Chapter 19 - THE VERDICT
Daniel stood between two deputies.
Lorraine stood beside her attorney.
I sat with my daughters.
Samuel slept against my chest.
Abigail held Amanda’s hand.
Marissa and Lily sat behind us.
Officer Holloway sat in the final row.
The clerk read the first count.
Guilty.
Aggravated domestic assault.
Guilty.
Unlawful restraint.
Guilty.
Kidnapping.
Guilty.
Child trafficking.
Guilty.
Conspiracy.
Guilty.
Evidence tampering.
Guilty.
Murder.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Lorraine’s knees weakened.
The verdicts continued.
By the end, both faced mandatory life sentences.
At sentencing, the judge allowed victim statements.
Marissa spoke first.
“You stole eleven years.”
“You do not get another day of mine.”
Amanda spoke about loving a child while unknowingly living inside a crime.
Officer Holloway spoke about finding her mother beneath the same land that built Lorraine’s power.
Then I stood.
Daniel looked at Samuel.
I turned slightly so he could no longer see him.
“You called my daughters worthless.”
“They are not.”
“You called me broken.”
“I was injured.”
“There is a difference.”
“You believed pain made you powerful.”
“But pain only revealed what you were.”
I looked at Lorraine.
“You stood on that porch every morning.”
“You sharpened metal while your son tied my hands.”
“You thought watching made you innocent.”
“It made you responsible.”
The judge sentenced Daniel to life without parole.
Lorraine received the same.
Sheriff Reed received thirty years.
Paul Grayson received twelve.
The doctor received twenty-five.
The psychiatrist who imprisoned Marissa received eighteen.
The Mercer trust was dissolved.
The ranch was transferred to a public trust for environmental cleanup and a memorial for the women found there.
No oil company received the land.
No male heir inherited it.
The porch pillar was removed from the rental house.
Officer Holloway asked whether I wanted it destroyed.
“No.”
I wanted it preserved as evidence.
Not of my weakness.
Of the morning their control ended.
As deputies led Daniel away, he turned toward me.
“Elena.”
I did not answer.
He raised his voice.
“You would have nothing without me.”
Sophie stood beside me.
She looked at her father.
May you like
Then she spoke clearly.
“She has us.”
