All were waiting impatiently for Daniel Brooke in the courtroom. The clock was ticking without stopping. Every passing second was important. Daniel Brooke's subordinate was wiping his sweat from his forehead continuously. Only two minutes left and there was no sign of his Boss. If he couldn't make it, all their efforts would be ruined.
The defense lawyer chuckled and said "Time is almost over Your Honors. Mr. Brooke will not come. So, you should..."
Just then the door of the courtroom swung open and Daniel Brooke came inside with the leader of man in black. All the people present in the courtroom turned their heads to look at them. Daniel Brooke's hair was messy and his suit was soiled while his face was covered with dirt.
The four convicted men's faces turned pale to see him. Until now, they were smiling happily as if their freedom was almost confirmed. The defense lawyer's jaw dropped in shock. He panicked and cold sweat appeared on his forehead. He muttered in confusion "how did come?"
People started murmuring inside the courtroom.
Daniel Brooke's subordinate ran towards him and asked "Boss, what happened? Are you alright?"
One of the five Justice Panel members commanded "Please maintain silence in the court. What is this Mr. Brooke?"
Daniel Brooke glanced at the defense lawyer momentarily before shifting his gaze to the panel members and said calmly "Your Honors, I was attacked on the way so that I can't reach here. Someone shot me and my assistant Henry took the bullet for me."
A chill ran down through the spine of the defense lawyer to hear this. But he concealed his nervousness and sneered "What nonsense? Who will attack you?"
"Don't worry, you will know it soon."
Daniel Brooke looked at the Panel members and continued speaking "Your Honors, some people don't want me to come here today, so they tried to block my way. But when they failed they tried to kill me. It is very obvious that they don't want me to continue this case. But they forgot that I fear nothing."
He gave the photographs and the pen drive to the Panel members and continued speaking "I have enough proof to prove who killed the girl. A few days back, I got this evidence from an unknown sender. Initially, I thought someone played a prank on me. So I decided to test whether these were authentic or not. "
He passed a bunch of papers to the Panel members and said "This is the authentication report of the evidence I provided to the court."
He continued "There is a video in the pen drive. I appeal to the court to play the video."
One of the Panel members passed the pen drive to the court reporter and asked him to play the video. When the video played on the big screen, every pair of eyes present in the courtroom went wide and their jaw dropped in shock. The four convicted men were trembling in panic and the defense lawyer wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Daniel Brooke bowed to the Justice members and said "That's all. Prosecution rests here. " He sat down in his place, took the glass of water, and drank all the water in one breath. After seeing all the evidence carefully, the Panel members discussed with each other and asked the defense lawyer "Is there anything to say in defense?"
"No comments."
After that, the Justice Panel gave the verdict to hang till death to all four convicted men and ordered the police to issue a non-bailable warrant against Albert Harrison. The Panel members left one by one the courtroom after the verdict.
Happiness swept on the side of Daniel Brooke. His subordinate was shaking hands with him happily and congratulated him.
As soon as the news spread outside the courtroom, all the reporters and cameramen became active and the news spread like wildfire on each channel. Every channel of 'X' city was broadcasting the news again and again. Daniel Brooke was still inside the courtroom and the reporters were waiting impatiently with the cameramen for him to come out. They were ready to capture every moment.
Daniel Brooke asked the leader of the men in black "Do you have any news for Henry."
"Yes. The bullet has taken out. He is out of danger now."
"Good. I want to meet him now."
The leader nodded and they came out of the courtroom. Just then all the media men rushed towards him like a swarm of bees and started asking thousands of questions at a time. The leader and his subordinate guarded him to take them away but they were not able to push them back.
The police came and cleared the way for them and Daniel Brooke with his men drove away from the court. Very soon they reached the city hospital where Henry August was admitted.
He entered a VIP ward and saw Henry August, lying on the sickbed closing his eyes. He went towards him and caressed his forehead.
Henry August opened his eyes and saw his Boss. He tried to say something with his feeble voice "Boss..."
"Don't talk. You need to rest."
He sighed and asked, "Is it good news or bad news?"
"What do you think?"
He looked at his Boss narrowing his eyes only to see a faint smile on his face. He smiled and said "Congratulations Boss."
Daniel Brooke chuckled and said, "You are my true friend." He sat down on the chair near the sickbed, held his hand, and said in a serious tone "I owe you my life."
"Boss, don't say like that. I feel happy that you are safe. If something happened to you, I could never forgive myself."
"Fool."
They looked at each other without saying anything and started laughing.
......
In Senator Michael Harrison's office, the phones were ringing continuously. The Senator was sitting on his chair pressing his head with his hands. His assistant was busy answering calls. "Mr. Senator, the situation is getting worse."
The Senator glared deadly at his assistant Kyle Kings and snapped "You can't handle a single man. Now you are worried that the situation is worse?" He paused for a moment and started saying "Prepare my resignation letter."
"But Mr. Senator...."
He brushed off him "Is there any other way?"
Kyle Kings lowered his head and turned around to leave. Just then he heard "Kyle, the safety of Albert is now on your hand. I hope you will not disappoint me this time." After a few moments, he continued again "Find out the man who sent the proof to Daniel Brooke."
Kyle Kings turned around to face the Senator and said "I'll do my best."
......
Lisa and Carl Black were busy in Bill Roth hospital for the discharge procedure of Mark Holmes. At that time Lisa's phone started ringing. She took out her phone and saw Daniel Brooke's number flashing on the screen. She thought maybe he had some news for Neil Green so she went to a corner and answered the phone "Hello."
She heard his cheerful voice from the other end of the phone "Did you see the news?"
Lisa felt irritated when she sensed that he was nothing important to tell her and said "No. I am busy Daniel. If you don't have anything important to say then I'll hang up."
"Wait....you must watch the news. I'll call you later."
Dud... dud...dud...
Lisa pulled her eyebrows together and stared at the screen blankly, totally mystified. She thought what was there in the news that she must watch? She went to the waiting area to watch the news out of curiosity. When she saw it her jaw dropped and her eyes widened in surprise. She couldn't react for a while and only eyed at the television screen. A wave of happiness hit her heart and a smile appeared involuntarily on her face.
"There you are."
Carl Black's voice snapped her back to reality. She turned to look at him and she heard him saying "I was searching for you everywhere. You just vanished from there."
She was very embarrassed and stuttered, hanging down her head "I-I just...."
She couldn't complete her sentence in embarrassment and didn’t lift her head. During these days, when her father was in the hospital, this man helped them so much. He even took leaves for a few days to accompany her. Today he was running from here and there to complete the discharge procedure as soon as possible but she was busy watching the achievement news of Daniel Brooke. It was utterly irresponsible from her side and she felt disappointed in herself.
"Uncle and aunt are ready to leave. They are waiting for you."
"OK. Let's go."
"You go and bring them outside. I'll bring the car."
She nodded and went to the ward. When she entered the ward she saw her parents were ready to leave.
"Mom... Dad... Are you ready?"
Linda Holmes said "We are waiting for you. Where have you been?"
She went towards her father, held his hand, and said with a smile ignoring her mother's question "Dad, let's go. Mr. Black is waiting outside."
Mark Holmes patted her head and said "I am dying to go back home."
They came out of the hospital. Happiness was clearly seen on their faces. Carl Black drove away once they got in the car. They were chatting and laughing happily. Lisa was the happiest one. She was happy for Daniel Brooke also. She was smiling from ear to ear the entire time. She knew how important the case was for Daniel Brooke. Finally, his dream came true and how come she would not be happy for him. There was no limit to her happiness. At that moment she forgot all her problems and the conflict between them. She was enjoying the moment.