Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 85183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
"I..." I hesitate, and her face falls blank for a moment. There's a hum of noise from the people inside the courtroom. "I escaped. I was getting on a flight back to England when Joe found me and took me."
She's still standing there with her lips slightly parted. She doesn't ask me any more questions about the kidnapping situation. Instead, it gets worse.
"Can you please talk us through the events of the night of April 13th, 2015?"
I bite my bottom lip. This is the hard part, the part where I must throw Jude under the bus to save myself, and our child. This is the single hardest thing I've ever done.
"Joe... Joe hurt me, and he killed Caleb," I start.
"Caleb Pearson?" she asks.
I nod. "Yes." A fissure of pain ripples across my chest as my mind replays Caleb falling to his knees, a bullet-hole between his eyes. "He killed him, and so Jude..." Fuck, do I just say it? I meet his eyes again, and he nods, urging me to say it. "Jude killed Joe." There's a beat of silence in which I swear I just heard my heart break, like the loud bang of a crack ripping it's way across a pane of glass. A low bustle of noise makes its way around the courtroom. I glance at Lowe, and a smug smile twists her lips.
"You were witness to this murder?" she pushes.
"Yes."
"I present to the Jury, evidence taken from the murder scene of Joe Campbell." The screen at the back of the room flickers again, and an image of Joe's mangled face comes into view. One of the jurors wretches. I can hear the clicking noise as the projector shows different images, displaying the evidence.
"Jude Pearson, coated in the deceased's blood, was arrested exiting the murder scene, gun in hand. The body was still warm. I ask the members of the jury to see the irrefutable evidence of Jude Pearson's guilt. This is overkill."
This woman has no idea. She thinks she is doing her job, locking up a monster, but I'm the one who pulled the trigger, and Joe was the monster that needed putting down. "He... he was a rapist, a murderer!" I shout at the jury. Tears spill down my cheeks at the injustice of it all.
Jude clears his throat, and I know he's trying to get my attention. I glance up at him, and he's pleading with his eyes for me to stop. I know I'm not supposed to defend him, but I can't... they need to know why.
The lawyer steps toward the stand. "Ms. Devaux..."
"That's enough!" Jude screams. "I fucking killed him, and I would do it again if I could. For her. I would do it every-fucking-day for the rest of my life if it would take away anything that bastard did to her. Do you hear me? I'm not fucking sorry!"
The judge frowns. "Sit down Mr. Pearson, or I'll hold you in contempt of court!" the judge booms.
There's a beat of silence as the courtroom settles again. The solicitor's eyes flick to my stomach. "Can you tell me who the father of your unborn child is, Ms. Devaux?"
I glance down at the bump, the only thing I have left of Jude. "That's not relevant," I say, panicked.
The judge sighs. "Miss Devaux, please answer the question." They want to defame his character, make him out to be the rapist, the murderer, and they want me to be the one to sway the jury. I can't lie, because a simple DNA test would prove I lied, and if I say he's the father, I will have to say... I glance at Lowe, who gives me a small nod, and then at Jude whose eyes are soft.
"Jude," I breathe, as tears slip down my cheek.
"And how did you become pregnant, Miss Devaux?"
"I..." My lungs seize, and my nails bite into the skin of my palms. My pulse pounds in my ears, my vision narrowing. I focus on Jude, on the look in his eyes that says he loves me. I love him, how can he expect me to say this?
"I'll rephrase. Did Mr. Pearson force himself on you, Miss Devaux?"
There's a heavy silence in the room. Jude flashes me a sad smile and gives me a small nod. I close my eyes as the pounding bass of my own pulse drowns out everything else until I feel like I'm under water.
"Yes," I whisper through my tightening throat, as tears stream freely down my face. Whatever Jude and I had, I just took a match to it and burned it to ash with one word.
No one makes a sound, and I can practically feel their pity.
"I have no further questions, your Honor," she says, giving me one last sympathetic glance.
An officer guides me from the stand, leading me back to my place next to my sister. I can feel Jude's eyes on me, but I can't look at him. I just betrayed him, and even though he asked me to,