Landmine

Chapter 19

Author's Note: I see that many of you didn't check out my last chapter, so before you begin this one, I ask that you check that one out—it is Dean's testimony.

And now we are on to Dom's testimony!

As always, let me know what you think…good or bad! (I'm a big girl…I can take it!)

"Mr. Drew, are you ready to call your first witness?" Judge Kent asked after he had been seated.

"Yes, your Honor," Carson said as he stood up. "Defense would like to call Dominic Shepard to the stand."

There was an uncomfortable silence throughout the courtroom as the bailiff opened a door and escorted Dom in. After he had been sworn in, he took a seat and waited for Carson to begin.

"Mr. Shepard, are you guilty of the crimes you are being accused of?" Carson asked.

"No, I'm not," Dom said without hesitation.

"Many people have testified against you and have claimed that you were responsible for the murders and attacks," Carson said. "Are you calling them liars?"

"No," Dom said.

"Then what are you saying, Mr. Shepard?" Carson asked.

"I'm not calling anyone a liar," Dom said. "But I'm saying I wasn't the one who committed those crimes. That was someone else entirely."

"I'm confused, Mr. Shepard," Carson said.

"When those crimes were committed, I wasn't myself. It was as if someone else had taken control of me and I was merely a puppet," Dom explained.

"What about the book, Never Again?" Carson asked.

"It was Leo's story. He didn't like how it was written," Dom said. "It wasn't done right and he needed to fix it."

"Leo?" Carson asked. He looked at Dom, startled, but quickly recovered. This is not what we went over when we went over his testimony, he thought. "You're talking about Leo DiSteffano—the killer in the book?"

"Yes," Dom said.

"Are you saying that Leo controlled you?" Carson asked.

"Yes," Dom answered again.

"And you were correcting the errors in the book?" Carson asked.

Dom shook his head. "Leo was."

"How long has Leo been controlling you?" Carson asked.

"For a few months," Dom answered.

"Is he in control of you now?" Carson asked.

"No—not right now," Dom said.

Nancy sat in her seat, staring at Dom in disbelief. What the hell is going on here? she thought to herself.

"Would you ever hurt anyone, Mr. Shepard?" Carson asked.

Dom shook his head. "Never."

"Has Leo ever talked to you?" Carson asked.

"Yes," Dom said. "He kept saying that we had to do something about the book. He was always so angry—especially at Katie," he said, looking directly at Nancy.

Nancy tensed and felt a hand on her left arm. She looked over to see Ned slightly shaking his head.

"Why was Leo so angry?" Carson asked. "Did he tell you?"

"No," Dom said, shaking his head. "He wouldn't tell me anything. He just told me who needed to be killed and when."

All of a sudden Dom winced in pain and put his head down.

"What's wrong, Mr. Shepard?" Carson asked, concerned.

"It's him," he said through gritted teeth.

"Him who?" Carson asked, approaching him.

"Leo—he wants to speak," Dom said.

"What does he want to say?" Carson asked.

Dom's voice got slightly deeper. "Katie," he said, looking up at Nancy again. "Katie, I can't stop. Why don't you understand that?"

"Objection!" Gwen jumped up from her seat, blocking Dom's view of Nancy.

"Move out of the way—I have to talk to Katie," Dom said, menacingly.

"Objection!" Gwen said again in a more forceful voice.

"Mr. Drew, get your client under control," Judge Kent warned.

"Katie, you have to forgive me. It's the only way I can stop," Dom said louder.

"Your Honor!" Gwen said, throwing up her hands in despair.

"Mr. Drew…" Judge Kent said sternly.

Just then Dom let out a frustrated yell and grabbed his head. The room broke into a frenzy as everyone started talking at once.

Judge Kent banged his gavel repeatedly. "Order! I will have order in this courtroom! This is not a circus!"

The loud roar eventually died down to frantic whispers and, finally, silence.

"Mr. Drew, is your client able to proceed?" Judge Kent asked, slightly flustered.

"I—" Carson began.

"I'm okay," Dom said in a strained voice. He looked up at the judge. "I'm terribly sorry, your Honor."

Judge Kent fixed Dom with a steely gaze. "Mr. Shepard, you better find a way to get control of yourself. I will not have you address anyone in this room except me, Mr. Drew, Ms. Lawson, and the jury. Is that understood?"

"Yes, your Honor," Dom said.

"Good." Judge Kent looked at Carson. "You may now proceed, Mr. Drew."

Carson nodded and looked at Dom. "Mr. Shepard, do you regret what you've done?"

"Yes—I live with this regret every day of my life," Dom said. He looked at the jury. "I really am sorry for the grief that I have caused the victims and their families. I really am a good person; I just want another chance to show that."

"Thank you, Mr. Shepard. No further questions," Carson said and returned to his seat.

Gwen got up and didn't waste any time. "Mr. Shepard, do you really expect the jury to buy that story you just fed them?"

"I'm only telling the truth, Ms. Lawson," Dom said innocently.

"You're telling us that some fictional character in a book made you go on a rampage," Gwen said. "That's a load of crap and you know it."
"Objection!" Carson said.

"Strike that last statement," Gwen said. "Mr. Shepard, where are you from?"

"Philadelphia," Dom answered.

"How long have you been in River Heights?" Gwen asked.

"For a few months," Dom said.

"Would you say since about the time Never Again was released?" she asked.

"Yes, I guess so," he said.

"What was your childhood like?" she asked.

"It was okay, I guess," Dom said, shrugging.

"You were orphaned at a young age, is that correct?" Gwen asked.

"Yes?"

"What happened to your parents?"

"My dad left us when I was born and my mom died when I was young," Dom answered.

"Were you adopted?" she asked.

"Eventually by a family that just wanted me for the monthly government checks," Dom said.

"Were you ever abused as a child?" she asked.

"Was I ever beat on—yes, occasionally. But most of the time they just forgot about me until the social workers showed up," he said.

"Do you hold anger towards your adoptive parents?" she asked.

"To be honest, I don't even think about them anymore," Dom said with a lopsided grin.

"Mr. Shepard, were you at the book signing?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Why were you there?"

"The same reason everyone else was there—I'm a big mystery fan," Dom answered.

"So you weren't there to get ideas for the murders?" Gwen asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Dom laughed. "Of course not. And if I was, do you honestly think I would admit that?"

"Actually, yes I do," Gwen said, giving him her own smile. "You're under oath, Mr. Shepard."

Dom sighed. "I was there to get my copy of Never Again signed."

Gwen went to her table and grabbed a book. "You mean this copy?" she asked, holding the book up.

"If it has my name in it, then yes," Dom answered in a bored voice.

"This is the copy the police confiscated from your apartment, complete with notations in the margins," Gwen said. "Why did you write in your book, Mr. Shepard?"

"They are just some notes I made in it," Dom said. "Everyone does it."

Gwen nodded. "That's true, but not everyone writes the name of murder victims and things like 'Katie must die' in the margins," she said.

"Look, I said before that wasn't me," Dom said.

"Right." Gwen nodded. "It was Leo."

"Yes," Dom said.

"Explain to me, Mr. Shepard, how a book character is able to take control of a seemingly healthy human being," Gwen said.

"I don't know how it happened," Dom said. "I just know it wasn't me."

"So it wasn't you who put a knife through Ann Granger?" she asked.

"No."

"And it wasn't you who strangled Brenda Carlton?" she asked.

"No."

"And it wasn't you who tried to kill Nancy Drew on three different occasions?"

"No," he said more forcefully.

"And it wasn't you who tried to kill Nikki Masters, Ned Nickerson, and Frank Hardy?" she asked.

"No!"

"What about Dean Sayers? Is everything you told him a lie?" Gwen asked.

"That wasn't me," Dom said. "That was—"

"That was Leo," Gwen answered for him.

"Objection!" Carson said. "Please instruct Ms. Lawson to allow my client to answer her questions."

"Ms. Lawson," Judge Kent said.

"I apologize, your Honor," Gwen said. "Mr. Shepard, if you're as innocent as you claim, why didn't you ever turn yourself in?'

"I couldn't," Dom said.

"Why not?"

"Leo wouldn't let me," Dom answered.

"I think you could have, Mr. Shepard," Gwen said. "You could have stopped at any time that you wanted. You chose not to."

"No."

"The fact is, Mr. Shepard, it was your hand that committed those murders, no matter whom you claim may have been in control," Gwen said. "You did those terrible things and now you have to live with the consequences."

"It wasn't me!" Dom snapped.

"No further questions," she said.

"Mr. Shepard, you may step down," Judge Kent said and nodded at the bailiff. "Mr. Drew, do you have any other witnesses?"

Carson stood up. "No, you Honor. The defense rests."

"All right. We will take a short recess for lunch and will reconvene here at one o'clock for closing arguments."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A big shout-out to my betas! You girls are the best!