Shattered Perfection

Forty Seven

A/N please forgive my lack of knowledge of the court system. I'm making it up as I go along!!

The court room settled down. The Judge turned to the spokesperson of the jury.

'On the charge of drug importation, distribution, extortion, county line and money laundering, do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty. The juror licked their lips, obviously nervous. Their eyes flicked to Janice, who, weirdly had a smile gracing her lips. Siobhan frowned. This didn't seem right, Janice was far too relaxed. She had been all the way through. DI Crown was frowning too, looking between the juror and Janice. She leant forward able to get the lawyer's attention. She whispered quickly in his ear. The judge looked around.

'Do we have a problem?' She asked looking angry.

The lawyer stood up respectfully, 'Judge please could we request a break for ten minutes?'

'This is highly unorthodox!' The judge frowned, 'I will ask the jurors to return to their room, they are not allowed to speak to anyone except the clerk and I expect a full explanation in ten minutes when we come back from a recess.' She banged the gavel.

Immediately, the court room was buzzing with conversation. Janice was whispering into her stressed lawyer's ear. He frowned and looked at her shocked. Reece and Autumn were looking at their dad. He sat deflated, looking older than they'd ever seen him. They didn't feel sorry for him. He was getting his just desserts, karma was finally biting him on the arse and it wasn't before time.

Mia nudged Vivian indicating with her head the fervent conversations between DI Crown and their lawyer. DI Crown pulled out her phone and made a quick call. 'Wonder what that is all about?' Vivian frowned.

'Not sure, hope we find out.' Viv replied. She turned to Siobhan to see how she was coping. Siobhan sat, holding her hand, she was looking down obviously a million miles away. A small smile played around her soft lip.

'What are you thinking about Bon Bon?' she asked softly.

Siobhan turned to Vivian, 'Viv, I'm free.' She said with a smile. Vivian smiled at her and lent forward kissing her on the mouth.

'Yes you are my love.' She replied grinning.

Marjorie was being hugged by Reece, the pair deep in their own world swapping quiet conversation as they rocked back and forth. Mia was sat with Charlotte who had her arm around her and her other hand clasped in Mia's lap. 'I love you,' Charlotte whispered smiling with tears in her eyes. They kissed. Mia wiped away a tear that had escaped down Charlotte's cheek with her thumb.

'Why the tears sweetheart?' she asked.

'I'm so full of happiness for you,' she replied.

Autumn sat still staring at her father. His face was red and he was whispering aggressively into his lawyer's ear. The lawyer looked pissed off. Autumn smirked.

'Are you alright my sweet?' Winter asked sat beside her. She turned to him, her smirk morphing into a real smile.

'Yes my love, I've never been better.' Winter put his arm around her and pulled her into his chest. He was the only one permitted to touch Autumn and he loved it.

The Judge returned after the ten-minute recess. Everyone quietened down and stood while she came back in. DI Crown was absent from the room. The judge didn't look best pleased.

'Are we ready to continue?' She asked both the defendant and prosecutor. DI Crown ran into the room clutching a piece of paper. The prosecuting lawyer stood up.

'I am sorry for the disruption you Honour.' He said. 'But we have reason to believe that some of the jurors are acting under duress.' Conversation broke out amongst the crowd. The judge banged the gavel again.

'Do you have proof of this?' she said, looking at the jury.

DI Crown handed the lawyer the piece of paper, he read it quickly before clearing his throat nervously.

'Bring it here.' Demanded the Judge. The lawyer approached the bench and handed over the piece of paper. She read it and looked again at the jury. 'Juror number 4, I'd like a word in my chambers.' She stood and they walked out.

Everyone sat quietly in the court room.

After a couple of minutes' they came back into the room. 'This,' the judge held up the piece of paper. 'clearly shows the messages sent from a number to Juror number 4. The threats in these messages are meant to ensure that they find the accused not guilty. This juror has explained what they thought and are voting now with their own free will, is that correct?' She asked turning back to the juror. They nodded. Janice paled and the faint smile which had graced her lips all through the trial had disappeared. 'Therefore,' the judge said turning back to the spokesperson, 'please read out your verdict.'

The spokesperson, cleared their throat. 'We find the defendant guilty!'

Janice sat back into the seat looking shocked.

'Yes!' Marjorie couldn't help the exclamation. Autumn smirked.

The judge banged the gavel to bring the room to order. She thanked the jurors for their service and they were allowed to leave. The sentencing would happen in a couple of weeks.

The group stood and walked out of the room without a second glance back. Both Janice and Roger looked utterly defeated. They decided to celebrate. They all ended up back at Autumn's house including Jamie who Viv grabbed from the nursery.

Standing in the kitchen, Winter tried opening a bottle of champagne before handing it to Autumn to open. The pop made some of them jump but they all were ready for the drink. They stood with charged glasses.

'Who's going to make the toast?' asked Marjorie. They all seemed to look at Siobhan who blushed slightly.

'Ok,' she said softly 'To all of you, my friends. Thank you for your support during this time. I want to apologise for the things I have said before.' She stopped chewing her lip. Viv placed her hand on Siobhan's back. 'Some of the things I said were unnecessarily cruel. I would like to ask for your forgiveness.'

The group looked at each other. 'Oh, for goodness sake,' said Mia exasperatedly, 'Shibby we forgive you. Now make the toast so we can drink!' Charlotte elbowed her in the ribs.

'Fine,' said Siobhan firmly, 'To those who have survived and to those who support them.'

'Here, here.' Said Reece. The others agreed.

Autumn raised her eyebrow and raised her drink.