First Class Justice (First Class Novels) (10 page)

“Because I really don’t want to have some… some… some Public
Defender try to convince a jury that what happened to me was somehow my fault.
I don’t want a jury to look at me and wonder what I must have done to deserve
it, or ask for it. And I don’t want to have to look at him and point him out to
the jury as the man who I couldn’t defend myself against.”

“Oh Katy,” Janie said, her heart breaking. “Nobody thinks
that this is your fault or that you deserved it. Nobody!”

“But everyone thinks of me differently now. It may not have
been my fault to the people that know me, but they all treat me with kid
gloves, like I might break or snap at any moment. I just want to be me, the old
me, the way it was.”

Janie really didn’t know what to say so she just hugged her
friend tightly.

Sarah opened the door and stepped inside.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said.

The two women let go of each other and each wiped their
eyes.

“It’s fine,” said Katy. “What happened?”

“The judge has accepted the plea and will impose sentencing
on Thursday, just like I thought. I have asked the court to hear your prepared
statements. Both of you. It will help to influence the sentence.”

“I’m with Katy on this. Whatever she wants to do I’m with
her. Katy? What do you think?” Janie said.

Katy looked at Sarah. “And what does a statement mean? What
do I have to do?”

“Well,” Sarah began, “you just tell the judge how you feel.
You can write it down and read it, or you can just speak from the heart. There
is no specific way you have to do it.”

“And do I have to look at him?” Katy questioned Sarah.

“No. You’ll just stand and talk to the judge. No sitting on
the witness stand or swearing in. Just tell her what you want to. It can be
three sentences or it can be three pages. It’s all up to you.”

Katy looked at Janie and nodded her head. “We can do this,”
she said.

“Okay,” Janie said.

*****

Mark and Matt stood in the hall outside the meeting room.
They could see Katy and Janie talking and Mark was still seething.

“There’s nothing you can do,” Matt said.

“I know,” Mark spat. “That’s what makes it even worse.”

He paced up and down as Sarah stepped off the elevator and
walked towards him.

Mark spoke first.

“I apologize for before. I was angry and should have controlled
my temper. It was uncalled for. I’m sorry.”

Sarah smiled and touched his arm. “Apology accepted. I
understand. And I get that it this is hard for you. But you have to believe
that my goal, my
only
goal, is to make sure that justice gets served; justice
for Katy and justice for Janie. I have to do what will get the best result for
them. And I truly believe that this is the best that we can do. If it wasn’t, I
would never agree to it.”

Mark nodded and stepped back. Sarah walked past the men and
entered the meeting room. Matt sat on the chair and took a sip of his coffee
while Mark continued to pace.

“Mark, sit! You’re making me crazy!”

“I can’t stand to see her like this. Sometimes I see these
glimpses of what she must have been like before and then she just closes up and
the wall comes back and…”

“You should tell her how you feel. You should give her the
opportunity to lean on you a little.”

“So you’re now the expert on relationships? What are we at
now? Five months of marriage and you are giving me advice?” Mark grinned.

Matt chuckled. “I remember you giving me advice last year
and you’ve NEVER been married, so don’t give me any shit! But seriously, if you
hadn’t kicked my ass a couple of times I hate to think what I might have let
slip through my fingers. I see the way you look at her.”

Mark sighed. “She’s said a hundred times she isn’t looking
for anything or anyone. She doesn’t want any kind of relationship. Although,
she went on a date on Friday!”

“What? With who?”

“No idea.”

“Well if she’s dating why wouldn’t she date you?” Matt
asked.

Mark shrugged. The door opened and Katy and Janie came out.

“Ready to go?” Janie asked.

Matt stood and took his wife’s hand. Mark looked at Katy and
smiled.
Maybe when this is over I could ask her on a date.

*****

Matt and Janie took the opportunity to go and see her sons
at college. It would be a quick day trip and they had to work around the boys’
class schedule, but Janie was thrilled to get to spend some more time with
them.

Mark sat in his hotel room and worked on his laptop. There
was an office building in Atlanta that MEL Holdings was going to purchase and
Mark was doing his due diligence before working up the proposal. This kind of
acquisition took hours and hours to prepare for before ever putting anything in
writing in front of the seller. And then there were hours and hours of work
negotiating the sale and seeing it through. He was only at the very beginning stages
of the project so an extra day to work on it was greatly appreciated. The only
trouble was everything he needed from Jill, his secretary, wasn’t ready or not
accessible. She didn’t think he would need any of it until he returned to the
office next week.

Mark closed his laptop in frustration. He was just spinning
his wheels. He may as well find something else to do. He was rethinking his
decision not to go with Matt and Janie, although that trip didn’t seem overly
exciting to him, but at least he would have been out of the hotel.

He walked to the window and saw blue sky and sunshine. He
was happy to see the dark clouds and rain gone. He was quite sure he could
never live in Portland because he couldn’t see himself getting used to the
depressing winters in the Pacific Northwest, although Janie had assured him it
wasn’t like this all the time.

His cell phone interrupted his thoughts and the Caller I.D.
said it was Katy. He smiled as he answered.

“Hi. What’s up?”

“Hey. I wanna go to the beach.”

Mark tilted his head slightly and grinned. “Ok.”

“Would you like to go with me?” she asked.

“When?”

“Now. Just for the day”

Mark chuckled. “Now?”

“That’s what I said.”

Mark scratched his nose.

“You’re not answering me,” Katy said, irritation in her
voice.

“Ok. Let’s go to the beach.”

“Great. Are you gonna pick me up?”

Mark laughed. “I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

“Make it twenty.”

He smiled as he ended the call.
This is much better than
working!

Katy ran out of the house as soon as Mark pulled his rental
car into her driveway. He didn’t even have time to put the car in park and get
out and open the door for her. She was in and buckling the seatbelt in an
instant.

“Thank you!” she beamed.

“You’re welcome,” Mark replied. “The beach in January, huh?”
he grinned.

“The beach
anytime
of the year!”

“Anywhere specific?” he asked.

“Cannon Beach please,” she smiled eagerly.

Mark entered the information into the GPS and then slowly
backed out of the driveway. He navigated his way onto the freeway heading north
on the I-5.

“According to this we’ll be there in about ninety minutes.
So lunch when we get there?” Mark asked, his stomach already growling because
of his lack of breakfast.

“Was that you?” Katy gasped.

“Yeah. I didn’t think I was going to be leaving the hotel in
such a hurry.” 

“Well, seeing as though I rushed you, I’ll buy you an Egg
McMuffin,” she grinned.

“No thanks. I’ll wait for lunch,” he smirked.

“Fine,” she grinned and watched them whiz through traffic,
making their way out of the city and onto the highway that would take them to
the ocean.

Every year for the last twenty or so, Katy and Janie had taken
three days in the summer and the two of them had gone to the beach for a few
days.
Just
the two of them. No men, no children. But last year, with
Janie’s wedding, they had missed out on their annual holiday. Katy had
completely understood and wasn’t angry at all. But she had missed the
opportunity of quality time with her friend, and the calming, soothing effects
the ocean had on her. And if there was ever a time that she needed calm, it was
now.

The sudden plea agreement had meant there would not be a
three-day trial to sit through. However, the request from Sarah to prepare a
statement for the judge at the sentencing hearing tomorrow had her all tied up
in knots. As strange as it was, she thought it would be easier just to answer
questions than to have to decide what to say. She had tried to prepare
something the evening before, but had given up after a few hours. The first
thing she had thought of when she had awoken that morning was to head to the
beach. She was more than capable of going alone, but she wanted Mark to come
with her. She wanted to experience it with him, to share it with him. She
smiled as she gazed out the window.

“You have a beautiful smile,” Mark said.

Katy didn’t respond. Yes, she wanted to share it with Mark.

*****

Mark had visited beaches all over the world. He had surfed,
bodysurfed, windsurfed, kayaked, jet-skied, swam, and every other conceivable
water activity under the sun in all the world-renowned locations. But walking
along the beach with the chilled breeze in their faces and the sun in their
eyes was one of the highlights of his life. It was cold and the wind was
blowing ocean spray onto those brave souls out on the beach, but he could tell
that Katy’s mood immediately changed once they were on the sand.

Katy’s eyes were closed and her head tilted to the sun. She
was breathing in the salty air and calming her soul.

Mark took her hand in his as they walked. Katy flinched at
his touch but Mark didn’t let go.

“If you’re going to walk with your eyes closed at least let
me guide you,” he chuckled.

He saw her smile and relax. They continued to walk, neither
one speaking. After several minutes Katy stopped and turned to him.

“Thank you for bringing me. I
really
needed this.”

“You’re welcome,” he smiled. “I’ll do anything you need.”

“I need to prepare my statement for tomorrow,” she frowned.
“And I don’t know what to say.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t help you with that. That has to come
from you.”

“I know.”

They began walking again, still hand in hand.

“I never thanked you,” Katy said.

“For what?” Mark was curious.

“For coming for me.”

It took Mark a second to realize what she was talking about.

“You risked your life to save me,” she continued. “And you
didn’t even know me.”

“You don’t need to thank me. I only did what anyone would
have done. And you know that I will always come for you, right? All you need to
do is say the word and I’m here.”

Katy smiled a sort of sad smile and Mark wondered what she
was thinking but didn’t ask.

“I do believe we have a lunch date,” he smiled.

*****

They found a small café on the main drag to escape the
breeze and satisfy Mark’s appetite. They ordered bowls of clam chowder and
sandwiches and fries. Mark sipped on coffee and Katy on a soda while they
waited for their food to arrive.

“So how’s your son?” Mark asked.

“Derek’s doing great,” she smiled. “It was hard having
Christmas without him this year but his dad actually wanted him to spend the
holidays with him this year, which rarely happens, so it all worked out well.
But he’s back at school now and I try to see him on the weekends. He could live
at home if he wanted to, but who wants to live with their mom when they’re a
junior in college?” she laughed.

“What does he want to do after school?”

“He’s majoring in engineering. I’m not sure he knows what he
wants to do with that but he has some time.”

“Well your degree doesn’t necessarily decide what you’re
going to be. Just look at me?” Mark laughed.

“Why? What is your degree in?” Katy was curious.

“Basketball?” he chuckled. “No. I have a B.S. in Mathematics.
But I run a real estate company with Matt. At least his degree was in
business.”

“What did you think you wanted to do?”

“I thought I wanted to teach. But I realized I didn’t really
like kids.”

Katy’s mouth dropped open. “You don’t like kids?”

“Well, not enough to be around them ALL the time.”

“Don’t you want children of your own?”

“Never saw it for me. And the older I get, I still don’t see
it in my future. I mean, I’m not like Matt who absolutely does not want
children. I guess with the opportunity not presenting itself I just don’t ever
think about it,” he shrugged. “I like other people’s kids,” he smiled. “But you’re
a great mom. Why only one kid?”

“Thanks. I got divorced before any more came along. In fact,
Derek was an accident, a wonderful accident,” she clarified, “but Brett and I
were not looking to having any children right away. But I’m thrilled that we
did, and for as much as I have despised Brett over the years, we have this
amazing child together and for that I’m grateful.”

“Did you ever think about having more?” Mark asked.

“A few years ago I did, but not anymore. My pregnant days
are over. I’ll just wait for grandchildren, thank you!”

The waitress arrived and delivered the steaming bowls of
clam chowder and homemade bread rolls right out of the oven.

“Mmmm,” Mark inhaled the smell of the bread. “Let’s eat!”

*****

It started to get dark around four o’clock so Mark and Katy decided
to head back home. It had been a beautiful day at the beach and Mark had
thoroughly enjoyed himself. But the realization came that after tomorrow, he
wouldn’t be in Portland again for a very long time. The thought was not a
pleasant one.