by Dan Decker
“That’s just fine.” I leaned back and put my hands behind my head. “I’m sure Penny will cooperate, and you’ll be the one going to jail for murder, not her.”
She let out an exasperated sigh. “What are you talking about?”
“If you give up Penny, she’ll go to jail for much longer.”
“And if Penny gives me up...” Vivian trailed off, clearly surprised to have spoken out loud.
“Exactly. What are the chances Penny won’t when we confront her with the evidence we have collected?”
Vivian stared at me for a long moment. It was starting to get awkward. My cell phone buzzed. I looked at my watch and saw that I had received a text message from Ellie.
“Penny has arrived,” it read, “her attorney is with her.”
I pulled out my phone and texted back. “Have them wait in my office.”
“Penny is here.”
I made as if to stand. Vivian still had not moved. She grabbed my arm as I walked past.
“It was all Penny’s idea.”
68
As I walked into the courthouse the next day, I had a skip in my step that I could not repress. I greeted the unfriendly guard with a smile and waited patiently for the courtroom to be unlocked. Mason showed up a few minutes after I had set up at our defense table.
“Did you figure out why the prosecution asked for a delay yesterday?” Mason asked after making sure nobody was close enough to overhear us.
“It was just a matter for the prosecution. It’s been fully resolved,” I said, carefully guarding my face to keep the smile from showing. I had intentionally not told Mason about the situation because I wanted to see his face in court today.
The courtroom slowly filled, first with some reporters. Cindy came in next, giving me a mirthless smile as she shook my hand. She even stopped and shook Mason’s hand, exchanging a few polite words with him.
“What is going on?” Mason asked in wonderment, watching as Cindy took her seat. “That was unusual, right?”
I just shrugged and waited for court to start.
After court was in session, Judge Lewis looked down at us before the jury had been brought out.
“Is there any preliminary business?”
“Yes,” Cindy said, getting to her feet, “we would like to dismiss all charges against Mason Harwood.”
You could’ve heard a pin drop in the courtroom. The judge looked flabbergasted, and Mason’s mouth dropped open.
“What?” Mason looked over at me. “Did you know about this? Is this some sort of joke?”
I gave him a smug smile and turned my attention back to Cindy.
“This is highly irregular,” Judge Lewis said after he recovered from his shock. “I expected you to announce a plea bargain.”
“I am aware of the irregularity, Your Honor,” Cindy said, “but new testimony has come to light that exonerates Mason from the charges.”
Judge Lewis looked at me. “Counselor, do you have anything to say?”
“I agree with the prosecution’s motion. No objection here.”
Judge Lewis looked at Steve, who looked flabbergasted. “Do you have any objections?”
“I am out of the loop,” Steve said, “perhaps the prosecution would care to enlighten us as to what has been discovered?”
“You and me both,” Judge Lewis said, looking at Cindy. “What is going on?”
“It might be more instructive if I recall a witness.”
“Yes, by all means, let’s do that.” Judge Lewis looked around the courtroom. “That means I’ll have to call in the jury, any objections?”
There were none.
Vivian was back on the stand a few minutes later. She no longer had the confident air from before; if anything, she looked nervous and bothered. I heard from Cindy this morning that Vivian had hired an attorney last night to review the plea bargain. After he had reviewed it and the potential charges against her, he had recommended she take it. Cindy had given her a sweet deal and told her she had until 8:00 AM this morning to make a decision.
“Your witness, counselor,” Judge Lewis said, looking at Cindy.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Cindy said, walking up to the lectern. “Vivian, thank you for being here today.”
She waited, giving Vivian a chance to respond, but Vivian said nothing.
“Is it true, Vivian, that you used to belong to a cult some time ago?”
Vivian nodded.
“Would you please speak in the affirmative for the record?” Cindy prompted in a gentle but firm tone.
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Is there anybody else in this courtroom who was also a member?”
“Yes,” Vivian said as she lifted a finger. “Penny.”
“Let the record show that the witness has pointed out Penny Moyer.”
“Now, could you tell me in just a few words about your experience with the cult?”
Vivian hesitated. “Penny and I were brainwashed.”
“That is unfortunate. When you left the cult, did you leave with anybody?”
“I left with Penny.”
“Did you guys keep in touch?”
“We did.”
“Why?”
“It helped to have somebody to talk to. We had been through a traumatic experience. I won’t get into the details, but some members were murdered. Penny and I supported one another. I tried psychiatrists. I tried counselors. I tried psychologists. None could help me the way Penny could because she had experienced the same thing.”
“Were you still in contact with Penny after you invested in Meridian Solutions?”
“Yes.”
I believed Vivian invested with money she’d stolen from the cult and had said as much to Cindy. She hadn’t cared. She was only interested in the murders.
Cindy cleared her throat. “It is quite a coincidence that later on, Mason met Penny and started to date her. Did you have something to do with this?”
Mason stirred.
“Not openly. Mason never knew of my connection with Penny.” Vivian hesitated. “Neither did Max.”
“Was it your intention to get Penny married to Mason?”
“That was the original plan.”
“What went wrong?”
“Mason didn’t like her.”
“Was there a backup plan?”
“Max.”
An audible gasp came from a juror. I turned and was not surprised to see that it was the man who seemed to change his mind with every whim of the trial.
I hid a smile as the questioning continued, glancing over at Mason, who appeared flummoxed, angry, and confused. I didn’t blame him. Vivian and Penny had been pulling their strings for years, and nobody had suspected a thing.
After laying a solid foundation for their plans to get Penny married to Max, Cindy started asking questions about the day Max died.
“So you and Vivian would meet at the country club what, two or three times a week?”
“Yes, that is accurate.”
“And did you guys take pains to keep the nature of your past a secret?”
“We did.”
“Why?”
“We didn’t want it to get out that we had both been involved in a cult together, now did we?”
“Is that the only reason?”
Vivian hesitated for a long time, but the plea agreement required her to tell the full truth about everything. “We also wanted to take control of Meridian Solutions.”
“And how were you going about that?”
“Any way we could.”
“Did you poison the Snickers bars that were on Mason’s desk?”
“Yes. I did.” Vivian looked straight at Mason, a look of shame crossing her face. Mason glared back at her.
“Why did you do this?”
“We were hoping Mason would get angry enough to kill Max. Or Ronald. Or Frank.”
“How did you try to make him angry?”
“A variety of ways. The venture cap
ital campaign was the most recent.”
One of the things that had come out in Vivian’s conversation with Cindy was how they had also intentionally stoked the flames between Ronald and Frank. Vivian didn’t know how, but she believed Ronald had something to do with Frank’s demise.
Detective Thompson was looking into it.
“So you were intentionally trying to create a situation that would result in somebody’s death, is this correct?”
“Yes.”
“And whose idea was this?”
I glanced at Penny, who didn’t bat an eye as she stared at Vivian.
If looks could kill, I thought.
Vivian didn’t hesitate. “It was Penny’s idea. She came up with it from the very beginning.”
69
As I walked down the steps of the courthouse, I grabbed Mason by the arm and whispered in his ear.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t say anything to the reporters. Just wave, smile, and get in your car.”
“That’s good advice.” Mason turned to me. “Thank you. I appreciate all you did.”
I smirked as a thought occurred to me. “You know, I don’t think I ever told you, but you need to thank Penny for the fact I got involved in this case.”
He gave me a surprised look. “Oh?”
“She was trying to set Vivian up. She was hoping I could prove it and get Vivian sent to jail so that you could go free.”
“Perhaps she had real feelings for me, after all?” Despite the fact that Mason had been adamant he was over Penny, a shadow crossed his face.
I shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter, does it?”
Mason didn’t answer for a long moment. “No, I suppose not.” He walked down the steps, refusing to answer any questions as he got into a car that his wife had just parked at the curb. She gave me a small wave, which I returned.
Once Mason was gone, the reporters turned on me.
Just as I wanted.
I gave them a big smile, my best smile.
“It’s always a good day when justice is done.”
Books by
Dan Decker
Dan Decker publishes books regularly in a variety of Genres. For a complete listing visit:
http://www.dandeckerbooks.com/books
For the most recent updates go to:
http://www.dandeckerbooks.com
Legal Thrillers
Mitch Turner Legal Thrillers
The Good Client
The Victim’s Wife
Mitch Turner Legal Thriller Short Stories
The Mugger
The Hostage Negotiator
The Prosecution’s Witness
And more!
Thrillers
Jake Ramsey Thrillers
Black Brick
Dark Spectrum
Blood Games
Silent Warehouse (Short Story)
Nameless Man (Short Story)
Money Games (Short Story)
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Monster Country: Vince Carter Chronicles
Genizyz
Requiem
Monster Country: Parry Peters Chronicles
Recruit (Novella)
Delivery (Novella)
Dead Man’s War
Dead Man’s Game
Dead Man’s Fear
Dead Man’s Fury
War of the Fathers Universe
Prequel: Blood of the Redd Guard
War of the Fathers
Lord of the Inferno
Enemy in the Shadows
East Wind (Short Story)
The Containment Team
Ready Shooter
Hybrid Hotel
Red Survivor Mission Chronicles
Red Survivor
The Sawyer Gambit
The Assassin in the Hold
And More!
About the Author
Dan Decker lives in Utah with his family. He has a law degree and spends as much time as he can outdoors. You can learn more about upcoming novels at dandeckerbooks.com.
Author’s Note
If you would like to receive notifications about other upcoming works, sneak peeks, and other extras, go to dandeckerbooks.com and sign up for my newsletter. Finally, if you would like to reach out, please feel free to drop me a line at [email protected]. I always enjoy hearing from readers.
Text Copyright © 2020 Dan Decker
All rights reserved.
Published by Grim Archer Media, a publishing imprint of Xander Revolutions LC
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.