I Think I've Been Kidnapped

Chapter 34

***Liam’s P.O.V.***

“Mr. Kendrick, the court has found you guilty of the charges brought against you and has given you a penalty of six years of prison and a two thousand dollar fine. Failure to pay this fine will result in a longer prison sentence and a possible retrial. As for you, Mr. Argall, you are found guilty of accessory to kidnapping and are subject to a one thousand and fifty dollar fine,” the judge announced in his booming voice. If you asked me, the sentence seemed a little low for what her father and his friend had done, but I wasn’t part of the decision so I had no say in it.

Harry confessing our crime had done surprisingly little to influence the verdict apparently and we hadn’t been questioned about it too much which was a relief. At the end of the day, Eira’s father had still kidnapped her with the intent on keeping her away from her family and authorities and that was what mattered. So, we had gotten off the hook for now. For now.

I could only imagine how much management would be on our a** over this, and the reporters would no doubt have a field day with it. One thing was for sure; we might not have gotten in trouble just yet, but we were bound to later. So, I had been nervously fidgeting while thinking about that. Trouble was the last thing we needed, and Eira was still mad at us so that only made things worse. I would have to talk to her alone after the court case was over.

“Failure to meet any of these requirements will lead to a stricter sentence,” the judge continued before whacking the gavel onto the podium in front of him, “court adjourned.” Soon, the court room was filled with the same hustle and bustle that filled it during the short recess. Eira’s father and his friend huddled with their lawyer on one side of the room while the jurors took their turns in leaving the raised platform they had been sitting on. Eira’s mother and lawyer were walking out of the court room and leaving Eira behind who was picking up her bag from her seat. The boys stayed in their seats even as I stood up to walk over to her.

“Where are you going, Liam?” Niall wondered and I stopped so that I could answer him, though, it gave Eira time to head towards the door and past us.

“I’m going to go talk to her,” I told him, and then went to walk again but this time I was stopped by Zayn.

“And what are you going to say?”

I shrugged my shoulders in response before adding an, “I don’t know, just something.” Quickly, I headed out of the room and jogged to Eira in order to keep her from leaving. I called her name once, and she either didn’t hear me or she was ignoring me because she kept walking away. So, I finally reached her and managed to grab onto one of her arms to halt her. I was gentle of course, but I found myself loosening my grip just in case. When she turned to look at me, the look of anger was still on her features. I wondered if she would ever be able to look at us differently.

“What?” her tone was more annoyed than rude this time, and I couldn’t decide if that was an improvement or not.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?” I asked, the hopeful sound to my words was probably enough to show her that I wanted to fix this.

“Liam, I really-,” before she could say anything else, I interrupted her.

“Please,” I managed to fill the word with as much pleading as possible, and her narrowed eyes seemed to soften for only a moment before she gave a curt nod. I looked around at the different doors leading to different court rooms, and I spotted one with a plaque that stated that it wouldn’t be in use until later in the day. Without protest from her, I guided her over to it and pulled her inside so that we could talk in private.

"I’m sorry for showing up so abruptly and all,” I started, because I didn’t exactly know what I should say to her in that moment.

“You shouldn’t have shown up at all,” she replied, her voice sounding somewhat cold when she spoke.