Page 19 of Enigma: The Final Chapter
My interests pique when Hunter muffles his chuckles by pretending to cough. “One more, just for fun.” Hunter fiddles with a black device. It isn’t a cell phone but more like a small computer tablet. No doubt something he designed.
The bailiff’s annoyed growl booms through the courtroom when Lucas’s phone buzzes for the third time. He stomps toward Lucas with an angry scowl fettering his face. His steps are fast and furious, reaching Lucas before he can read his latest message.
When he snatches the phone out of Lucas’s hand and glances down at the screen, his cheeks hue. His lips move like he's attempting to speak, but no words escape his mouth. Lucas’s throat works hard to swallow, but he remains quiet, frozen in shock. The only noise heard is his heavy pants of breath along with Hunter’s muffled laughs.
Hearing Hunter’s chuckles, Regan turns around to face us, snarling when she notices me in the back row. Incapable of withstanding her wrath, Hunter excuses himself from the courtroom before he rushes for the hallway.
My attention diverts to the front of the courtroom when the bailiff announces the judge’s arrival. Relief washes over me when I notice it’s the same judge who presided over Isabelle’s arraignment. I have an inherent knack for reading people, and his eyes show he's a good man with strong ethics, but he also can offer amnesty.
Within five minutes of the evidence-admission hearing commencing, I'm sitting on the edge of my seat, fighting the urge to strip Lucas of his sheep’s clothing in front of the court he's using to cloak his wolf teeth. His statements about Isabelle don’t steer far from his description weeks ago. He calls her unhinged, psychotic, and an agent with a hero complex who goes above her pay grade to unleash personal justice on innocent civilians.
“Every word Mr. Marco has spoken is explicitly biased and based on nothing but false allegations and testimonies from people who should be sitting in the chair my client is sitting in,” Regan remarks, her tone firm. “We have unmistakably demonstrated that a majority of the evidence in this case does not even pertain to the murder of Megan Shroud.”
“That remark is negotiable considering the evidence was stripped from a reputable FBI agent to be processed by a long-term friend of Ms. Myer’s client.”
“Calling Ms. Veneto a reputable agent would be like calling Hitler Mother Theresa,” Regan fires back.
The judge slams his gavel onto the top of the polished wooden podium he's seated behind. “Ms. Veneto isn’t on trial, Ms. Myers, so please keep your opinions on her work ethic for when you're not in my courtroom,” he suggests. “If you wish to file a proceeding for the malicious prosecution of your client, you can, but not in my court.”
Regan screws up her nose but still nods.
Lucas smirks, feeling victorious. “The ridiculous notion that Ms. Veneto has a personal vendetta against Ms. Brahn is blatantly false. Ms. Veneto was the agent who gathered the evidence at the murder scene because she was the agent whodiscoveredthe scene.”
“Because she wassupposedlythere to arrest Ms. Shroud for the murder of her father. But please, Mr. Marco, explain to the judge one time where you’ve heard of an Internal Affairs agent serving an arrest warrant on a civilian.”
When Regan glares at Lucas with her arms crossed in front of her chest, he fumbles out a string of mumbled words.
Smirking, Regan devotes her attention back to the judge. “Mr. Marco can’t recount a single time that has happened because it doesn’t happen. Internal Affairs’ agents are simply that, internal. Their jurisdiction does not extend to external matters outside of their agency. Ms. Veneto was only on the scene because her soon-to-be brother-in-law was identified as the officer who processed the initial request from the Sheriff’s Office at Parkerville for Ms. Shroud’s arrest.”
When she's granted permission, she hands the judge two official police reports and photographs from an article in last week’s newspaper announcing Theresa’s younger sister, Ella, is soon to marry Officer Tate in February. When walking back to stand next to Isabelle, Regan audaciously winks at the DA. Even though he's fuming with so much anger that steam is billowing out of his ears, he still flushes from Regan’s taunt.
From the photos Hunter presented to me yesterday, there's no doubt Mr. Marco has a fascination with powerful blonde women, but a woman with a stature like Regan’s is way above his pay grade, even when it comes from dirty blood money.
The judge places the documents onto the podium before his eyes lift to Lucas. “After perusing these documents, I have to agree with Ms. Myers. There was no legitimate reason for the evidence in the murder of Ms. Shroud to be collected by Ms. Veneto. But, even if there were a legitimate reason, none of the evidence you've presented me with is admissible. With that in mind—”
“Ms. Veneto’s interest in Ms. Shroud’s case came about when she was investigating the illicit affair between Ms. Brahn and Mr. Isaac Holt, a man whom Ms. Brahn was brought to Ravenshoe to assist in a special undercover FBI operation of, not fall into bed with.”
My teeth grit, angered over Lucas’s fictitious allegations. Isabelle was assigned to the team in Ravenshoe to investigate me, but it was under false assumptions. She was unaware of the malicious ruse they were trying to force on her.
“And what does that investigation have to do with this case?” the judge questions, gaining my attention. “Ms. Brahn isn’t in my courtroom under the presumption she's on trial without a jury of her peers for the murder of Megan Shroud. She's also not here to answer questions on herallegedaffair with Mr. Holt. We're here to discuss the premises relating to the gathering of evidence in this case. Evidence that Ms. Myers has demonstrated was not amassed, documented, or processed with due diligence, which leaves me no choice but to side with Ms. Myers.”
Lucas scoffs while nervously fumbling with papers on his desk. He looks like a petrified man, like having the charges against Isabelle dismissed is a matter of life and death. Only now do I realize how dirty his hands are. I have no doubt Theresa and members of her family are deeply embedded in Lucas’s new venture into corruption. Now, he has no chance of escaping their malevolent clutches.
“You’ll let a murderer off scot-free because of a few missing signatures on the chain-of-evidence documentation? That’s the most absurd notion I’ve ever heard.” Lucas’s eyes widen when he realizes his statement was loud enough for the judge to hear.
The judge’s gaze narrows as his lips set into a firm line. “I'll be more than happy to continue our discussion on absurd reactions in my chambers once this hearing is over, Mr. Marco.”
His gaze shifts to me sitting in the back of the courtroom for a few seconds before his eyes turn down to Isabelle. “My wife hates the inventor of donut holes. Not a small dislike, she hates, hates him. Does that mean I should seek harm on their creator because she cries when she can’t fit into her favorite jeans? No, it doesn’t. Millions of people fall in love every day. That doesn’t mean they wake up the next day and choose to participate in a crime.”
He stands from his chair and leans over the podium. “With any arrest, the evidence must show an objective, factual basis for believing the defendant committed a crime. In this case, I do not find probable cause. All charges against Isabelle Brahn pertaining to the murder case of Megan Shroud have been dismissed. You're free to go, Ms. Brahn.” He slams his gavel down onto the podium three times before exiting the courtroom.
Isabelle shakily stands from her chair at the direction of the bailiff. When the judge exits, she wraps her arms around Regan’s neck. A large smirk curves on my mouth when her excited gaze shifts back to me. A huge grin is stretched across her face, and happy tears are welling in her eyes.
Now that nothing is standing between us, it’s time to take my girl home.
Chapter 9
Isabelle
