Chapter 18 - The Trial
Senator Robert Vale’s trial began eight months after Mercy General.
By then, Emily’s bruises were gone.
The scar on her lip remained faintly visible.
She did not hide it.
The prosecution called accountants first.
Then former employees.
Then Rosa.
Rosa walked into court wearing a simple gray suit.
Brandon glared at her from the defense side of the courtroom in a separate proceeding.
She never looked at him.
She described the guesthouse.
The threats.
The unlocked door.
Then prosecutors played her recording.
Margaret’s voice filled the courtroom.
“If Emily runs to her mother, Victoria becomes the problem.”
Vale’s attorneys objected repeatedly.
Most objections failed.
Captain Reeves testified under a cooperation agreement.
He admitted closing complaints.
He admitted protecting Prescott properties.
He admitted lying about Sarah Bell.
When prosecutors asked why, Reeves stared at his hands.
“At first, it was money.”
“And later?”
“Fear.”
“Fear of whom?”
“Everyone.”
That answer stayed with me.
The network eventually controlled the people inside it too.
Judge Mercer took the stand.
He tried to minimize his role.
Then prosecutors played video of him discussing removed domestic complaints.
His credibility collapsed.
Charles Wynn testified for two days.
He described media manipulation in detail.
Then Emily was called.
The courtroom became completely silent.
She walked to the witness stand alone.
No uniformed mother beside her.
No attorney holding her arm.
No one speaking for her.
She testified for three hours.
Vale’s attorney tried to make her angry.
“Mrs. Prescott, you stole private records.”
“I took evidence connected to crimes against me.”
“You were experiencing marital problems.”
“I was being confined.”
“You hated your husband’s family.”
“I was afraid of them.”
“You wanted revenge.”
Emily looked directly at him.
“No.”
“What did you want?”
“To leave.”
The attorney paused.
Emily continued.
“That was the entire thing they could not tolerate.”
The jury listened.
Then prosecutors showed the file labeled ACCESS.
The notes proving Emily’s relationship with Ethan had been planned.
The attorney tried another angle.
“Isn’t it possible your emotional reaction affected your memory?”
Emily looked toward the jury.
“I remember the door locking.”
“I remember asking to leave.”
“I remember being told no.”
“I remember my phone being taken.”
“I remember writing RUN on a memory card because I thought I might not get another chance.”
She looked back at the attorney.
“My emotions do not make those facts disappear.”
No more questions.
I testified the next day.
Vale’s attorney tried to provoke me.
“Colonel Hart, you are accustomed to command.”
“Yes.”
“You expect obedience.”
“In military circumstances where lawful orders apply.”
“You entered that hospital ready for a fight.”
“No.”
“What were you ready for?”
“The truth.”
He smiled.
“And when you did not like what people told you?”
“I looked at the evidence.”
The smile faded.
The trial lasted six weeks.
Then the jury left to deliberate.
Emily and I waited in a quiet room.
Two hours passed.
Then four.
Then seven.
At 6:18 p.m., the jury returned.
We stood.
The clerk read the first count.
“Guilty.”
Then another.
“Guilty.”
And another.
“Guilty.”
Vale stopped looking at the jury.
Emily gripped my hand.
The verdicts continued.
Conspiracy.
Bribery.
Obstruction.
Witness intimidation.
Fraud.
Not every count resulted in conviction.
But enough did.
More than enough.
When court adjourned, reporters flooded the steps.
Emily did not speak.
She looked at me.
“Can we go home?”
I smiled.
“Yes.”
For the first time in nearly a year, home sounded like a place instead of something we had to defend.
But one case still remained.
May you like
Brandon Prescott had refused every plea agreement.
And his trial would decide what legally happened to Sarah Bell.
