Page 102 of His Virgin Romance Series
“No?” Victor asked. “Strange… Because he was convicted a few days ago, and he mentioned meeting you several times over the last few years. In fact, he said that the two of you were planning on starting your own business…something to do with drugs?”
“He’s lying,” Brent said immediately. “He’s a liar.”
“You just said you didn’t know him,” Victor said. “How can you know if he’s a liar or not?”
“I… We may have crossed paths…”
“According to Mr. Samson, you did more than just cross paths. You were going into the business of drug dealing together, and you were planning on stealing away customers from the man you used to buy drugs from. Is any this ringing a bell?”
Victor went through a detailed synopsis of what had happened in the last couple of months. Apparently, once Brent and Harvey succeeded in stealing away a few customers from Johnny Devon, he made it his mission to destroy them. It got to a point where Brent had started to get nervous, and he had decided to frame me for the crime so that he wouldn’t be in the line of fire. Of course, he never copped to any of this, but Victor’s questions were well placed and well argued.
Brent’s lawyer objected a few times, but each time his objections were overruled. In the end, I could see realization dawn on Brent: he was going to jail. There was too much evidence against him, and Harvey had given the cops enough information and proof to convict him. I saw his anger start to show on the stand and when his eyes caught mine in a coincidental moment of chance, they blazed with fire.
“He was your friend,” Victor reminded Brent.
“He was never my friend,” Brent shot back. “He liked keeping me around because he felt more ‘respectable’ by comparison. I was his loser friend. I was the pathetic friend who could never hold a job or get his life together. He was the noble firefighter, the brave firefighter. And he thought too much of himself.”
“Apparently, many people do.”
I saw Brent repress the urge to roll his eyes, but Victor continued quickly. “So is that why you framed him? You were jealous?”
“I didn’t frame him,” Brent maintained till the last.
“You were jealous of him, though, weren’t you?” Victor asked. “Was that your motive?”
“I didn’t have a motive because I didn’t frame him.”
“No?” Victor sounded almost amused. “But you were involved in a drug pushing business with Harvey Samson?”
“Jared was in on it, too,” he lied seamlessly.
“Funny, because Harvey never mentioned Jared,” Victor said. “In fact, he mentioned that Jared had nothing to do with your deals, at all.”
“He’s a liar.”
“Or maybe you’re the liar?” Victor suggested.
“Objection!” Brent’s lawyer jumped to his feet, and the motion was sustained.
The judge declared a small break, and half an hour later, we were back in the courtroom, and the jury announced their decision. I was exonerated of all charges and was free to leave, but Brent was sentenced to ten years in jail. With good behavior, I knew he could get out in eight years, but I knew that even eight years was a lifetime in prison years. A part of me pitied him, but I was still too raw and hurt to feel anything more for my former friend.
I watched him being escorted out in handcuffs and my automatic reaction was to look for Rachel. But no matter where I looked, she was nowhere to be found. I left the courtroom with Victor beside me, and despite my newfound freedom, I didn’t feel as elated as I expected to.
I got out of bed, showered quickly and headed into work. Sarge had given me the option of taking a few days off, but I had declined. The best thing for me right now was to work, especially because it took my mind of Rachel. I hadn’t seen or spoken to her since the verdict two days ago, and already I felt her absence so keenly that it hurt.
As I walked into the station in a sour mood, I noticed that the place was practically a graveyard. Then I walked into the day room, and the place burst into cheers and applause and hooting. Even Sarge was standing there, between Kendrick and Mel, clapping along with the rest of the men. There was a makeshift sign that had been hung up, and I recognized Kendrick’s untidy scrawl. His sign read, “We’re glad you’re not a drug dealer and you’re not going to spend the next ten years in jail.”
The sight of the sign made me smile, and I realized that there was a lot in my life I had to be thankful for. The boys took it in turns to congratulate me, and I took the opportunity to thank them for being there for me, for believing in me, and for supporting me through the whole process.
Sarge clapped me hard on the back. “You’re a good man, Jared,” he said. “I’m glad to have you back.”
“Thanks, Sarge.”
“I would have invited your girlfriend, too, only no one knew her number,” he told me.
I hesitated. “That’s… We’re not together anymore, Sarge,” I said, choking out the words.
He sighed. “I thought it might be something like that…”
