Lindsey sat uncomfortably in the middle of the backseat of the SUV Yelena was driving. Yorgi sat in the front, Xander and Gohan on either side of her in the back. She plucked at the ruffled black blouse she wore and adjusted the charcoal colored pencil skirt. It was early morning and it was already getting hot outside. Missouri weather was almost always extreme – either blazing hot or blistering cold, with few days of anything in between.
Yorgi silently sipped his coffee, staring straight ahead through the windshield. His face held the same calm, unreadable expression it usually did. Despite the heat, he wore a full black suit with a black tie and shirt.
Gohan was fidgety next to her in the seat. He kept pulling at his own tie, shifting in the seat, messing with his hair. He tried to smile at her and it came across more as a grimace of pain.
Xander was leaned over on the armrest of the door, his right fist pressed to his mouth, staring out the window, bouncing his knee.
The silence was overwhelming.
"I need a cigarette," Lindsey said suddenly when she couldn't bare the quiet anymore.
"Not in this car," Yelena responded simply.
"When did you start smoking?" Gohan asked.
Lindsey looked nervously at her hands. "Just when I'm nervous."
They lapsed back into silence for the remainder of the drive.
They finally arrived at the courthouse in Huntsville, about a twenty minute drive from the warehouse. Next to the black SUV's passenger side, Kolya pulled up on his motorcycle and on the opposite side, Viktor and Kirill stepped out of a black Lincoln town car. The parking lot was empty.
Lindsey nearly knocked Gohan over, trying to get passed him to Kirill.
"Give me a smoke," she told him.
He pulled the pack from his pocket and she snatched it from his hand before he could open it. She slid one from the pack as he held out a lit lighter for her, one hand blocking the wind. Shaking so bad she could hardly get it lit, she dragged several times before she was satisfied with it. She leaned back against the side of the SUV, inhaling deeply.
"That's becoming a habit," Xander scolded.
Staring at the sky, she ignored him.
Gohan didn't like the look of his fiancée with a cigarette in her hand or the white streams of smoke issuing from her mouth. But he knew this was neither the time, nor the place.
Yorgi stepped close to her and spoke softly in her ear. "We are here for you. If you get nervous, or scared, you look at me. I here for you."
Kolya yawned and rubbed his eyes, taking Yorgi's mug from him and drinking deeply.
"You could not get your own?" Yorgi asked in an exasperated tone.
"Bike," Kolya said between swigs. He took one last swallow and handed it back.
Yorgi looked at the cup and sighed.
Wanting a clear head for the trial, Lindsey had forced herself to skip her morning smoke and was feeling more agitated than ever. The cigarette wasn't helping much.
"Strange being here when I am not on trial," Yorgi said, smiling to himself.
Yelena rolled her eyes and shook her head. She turned to Lindsey. "You just focus on what the prosecutor asks you. Don't rush, don't get upset. And don't argue with the defense attorney. If you seem irrational it may make the jury think you're not telling the truth."
Lindsey nodded quickly, dragging deeply on the cigarette again as a gold-colored car pulled into the parking lot.
"Who's that?" she asked, her insides turning to ice. "Who… who the fuck is that?"
"The prosecutor," Yelena answered. "Calm down. He's on your side. Come." She took Lindsey by the wrist and marched her across the parking lot to meet the man who was getting out of his car, trying to manage his coffee, papers and brief case.
"Miss Blackwell, I presume?" he asked. He was a short, dark-haired man with a well groomed goatee.
Lindsey nodded.
"Let's go inside and run through some things," he said. She and Yelena followed him as the men in the parking lot started for the front of the courthouse.
A guard sat next to an archway in the lobby, a small table arranged next to it. The prosecutor greeted him and set his briefcase on the table, stepping through the arch, and then collecting his things. Yelena followed and Lindsey did the same, not meeting the eyes of the guard.
Yorgi paused and shook hands with the guard, who smiled and stuck his hands in his pockets. The alarm beeped as Yorgi walked through, but the guard waved him on. Lindsey turned and watched as the others stepped through. The alarm sounded again as Kirill walked through, several lights on the metal-detecting arch flashing. A light by his right ankle, another near his waist, a third by his shoulder.
"Damn thing must be broken," the guard smiled.
The prosecutor looked at Yorgi with distaste and said, "You can wait out here."
Yorgi didn't respond.
Lindsey entered the courtroom through the heavy double doors and looked around. It had high ceilings with nice-looking ceiling fans rotating slowly. The walls bore large oil paintings of stuffy-looking old men. There were rows of benches on either side of her and a boxed-in podium full of chairs to one side. It looked exactly the way she'd seen courtrooms on TV.
"Mark Fusselman," the prosecutor introduced himself, after he'd sat his things on one of the two tables near the front of the courtroom.
She nodded.
"You will sit here," he told her. "You will be sworn in and then take a seat there." He indicated the small, boxed in seat next to where the judge would sit. "Try to speak loudly and clearly and always into the microphone."
She nodded again.
"You don't have to be nervous," he said. "Just focus on me and try to answer everything as thoroughly as possible. Don't rush yourself."
"Will… will they be here?" she asked quietly.
"Yes," he answered. "It's required that they be present."
Lindsey closed her eyes, fighting the urge to run from the courtroom.
"Why are they using Gohan and Xander as witnesses?" she asked.
"I'm not sure at this point," he answered, sifting through some papers. He sat down, pulling out the chair next to him. "What sort of relationship do you have with them?"
"Gohan is my fiancé," she answered. "Xander and I are friends."
Mr. Fusselman seemed lost in thought for a minute. "Hmm."
Lindsey fixed her eyes on him. "That's not very enlightening," she stated boldly. Her impatience was showing.
"Flynn may think he will be able to use them against you somehow," he answered.
She sat in the chair next to him and chewed on her thumbnail, her mind racing.
They spent the better part of an hour discussing how the trial would work. He explained the different terminology they may use, the fact that she may have to return the next day and several days after, and how she should be very careful with her answers when the defense attorney cross-examined her.
At a quarter-till nine, the doors of the courtroom opened and the room began to flood with people. There wasn't a single face in the crowd that she didn't recognize. The Z-Fighters were there and took seats directly behind the table she sat at. Yorgi sat near the middle of the rows of benches behind the defense's table. Lindsey tried to stop herself from smiling, thinking it was force of habit that made him sit on that side of the room. Yelena and Kolya sat to either side of him, along with Kirill, Viktor, and Xander. Every member of Anarchy 99 was there, filling the benches. Lindsey was amazed. She had never seen them all dressed so proper, looking positively conservative.
A tall man entered the courtroom, setting his briefcase on the defense table. He had a long face and perfectly set, thick gray hair. He wore a gray suit and if he hadn't been defending the men who'd tortured her so, Lindsey might have supposed he was handsome, for someone older.
Mr. Fusselman stood and greeted Mr. Flynn, shaking hands with him and engaging in conversation about the ridiculously hot weather. Lindsey felt anger bubble up inside her.
The courtroom doors banged and Lindsey wheeled around in her seat, only to see the two young men walking down the aisle of benches, heading straight for the defense table. A rush of emotions hit Lindsey all at once. Anger, fear, loathing, nervousness, and the urge to vomit. She turned away from them, closing her eyes and inhaling slowly through her nose.
"Is that them?" came a whisper from behind her. She couldn't tell whose voice it was – Goku or Gohan, they sounded so much alike in that soft tone. She nodded.
A bailiff stepped to the front of the courtroom in his tan uniform, a pistol hanging from his hip and a radio strapped to his shoulder. He crossed his hands and held them in front of his belt. Mr. Fusselman hurried back to the table as the bailiff stated loudly, "All rise! The honorable Judge Hayes presiding."
Everyone in the room stood as the judge entered in his long, black robe. The judge sat and nodded to the bailiff who said, "You may be seated."
Lindsey was startled to see the jury in their seats as she sat back down. She hadn't seen them enter.
The bailiff spoke to the judge, introducing the case, and the judge spoke, "Let's hear the first witness."
Mr. Fusselman stood and said, "The prosecution calls Lindsey Blackwell to the stand."
Lindsey's legs felt like jell-o as she stood and walked across the front of the courtroom, her high heels clicking loudly on the tile. She stood next to the seat she had been instructed to take and raised her right hand to the bailiff as he swore her in. She sat nervously, her eyes roaming over the crowd of people in the room.
"Please state your full name," Mr. Fusselman instructed.
She swallowed and answered, "Lindsey Nicole Blackwell."
"And where do you live?"
She gave her address, her eyes fixed upon the man questioning her. 'Focus on him,' she thought.
"Miss Blackwell, it is your sworn statement that you were abducted on the morning of May 12th of this year?"
"It is."
"Can you tell the court where you were when the incident occurred?"
Lindsey swallowed. "I was on my family's property."
"The address you say you live at?"
"Yes."
"What were you doing at the time?"
"I was swimming in the creek."
"Alone?"
"Yes sir."
"Why were you alone?"
"I had gone camping with my friends the night before. I was the first one to wake up. It was warm; I thought I'd go swimming for awhile until they woke up."
"How far was the creek from where you were camping?"
"About a quarter of a mile."
"How long had you been swimming before the attack occurred?"
Lindsey shrugged, "About twenty minutes?"
"Was it then that you were approached by your attackers?"
"Yes."
"And how did they approach you?"
"They were standing on the south bank," she answered. "They yelled at me."
"What was your response?"
"I told them to leave. That they were trespassing and had no business on my land."
"Did you recognize them?"
"Yes."
"Please state for the court who they were."
"Jonah and Cody Johnson."
"Did they leave when you asked them to?"
"No."
"What did they do?"
"They started yelling at me for their father being in jail. They accused me of ruining their family's business."
"And why would they accuse you of such a thing?"
"Because I reported their father to Animal Control for abuse."
"Did you respond to them?"
"I told them their dad wouldn't be in trouble if he hadn't done something illegal."
"What happened next?"
"They ran at me."
"Did you attempt to escape them?"
"Yes," she answered, "but I didn't get far. Running through water isn't the easiest thing to do."
"Please tell the court what happened next."
Lindsey licked her lips and looked at her hands in her lap. "One of them grabbed me by my hair and shoved my face underwater. Held me there. I felt like I was going to drown."
Gohan felt sick. He didn't want to hear it. The fear and pain in his fiancée's voice was breaking his heart. If only he'd been awake, he could have saved her.
"They pulled me back up and started to hit me."
"Where?"
"Anywhere they could reach," she said. "My stomach, my face…"
"Did you fight back?"
"I tried, but I was panicked at that point. Drowning is one of my worst fears."
"What happened next?"
"They held me underwater again," she said. "When they pulled me up a second time, they threw me back against the rock ledge and I smacked my head pretty hard."
"The rock ledge?" the prosecutor pressed.
"There's a crossing at the creek. It's a big sheet of red rock. Big enough to drive a truck over. We use it as a bridge."
"Continue."
Lindsey took a deep, wavering breath. "I was really disoriented. The next thing I knew, Jonah was leaning over me. He pinned my arms over my head."
"What did you do?"
"I tried to scream for help."
"Did anyone hear you?"
"No," she answered.
Catie and Jenny exchanged guilty looks. If they'd been awake, they would have heard her. Sabriena, sitting a couple rows behind them, chewed on her nails, staring at the wall. Tumbler squeezed her hand.
"He shoved a bandana in my mouth," Lindsey continued, "to gag me. Keep me quiet."
There was a long silence in the courtroom.
"What did he do next?"
Lindsey ran her tongue over her lips, then bit them for a second. Her eyes welled with tears.
"Miss Blackwell?"
She glanced nervously at the jury, who stared at her. Every eye in the courtroom was on her. She found Yorgi's eyes and held his gaze for a moment. He tipped his head slightly towards her, as if saying "Go on."
"He raped me," she answered softly.
A cry of outrage filled the courtroom as her friends protested in disbelief, anger, and shock. Gohan's shoulders heaved, as he suppressed the urge to cry. It had happened right there, not far from where he'd been sleeping. His mind raced as he felt the strongest wave of self-loathing he'd ever experienced in his life.
Jenny buried her face in Piccolo's arm, a loud sob escaping her throat, as he stared ahead in horror and disgust. He understood now. He'd caused her to have a flashback when he took that whiskey bottle from her hands. He was furious with himself.
Catie's lips were pressed into a thin, firm line as she began to shake with rage. Trunks put an arm around her and pulled her to him. She stared hard at the back of the bench in front of her, wanting nothing more than to blast it to splinters. She was breathing hard through her nose and began to bounce her knees rapidly, thinking only of ripping the young men at the front of the courtroom to shreds.
"Silence or I will clear this courtroom."
A brief moment of relief washed over Lindsey and she silently prayed her friends would make such a ruckus that the judge would follow through. But silence settled and Judge Hayes said to Mr. Fusselman, "Continue."
"How long did the attack last?" he asked.
"I don't know," she answered sadly, disappointed that the room was still full. "It felt like forever."
"Did he say anything to you?"
"No."
"What happened after he was finished?"
"Cody took his turn."
Gohan didn't know how much more he could stand. He felt sick and lightheaded. Twice? It had happened twice that quickly, right there? He squeezed the bridge of his nose, fighting tears. He felt bile rising in his throat and had to swallow hard.
"You mean he raped you as well?"
"Objection!" Mr. Flynn spoke up for the first time. "Leading the witness."
"Allow me to rephrase," Mr. Fusselman said. "Miss Blackwell, please explain what you mean when you say 'Cody took his turn.'"
"He raped me, too," she said.
"What happened next?"
"I remember being drug up the bank and laying over the back of a four-wheeler," she said. "I passed out."
"Where were you when you regained consciousness?"
"I was in a room. It was small and dark and kind'a damp. The walls were brick, old, crumbly brick."
"Where there any windows? Could you hear anything?"
"No," she said. "There were stairs coming down into the room. Thick, wooden stairs that seemed like they were coming apart at the joints. They led up to a big, wooden door."
"Did you attempt to open the door?'
"Yes, but I couldn't. I pushed up on it, and it moved a couple inches, but I could hear a clanking, like a chain, and I couldn't open it."
"What did you do next?"
A tear spilled from her eye as she said, "I screamed for help. I probably beat on that door for over an hour, hoping someone would hear me. I hit it until my hands bled."
"Did they ever return?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"I guess it was midday."
"What did they do when they returned? Did they say anything?"
Lindsey squeezed her eyes shut. It was so embarrassing. "Jonah said I was going to give him head. He said I'd lose my teeth if I wasn't careful."
"You mean he forced you to perform oral sex, correct?"
"Yes," she answered, her voice faltering.
"Did you comply?"
"Not exactly," she said, and a vicious look touched her eyes for a minute. "I bit him."
Yorgi smiled slightly, a small snort of laughter shook his shoulders.
"And what was Mr. Johnson's reaction?" Mr. Fusselman asked.
"He called me a bitch and hit me. Split my cheek open. Then he sat on the steps for awhile. Cody got mad and left for a minute, then came back with a pair of pliers."
"Pliers?"
"Jonah grabbed my neck, like he was choking me. I couldn't breathe. Cody pulled one of my teeth."
"Which one?"
"One of my upper molars on the left side."
"Have you had the tooth fixed since the incident?"
"No."
"Miss Blackwell, please show the court to confirm this part of your testimony."
Hooking the left corner of her mouth with her finger, Lindsey pulled back on her cheek and turned the side of her face towards the jury, revealing the large gap. She caught Goku's eye as she did so, and his expression was one of disbelief and sorrow. She felt like such an embarrassment to the man who was to become her father-in-law.
"What happened next?"
She was getting sick of that question. "I did as Jonah said."
"Performed oral sex?"
"Yes," she huffed.
"Was there anything unusual about his body? Anything that stood out?"
"He has a scar on his lower left side," she answered.
"Let the record show that the witness' testimony coincides with evidence that Mr. Johnson does indeed have the aforementioned scar from a previous surgical procedure in which he had his appendix removed," Mr. Fusselman said, handing the bailiff a sheet of paper.
"Objection, your honor!" Mr. Flynn protested again. "Violation of doctor-patient confidentiality."
"It is not a violation of confidentiality when the defendant posts a photo of his incision on Facebook and that profile is public," Mr. Fusselman countered.
"Overruled," the judge said.
Mr. Flynn sat back in his seat and glared at Jonah, mouthing the word "moron" at him.
"Did the attacks continue for the entire duration that you were held against your will?"
"Yes. They beat me, never gave me anything to eat or drink, they even cut my hair."
"Miss Blackwell, how long were you kept in that cellar?"
"I was told it was three days," she answered. "It felt like an eternity."
"Three days of repeated rape, starvation, and torture. You must have been terrified."
Lindsey nodded, but said nothing.
"Did they ever speak to you or discuss how long they intended to keep you there?"
Lindsey took a long, shuddering breath. "The last day, they talked about how they were going to get rid of me. Said I wasn't fighting back anymore and that they were getting bored. They discussed how they planned to murder me."
"Objection!" Mr. Flynn shouted again. "Hearsay."
"Your honor," Mr. Fusselman said in an irritated sort of way, "this is direct testimony of a conversation the victim witnessed herself."
"Overruled."
Mr. Flynn was looking more agitated than ever.
"Continue, Miss Blackwell," Mr. Fusselman said, pleased with himself.
"They decided that if they pulled the rest of my teeth, they could dump my body in the hog lot out on the Thornburg's farm near Madison. They said there wouldn't be anything left to find." She paused for a moment, recalling the conversation. "They decided that if they bled me out like a deer, hung me up by my heels, they wouldn't get any blood in the back of their truck. They planned to have a bonfire to burn their clothes. Said nobody would think twice about it."
"Then what did they do?"
"They left to get their deer processing tools," she said, the fear in her voice evident. "You know, a sharp knife, meat hooks? The stuff you use to dress game. They were going to do it that night."
Mr. Fusselman looked slightly pale as he asked her, "What did you do when they left?"
"I tried the door again. I screamed until it felt like my throat was ripping."
"Did anyone hear you?"
"Yes," she breathed, relief washing over her as if it was happening right that moment. "My brother. Patrick. He found me. He saved me."
Gohan whirled around in his seat, scanning the crowd until he saw Patrick sitting a couple rows back. Casual as ever, Patrick smiled at Gohan and flashed him a thumbs-up. Gohan nodded his appreciation. He'd never known who had found her.
"How did he find you?"
"He was riding his horse, looking for me. Axl found me, actually," she said. "His dog," she clarified. "He must have heard me or smelled me or something, cause he started to scratch at the door and bark. Patrick came over and I yelled some more. He told me to get back, so I went to the bottom of the stairs and I heard him fire his gun. The chain broke, he pulled the doors open and I ran to him. He gave me his shirt and helped me on his horse. He called 911 and we rode to the highway, where the ambulance met us."
"And if your brother had not found you?"
"I would be dead."
"No question in your mind about that?"
"None."
"Thank you, Miss Blackwell. No further questions, your honor."
"Mr. Flynn, your witness," the judge said.
The defense attorney sat quietly for a moment, sizing up the girl before him. He stood and walked towards her. He smirked. "Interesting hair style you have."
"They cut my hair," she answered defensively. "This was the best the stylist could do to fix it."
"Did your employer pay for that for you?"
Lindsey narrowed her eyes slightly. "I'm unemployed."
"You do not work for a Mr. Yorgi Ovcharova?"
Lindsey met Yorgi's eyes again and his head gave the slightest jerk to the side.
"He is a friend."
"Objection," Mr. Fusselman stated. "Miss Blackwell's employment status is irrelevant."
"Sustained. Move on, Mr. Flynn," Judge Hayes said.
"Miss Blackwell, you stated that you were camping with some friends the night before the alleged attack. Was this a small gathering or was it open invitation?"
"There were lots of people there."
"By invitation only?"
"Friends were welcome."
"Did anyone monitor who was or was not allowed to attend?"
"Not exactly, but if someone wasn't welcome…"
"So anyone could come and go as they pleased," he cut across her. "By your admission, the Johnsons could have attended your party?"
"No, they know they're not welcome."
"Miss Blackwell, were you drinking that night?"
"No."
"Of course not," Mr. Flynn said with a disbelieving tone. "Let me fast forward a little bit here. So the next morning when you claim the attack happened, you didn't mention my client removing your clothes. Did you forget that part?"
Lindsey shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "No."
"Were you wearing a bathing suit?"
"No."
"So you decided that, in broad daylight, it was acceptable to go skinny dipping?"
"It's private property," she answered, "I didn't think anyone would see me."
"But your friends were there."
"They were asleep."
"And if they had woken? You weren't concerned about that?"
Lindsey licked her lips in an irritated sort of way. "I figured I would hear them coming and have time to dress before they saw me."
"You assumed you would hear your friends approach on foot, yet you didn't hear the four-wheelers you claim the defendants used to abduct you?"
"I suppose."
"So you really weren't concerned about your friends seeing you nude."
Lindsey didn't respond.
"That doesn't seem like appropriate behavior for a modest young woman, considering how close to the Johnson's property line that particular creek is. In fact, you used to meet them there regularly, didn't you?"
Lindsey's eyes narrowed. "When we were children. That was several years ago. We haven't been friends for a long time."
Gohan was even more confused. They'd been her friends once? How could you do that to a person you'd shared your childhood with? He just couldn't wrap his mind around it.
"But the location was well known to all of you, correct?"
"Yes."
"So it isn't a stretch to assume you knew there was the possibility of being seen. In fact, you were hoping to be seen. You invited them to meet you, didn't you?"
"What?" Lindsey cried. "No!"
Mr. Flynn took a piece of paper from the pile on his table and presented it to the bailiff. "Evidence to the contrary," he said to the judge. He held a second copy in his hands and read aloud, "From your personal Facebook page, Miss Blackwell 'Big party at my place tonight. Come and say hi, if you can find me.'"
"That was to my friends," she stated. "My profile isn't public. How did you get that?"
"Everything online is public," he said in a dismissive sort of way. He stared at the paper for effect. "Come and find me," he repeated, twisting the words slightly. "Sounds like an open invitation to me."
"It wasn't!"
He cut across her again, "And there you were, in a place well known to both you and my clients, alone and naked. Doesn't sound like you were attacked at all. You invited them there, engaged in intercourse with them and fled when you were done because you didn't want anyone to know."
"No!" she protested, leaning forward, gripping the edge of the stand.
"You hid on their property to frame them," he continued. "It's well documented that you have an agenda against the Johnson family. You weren't satisfied sending their father to jail, you had to come up with a plan to sabotage the rest of them, didn't you?"
"I did not!" she screamed, tears falling again.
"Objection, your honor," Mr. Fusselman said. "Prior incidences between the Blackwell family and Johnson family have nothing to do with this case."
"It establishes her motive for making false claims against them, your honor," Mr. Flynn stated.
"Overruled."
Lindsey was shaking with fury as the Johnson boys suppressed their laughter.
"You've had problems with their family before, correct?"
"Yes."
"And you were arrested for theft?"
"Those charges were dropped."
"Why were you arrested?"
"I rescued a horse from their stables."
"You mean you stole a horse from their stables."
"Rescued."
"Did you have permission from the owner?"
Lindsey narrowed her eyes and set her jaw. "Skyler asked me to take her."
"You are referring to the eldest Johnson boy, correct?"
"Yes."
"Was he the rightful owner of the horse?"
"No," she answered.
"So you stole the horse from the Johnson stables."
"Someone had to do something! She was dying! She was skin and bones and needed medical attention! They were going to kill her!"
"A criminal record of thievery, numerous accounts of problems between yourself and their family, and yet, you still had no objection to posting an open invitation to your party and then flaunting yourself around naked?"
"Then explain my injuries!" she spat at him. Yelena was looking furious and shaking her head slightly, warning Lindsey to watch what she said.
Mr. Flynn shrugged. "Maybe you like it rough."
"OBJECTION!"
"Withdrawn," he said casually, eyeing her up and down one last time. "No further questions your honor." Mr. Flynn strode back to his table, a cocky smirk on his face.
The judge turned and said, "You may step down."
Shaking with rage, Lindsey found her way back to the chair beside Mr. Fusselman, avoiding the eyes of everyone in the room. She put her elbows on the table and rubbed at her eyes, trying to comprehend what had just happened.
"Next witness, Mr. Fusselman," the judge said.
Mr. Fusselman shook his head and stood, saying, "The prosecution calls Patrick Blackwell to the stand."
Patrick's skinny frame moved smoothly across the courtroom and he turned around, raising his right hand to the bailiff.
"Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
"Yup," Patrick drawled. He sat down and leaned back in the chair with his arms behind his head.
"Please state your name for the court," Mr. Fusselman began.
"Patrick Lee Blackwell."
"Mr. Blackwell, on the morning your sister went missing, where were you?"
"Up at the house."
"You didn't attend the camp-out?"
"Nah, Linnie runs with a different crowd than I do. They don't like me much. Think I'm a redneck or summat like that." He winked at his sister, who gave him a "please shut up" look.
"What was your reaction when she was found missing?"
"I wasn't too fussed at first. Figured she went ridin' or for a hike or sumthin. There's a lotta land out there you can lose yerself on."
"And when did you become concerned?"
"The next mornin'. She always calls or get ahold o' someone iffin' she's fixin' on being gone long. When nobody heard from her, I reckoned she was hurt somewhere. She's clumsy as sin. Wouldn't be the first time she snapped a bone."
Lindsey felt her face burning.
"And when did you find her?"
"A couple days later. Took my dog, my rifle, and my horse, and went out a-lookin'. I figured she had to've been off the property since we didn't find her anywhere onnit. An' I was right. Axl took out like a bat outta hell a short ways after we crossed the crick."
"Crick?" Mr. Fusselman asked, confused.
"The crick. C-r-e-e-k. Crick."
"The creek," Mr. Fusselman clarified.
Patrick lowered his arms and leaned forward on his knees with his elbows. "That's what I said, innit?"
"Please continue, Mr. Blackwell."
"So I followed my dog and lo and behold, thar he was a-scratchin' at that dang ol' cellar door an' I heard my sister hollerin', so I says her to git back and I shot the lock off. Thar she was, nekkid as the day she's born, cryin' and bleedin' all over the place. So's I gave her ma shirt and threw her on the horse and called 911."
"Whose property was the cellar located on?"
"Theirs." Patrick answered, nodding towards the Johnsons.
"Whose?"
"The Johnson's o' course," Patrick answered, like Mr. Fusselman was stupid.
Lindsey felt like she could die. Patrick was laying the redneck on exceptionally thick and she knew he was getting a kick out of it. He'd do anything to mess with someone he considered a city-slicker. He was having a hard time keeping the amusement off his face. Even in a situation as serious as this, he was still playing a trick.
"Did you see the defendants anywhere on the property?"
"Matter o' fact I did," Patrick answered, leaning back in the chair again. He actually tipped it back this time.
'You're not helping!' Lindsey's mind screamed.
"Where?"
"I saw their truck at the top o' the hill," he replied, chewing at his thumb. "They were a-headin' back to their place. Didn't think much o' it at the time, 'cept I wondered how'n hell they didn't hear her hollerin'."
"Thank you, Mr. Blackwell. No further questions."
"Mr. Flynn, your witness," Judge Hayes said.
"No questions at this time, your honor."
The judge turned to Patrick, "You may step down."
Patrick strolled from the stand, looking pleased with himself and winked at his sister as he passed. She bowed her head and shook it in disbelief. He'd saved her life, but now she felt like she wanted to kill him.