With trembling feets, The witness sat on his place. The break seemed to go forever, atleast from his prospective. The jury had taken more than an hour for discussion & everyone were anxious for the result. he was glad to be out of his house, but now cold breeze here made him so much anxious to back to his home. Looking over at where Steve was sitting, he noticed with a surprise that the giant man seemed on edge, almost fearful. But then again, he was a great actor. Accidently keep his gaze on Steve for long, angry eyes found him again. Steve tapped his fists hard which was of no use due to handcuffs.
"You think you are smart,don't you little man?" his low heavy voice reached the witness ears. "I have gotten out of scrapes before & i will do it again. you won't be able to put me in jail for this!" The gurads around him held him & made him sit again.
Unshaken by this incident, the witness was surprised to feel nothing but calm. Their solid case against Steve had settled his nerves, he was sure of verdict that jury was going to give.
Deaf of the sounds Steve made about his Innocence, the witness was wishing that the time would come to go back to the courtroom. His wish was soon granted,in the form of prosecuting lawyer tapping him on shoulder & gesturing towards the doors. everyone sttod up & went inside the courtroom.
The witness began to feel his inner peace deteriorating as he walked through the doors. Uneasiness begun to spread throughout his body & despite he tried his best to to keep his mind cool, his fear only grew up more.
There os absolutely no way this can go wrong, he thought to himself. with all the evidences against him? An easy conviction.
Still he began feeling his hands sweat & his eyes twitch. He accepted that he would not be able to rest until the verdict had been revealed. Standing up from his chair with the rest of the room, he swallowed hard as the Judge took his position.
"The jury has reached an verdict."
The witness closed his eyes.
"Steve kent is found guily of all the charges & is sentenced to lifetime imprisonment for serial murders."
The witness felt his entire body relax. A feeling of relief was washing over him. It was done!! After 6 months, the killer had been found. He hurried over to the lawyer to congratulate him on winning the case.
But before he could take a step, a loud voice from behind stopped him. Turning around,he saw Steve, red with rage, shouldering a offocer out of the way. locked eyes on the witness, he moved towards him with cuffs on still.
"You,You did this to me!!" The witness was surprised. he was having fear of getting killed by Steve. Luckily Steve was held by 5 officers. They started to drag him out of the room, he struggled against them.
"I am innocent,innocent I tell you! I was going to save her. She didn't had to die. I could have saved her! It was the only way inside" he broke completely while fighting the guards.
"The door was locked, I tell you!! I could have saved her, but she was dead when I got there, you hear me? Already dead!! I could have save her."
The screams faded in the hall as the guards took him out of there. Shaken, the witness took a few deep breaths & waved off the officer who came to check him. Straightning his tie, he gathered his things & left the courtroom.
..................
blinking in the light of late afternoon sun, the witness walked to his car. For the first time in six months he felt relieved. He was safe again. His home was safe again. The people he loved could go back to their routine life without the threat of a mysterious killer over their head. Reaching his car, he opened the door & swung his briefcase to opposite seat before settling in front of steearing wheel.
Ofcourse I had to go & parkin the sun. he thought to himself. as his face was whole sweaty, he opened up the sunglaas compartment of the car. Retrieving the black sunglasses from there, he also picked up a small plastic bag from underneath.
Seven earrings, placed neatly inside, was staring back at him.. He smiled....
"Safe at Last"......