The two weeks flew for Kyle and before he knew it they were all stood outside of court with Marilyn, John, Tori and Justin. The girls had stayed home to look after the kids so the brothers could be there to support Kyle, knowing his anxiety was high facing Ryan. Then they were in court and Ryan's lawyer, Mr Davis, took the stand before the Braxton's lawyer, Mr Langdon, stood to represent Kyle.
"Good morning. I'm Jerry Langdon, representing Mr Kyle Braxton. We are here today to come to a decision on whether the defendant, Mr Ryan Shaw, is guilty or not guilty on the kidnap of Lillie Braxton, at the time of abduction was only 5 months old. Lillie was staying with a babysitter, Marilyn Chambers, at the time. Mrs Chambers was a trusted friend and neighbour of the Braxton's and had regularly babysat for Mr Braxton when he returned to work. We will be providing testimonies of Mrs Chambers on her account of what happened before and during the abduction, as well as Dr Tori Morgan, who had a sperm donation from Mr Shaw. Mr Braxton will provide his account on the day his daughter went missing and the events that followed, effecting the lives of the whole family. Thank you." Mr Langdon says, turning to Ryan, who was in the stand first.
"Please state your name for the jury."
"Ryan Shaw." He says, standing tall.
"Mr Shaw-" Mr Langdon starts, being cut off.
"You can call me Ryan." He confidently says.
"Ryan, is it true that you were a Federal Agent?" Mr Langdon asks.
"Yes." Ryan nods.
"And how long did were you employed there for?"
"For 11 years."
"Did you ever come across the Braxton family when making arrests?" Mr Langdon asks, having been given all the information of him harassing them.
"There were some cases which I was sure they linked to, but no arrests were ever made." Ryan replies.
"And these cases being one's in another state?"
"Yes, they were. We had tip offs that they may be involved in gangs across the state and interstate. We could never get evidence of this, despite questioning them many times." Ryan says.
"So you were investigating the family with no solid evidence that they even knew or had contacts with these people?"
"They were involved, I know it!" Ryan glares.
"Did you know Kyle Braxton before his daughter arrived?" Mr Langdon asks.
"Not personally, no. I knew of him through his family when investigating them but his name never brought anything up apart from a prior kidnapping charge." Ryan says, lightly smirking over at Kyle.
"This is the kidnapping of Casey Braxton, his younger brother, who forgave him on the stand at the trial. Also the only offence on Kyle's record. Casey had killed his stepfather, the Braxton's father, and Kyle went for revenge, which they had gotten past." Mr Langdon says to the jury for them to understand some more. "Your wife, Jasmine Shaw, worked at Northern Districts Hospital for a short period, is this correct?"
"Yes, she was a nurse there."
"Can you explain why there were records of her stealing during her employment there, and at the previous hospitals she worked at?"
"She never told me why she did that, she hated talking about her job." Ryan lies.
"You don't know why she stole medical supplies?"
"No. I didn't even know about it until a few weeks ago when she was arrested for it."
"Are you aware of whether Jasmine knew Kyle and his daughter?"
"They were never mentioned before, so I'm guessing not."
"So can you please explain to the court how you and Jasmine ended up deciding that you were going to abduct Lillie Braxton?" Mr Langdon asks, and Ryan knew he had to talk his way out of this or he'd die in prison, knowing a lot of people in there hated him.
"It was never my idea to take the kid. Jasmine came home and was talking about how she saw the family I was investigating with a newborn, and she wanted to take her to safety. I thought she was going to call social services and report them for the crimes they've committed, but she had been secretly watching him, working out his routine." Ryan says with as much confidence as he could. "The next thing I knew, she was buying baby things, baby grows and a cot. I thought she was going to tell me she was pregnant, but then she came home with a baby, said it was put into our care."
"She never said how she got the baby, that I'm assuming is Lillie?"
"Yes, it was Lillie. It wasn't until it was on the news about a baby being taken that I realised she had gone the wrong way about getting custody of the baby, she had taken her from them." Ryan says.
"Did you never think about returning Lillie to her father, right a wrong?"
"It was too late, we had formed such a strong bond with Lillie, I couldn't give that up! We were giving her a great life that she wouldn't get with them. Then when I did some digging, I found out that Kyle had turned to self harm and tried to kill himself and I couldn't put Lillie's life at risk by her being returned to him." Ryan says.
"I never would have hurt her!" Kyle exclaims.
"Quiet in the gallery." The Judge says.
"Brax?" Kyle mutters.
"Kyle, it's okay. Jerry's the best lawyer in the state, he knows what he's doing." Brax quietly says. "He's lying, they'll see through it."
"They better or there's no way I'll win." Kyle sighs, focusing back on the trial.
"Did it never occur to you that Kyle had a bad mental health due to the events you put him through taking his daughter?" Mr Langdon says.
"It can't have been that good before if he turned to it so quickly. And where were his brothers through all this, did they not care about him enough to not stop it? They obviously knew he wasn't doing well, yet he still ended up in hospital due to his self led injuries." Ryan says.
"You dog!" Heath shouts.
"Quiet in the gallery!" The Judge says a lot firmer.
"Now can we mention Dr Tori Morgan. It says here you were a sperm donor, and Dr Morgan later gave birth to her daughter from a sample you donated. It also says here that you went against the rules of the organisation and got in contact with Dr Morgan, wanting visiting rights with her daughter." Mr Langdon says.
"That was all Jasmine, she was desperate for a baby but couldn't have her own. That's why she took Lillie." Ryan says.
"You tried taking Dr Morgan's baby from her without her permission, didn't you?"
"That was Jasmine. She was angry that Tori was pushing her out of Grace's life and wanted us to have more access. Tori agreed to us seeing Grace, she was fine with it. It was Jasmine's idea to take Grace from her, not mine." Ryan says.
"So you're saying you had no part to play in either baby illegally being taken into your care?" Mr Langdon says.
"I did not. Jasmine wanted a baby and she took her chance. We'd still be living happily with our daughter if people just left us alone!" Ryan shouts.
"Are you aware that Lillie wasn't your real daughter, you abducted her from her father, who she is now happily reunited with." Mr Langdon says, Ryan staring at him, clenching his fists. "That will be all, your honour." He says, sitting down.
"Court will be adjourned for a break. We will continue at 11am when we will hear an advocate for Mr Braxton." The Judge says.
As they walked outside, Kyle took a few deep breathes, not having a good feeling about where this was heading. Their lawyer tried to convince him that Ryan's anger went in their favour but Kyle refused to believe it. They were told that Tori was taking the stand after the break and she was feeling pretty nervous knowing what was at risk.
