DONKEY: A Stepbrother Sports Romance (With FREE Bonus Novel Charged!) (50 page)

“Alright”, Alex said with a smile.

“Is it legal?” Gracey asked, just before he left. “You know, to keep me in here.”

“You’ll be surprised just what is. You’re lucky to get away with just one day.”

T
here were moments during the evening that Esmeralda could have convinced herself that nothing had changed and Leighton was and would always be hers. It was just the same as always, the jokes, the smiles, the comfort in each other’s company. The only difference was that she was waking up alone, frustrated and unfulfilled. She wasn’t the only one. Gracey, Detective Foster, Isabella, Alexis and Leighton all woke up without partners, each one having slept barely a couple of hours. Pandora was the only exception to the rule, having persuaded the muscled photographer from the Baltimore Sun to take her home and help her with her modeling portfolio really only as an excuse to have somewhere decent to stay.

The arraignment hearing had been scheduled for 9am. Gracey was met by Alex at 8.00am for a last minute briefing about what to expect, before being collected from the cells at 8.30am and escorted to the courtroom across town. Leighton waited patiently in the public gallery for them both to arrive, Esmeralda alongside him, her fingers crossed for a personally beneficial conclusion. There were other members of the public present, including a couple of journalists Leighton recognized from yesterday morning, but only Alexis as a representative of Gracey’s family. As she passed Leighton, smelling of stale alcohol and a recently smoked cigarette, she didn’t waste the opportunity to hurl abuse at him.

At ten past nine, the court was called into session and Gracey was brought into the room. Despite everything that had happened, despite two days without sleep and the possibility of not going home at the end of this, when she saw Leighton, she couldn’t help but smile. He knew it wasn’t allowed, but he wasn’t going to let it stop him, even if they decided to chuck him out because of it. He just couldn’t help himself. It was the police officer who broke the embrace, several moments after the prosecutor had ordered it, her gavel slamming repeatedly into the wood to call order.

“I’m here”, was all Leighton had time to say. “I’m not going anywhere until this is done.”

“Mr. Tempest”, the prosecutor said, rising to her feet. She’d followed the news as closely as anyone else and knew exactly who he was. “Anything like that again and you will be removed from this courtroom, do you understand me?”

“Yes”, Leighton said. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re lucky you’re not stood alongside Ms. Logan here. That can be arranged if you’d like me to do so?”

“No, thank you, your honor. That won’t be necessary”, Leighton said, acquiescing back to his seat.

“Right then. Does anyone else want to manhandle the defendant before we begin?”

Alexis’s mutters were just about picked up by the judge.

“Mrs. Logan, do you have something to say?”

“Just get on with it”, Alexis spat, low enough this time for the judge not to pick up on.

“Right”, the judge said, banging her gavel enthusiastically again. “Gracey Logan, good morning, my name is Alicia Cornwell.” She held up the plate in front of her that carried her name.

Gracey looked to Alex before responding to the judge. “Good morning”, she said eventually, the words getting caught as they came out.

“Good. You’ll have to speak up if you want the court to hear you. Detective Foster, good morning.”

Foster nodded a good morning to the judge.

“Spritely as ever. Would you like to tell us all why you’ve brought this young girl in here and got us all out of bed so early.”

“We have reason to believe that Gracey Logan is responsible for the death of her stepfather, Philip Mandrake De Vries. Philip was poisoned at his home on the sixteenth of September 2015, with digitalis, a poison derived from the Foxglove plant which grows naturally within the grounds of the family estate. After forensic sweeps of the property, we found fingerprints on the glass Philip drank from, and traces of the poison hidden in Gracey’s bedroom. As far as I am concerned, this is a first degree murder charge.”

Alicia nodded thoughtfully. “You have conducted tests? You have the relevant paperwork.”

Benjamin Pope approached the bench to pass a document to Alicia.

“If I may?” he said after returning to stand alongside Detective Foster.

“Please give your name. I haven’t seen you on the TV yet, nor in here.”

Benjamin smiled. “I’m Benjamin Pope”, he said. “I’m a scientist, well lab technician really. The tests we conducted twice, just to make sure. You have everything in the documents. Digitalis was found in the glass Philip had been drinking from, and inside Gracey’s bedroom. It’s fairly conclusive.”

“Was it found anywhere else in the house?”

“No”, Benjamin said, rather enjoying his moment in the spotlight.

“Alex Dibbell?”

“Here, your honor”, Alex said, putting up his hand.

“I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure before. It says here that you practice in New York. What on earth are you doing here?”

“I’m on a sabbatical.”

“Is that right? Well let’s see if it’s been worth it then, what have you got?”

“I’m not questioning the veracity of the tests conducted, because I believe they are correct. Gracey’s fingerprints were on the glass Philip drank from and a residue of the digitalis that killed him I believe was found in her room, it just wasn’t put there by Gracey. There is enough doubt in this case, that it should go to trial, but it isn’t Gracey that should be taking the stand.”

“Liar”, Alexis shouted, which gained her a couple of silencing bangs from the gavel and a stern glare from Alicia.

Alex continued. “We are conducting our own tests within the property, after which I believe we will be able to say with much more accuracy who is truly responsible for his death.”

“Gracey, do you have anything to say?”

Gracey looked around at the courtroom, first her lawyer, then Detective Foster, and finally behind her into the darkness of the public gallery, to search out Leighton.

“I didn’t do it”, Gracey said. “I don’t know who did but I didn’t do it.”

“This is your first time in any kind of trouble like this, right?”

Gracey nodded.

“And how would you describe your relationship with your stepfather?”

“Just the same as all of us. He was a difficult man. We didn’t get along for a long time, but right before he died. I mean, before he was murdered, I was trying to bridge the gap that had developed between us. I could see he was lonely, like he was shutting himself off. I could tell he was hurting inside. I don’t know, I just wanted to be his friend. He didn’t have any. None of the others-. That’s it really.”

“Thank you, Gracey.”

“Detective Foster, do you have anything else to add about this case? Anything about the rest of the family? You had Mr. Tempest arrested I believe, and then subsequently released, can you explain your thinking on that?”

“Pandora and Isabella, the eldest and second eldest of Philip’s children, Gracey’s two sisters, have signed a statement suggesting they saw Mr. Tempest and Gracey together at the property a week before he died. I also have a conflicting statement from Mr. Tempest’s PA saying that they spent that night together. I didn’t think there was enough evidence at this stage to keep him arrested. I thought it would be better dealt with at Gracey’s trial.”

“Right, thank you Detective, as clear as always.”

Alicia took a moment to study the lab report, which had been annotated with red pen in all the important places, and then looked even more closely at Gracey. After a while Gracey had to look away.

“Do you know what digitalis is, Gracey?” Alicia asked.

“Yes”, Gracey admitted.

“Do you understand what first degree murder is?”

There was a moment before Gracey responded. “It’s defined as an unlawful killing both willing and premeditated.”

“Murderer”, Alexis shouted again.

“Remove that woman from my courtroom”, Alicia insisted, this time pointing the gavel instead of banging it.

“It’s the most serious of crimes”, Alicia said when the guards had dragged Alexis out, kicking and screaming. “You seem intelligent enough to know that.”

“Yes, your honor.”

“Is there anything else, or shall I proceed?” Alicia said, her question addressed to Alex. “I presume you know the formality, Mr. Dibbell? New York isn’t all that far away after all.”

“Please”, Alex said.

“Gracey Logan, you are being charged with first degree murder, how do you plead?”

“No”, Gracey said, shaking her head.

“Louder”, Alicia commanded.

Alex took a moment to hold Gracey by the wrist, but it wasn’t enough to stop the tears. After all that had happened, now was the moment reality was setting in.

“I need to know what you are pleading?”

“If I may?” Alex said.

Alicia nodded.

“My defendant would like to enter a plea of not guilty”, he said.

“Detective Foster”, Alicia said, turning her eagle like head towards him. “Is there any reason why you believe that bail should not be offered in this specific case?”

Detective Foster cleared his throat. He took a moment to look at Gracey, caught eyes with Leighton and discovered an empty space where Alexis had been sat.

“My only concern would be a repetition of the crime”, Foster declared. “The rest of the family have come to me over concerns for their well being. As you can imagine, this has had a huge effect on Gracey’s sisters and her mother. That and her relationship with Leighton Tempest.”

“Go on”, Alicia said.

“It is of my opinion that with bail set at any amount, it won’t ever be high enough to be out of reach for Leighton.”

“What is your point, Detective Foster?”

“That it makes the issuing of it redundant if he can cover the amount so easily.”

“Objection”, Alex called.

“Overruled, Mr. Dibbell, Detective Foster has a point. Because that happens so infrequently, we should listen to him, don’t you think?”

“Your honor”, Alex complained. Gracey looked at him nervously, while Leighton leaned forward in his seat, impotent and concerned. Esmeralda took the opportunity to squeeze his knee. This might be going the way she wanted after all.

“Well that’s it, really”, Foster said.

“Do you believe the Logan family to be in danger?” Judge Cornwell asked.

“I don’t believe it is out of the realm of possibilities, no.”

“Do you believe that Gracey will skip her trial?”

“I don’t believe it is out of the realm of possibilities either”, Detective Foster added. “Especially if she has unlimited resources at her fingertips.”

Alicia sighed. “This is a first degree murder case”, she said. “Poisoning of a family member. An unlawful killing both willing and premeditated. Bail is not usually set in these cases. Gracey, how old are you?”

“Twenty one”, Gracey said, tears staining her cheeks.

“Twenty one”, Alicia repeated. “Detective, it is your responsibility to protect the Logan family, it is mine to determine whether Gracey is likely to return to the courts for her trial. In this case, I believe she has every intention of doing so. For that reason, and the reasons you have been kind enough to inform me of, I’m suggesting that if the Logan family truly feel that their lives are in danger, that they must seek adequate protection. Gracey has never been in trouble before, and as far as I can tell, she is an intelligent, mild mannered, hard working member of her community. Despite that, she is here on charges of first degree murder, and there is strong evidence to suggest she may be responsible. This case will go to trial and a verdict will be reached. In the meantime, I don’t believe she should be lost in the prison system while she waits. I’m setting bail at ten million dollars-”.

“Yes”, Leighton shouted, an outburst that earned him a daggered stare from Alicia.

Gracey put her hands to her mouth and dropped to her knees in shock.

“-with house arrest until trial.”

“House arrest?” Alex Dibbell complained.

“Yes, Mr. Dibbell. House arrest until trial. I expect you understand what that means? Or would you prefer me to rescind that?”

“No, thank you, your honor. I think that’s a very fair judgment.”

“Very well then”, Alicia said. “As soon as bail is paid, Gracey can go back home. I trust with his wealth of experience, Detective Foster can organize the requirements of the house arrest.”

“Yes, of course, thank you your honor.” Foster said.

Gracey didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. House arrest, sounded like something from a film. She had no idea what it would mean in practice.

Alicia banged her gavel on the wooden slate. “All rise”, she said.

Esmeralda’s hand fell off Leighton’s leg as he quickly stood up. House arrest sounded like the worst outcome in the world to her. That was like a sex slave Leighton would have whenever he wanted. Leighton wasn’t thinking that far ahead though, all he wanted to do was get to Gracey, take her home and get her into bed.

“Court dismissed”, Alicia said firmly, and banged her gavel down firmly for the last time that morning.

G
racey rubbed her ankle where the electronic tag bit into it. It was bulky, heavy and very ugly.

“I think they’ve done it up too tight”, she complained. “It feels like it’s putting pressure on the bone.”

“They have to make sure that you don’t run away.” Leighton reasoned. “You’ll get used to it I guess.”

“Thank you”, Gracey said, her arms going around his neck. “I didn’t say it before, but thank you.”

“You haven’t had much of a chance until now.”

Leighton pulled her into him to press his lips against her neck. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t run in this thing.”

She pushed herself away from him, and then took him by the hand. “The house is so empty.”

They began to climb the stairs.

“I’m going to stay, you know. If it’s alright with you.”

Gracey turned to walk backwards in front of him, her hand going casually to the buttons of her shirt. “What about your business?” she said, the top button pinging open.