Imagine always running, always hiding from your past. No matter how long you pretend your safe and secure, danger is looking for you, seeking you out. That's life for one Anastasia Spencer, whose picture perfect life turned into a nightmare . Now he...
As Julian was escorted into the jailhouse he wasn't worried. This was his first (known) offense, and he had handed over every last scrap of information he could remember about his former partner Eric. He would get a slap on the wrist and would be back to Anastasia and normal life in no time, telling her how he couldn't go through with being so far away from her. They would get married the moment he was out, so he would never risk losing her again. She could only be his. After the formalities and introductions of the court they got started, him relying on his public defender. He planned on turning himself in, going for the "poor lost soul that has learned his lesson" approach.
"You are being charged with breaking and entering, first degree burglary, possession of stolen goods, and evading arrest. Does it sound like I got it all Mr. Kane?" the judge asked. She looked like she could be someone's grandma, albeit a strict one, with her cropped white hair and hard set eyes.
"Yes, ma'am" he responded, lowering his head in an effort to look embarrassed.
"Good. Now, have you been made aware of the price tag on all the stolen jewelry rounded up after your little escapade? Because I'm sure that you know that this little fact makes quite a difference in the severity of your sentencing." she waited patiently for an answer. Her calm tone and get to it attitude showed she had done this for a while. That worried him, he would have to really ramp up his act.
"No, your honor, I have not been told." he kept his head lowered and tried to focus on getting a tear or two ready to go for when it was time to use them.
"Would you like to take a guess?" she asked boredly. She didn't seem to want to hurt him like the older officer Lewis, yet she was poking at him. He had to wonder what for.
"Well..." be as honest as you can, go for pity "My partner and I did grab a lot of jewelry so I would guess a couple thousand dollars worth?" he took a shot, better to guess under than over as long as it was believable.
"Wrong, Mr. Kane, extremely wrong. But now that we've made our way around to your partner, I heard that you were very helpful in handing over information about him. Why?"
Wrong? It couldn't have been that much, they only had so much pocket space and Eric kept dropping all his. "Because, after going through this ordeal I realized that what we did was wrong, and I'd like to try and make it right. I want that opportunity for him as well." he blubbered. He had to force himself not to laugh or gag at the words coming from his mouth. Yet the judges face didn't change, her eyes stayed dark and focused.
"Right. So back to the financial aspect we were discussing earlier, I'm not an idiot and I don't believe you are either, and therefore I know full well that you knew what you were stealing was worth much more than that preposterous number you threw out. Along with the many pieces of expensive jewelry you so carelessly shoved in your pocket you also tried to mix in a couple priceless pieces of antique jewels. Luckily for the owners of the store they were all found in a neat line on the concrete, although why they were the only things left behind while the rest had to be pried from your pockets is beyond me. But unfortunately we still have to deal with the fact that there is a couple thousand dollars still missing assumingly in the hands of this Mr. Eric Hempsworth with only you standing in front of me." Things were not going good. He had no idea what the judge was talking about, only that she thought he was lying and was definitely not falling for his ploy. Eric picked the location specifically because it was a run down, nothing special kind of shop. Surely he wouldn't have known there was priceless jewelry in there.
"Your honor," Julian spoke up, "if I could just say one thing..." he started,
"No, you may not thank you for asking. Clearly you tried to hide the precious jewels in amongst a sea of other jewelry, claim ignorance, and pass the blame off of your friend who conveniently isn't here to receive it and I will not be having any of it. So let's see, how about six months for each charge adding up to two years in prison. If you didn't catch that it meant I was nice enough to drop the charge of lying under oath. We're done here Mr. Kane, have a lovely day." She had already moved onto her next case file. Just like that his chances of being free were gone.
"Wait! I had no idea there was anything special in that store I promise!" He had the tears come, his last resort weapon. She didn't even glance up.
"I said have a lovely day. Bailiff please escort him out." she replied casually as she shuffled through her stack of papers.
Eric sat in the very back of the courtroom, watching and listening. Two years wasn't as long as he had hoped, but he would make sure it was long enough. Despite what Julian had done to him, despite destroying his family and uprooting him from his home, Eric almost felt bad for Julian; though not as bad once he heard that Julian had immediately turned over everything he knew about him. Luckily for Eric, he knew mainly lies. They would be looking everywhere for an Eric Hempsworth from Santa Barbara, California; not for a Thomas Dooley last seen in Boston. He watched Julian being dragged out, screaming at the judge, letting fake tears run down his cheeks. He covered his face quickly as Julian passed by, but he wasn't paying Eric (Thomas) any attention anyway.
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Twists and lies this chapter! Are they understood easily enough or am I just understanding them because I wrote the thing??
So I thought it would be fun to play some games with anyone reading with prizes and such!!! Here's the first game of the book: I have two very clear naming inspirations and the first two people to tell me them (first one on each) will win a read/vote from me on every single chapter in all of their stories
Two hints: 1. Anastasia, Eric, and Julian are excluded and not part of either inspiration. 2. Look at upcoming characters
