I Do Not Own CSI


"Sara, honey, you have to relax," Gil said softly to her. He put his hand on Sara's thigh underneath the table, stilling her bouncing leg.

"I can't help it. I just want this to all be over."

"It is," Greg said.

"No matter what the outcome is today, McKeen's life is finished. He's going to be spending the rest of it behind bars. And those two goons, they're going to be right beside him."

"Thanks, Greg," Sara said softly.

"I'm going to go call home to make sure Joanna and Eli are okay then hit the bathroom."

"I'll follow you, Sara," Catherine said. Laura got up behind them, leaving the men behind, sipping their coffees.

"How are you doing, Peter?" Jim asked, knowing that Laura's illness must be taking a hard toll on the man.

"I'm hanging in there as best I can. But I know, after this is all over, it will be one weight lifted off our shoulders. Hopefully it will give us more time for some joy in the next few months," Peter said, looking down.

"If you need anything from us, anything we can do to help…"

"Thanks, but right now I'm just trying to focus on Laura. Make sure she's not in any pain."

"Just know, even though you don't know us well, we're here to help. Don't be afraid to ask, okay," Nick said, assuring the man as best he could.

"Sara, everything okay with Eli?" Laura asked as she came into the ladies' room.

"Joanna took him to the park with Hank, he fell asleep."

That's good. Hopefully he'll get up, run, eat and fall back asleep for you again tonight."

"Hopefully," Sara said with a sigh.

"Everything is going to be alright, Sara," Catherine assured her. She watched as Sara looked at herself in the mirror sideways, checking out her profile before entering the bathroom stall.

"I know that. I'm just…I don't ever want to see Jeff McKeen again. I don't want him to ever come near my family and friends again. And if that means he gets the death penalty, after thinking about it some more, I think I'm okay with that."

"Yeah?" Laura asked as Sara emerged from the stall.

"I hate death. I don't mind solving crimes and giving a voice to the people who no longer have one. But a man like Jeff McKeen, he's caused so much pain. He's just as bad as a serial killer. If the jury comes back with a death penalty verdict, I know that he won't be able to hurt anyone again."

"I'm glad you're thinking that way," Catherine said, placing a hand on Sara's protruding abdomen.

"Just don't expect me to go to his execution. I won't give the man the satisfaction if he does get the death penalty."

"Well, once this is all over, we can focus on Eli's party. Do you have any ideas?"

"Thanks to Nick, it's going to be a cowboy theme. Right now, Eli is obsessed with anything to do with horses, rodeos, and cowboys. He won't sleep in anything but his cowboy pajamas. Half the time he's walking around the house with his little cowboy hat and boots."

"The next Texas Ranger!" They all laughed as they made their way back out to the men, who were looking hopefully at Gil.

"Did we miss something?" Sara asked, sitting beside her husband.

"Jury's back," Gil said, reading his text from Maddie.

"Already?"

"Is this a good thing or bad?" Laura asked.

"Usually, a good thing for us," Jim answered as money was thrown on the table to pay for their drinks

"You ready for this," Nick asked, walking out beside Sara.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Looking at the verdict, Judge Preston nodded before handing the piece of paper back to the bailiff then to the jury.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?" the judge asked.

"We have, Your Honor."

"What say you?"

"In the charges of conspiracy, we the jury find the defendant guilty," the foreman said as Jeff McKeen started to shrink a little.

"In the charge of bribery, we the jury find the defendant guilty. In the charge of attempted murder, we the jury find the defendant guilty. In the charge of accessory to murder, we the jury find the defendant guilty. In the charge of murder, we the jury find the defendant, not guilty."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Thank you, you can all be dismissed." The judge smiled, as the bailiff led the jury out.

Taking a deep breath, the judge took a long look at the eight people standing behind the DA. He saw sadness, anticipation, and anger; more raw emotions on the faces than this judge had ever seen. Looking back at Jeff McKeen, the judge spoke, ready to reveal his fate.

"Jeff McKeen, you have been found guilty of numerous charges, harsh crimes in the state of Nevada. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry for the pain I caused to these people out of my selfishness. I hope you can find it in you to one day forgive me," Jeff said, hoping to get a little bit of sympathy, pity, anything, but receiving nothing of the sort from anyone.

"I have to say, Mr. McKeen, ex-undersheriff, I am very disappointed and angered by you. You, sir, have caused more pain to not only these people but many others as well. You have taken lives and conspired to take more, even after you were put behind bars.

"I find it reprehensible that you think you can still do anything you want. That you thought you could continue a path of destruction when you were serving a life long punishment. You had set in motion plans to kill an entire family, and a child, all because you were mad. You were angry when you realized you had ruined your life.

"Let me tell you this, you should have thought about that before you committed murder of a CSI and made friends with a mobster. You have caused physical pain. You may not have been the person to pull the trigger, or step on the gas pedal, but you are also responsible for the pain those eight people have gone through," Judge Preston said, not letting up on McKeen.

"What proof do I have in front of me that you will not do this again, even in confinement? You made sure to try and cover your tracks. When you were found out you smiled with glee thinking you had succeeded in you rampage.
I am thoroughly disgusted with your behavior and I have no problem with the sentence I'm about to give you."

Taking a deep breath, the eight people standing behind the DA, linked hands, keeping one another strong as the judge gave her ruling.

"Jeff McKeen, I sentence you to death by lethal injection. You are to be moved to death row today." the judge announced as McKeen sat, shock on his face. The eight people watching held each other up, relief on all their faces.

"Come on, McKeen, let's go," the officer said, grabbing McKeen and standing up the shocked man.

"They were supposed to die," Jeff whispered, his head down, but anger high.

"What?" The officer asked.

"They were supposed to die," Jeff said. He grabbed the officer's gun then pushed him away, taking aim at everyone in the room.

"Look who has the power again!" Jeff smiled, keeping the gun pointed, the safety off.

"You two were supposed to die, along with that little black kid!" Jeff sneered, pointing the gun at Gil and Sara. Gil tucked Sara in behind him as Nick, Greg, Jim and Peter all stood to the foreground, the women tucked into the back.

"Jeff, you don't want to do this."

"Why not? I'm already on death row. It's just a matter of time, right? Why not finish the job I set out to do?"

"Because you'll lose," Jim told him.

"You take aim and fire at one of these people, you'll be dead."

"Sure, I'm the one who has the gun, remember."

"Sara, duck down," Gil whispered, keeping his eyes trained on the gun aimed towards him.

"Sara, get down," Laura said, as she, Catherine, and Sara all sunk low behind the men and behind the bench. That gave them some protection.

"Afraid I'm going to kill another child, Gil," Jeff said with venom in his voice.

"Nick, you have a weapon?" Jim asked quietly.

"Yeah. You?"

"Yeah."

"On the count of three?" Nick asked. Both men watched as McKeen kept a strong glare on Gil.

"Yeah"

"Gil, say goodbye!" McKeen laughed, firing, just as Nick and Jim fired at him.

Screams were heard throughout the room as a soft moan of pain was heard.

"Is he dead?" Jim called. He and Nick had each fired three shots into McKeen.

"Dead," the officer called.

"Gil!" Sara yelled. Gil was holding his arm tightly. "You're bleeding!"

"I'm okay, it just grazed me," Gil informed her as Sara wrapped her arms tightly around her husband.

"Let me see," Sara asked, pulling back. Uncovering his arm, all she saw was a long cut across his upper arm.

"You're lucky McKeen is one hell of a crappy shot," Jim told Gil as many more officers and paramedics started to run into the room.

TBC


How's that for the end of McKeen's trial?

Thanks for all the reviews everyone, please keep them coming!

More soon!

Katie