The Kim Austin Series 🔥🧨💥

Before She Turned Thirty

The Kim Austin Series

By: Karlee England

Chapter 116

P.O.V/ Kim Stevens:

One month later..

Monday June 16, 1997;

Detective Bridges' sentencing is today. I'm heading to the courthouse with Terri and the others around 11:00 a.m. We still haven't found a way to shut down Kelly's bar. It's gotten too popular these past few months — crawling with demons, warlocks, and evil witches. Even the leprechauns hang around, though people just think they're folks with dwarfism. We've been there a few times using the Mirrorwine potion. The disguises it gives us work perfectly; no one recognizes us. Terri finally got her job back at the hospital a couple of weeks ago. The board wasn't thrilled about rehiring someone once charged with the second-degree murder of a police officer, but her exoneration helped. Gideon's testimony sealed it, and she was back to work that Monday.

The public's been divided. Some are kind, others whisper and stare. Some still believe she killed Detective Hobbs. Others say Detective Bridges was framed — that Terri somehow turned it around to get Bridges arrested. But we know the truth. The case of Detective Hobbs' death has gone cold. The police can't figure out what really happened. They think Bridges killed him over the file he had on her, but they've never proved it. Terri's gun was the murder weapon, and while Bridges' fingerprints weren't on it, investigators think she wiped them clean. What they did find was enough to charge her with the attempted murder of Debby — her prints were on that gun and on the bullet they pulled from Debby's shoulder. After the shooting, Bridges fled into another town and stopped at an old mom-and-pop gas station, unaware they had CCTV. The footage caught her behind the wheel of the Mustang, pulling off her black mask. She ditched the car at the top of a hospital parking garage nearby. She'd stripped out the police computer and tracking device before the shooting, but when the police finally found the car weeks later, they discovered one fingerprint on the steering wheel and strands of blonde hair in the floorboard — both hers.

By 11:15 a.m., I've finished up work and drive to the courthouse to meet everyone. The sentencing begins at noon. The courtroom hums with tension as the clerk calls out, "All rise." We stand. The Judge takes her seat. "Please be seated," she says. Detective Bridges sits at the defense table, face calm but smug. No remorse. No guilt. Just that same arrogant smirk she always had. The attorneys argue back and forth — Bridges' lawyer fighting for leniency, Hobbs's attorney pushing for the maximum sentence.

Valerie Daniels (Defense Attorney): "My client was doing her job! And now she's accused of planting evidence." James Watkins (Prosecutor): "Your client is without a doubt the most corrupt police officer I've ever met. She knowingly planted evidence to put Theresa Roberts in prison. Mrs. Roberts spent eight months away from her family and friends. Does Lauren Bridges not care about the trauma she caused?" He turns toward the Judge. "Your honor, I call Theresa Roberts to the stand." The Judge nods. "Mrs. Roberts, take the stand."

Terri rises, walks down the aisle, and takes the witness chair beside the Judge. Her hands tremble slightly as she adjusts the microphone. James says, "Mrs. Roberts, please tell us what your experience was like in prison." Terri says, "It was a never-ending nightmare — one I wanted to wake up from every single day." James says, "And you were stabbed three times in prison, correct?" Terri says, "Yes." James says, "Those left some pretty bad scars, didn't they?" Terri says, "Yes." James says, "Your honor, with Mrs. Roberts' permission, may I show the pictures of her injuries?" The Judge nods. "Proceed." James hands her the photos. The Judge studies them, her face softening with concern, before passing them to the bailiff. The jury flinches as they look — quiet gasps ripple through the room. James collects the photos, tucks them away, and continues. James says, "Did the prisoners attack on their own, or do you believe Detective Bridges may have issued the order?" Valerie says "Objection!" Judge says, "Overruled." Terri says, "No... I don't think she did. They acted on their own." James says, "And that wasn't all that happened, was it, Mrs. Roberts?" Terri's eyes glisten, but she steadies her voice. "No, it wasn't." James says, "Please tell the court." Terri says "I was almost raped my first week there." A murmur moves through the gallery.