Delayed Justice

by Constance Bretes

  “Yes, I’m Gail Sample, and this is my client Sami Parker. We have an appointment with District Attorney Spencer.”

  The receptionist called the district attorney and informed her that her appointment had arrived. When she hung up the phone, she motioned toward the chairs in the waiting area and said, “Have a seat. District Attorney Spencer will be out shortly.”

  “Thank you,” Gail said.

  They took a seat as instructed.

  Soon the doors of the office opened up and District Attorney Spencer came out to greet them. She was a beautiful woman, about five feet tall, with layered, short blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a navy blue pinstripe business suit with a white blouse and dark blue high-heeled shoes.

  “Hello, I’m Dani Spencer.” She shook Gail’s hand and then Sami’s hand after the introductions were made. “Please, come into my office and have a seat.”

  When they walked in, Makeeta and the deputy were sitting at a conference table.

  “Hello, Sami.” Makeeta spoke quietly.

  Sami merely nodded at him and at the deputy. Why are they here? Are they going to arrest me? Sami pulled the chair out to sit in it and glanced nervously back at Makeeta and the deputy. She took her seat and looked down at her hands, knowing this would be a difficult session. She didn’t know how she’d get around to telling the district attorney about her pregnancy when she hadn’t even told Makeeta about it.

  The district attorney’s office was huge and quite impressive. It was a large corner office with a big window and carpet on the floor in a green twill pattern. Bookcases filled with law books lined three of the walls. The large conference table took up the space at the end of the office.

  Dani Spencer sat down and opened the case file on the bombing and murder of Carol Shields. “Okay,” she said, “as you may be aware, we are in the process of building a case against Mr. Thomas Wilkes in the bombing at the pharmacy building on July 11th, 2008. We are going to try him on felony assault with intent to do bodily harm and felony murder. I have five pictures here, and I need you to look at them and see if you can identify the suspect in any of the photos.”

  Gail spoke up. “Before we go into this, we were not expecting the sheriff to be here, which makes us question where you are at with this case. Do you still suspect my client of any kind of wrongdoing?”

  Sami kept her gaze on the table, but occasionally she looked up and took a peek at Makeeta, only to find him staring at her.

  “No, we do not suspect your client of any wrongdoing. We recognize her as also a victim of this bombing and realize that she has suffered as a result of it. Are we settled with this now?” Dani Spencer asked Gail.

  “Yes. Sami, you may proceed.”

  “Okay, as I said, I have five pictures for you to look at and see if you can identify the perpetrator that set off the bomb at the pharmacy.” Dani handed Sami the paper with the five men’s pictures on it.

  Sami looked at each one very carefully. “Yes, picture number two.”

  “Are you sure of that, Sami?” Makeeta asked quietly.

  “Yes,” she uttered sharply, turning her head his way, but not looking at him. She found it particularly disconcerting having him seated so close to her.

  Dani handed her a pen. “Please circle the picture, date, and sign it.”

  Sami did as Dani asked and handed the pen and paper back to Dani.

  “Please describe the events on the day of the bombing from when you got up that morning until the last thing you remembered.”

  Sami shifted in her chair uncomfortably. She decided not to mention her pregnancy at this time. She looked over at Gail, who gave her a nod to go on.

  Sami started. “I got up at seven-thirty in the morning and got ready to go to work.”

  “Where did you work?” Dani asked, writing the information on a legal pad of paper.

  “I worked at the hospital as a billing clerk. At twelve-thirty, I left work to go eat lunch at Milne cafe. After I ate, at about five minutes after one, I stopped off at the pharmacy. I wanted to get the latest book by a specific author I like reading.” Sami stopped to catch her breath.

  “Okay, go on.”

  “I stood looking at books, and this woman named Carol was looking at magazines.”

  “Did you know Carol?” Dani asked.

  “I knew of her, and had run into her to a few times, but I didn’t personally know her.”

  Dani nodded and Sami went on.

  “Anyway, this man walked by us,” Sami continued, pointing at the picture she’d handed back to Dani, “with another man whose face I didn’t see. Shortly after that, in about...oh maybe, five minutes, I remember coming to and looking around me. I was lying on the floor and I called out for help, but didn’t get a response. Then this beam came down and caught me across my hip. I don’t remember anything else after that until I came to in the hospital.”

  “Okay, let’s go back a bit,” Dani said. “You said that two men walked by—did they say anything to you?”

  “No.”

  “Do you know if they saw you or did you make eye contact with either of them?”

  “Yes, we made eye contact.”

  “Did he nod at you or say anything?” Dani continued as she wrote.

  “No.”

  “Was he carrying anything?”

  Sami thought for a few minutes. “Yes, it looked like he was carrying a briefcase.”

  “What size was the briefcase?” Makeeta asked.

  “I don’t know, I guess maybe it was about the size of a laptop.”

  “Was it a leather briefcase or did it have a hard cover?” Dani asked.

  “Um, it wasn’t leather, it was kind of shiny, like a metal chrome.”

  “Something like an aluminum briefcase?” Dani looked up at Sami.

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay, what happened between the time they walked by and the bomb explosion?”

  “I was searching for the book I mentioned earlier, but I didn’t find it so I was reading the back cover of another book. The next thing I knew, I came to lying on the floor.”

  “Did you know what happened? Were you able to move?” Dani asked.

  “I was dazed and confused. I don’t think it registered to me that a bomb had gone off. It was dark, but once my eyes adjusted a bit, I could see dust and debris all over the place. I called out for help, but no one responded. I saw what I thought was a hand and I managed to get on my knees and crawl to it. I felt broken glass cut into my hands as I crawled. I could feel the blood on my hands, and I felt a burning sensation on my face, hands, and my back.” Sami stopped for a few minutes and swallowed the lump in her throat.

  “Did you see anything as you crawled over to the hand?” Dani asked patiently.

  “As I crawled, I looked around and could see fire off in the distance. I turned my head to look back behind me and I saw this large column, on fire, come down on me. I don’t remember anything after that.”

  “Did you see these two men leave the building?”

  “No,” Sami said.

  “Okay, now I have to ask you if there’s anything that the defense attorney can try to bring up about you that could have an effect on this case.”

  Sami looked at her attorney again and Gail nodded. “Yes, now is the time to tell her.”

  “Tell me what?” Dani demanded.

  “A few months before the bombing, Sheriff Robertson ended our relationship.”

  The district attorney looked hard at Sami and she began to feel uncomfortable under her scrutiny.

  “What kind of a relationship did you have?” Dani asked.

  “Um, what do you mean?” Sami asked.

  “Did you have a sexual relationship, a lover’s relationship? Was it serious, or—”

  “Yes, a lover’s relationship, we never got further than that.” Sami looked over at Makeeta, not sure what to expect from him on the subject. He looked like if he was deep in thought.

  “Okay, anything else?”
<
br />   “Yes, I had a bad childhood. I spent my teen years in and out of foster homes, I became promiscuous during that time.”

  “Okay, as I build the case, we’ll be discussing some of this at greater extent.” Dani wrote down information in her notes. “Do you plan to be away for any length of time over the next six months or so?”

  “Not that I’m aware of,” Sami answered.

  “Good, the trial will hopefully be set within the next six months, and it should last approximately a week. I want you to clear your schedule if there are conflicts. I’ll be contacting you before the trial to do a rehearsal so you know what questions I’ll be asking and to give you some idea of what questions the defense will be asking. Are there any questions you have?”

  “No, not any that I can think of,” Sami mumbled quietly.

  The district attorney thanked them for coming and the meeting concluded. Sami and Gail got up from the table and walked out of the office.

  “I feel this is the beginning of a long and painful trial,” Sami remarked. “Rehashing all this stuff will not be pleasant.”

  “I noticed you didn’t say anything about your pregnancy.”

  “No, not in front of Makeeta. I’ll have to tell her later,” Sami answered.

  “Okay, I thought maybe his being there kept you from saying anything. When I talked to Ms. Spencer earlier she didn’t indicate that the sheriff or the deputy was going to be there. If I had known about it, I would have told you.”

  Chapter 3

  As Gail and Sami walked toward the front of the building’s entrance Sami heard a familiar voice. “So there you are. Where you been hiding, under a rock?” Carol’s sister, Cathy, said scathingly.

  Sami turned around and looked at Cathy, her hands were clenched in fists. “Hello, Ms. Shields,” Sami replied.

  “Oh, don’t be so respectful, Sami,” Carol snarled. “We all know what you did, and hopefully with this creep now in jail you’ll both be prosecuted and made to pay for your crime against my sister.”

  “I didn’t have anything to do with the bombing of that building or Carol’s death,” Sami defended herself quietly.

  “Yes, you did. When lover boy broke things off with you, you decided if you couldn’t have him, you would kill her, you little tramp.”

  Why do her words still sting? Sami wondered.

  “That’s enough, Cathy,” a low voice from behind Sami said. She turned and saw Makeeta walking toward her.

  “Oh, how convenient, Sami. You now have the sheriff defending you.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Cathy, so back off,” Makeeta growled.

  “You not only don’t know what you’re talking about, but you best leave my client alone and be very careful what you say so you don’t end up in court trying to settle a lawsuit.” Gail stared directly at Cathy. “Let’s go, Sami, you don’t need to listen to this.” Gail grabbed Sami by the arm and they walked out the door.

  By the time they got to Sami’s car, Sami had tears in her eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Sami, for what she said in there.”

  “You’d think I’d be used to it by now, after all the accusations I received before on this.”

  They sat in Sami’s truck for a bit until she got herself under control. After saying their goodbyes, Gail left and Sami sat there staring at the steering wheel, her tears now coming out in wrenching sobs. God, she couldn’t understand why she’d lived and Carol had died. Carol left behind family and friends who loved and needed her. It would have been so much simpler if Sami had died; she had no family, and certainly no real close friends. The effect of her death would have been unnoticed.

  And what right did Makeeta think he had to step into the situation? Sami wanted nothing from him. She didn’t even want him defending her. How ironic he’d go from her accuser to her defender.

  After drying her tears, Sami drove across the street to the post office to get her mail out of the lockbox. When she grabbed her mail and turned to walk back out, she ran into Makeeta again.

  “Are you okay, Sami?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied, wishing he’d just go away.

  “You’re crying,” he stated as a matter-of-fact.

  “So, what is that to you?” Sami asked, not really expecting an answer.

  “You can’t let what Cathy says bother you.”

  “I don’t. I’m used to all this, so it’s no surprise,” Sami retorted and started to walk past him. He grabbed her arm gently.

  “Sami, why wouldn’t you answer your door last week when we were at your place?”

  Why bother to deny it? Sami thought. “I didn’t want any of you in my home contaminating it. For all I knew, you were coming there to arrest me again.”

  “I never arrested you, I merely brought you in for questioning.”

  “Against my will and the minute I got out of the hospital,” Sami spat out.

  “Why did you move out so far away and in the woods like that?”

  “Because I wanted to.” She looked up at him, her anger starting to show. “I don’t think I want to testify at this trial. All it’s going to do is bring up all the bad memories and pain.” Sami’s voice threatened to break down in tears again, and she vowed that she would not cry in front of Makeeta. She just was not going. . . to. . . cry.

  “We have to bring this man to justice for Carol’s death, and for all of the folks that were injured as a result of his actions. You are the one person who can make a difference in this trial.” Makeeta looked deeply into her eyes.

  Sami dropped her gaze to the floor, not wanting to reveal her emotions to Makeeta. “Why do you keep wanting to lay all this on me? Surely the evidence and facts of this case will speak for itself,” Sami said firmly.

  “The evidence does tie Wilkes to the crime, but you have a powerful testimony that may make the difference between him getting a sentence of life imprisonment or getting just a few years. Besides, it’s time that the world heard your story.”

  “I don’t want to tell the world my story, I just want him in prison.” Sami looked back up and into his eyes.

  He reached out and gently grabbed her arm, pulling her in closer to him to let some folks walk by to their mailboxes. The touch set off a barrage of feelings and emotions for her. She fought hard against the tears; she refused to let them fall. She wanted to prove to herself that she’d become immune to him.

  Suddenly, a cellphone rang, and Makeeta grabbed the phone from his belt. “Sheriff Robertson,” he said into his cellphone. Sami stood there while he took the call. “Okay, I’ll be at the office in a few minutes, I’m right next door.” He closed the clip and reattached it to his belt. “Come on, I’ll walk you out.” He smiled at her.

  She walked side by side with him through the post office and then out the door to her truck.

  “Well, have a good day. I’ll probably see you when you’re here to give your testimony.” Makeeta put his hand on her shoulder in a possessive gesture, and the warmth of his smile echoed in his voice.

  She watched him as he walked toward the sheriff department and entered the building. She stood in lonely silence, trying to swallow the lump that lingered in her throat. She couldn’t believe that she still felt the pangs of a broken heart whenever she saw him. Part of her wanted to forgive him, but another part insisted that he didn’t deserve her forgiveness.

  “Is that really you? Are you Sami Parker, the person suspected of setting the bomb at the Glacier Pharmacy five years ago?”

  The voice broke Sami out of her brooding silence, and she spun around to see who had intruded on her thoughts.

  “What are you doing in town? I thought we chased you out of here!” the woman jeered. Sami recognized the reporter but couldn’t remember her name.

  “Excuse me.” Sami briskly walked around to the driver’s side of the truck.

  “What are you doing here today? Will you be testifying against the man they brought in a few weeks ago or will you soon b
e arrested as his partner in crime?”

  Sami slammed the truck door shut and started her engine while the woman kept on talking. She pulled out on the road and headed for home.

  On the way she spotted a new Mexican restaurant that she’d never noticed before and decided to stop for lunch. After being seated by the window of the restaurant, she reflected on the turn of events that had brought her back to Milne City after five years.

  “Hello again, Sami.” A voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up. Makeeta stopped by her table.

  “Are these all coincidences or are you following me around? Are you afraid I’m going to plant a bomb?” Sami asked tersely.

  “No, I’m not following you around. I have a lunch date and saw you sitting here as I walked by. I was just being polite,” Makeeta uttered quietly and even-toned. He walked on and sat down at a table.

  Sami turned to see who he was having lunch with. He was sitting with the district attorney. The sight of them made Sami’s heart heavy and sad. She would have never guessed that Dani Spencer and Makeeta would have anything in common. She felt a pang of jealousy and self-loathing all mixed in together. Of course, he could see or date whoever he wished.

  * * * *

  After eating lunch, which she’d barely touched, Sami left the restaurant and got into her truck to go home. She hightailed it out of Milne City, desperate to get away.

  Her home had become her haven and her escape. She felt very fortunate to have found the cabin for sale and at a low price. Finding the cabin at such a discount meant there was money left over to modernize it. The summer she bought the cabin, she put in a new bathroom, updated the plumbing and electrical, and bought new appliances. She also installed a satellite dish for her television and internet access. The garage, although somewhat rickety from the logs rotting out, worked well to keep her truck out of the hot sun in the summer and the freezing cold in the winter. Stephanie had willed her house to Sami when she died, and when Sami sold the it and moved out of Milne City, she only kept the bare necessities and sold the rest of the contents with the house.

  When she reached her cabin, she got out of the truck and walked inside, letting out a huge sigh of relief that she was home and away from the source of all her pain. Taking a seat at her computer, she thought about her day and the people she had encountered. Just meeting Cathy and that reporter had drained her physical energy and she didn’t feel like doing any more rewrites. Instead, she went into one of the forums she participated in and started to have a dialogue with some of the other writers, trying to gain information about how to best present a particular scene that seemed troublesome to her. About 4:30 AM she finally called it quits and went to bed.