Chapter 34
The courtroom was dead silent as the defendant was escorted in and seated beside her boy lawyer. Gone was the well-manicured woman that ran one of the most successful beauty salon chains on the West Coast. She was allowed to wear "street" clothes instead of her usual orange jumpsuit. Her baby-faced lawyer had sent her a dark blue skirt and blazer set with a light blue silk shirt along with pantyhose and shoes. Real shoes, her shoes…her low heel Jimmy Choos in black. Her hair was clean and she was allowed to cut her own hair with supervision, but she was denied hair color or bleach. Her hair was styled as well as could be expected for a woman incarcerated. Her gray was most evident and the fact that she wasn't a natural blonde. Without her creams and lotions and the occasional trip to the dermatologist for Botox, Elena was showing her age with deep lines around her eyes and mouth.
After she got situated at the defense table, she turned to look upon the courtroom. As expected the press was there and she saw her ex-husband sitting in the back row smirking at her. She paid him no attention and searched for any friendly face. On the prosecution side, on the very front row sat Raymond Steele, Anastasia Steele Grey, Christian Grey, his parents, Carrick and Grace, and his siblings Elliot and the ever annoying Mia Grey. The only one to make eye contact with her was Raymond Steele. There was no emotion in his eyes. He looked through her. She shivered afraid for some reason. She already knew that she was looking at prison time and she was hoping that the court would have mercy on her since she confessed.
"All rise. The Superior Court of Washington State is now in session. The Honorable Judge Patricia Fortescue presiding." The bailiff's strong voice rang out and everyone stood. A tall lady appeared and went to the Bench.
"Please be seated." Her strong voice rang out. "The State of Washington vs. Elena Morris Lincoln on the charges of Attempted Murder in the First Degree, Solicitation of a Minor for Sex, Child Molestation in the first degree, Producing, with intent to sell Child Pornography, Fifteen counts of Sex Trafficking of a minor, and One hundred counts of Sex Trafficking including Kidnapping, Assault, Sexual Assault and Resisting Arrest." The Judge looked at Elena with no emotions in her eyes and once again, Elena felt that fear race up her spine.
"Mrs. Lincoln, I also have a petition from your lawyer of your decision to plead guilty of all charges. You are waiving your right to a trial of your peers, is this correct?"
Elena nodded and the child-lawyer nudged her to speak. "Yes, Your Honor."
The Judge looked to the District Attorney. "Does the District Attorney office approve of this development and accept the guilty plea."
"Yes, Your Honor." The man replied.
"I have been sitting on the bench for over twenty years and this is the most heinous and unsettling case that I have had. Rise, Mrs. Lincoln." The Judge looked down at the papers before her. "Elena Lincoln you are found guilty of the before said charges and this court reprimands you into the Washington State Corrections system for a maximum of 50 years with no chance of parole. You will be taken immediately to Washington Corrections Center for Women for processing." The Judge brought the gravel down and a resounding boom filled the courtroom. "This court is in recess for fifteen minutes." The Judge got up and quickly made her way to her chambers clearly rattled by this case and the evidence she had to ingest and study. She was physically sick and grateful that she reached her private bathroom in time to empty her stomach.
Carrick and Grace Grey hugged their son and daughter-in-law. The threat of Elena Lincoln hurting another child had been thwarted by her sentencing. She would die in prison. The Grey family along with Raymond Steele turned to see Elena fall back into her chair. They could not believe that Elena acted like she couldn't understand why the courts was so harsh with her. Elena looked over to the united family, a situation she worked so hard to destroy.
"Christian, please help me! I can't go to prison. I just can't. I won't survive in there. You have to help me! You owe me!" She cackled.
Ana pushed in front of her husband as if to protect him. "He doesn't owe you a fucking thing! If anything you owe him his childhood."
"You stupid little fool. Do you really think he loves you? He doesn't know how to love. He will get bored with you and throw you away with the rest of the whores…."
"That you found him." Ana stated smugly. "You are nothing but trash under my Manolo Blahnik's!" Ana stepped forward but her father held her back. The last thing they needed was for Ana to get arrested for assault. "Christian has everything he ever dreamed about. A loving family that would do anything for him, a wife who cherishes him, a son who loves him unconditionally and he has the respect of many. What do you have, Penny? Hmmm?" Ana was getting her pound of flesh. "A prison cell for the next 50 years. While you are rotting away in that tiny little cell and probably being someone's bitch, I will be up in his bed, having his babies, loving him, touching him in ways that you never could, and I have his name." Ana's blue eyes were afire in cold flinty anger. Elena shrieked actually afraid. She was up against a more dangerous and dominant woman than herself. "Goodbye, Penny Abrahams. Your new jewelry has arrived." Ana nodded to the court officers that were standing behind Elena with handcuffs and ankle cuffs. Ana turned to her husband. "Shall we go, my darling? I have plans for you in our big, wide, marriage bed!"
Christian was all smiles. His little wife was downright devious and a little bit scary. He pulled her close and kissed her in the middle of the Superior Court of the Great State of Washington. "Plans, eh?" He tucked her into his side and led her from the room. "I wonder what they could be."
Carrick and Grace with Elliot and Mia followed the couple with wide smiles on their faces. It was a time to celebrate their freedom from an evil bitch! Ray stayed behind and watched as Elena was handcuffed. He got great pleasure knowing that this bitch would never see freedom. She would die in prison. He had friends who would make sure that Elena Lincoln never had a day's peace while she walked upon this good earth. Elena looked up at him. He had those same cold eyes as his daughter.
"What in the fuck are you looking at?" She snarled at him.
"Just watching the garbage being taken out." He quickly retorted. He leaned forward and whispered to her lawyer and the court officers. "I would demand a sanitized bath after working with that piece of shit!" Ray turned on his heel and left the courtroom. "The clean-up has begun and is on schedule." He turned back to see the pedophile being led away.
"Good riddance." A deep voice declared. Ray only nodded at Tyler Lincoln and offered his hand.
"I am expecting you to hold to your end of this bargain. You are to leave my daughter and her husband alone. You know the truth of that bitch you called wife. That boy holds no blame to what that evil snatch did to him."
"No worries, Mr. Steele. I am more than vindicated for the wrongs that slut did to me." Tyler Lincoln felt the strength is Raymond Steele's hand. He did admire the man who knew how to protect his own and had no qualms going after any scum that tried to hurt his family. Raymond Steele was a lucky man to have a loving daughter and the Grey Family as an extended family. "If you would be so kind, you might tell young Grey that there is no hard feelings and that I am moving on. I think Southern California might be a good place to start over."
"Good luck, Mr. Lincoln." Raymond said with a slight smile.
"Thank you, Mr. Steele." Tyler picked up his ever ready raincoat and umbrella. He would have to be reprogrammed for Southern California. He would have to remember sunblock and a hat. Mr. Lincoln walked out of the courtroom feeling freer than he did when he divorced Elena!
Raymond left the courtroom after Tyler Lincoln and ducked into the men's bathroom. Thankfully it was empty. He took out his phone and quickly typed a text message to Carlos.
Penny Abrahams, aka Elena Morris Lincoln was sentenced to 50 years in prison with no chance of parole.
He didn't wait to read a reply if it came in. Ray was on a mission to make sure that his daughter's life was safe. If he had anything to do with it, Ana, Christian, and Teddy would have the happiest life. Ana deserved joy and contentment. He took a deep breath knowing that he had been correct running checks on Christian, his family, and that sicko bitch! He knew all about Christian's alternative lifestyle even before Ana met and married him. If it had been any other man, Raymond would have gotten rid of Christian immediately, however something told Raymond to dig even deeper. All the digging came up with photos of a young Christian Grey on the Dark Web being beaten and in a variety of sexual positions with men and women. Ray also found information about Carlos Balitrane and his introduction into the world of BDSM. It seemed that Elena Lincoln liked her boys very young. Carlos had been younger than Christian when Elena got her meat hooks into him. She had a pattern. She would find a boy with problems, usually emotional and she would get inside their heads and make sure that they were hers for her pleasure. She would beat them, fuck them, and even loan them out to her friends if she so desired. She kept track of her boys, and if they became successful as Balitrane and Grey, she would expect them to fund her lavish lifestyle. She wasn't above blackmail with Carlos and with Grey, she had him so brainwashed that he would jump off his own building if she told him to do so!
Then, there was Kate Kavanagh! She was on his scope the first day he met her. As the wise old sage that he was, Raymond kept his opinions to himself. He knew that Ana could hold her own against the trust-fund baby, but when Kate started showing her unbalanced mentality, Raymond had her followed. It was her foray into the BDSM that got Raymond investigating the lifestyle in around Seattle. Elena Lincoln's name kept popping up as the "madam" to contact if one needed assistance in the lifestyle. Raymond began to see the connections between Elena to Carlos, Elena to Christian, and Christian to Kate. When Kate confronted Ana at her offices about the marriage to Christian, that is when Raymond pulled a few strings in the Kavanagh Corporation and had Kate sent to Europe on assignment. There she furthered her education into BDSM with other Doms. Raymond reached out to a certain Carlos Balitrane for assistance with the Kavanagh girl and Carlos was more than willing to help when he caught sight of the blonde ball-buster. Also, Raymond assured Carlos that any and all material that a certain hairdressing bitch in Seattle had on him was no longer in her possession. Raymond took it upon himself to find any and all information that Elena had and was using to blackmail her victims. He was more than fortunate that Elena was so upset about Christian marrying Ana that she never noticed that her house had been invaded by stealthy, very efficient intelligence agents that knew how to search and obtain critical information. The team had gone through her house, her businesses, her vehicles and even all her safety deposit boxes. They took all material pertaining to Christian, Carlos and Ana and left the rest. Raymond knew that the day would come when a well-timed phone call to the District Attorney and Police would have the rest of the evidence brought to light legally.
Ray was rather pleased with himself and his cohorts. They had done a withstanding job! Now that Ana, Christian, and even Carlos was protected from Elena Lincoln it was time to deal with the next problem: Kate Kavanagh and the attempted murder charge against Carlos.
