"The officer should have been on that block then, offering assistance to those who were injured instead of stopping an innocent citizen, a young man–” Joe was still talking.
The clerk had her hand on Jonathan Lee's shoulder.
He was reading the note and then he stood straight up. An anguished "oh, my God," was heard over Joe Knapp's arguments.
Everyone was stunned. Even Joe, who found it impossible to stop his discourse, and rolled on like a car with bad brakes, "... A citizen who, by Officer Readmore's own admission, had not violated any law, whose vehicle was in good working order. Officer Readmore was bored..."
"Shut up, Mr. Knapp."
Joe faltered and with a last sputter fell silent.
Judge Lee towered above them all, white with fury. The muscles in his neck and jaw constricted. His eyes were red with the sudden madness that gripped him. There was a rustle. People squirmed. Comments passed from stranger to stranger. Henry moved in his seat George remained still. Confused, Lauren tried to nudge the proceedings back on track.
"Officer Readmore," she said quickly, "was explicitly told he wasn't needed at the site of the explosion..."
"Did you not hear me, Counsel?" Judge Lee swung his head Lauren's way as he growled. "Shut your mouth. Don't say another word."
"Your Honor," Edie cried, on her feet, "I object..."
"And I object to all of this, Ms. Williams. I object to the drivel that you and your associate have presented here when you should be pointing the finger at these monsters, all monsters, who roam our streets taking innocent lives."
"My Lord!" Eric Weitman exclaimed.
"Don't even think about saying anything, Mr. Weitman. You're no better. Look at you. Look at all of you." Lee glared at the prosecutors. "You're arguing about the minutiae of stops and standing." He threw his head to the other side and pegged the defense. "This side is defending sociopaths, idiots who believe they have enough brain cells to think their way through the ills of the world when all they're doing is creating them. People like that should be..."
"Your Honor! We're still in session. We're on the record!" This time it was the court reporter that found her courage.
"She's right, Your Honor. Call a recess," Joe Knapp urged. Instead of listening, Jonathan Lee ended his career.
"You're right, Mr. Knapp, I should call a recess, but I won't. In fact, I'd like to speak to Henry and George Stewart—for the record. They are slime. They are the worst our world has to offer. I sit here and listen to these ridiculous motions and arguments using conflicting case law when what we should be doing is sitting the jury and showing them pictures of the maimed bodies of the two people these men..."
Everyone looked toward the Stewarts as Lee pointed a finger. Lauren caught Joe's eye then flicked her gaze over to Edie who stayed still. Lauren moved forward without a clear idea of what it was she could do to stop this. Edie turned toward the marshals to assist when all hell broke loose.
"This is unacceptable!"
Hearts stopped, barks of surprise peppered the air and George Stewart rose phoenix-like from his chair. He pushed Joe Knapp's neatly stacked papers, his briefcase and a cup of coffee off the defense table and onto the floor. In the next blink he slammed his fist atop his own attorney's portfolio. So calm, so disciplined for the last hour, the elder defendant was suddenly active and angry.
"The man who claims to be a judge in this court is nothing more than a vigilante able to abuse my son and myself publicly. He can use his words, and the power this so-called government gives him, and he can make us disappear. Until he does, we are guaranteed a speedy trial under the constitution and a trial by our peers. You are a crazy man and you are not my peer ..." George bellowed at Jonathan Lee. His eyes blazed as he threw himself across the table. Both his hands came down with an awesome sound that made the courtroom itself shiver. It was an explosion of outrage. Instantly they all remembered what this man was accused of doing.
A hysterical scream pierced the air.
Other observers scrambled to their feet only to realize there was nowhere to go.
Eric Weitman lunged at his client, but George was quick and evaded him.
There was a cacophony of exclamations and half-formed questions. A camera flashed. The photographer scurried out the door. There was money in that exposed frame. Later, someone would try to figure out how a camera had been smuggled past security. Now they wondered what else might have been smuggled in. A bomb perhaps? George would have sacrificed all of them, even ...
"Dad!" Henry Stewart called to his father like a child terrified to be left behind. The back door of the court flew open. The woman in yellow made it three steps into the room before raising her voice.
"Henry!"
Henry reacted instantly. A look of disappointment passed between them. He wasn't beside his father in this fight. Then there was a softening, a hope, perhaps, that Henry would be smart and stay where he was. Henry looked back at his father. Mrs. Stewart advanced and Jonathan Lee did the same. He leaned over the bench, screaming at George Stewart who hollered back. George Stewart was ready for a fight but he hesitated. The face he turned to those behind him was twisted with hatred and cold with disgust. The woman in yellow looked directly at him with beautiful blue eyes and that gave him purpose. George offered her a ghost of a smile before whipping around to the bench. He vaulted around the table that stood between him, his son and the judge.
"What the fu- ..." Edie yelled, but before she could finish Lauren threw herself in the path of the angry defendant. Edie called for her, pandemonium reigned, and the marshals finally got legs.
Two of them tackled George, hitting him hard, pushing him to the floor. His political protests turned to grunts of pain as they whipped his arms behind and cuffed him. They pulled at him like a wishbone. Lauren dashed back to the table just as Henry made a move to help his father, but fear kept him tap dancing where he stood until another marshal got him in a headlock. He looked like he was going to cry.
One marshal hollered and another moved past the bar to the rear of the court. Carolyn Stewart was on the inside of the closed doors. Everyone chattered, a few moaned and George Stewart was held tight against the broad khaki-clothed chest of a marshal who would break his neck if he wasn't wearing a badge. In the front of the courtroom, another deputy had his hands on Jonathan Lee, restraining him, too. The judge didn't struggle. One look forced the big man to release him. When Jonathan Lee spoke again it was quietly, with a coldness and conviction that sent shivers up Lauren's spine.
"You people are wrong." He glared at the Stewarts. “This government is valid but it sure as hell is weak. If it were strong, my hands wouldn't be tied by technicalities. There are times I long for the days when the only voice in a courtroom would be mine and the hanging tree was just outside of town. You would have been swinging from it..."
"Your Honor, I demand a mistrial. Your Honor!" Joe Knapp had sufficiently recovered his wits to realize he had an opportunity here.
"Your Honor. A recess is in order..." Lauren cut him off fast.
"You're right. You're both right." Jonathan Lee threw up his hands. "Talk yourself blue in the face. I can't tell who's honest. Everybody does what they want anyway, and we're killing each other. Go ahead. Kill each other! I've been so dumb to think that I could do anything about any of this. I'm the fool. I'm the biggest fool of all."
The judge crumpled the note that started the mayhem. There would be no explanation. He looked at the ball of paper then at the uniformed men in the room. Finally he took a look over his shoulder at the great seal of the land that hung above him. He tossed the paper onto the floor. He took off his robes. Snaps popped. Spectators jumped. He threw the robes on the floor behind the bench and then Jonathan Lee addressed everyone in the courtroom.
"Do whatever you want with these two. It won't make a difference. One way or another we're all dead."
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; Thrillers by Rebecca Forster
The Best-Selling Witness Series
HOSTILE WITNESS (#1)
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BEFORE HER EYES
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