Melting Away The Ice (THE ICE SERIES) (21 page)

“Your Honor, I am a licensed attorney in the State of Illinois and I have the right to face my
accuser.” His voice was smooth and precise.
He always knew how to work a jury.

“Your Honor
, he is trying to intimidate the witness,” Karla said.

“Mr. Black
, you may proceed, but be quick and to the point,” the judge said. I looked over to Lucas and Rachel. Lucas looked like he was ready to jump over the rail and kill Jake. Max had his hand on Lucas’ shoulder. Ava had him on the other shoulder and Victoria was whispering something to him. I heard Jake clear his throat and I looked at him. I had to be strong. I had to do this.

“Ms. Smith, how long did we date?” Jake
looked at me with a ghost smile on his face.

I
took a deep breath and looked at Lucas.
Be strong.
“Two years,” I answered.

“How did we meet?” He was
looking at the jury. I knew that move well. I had watched him a hundred of times in the courtroom.

“I was your associate
,” I answered.

“So, I was a partner, correct?
”

“Yes.” I was a little confused on what he was doing.

“So I made more money than you?” he asked formally.

“Objection,” Karla jumped
up but Jake cut her off.

“I withdraw the question.” I
looked at Rachel and her eyes were as wide as mine. Jake was “planting” the jury. “Planting” was what lawyers did to throw off the jury. Even when the lawyer withdrew the question, the jury still remembered.

“Ms. Smith
, before this alleged incident, had I ‘hurt’ you before?” I hated that he air quoted ‘hurt.’

“There were a few shoving incidents
,” I replied.

“Were there
witnesses to these shoving incidents?”

“No.”

“You say, previously, that I had lost a case that day this supposedly happened. Had I lost a case before in the time of our relationship?” He was staring at me again. It felt like he was glaring into my soul.

“Yes,” my voice
broke a little.

“Did I ‘hit’ you then?”

“No.” The tears were creeping up to my eyes, but I couldn’t let them fall.

“What did you do the night before?” That was a question that no one had asked me before.

“Um, my friend and I went to dinner after work.”

“This friend would be Rachel Silver, correct?” I
looked at Rachel as I confirmed. “How long have you two been friends?”

“Since childhood.”

“Is Rachel Silver an avid kick boxer?”

“Objection,” Karla started
, but was again cut off by Jake.

“I withdraw.” Jake slightly smirked because he knew he just planted that Rachel and I may have planned this whole thing.

“I just have one more question, Ms. Smith. Have you ever known for me to be formally charged with any other crime liked this before?” I could see a smile creep on Rachel’s mouth and I knew that my eyes were huge.

“Yes, you have been charged with a crime like this before.”

“What?” Jake stared at me in shock.

“You were formally charged with aggravated assault with a dead
ly weapon three years ago.” He paled and realized he made a mistake.

“I have no further questions.” Jake hurried to his seat when Karla popped up.

“Your Honor, may we ask a few more questions.” The judge nodded.

“Ms. Smith, how do you know about the charges that Mr. Black was charged with?” Karla asked
with glee in her voice. We were unable to bring this up initially, but since Jake introduced the subject, we now had the right.

“I worked at the same firm at the time Mr. Black was formally charged with beating his wife with a baseball bat.”

“Objection,” Jake yelled out.

“Mr. Black,” the Judge said sternly. “You opened this line of questioning; therefore you cannot object.” Jake sat down and anger oozed off of him. His eyes were almost black with rage.

“Was that just office gossip? How did you know that?” I knew that Karla was trying to make sure the jury was clear on the process.

“I was working with the attorney that was defending Mr. Black.” It was when I first started at the firm and Jake
had just been charged.

“What was the outcome?”

“Mr. Black’s attorney was able to negotiate down to no contest and community service.” I remembered because I had helped write up the final order.

“So, the main question is, why did you start dating him?”

I took a deep breath and answered honestly. “I thought he changed and I thought he really loved me.” One tear escaped and I couldn’t stop it.

The judge then dismissed me.

Chapter 33 – Lucas

I clenched my jaw so tightly throughout Sara’s testimony that I was pretty sure that I cracked all of my back teeth. Max and Ava had to practically tie me down to make sure that I didn’t beat Jake Black to death. I was close to it.

When Sara finished, Ava moved over so she could sit next to me.
Sara was trembling a bit, but Rachel had whispered in my ear that they had done well. The judge asked if Jake’s attorney had any more witnesses’ and they didn’t. Both attorneys did their closing arguments. When they finished the judge gave the jury more instructions and we were all dismissed.

I grabbed Sara and rushed her out into the hall and into the small room the attorneys had taken us to earlier.
In one swift movement I shut the door, pulled her against me, and kissed her. I kissed her because she was so brave on the stand. I kissed her because I loved her. I kissed her because I wanted her to know how much I would protect her. When we finally pulled apart, I just held her.

“I have a plan,” she finally said.

“What is it?” She smiled and grabbed my hand. We headed back to into the hallway where my family was standing. Ava wrapped her into a big hug and then my mother did too.

“Hey, I am
okay.” She had a bright smile on her face and she was stunning.

“Hey
, Karla and Faren, come here.” The two prosecutors walked over to Sara. “We are leaving. Will you text me when the verdict comes in?”

“We are leaving?” Rachel and Ava
asked at the same time.

“Yep, Lucas Sharp is going to take us shopping and out to dinner.” She
looked up at me with those big green eyes.

“That is your plan? Shopping and dinner?” I was a little confused.

“Yep, I don’t want to stay here and I don’t need to be here when they announce the verdict. I want to be out with my friends and family.” I couldn’t say no to her. If she wanted to go shopping and to dinner then I would go broke doing it.

“Heck yeah! I need some new shoes
, Creep.” Ava laughed and everyone joined in. Karla and Faren agreed to text Sara and then we all headed out.

The ladies
weren’t joking about shopping. We went to four different stores and everyone got something. Max wouldn’t let me buy Rachel anything, which was fine, since Ava was buying everything in sight. I loved every dollar I spent because Sara laughed and had more fun than I had seen in a long time.

We decided on dinner and headed over to great casual diner
. We were hungry and even a little tired from the long, emotional day. The waiter took our drink order and we all ordered something alcoholic.
Yeah, it was that kind of day.

My mom was telling a story about one of her kids in class when we heard Sara’s phone go off. We all turned and
looked at her as she reached for it. Her eyes filled with tears and she looked at me. I was holding my breath when she handed me the phone.

Karla Thompson:
Guilty he will be sentenced in 6 weeks.

It was the greatest thing I
’d ever read. Everyone was staring at me when the waiter brought us our drinks.

“We also need a round of Canadian Club shots because we are celebrating.” The whole table erupted in cheers and laughs.

We all did a few shots, even my mom and aunt.
Then we had an amazing dinner. It was great conversation and I couldn’t remember the last time we all had this much fun.

We said good
-bye to Max and Rachel, then my family headed back to my house. Everyone was quiet in the car and when we got home everyone disbursed into their own rooms, making me thankful for my big house. Sara and I curled up on the couch watching ESPN.

“I
’m sorry that you missed the game.” She looked up at me with her pouty lips and I couldn’t help but smile.

“I am not sorry at all.
I didn’t want to be anywhere else but with you.” I quickly pecked her lips.

“I love you
, Lucas.”

“I love you
, beautiful.”

Epilogue

Lucas

My legs were burning, fans were screaming and we just had on
e more minute. We were tied in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. We were so close. Jonathan passed me the puck and I took off like a bolt and skated faster than ever.

I
didn’t have a clear shot so I passed to Patrick. He missed shooting wide right. Jonathan got the puck back and passed to Max, then Max passed back to me. I still didn’t have a clear shot so I passed it back. Max shot and ……………..

Sara

Ava, Rachel
, and I screamed our heads off when Max made the goal. Victoria and Elizabeth were next to me clapping like crazy. We still had thirty seconds and knew a lot could happen. Lucas went to center ice to take the face off. All of us grabbed each other’s hands, saying a silent prayer. Lucas won the face off and Max got the puck. The boys skated toward the opposing goal and tried to get one more shot.

Twenty seconds ……..

Max took the shot and missed. Patrick recovered and passed to Lucas who took another shot.

Ten seconds……….

Lucas missed, but Max recovered and held onto the puck.

Buzzer………..

The Chicago Eagles were champions. The crowd was deafening. On the ice, the whole team was throwing their gloves, sticks, and helmets off for a group celebration. I felt happy tears streaming down my face as all five of us headed down to the bench. We had our family badges and were easily on the ice in no time.

Max skated to us first and kissed Rachel like it was the last time they would ever kiss. Lucas was doing an interview and even though, he was all sweaty
, he had an amazing glow.

The commissioner then announced the MVP. It was Max. The whole team clapped and yelled for him.
Rachel never looked happier. She was truly in love and I was so happy for my best friend.

Finally, they announced for Lucas to come get the Cup. He had the brightest smile on his face. When he finally lift
ed the Cup up over his head, the crowd and everyone on the ice roared. He handed it off and then skated to us, kissing me like he never did before. He wrapped his mom, Ava and Elizabeth in a huge hug and even hugged Rachel. We all knew that he was busy and he was off to do more interviews. The security guard shuffled us to the tunnel. We knew that it would be a while so we headed out to the parking garage. It was a beautiful night and I could not be happier.

We all chatted about the game and plays.
I understood hockey now and yes, I enjoyed it. I took a moment and thought back to these past several months. So much had changed. I had a family that I talked to daily. I had a man that loved me more than anything. Jake was in jail for the next fifteen years and I knew that I never had to worry about him again. My life was perfect.

I
didn’t know how long we all stood there, but finally Max emerged and tackled Rachel. She squealed as he threw her over his shoulder to the sound of our laughter. The door opened again and Lucas came out. Ava took off toward him and jumped into his arms and he easily caught her. Their relationship was tighter than siblings and they loved each other so much. Lucas put her down and hugged his mother and aunt.

He finally came to me and kissed me again. It was such a hot kiss that it
easily melted the ice away.