestrated an elaborate plan to watch Miss Powers suffer so you could broadcast it to the world.
Because of you, this egregious act has been seen millions of times. Miss Powers may never have a normal public life after this is over with. Given all of the information I’ve reviewed on your behalf, I sentence you to life in prison with no chance for parole.”
A shaky, emotional cry ripped from my throat after the sentence was read. Not one person was quiet in that courtroom. Caesar held me because if he didn’t, I would have surely fallen to pieces. I would have burst into a million pieces of confetti.
“It’s okay, Brook,” he whispered into my hair. “You got justice. Our baby got justice.” His words were so hushed that only I could hear them. They were only meant for me anyway though.
The roar of the world could be heard in that courthouse. The only ones who opposed the ruling were members of Ashley’s family. Not one decent human being would ever think she deserved anything less than what she got.
I hoped she lived to a ripe old age.
**
Caesar…
I decided to wait until after the trial was done to go to the board with concerns of an inappropriate relationship with Brooklyn. I foolishly hoped that they watched the trial with the rest of the world and deemed the journal inadmissible and nothing to investigate.
That wasn’t the case.
I sat in a conference room with Ronnie and a handful of board members while they reviewed papers in front of them. “Dr. Powers, we’d like to keep this as low key and out of the public eye as possible. There has been enough surrounding your family this past month. We also would like to not call much attention to Dr. Hollow’s practice as it’s a staple in the community.”
“Right, of course,” I nodded at Dr. Owens who was the mouthpiece for the board.
“Now, what do you have to say for yourself? The allegations are pretty steep and definitely immoral.” Owens’ back stiffened as she looked at me.
“Dr. Owens, I admit to having an inappropriate relationship with my niece in the past,” I said. She leaned over to whisper to her colleagues and Ronnie leaned over to whisper to me.
“You’re doing fine. You had to get the truth out of the way,” he told me. I wanted to believe that but Dr. Owens and the other members of the licensing board didn’t look pleased.
“So, are you admitting to the things written in your niece’s journal? There are accounts of sexual intercourse, Powers.” Owens sounded like she was reciting a chant that would conjure a demon and she didn’t have the heart to finish.
“I know,” I nodded.
“You expect us to let you continue practicing? You work with children. Who’s to say you won’t abuse one of them?”
My jaw flexed in response to her line of questioning. I would never hurt a child. I would die first. Ronnie sensed my irritation and moved to settle the energy in the room. It was charged for sure.
“Dr. Owens, I’d like to speak on behalf of Dr. Powers as well as his niece Brooklyn Powers since I am both his boss and her psychologist.” Ronnie got the nod to speak and he approached the topic with eloquence. “I’m not worried about Powers abusing children any time soon. I’m not worried about it at all. The brief relationship he had with Brooklyn is a direct result of GSA. You’ll all note that I am the pioneer of recent research done on this unique syndrome.
He’s had a long string of perfectly normal relationships with women. He is not a sexual deviant or anything of the such. You’d have to look at all the research I’ve done over the past decade and see how seamlessly this situation fits in with non-adoption related GSA.”
Ronnie laid out fact after fact for the board and they took it all in. I waited patiently while they spoke amongst themselves. On the outside, it may have looked like I was fine but on the inside, I was a ball of nerves.
What the hell was taking so long for them to reach a decision? That couldn’t have been good. Maybe they didn’t give a fuck about Ronnie’s research or findings. Maybe they wanted to nail me to the wall.
“Powers, Hollows.” Dr. Owen called out. We all took our seats across from each other standoff style. “The board opts to notify you one week from now of our joint decision. So far we’re split. In order to keep things fair, you will be temporarily suspended from practice until further notice.”
I swallowed trying to loosen the tightness in my throat but I still gave a smile and a nod. This was a part of what it would take to keep Brook in my life then I’d go through it. I’d jump through all the hoops in the circus for her.
**
When I got home, Brooklyn was in our room. She leaped off the bed when I walked in and it melted away the stress of the day instantly. “Cease, guess what?” She bounced from foot to foot excitedly.
“What?” I sat on the bed and it protested under my bulk.
“My cap and gown came! It’s almost time,” she did a little shimmy and I couldn’t help but laugh. Her hair was getting longer and beginning to stretch down her back. I couldn’t keep my hands out of it.
