Secret Admirer

Chapter 27

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Chapter 27

Cole

"When I got there, Todd was attacking her. He was going to kill her." I stated what I knew in my heart to be true. If Mia hadn't shot Todd, I believe he would have tried to kill her. I wouldn't have let that happen but he would have tried.

"And you believe that Ms. Cromwell had no other choice but to shoot Mr. Salanger?"  Wells asked, pointing out that Mia had no choice.

"I believe she was defending herself."

The judge listened intently to my testimony, just as he listened to Beckett, Leo, and Ethan. Georgia gave a written statement as she had to get home to California last week when the hearing began. Her best friend's health was struggling and she was needed elsewhere. As Georgia is known to do, she goes where she is needed and helps those she loves. But she was here in spirit, as well as her attorney, who was doing a bang up job defending Mia.

Mia is not in this alone. She will never be alone again.

"I have no further questions, your honor." Wells rested his case and took his seat.

It should have been cut and dry. There shouldn't have even been a hearing but there was. We're talking about the Markhams, they were going to fight this with every last dime they have. And they were running out of funds, that was clear. But pressing charges against Mia, having a prosecutor take this case, cost them nothing. Lindsey is in a mental institution but she is still able to make a phone call. And she did just that when she found out about Todd's death.

She was determined to continue to make the Bradford's lives hell. She wants to make sure we don't forget about what she has done. That she is still alive and kicking. Not that any of us could forget what she has done. We won't, but we will move on. She is done tormenting this family. Once this trial is over, she won't be able to touch any of us again. Wells is making sure of that.

"Your Honor, I would like to move again, that Ms. Cromwell be found guilty of killing Todd Salanger. She has admitted to the crime, the witness has testified that she killed him in cold blood. She is, by her own words, guilty of murder," The prosecutor who is a "personal friend" of the Markhams is still trying to get Mia put in jail for defending herself.

The Markhams can have their friends and secrets. I have mine too. Theirs might try to get the courts to turn in their favor but mine will keep Mia out of jail. Of that I'm sure.

I didn't tell anyone that I didn't actually see what happened that day at the flower shop. When I got out of the hospital and no one could find Mia or Todd I knew there was only one place they could be. Then I heard a cop say his gun was missing. And I knew she was in trouble.

I thought it had been Todd who took the gun. I figured he took her at gunpoint away from the chaos at the hospital. I was wrong about that. I didn't think Mia was capable of going after Todd to kill him. I still don't believe that. I maintained my position in every statement that I've given that Mia was defending herself. That Todd was the aggressor and he was attacking her.

I didn't tell them that I got there after the gunshots rang out, after Mia shot Todd and after his body fell dead on top of hers. I will never tell a soul that I have lied under oath to protect Mia. And I would do it again. Whether she was defending herself or getting revenge for everything that's happened doesn't matter to me. I know who Mia is, I don't believe she's a cold blooded murderer. I believe she was defending her life. Even if I didn't see it with my own two eyes. I know in my heart and my soul that she wasn't there to kill him.

"Your Honor, it was never stated that Ms. Cromwell killed anyone in cold blood. She was defending her own life, in her own business's building. Photos have proven that her place of business was broken into, it was vandalized and he was still there when Ms. Cromwell arrived. He attacked her and she was protecting herself." Wells insisted again as he argued against the prosecutor.