Page 86 of Saving Her Heart
"You're watching the building burn, aren't you?" Patricia asks.
"No, I was?—"
"We have your phone records. You were on a video call with someone at the scene. Watching your handiwork."
"That's not?—"
"Should I play the audio? Where you can be heard saying 'Beautiful. Just like I planned'?"
William breaks. Not dramatically, but completely. His shoulders slump, the façade drops, and for a moment, the real William Thornfield appears—cold, calculating, and defeated.
Closing arguments are almost anticlimactic after that. Patricia methodically lays out the evidence, connecting every dot. Brennan tries valiantly to create reasonable doubt, but his heart isn't in it.
The jury deliberated for only three hours. When they file back in, none of them look at William.
"Has the jury reached a verdict?" Judge Martinez asks.
"We have, Your Honor," the foreman says.
"On count one, conspiracy to commit arson, how do you find?"
"Guilty."
"On count two, attempted murder in the first degree?"
"Guilty."
They continue through all eighteen counts. Guilty on every single one.
Kendall starts crying beside me, but they're tears of relief. I pull her against me as William is immediately taken into custody, his bail revoked.
Two weeks later, we're back for sentencing. William looks like he's aged a decade, the orange jumpsuit hanging off his frame.
Judge Martinez doesn't mince words. "Mr. Thornfield, you terrorized an entire community for greed. You were willing to kill innocent people, including children and the elderly, for money you didn't even need. This court sentences you to life in prison without the possibility of parole."
William doesn't react. He's led away in shackles, and I feel a weight lift off my shoulders.
Morrison gets fifteen years with the possibility of parole in ten. Valerie gets five years, likely to serve three. Brad gets seven years. They're all led away, and suddenly it's over.
Outside the courthouse, the Walking Ladies are waiting, still in their black suits but now wearing "JUSTICE FOR KENDALL" t-shirts over them.
"We would have given him the death penalty," Gladys announces to anyone who'll listen.
"Florida doesn't have the death penalty for attempted murder," I remind her.
"Then we would have brought it back," Florence says firmly, "just for him."
Kendall laughs, really laughs, for the first time in weeks. "Thank you," she tells them. "For everything. The FBI costumes, the investigating, all of it."
"That's what family does," Betty says simply.
Joan nods. "Plus, we're thinking of making this a regular thing. The FBIs, fighting crime and taking names!"
"Please don't," I beg. "I'm running out of explanations for the captain."
But they're already walking toward their Buick, planning their next "case." Something about suspicious activities at the country club involving possibly poisoned golf balls.
"They're never going to stop, are they?" Kendall asks.
