Missing

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: In this chapter it's the court trial, I tried to think of who to use for perspective in here but I decided to go with the prosecutor since we know him as a character. He will be the only minor character whose perspective is to be used.

Chapter 42 (Justice is Served)

"In this case we are trying the defendant for kidnapping, murder, fraud, extortion…" Spencer stood before the jury, his back erect and his arms were spread out as he gave his opening statement. "Mrs. Holly Malone held her ex-husband's daughter captive for ten years in the basement of her home. She is charged with the abduction of Robert Shapiro, Andre Harris, and Catherine Valentine-forcing them against their will to carry out a number of crimes."

He moved to the right, tapping his fingertips together. "Members of the jury, this woman has been charged with the murders of Robert Shapiro and his mother, as well as his sister and niece. She has been charged with multiple counts attempted murder. She has been charged with extorting money from the both companies she and her husband worked at, using this money to keep a low profile."

"A mother." Spencer turned towards Holly and locked his wrists behind his back while slowly walking forwards. "A grandmother. Two titles we associate with nurture, love, care, kindess…I ask for no mercy and am fighting for the fullest punishment of the law."

He returned to his seat and grabbed his documents on the desk while the defense lawyer rose to give an opening statement. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury." The lawyer's voice trembled. It was slight, but Spencer could still detect it. To him, it was a sign of early victory-this lawyer knew his case was unwinnable. He smirked coldly as Holly turned her deadly gaze onto him.

"Does this woman look like a woman capable of the crimes that she is accused?" The lawyer motioned his hand to Holly and shook his head. "She is a small, meek, and elderly woman who does not hold a great deal of upper body strength. I challenge you through this trial to think, to understand, and know that this harmless old lady could not have committed her crimes."

Spencer bent his elbow on his table and curled his index finger over his chin. He raised an eyebrow at the lawyer and shut his eyes.

When this trial was over with, he was going to have to give this young attorney tips on building an opening statement. Lawyers weren't always enemies outside the courtroom, they tried to assist one another, but in the courtroom, the gloves come off.

He stood when the attorney was finished, then gripped firmly the edges of his jacket. "My first piece of evidence that I would like to give to the court." He grabbed a remote from the desk and pointed at the projector aiming at a screen. What appeared were the pictures of the basement where Trina and her daughter had been kept. "Here you can see the conditions of the cell, clearly lived in…"

Spencer aimed a laser pointer to the image, focusing the red dot where he needed the jury to see. "The steel beds with mild disturbed sheets, and the food trays given to the victims." He changed to a photo of Trina and a photo of Victoria, both taken when they were malnourished.

The judge asked the lawyer how he stood on defense. "While we acknowledge the victim was kept there, we still do not see that it proves my client masterminded the kidnapping or any of the murders." Spencer raised an eyebrow and waited for the attorney to present some evidence that would show that Holly did not mastermind anything.

Moving past the physical evidence, and the photos of anything that had been used to strike the victims, Spencer was able to show that no matter how frail Holly was, she could very well have tortured and manipulated her victims.

This could be solidified with the first witness he brought to the stand, Cat Valentine. Spencer approached the girl and kept his calm expression. "Miss Valentine, how well did you know the defendant?"

"I was friends with her daughter. Tori and Trina would often complain about her verbal abuse and aggressive demeanor."

"Would you say that the girls were afraid of their mother?"

"I believe they were. Trina did everything she could to avoid Holly-I remember." Cat's eyes closed and she began to shake. "I-I remember when she took me, she said if I didn't stay with her, she would kill my family." Spencer's eyebrows rose and he turned towards the jury.

"She threatened to kill your family? Did she make these threats often?"

"She did, and she carried them out too. If she didn't carry them out, she would force Andre or Robbie to." Cat began to tear up, and her voice trembled further as all eyes were upon her. "She held the gun to Robbie's mother when he refused to help. She pulled the trigger, I was standing right there when she killed Mrs. Shapiro!" Cat practically screamed the final words and Spencer was blown away.

"'She pulled the trigger'." Spencer clicked his tongue and paced to the right. "'She threatened to kill our families'." He looked at Cat and hummed for a brief second. "I must ask you, does Holly seem capable of the crimes she is accused of?"

"She's very capable." Cat's eyes narrowed and her tearful voice swelled with anger. "She manipulated Gary with sex. She had us afraid that if we tried to escape she would either kill us or our family members. We lived our lives in terror! Afraid that every day might be our last!"

The defense was next, and the lawyer went up to cross-examine. "Miss Valentine. Is it not true that Gary Malone was a large and imposing man? Could he not have forced Holly's hand?" Cat scoffed and quickly shook her head.

"That man was the reason we-and Victoria-were kept alive. He didn't think a little girl should be hurt and he was able to talk Holly into not hurting her. In the end, Holly wanted to have the girl killed, so Andre and I ended up finding a way to free her-but it was Holly that tied her to that branch over the creek where she was found."

"I…" Spencer smirked as the defense attorney fumbled over his questions. For a fresh attorney, this man still had much to learn. However it was to his understanding that Holly had already gone through a number of defense attorneys. "Now to my understanding, you were present when Mr. Harris shot and killed Mr. Shapiro's sister. Mr. Harris was the one who masterminded the escape and rescue-"

"The rescue happened when Andre finally called from within the mansion. He made a decision to lose his life to save us. Any lives he took were because that woman forced him to take a life."

"What changed, Miss Valentine?"

"What changed was his discovering that his relatives were already dead." The lawyer hummed as Cat's eyes narrowed. "She couldn't threaten to kill his family when they were already gone. He was the one to talk Gary into letting Trina spend time with the officer, and when he found out she was pregnant, he immediately called the cops."

"In doing that, did he not risk your lives as well?"

"He did what he had to do to get us out of there. Andre isn't on trial here, the woman responsible for his death is." Cat pointed to Holly and started to raise her voice. "That woman has said time and time again over the years that she hated Trina, that she wanted to keep her for a certain amount of years before killing her."

"Was it not Robert that abducted the victim?"

"Robert was held at gunpoint." Cat smacked the podium and her puffy eyes were red from the tears.

"I see." The lawyer returned to his desk with a sigh. "I've no more questions for the witness." He had no witness to present, which was unfortunate. Spencer was hardly surprised, given the lack of time for preparation before the trial.

He decided to request of the judge a recess so the lawyer could have more time, and the motion was approved. When they met again, Spencer called Trina up to the stand.

This was difficult and he did want to minimize trauma to her, but she was to be key in this case. "Trina Vega, here's what I would like for you to do." Spencer looked into her eyes and flared his nostrils momentarily. "Tell me who it was that masterminded your kidnapping, who was it that kept you locked up in that dungeon and forced you to give birth to your child in a cold cell. I know it's difficult to do, but tell the court so we can achieve justice today."

"I will." Trina looked at Holly and her voice broke. "I've been so afraid of her all my life. She hated me because I wasn't her child, I was dad's child. She would say I wasn't…I wasn't anybody, I wasn't worth anything." Tears shot down the girl's face as she continued her testimony.

When Spencer looked to the jury, he saw them struggling to hold back their own tears. "A mother is supposed to take care of their child, right?" Trina asked. "Even when she's not blood? Don't let her fool you, she's a demon-a monster!"

Trina's testimony consisted of the horrors inflicted upon her and her daughter. Several times Holly would strike them, curse them, and tell them they should be dead. It was usually Andre that tried to stop things before they got out of hand.

Cross-examination was difficult to watch as the lawyer tried to suggest that Trina had things wrong and that Gary might be the real demon. Trina remained firm that it was all Holly's doing.

In order to combat the Gary argument, Spencer had one last witness to call, and that was the man who was with Gary upon death. David informed the court that Gary in fact told him it was Holly's doing.

To Spencer's surprise, and secret pleasure, the defense lawyer called the defendant herself to the stand. Every lawyer that went up against Spencer knew they were taking a risk by giving him the defendant.

He knew how to twist a defendant to the brink with his questions, and it was the ones like Holly that he had the most fun with.

Holly played it cool as he expected, weeping over the people assuming she could hurt anyone. She said Gary was the monster, then tried to claim that Andre had taken over and was the one to inflict damage on the girls-despite the prior recording of Victoria declaring that Andre was a 'knight' who protected her and her mother.

As Spencer walked up to cross-examine the woman, his lips twisted into a deadly and cunning smirk. "Mrs. Malone, do you deny that you are under oath?" Holly swept her hand through her hair and shook her head.

"I do not."

"You then claim all of the witnesses so far are lying? For each of them has stated explicitly that Andre Harris was a protector, not a torturer." Holly leaned her head back and squinted her eyes. "Also, would you read this statement that you have given the police?"

"Gladly."

He placed the document in front of her and she peered down, muttering for a moment before she was encouraged to read with the Judge looking over her. "Word for word if you please, Mrs. Malone."

"That son of a bitch was always guarding those whores. The redhead was sweet on him, so of course I knew she and Andre were screwing around. Then he would keep me from striking the slut in the basement. He was trouble, and I knew forcing him was…" Holly trailed off, but Spencer already had more than enough.

He could see her beginning to sweat, but he was not yet finished with her. "Do you deny that in your statement to the police, you admit to being the one to strike Trina? Do you also deny telling the police that Andre served as a protector of the girls?"

He had her in a corner on this one. If she said no, then she would admit to lying under oath just now. If she said yes, she'd have to admit to lying to the police. "I did not say in this statement that he was a protector, I said in the statement that he would keep me from hitting Trina-and I will acknowledge that I have hit her."

"You acknowledge hitting her?"

"Yes."

Spencer grabbed the statement and held it up. "Is this statement you gave the police solid?" Holly crossed her arms and shrugged.

"Everything I've told the police and everything I am telling you is the truth."

"Why?" Spencer folded his arms and looked comfortably into her eyes. He furrowed his brow and raised his hand to his chin. "Why did you want to hit this girl?"

"Because she deserved it." Now he was getting somewhere. A person with this mentality would often state their view because they did not feel they were in error. They expected the people to sympathize with them, but in the court of law, they would have none. "She was a little tramp who stole away all the attention that I should have gotten from her father. So I wanted her to suffer, I wanted her to feel the pain and suffering that she put me through."

"You wanted her to suffer." Spencer turned around and made eye contact with the defense lawyer. The lawyer's hand was over his mouth and his eyes were clenched shut.

They just lost the case.

He was by no means finished. Now that the knife was in, he was going to dig it further. He wanted to rile her up, get her active and angry, make her think this was about her.

"You hated that-you called her a 'tramp'?" Holly nodded as Spencer turned back around. "You just had to get her back, is that it? You wanted to teach her a lesson?"

"She needed to be taught a lesson." Holly slammed her fist on the podium and started to raise her voice. "When she got knocked up like the whore she is, I knew I was going to be out of the picture. How dare she get pregnant, how dare she cause me the pain! So yes, I wanted her to suffer."

"Why not Gary? You told the court he was the monster, what did he have against Trina?"

"Gary? He didn't have anything against her." Holly laughed and shook her head, seemingly forgetting that she was in the courtroom. "He wanted nothing to do with it, but I told him-I told that fool-he knew too much and I could destroy him." Holly narrowed her eyes and leaned forward. "And do you know what else? Those friends of my daughter, they didn't get along with Trina, and they were weak. Simple-minded…All I had to do was force them to do what I wanted, and I'd have my way. If only Andre kept his trap shut."

Spencer continued to let her rant, keeping his calm while smirking inwardly. The woman grew heated on the stand, and soon shouted profanities and confessing to the question on everyone's mind: Who masterminded it all.

"I have no further questions." Spencer returned to his seat and smirked as Holly's chest heaved and she began huffing erratically. It took her a minute to realize what happened, and when she did, her jaw dropped and her eyes grew large.

Soon it was time for the closing statements. The defense went first, but Spencer had a good feeling there was no chance in hell his words would be heard. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I ask that you take another look at this woman. It is up to you to decide if she would have had the capability of masterminding, manipulating, and forcing three grown men to detain two women for so long. I urge you to consider very strongly whether or not she is capable of the accusations."

Spencer approached the jury and sighed. "Nurture, love, care…these are some of the qualities a mother should have for their child. They should protect at all costs, and do what they can to preserve the lives of their children." He paced to the right and kept eye contact with every juror. "This woman is charged with breaking every one of these promises, charged with kidnapping and murder. I ask that you bring justice to the victims wronged in this case. I ask that you do your civic duty, ladies and gentlemen of the jury-and if you can keep a criminal from walking the streets do so as you see fit. The fate of this woman, whom I think we've seen is more than capable of such heinous acts, rests in your hands. Do not take this decision lightly."

In the audience, Tori waited patiently for the jury to deliberate. She was amazed by the power that was in the courtroom, and hoped that the jurors would see fit to charge this woman as she deserved.

But the fight wasn't over, and Holly would soon discover that she had another battle to be fought. Strings were already being pulled, and no matter what, there was no way Holly would be spending her prison years in a 'luxurious' American prison.

The jury didn't take long to reach a verdict. When they returned, the head juror rose and began counting the charges. "We the members of the jury find the defendant, Holly Malone, guilty on all counts of first degree murder. We find her guilty on four counts of kidnapping, three counts of attempted murder, and extortion. We hereby suggest capital punishment."

Tori closed her eyes and a great weight fell from her shoulders. Holly was sentenced to death, but it still wasn't satisfactory enough for her. Only because she knew that death sentence would never be carried out in the states, not with her mother's age.

Still, she wanted justice for Rico, who was still in that coma.

Leaving the courthouse, she waited for her mother to exit. Holly was seen wheeling out with the police, she had a smug grin on her face. "We all know I'll just appeal and get lighter sentences," Holly marveled, "Come on. America loves it's prisoners!"

"Holly," Tori said from afar. Beside her was a Mexican squad car, with officers ready to extradite her. Holly turned her head and smiled at Tori.

"Ah Tori, you've got your justice. I'm being carted away to prison! I wonder what luxurious living conditions I'll be placed in?"

"I'm afraid that's not possible."

"What, dear?" Holly's smile faded when the Mexican officer began to approach her, holding up the photo of Jade's mother. "Oh you have got to be shitting me. You found that connection?"

"Holly Malone," the officer stated in a thick Mexican accent. Holly brought her hand up over her eyes and Tori smirked. "You are under arrest…"

"Say goodbye to whatever dreams of luxury you had," Tori snarled. Holly growled at her and huffed angrily. "I think you're going to find Mexican prisons aren't exactly inmate-friendly. Adios."

She turned around and walked away from the woman now screaming at her. Her heart was filled with wonder and relief, but still she was missing something. Rico had not awakened yet, though the doctors seemed to feel he would.

Now with Holly going to Mexico, and Trina safe and sound, all she could do was wait for Rico and she'd be all set.

There is one final chapter. As for the trial, I do hope you enjoyed it-it was clearly an open and shut case, and Holly certainly didn't expect the murder of Jade's mother to come back at her. Looks like she won't be spending her last lives in any type of comfort, she will live the remainder of her days as Trina had been forced to live. Well, what did you think of everything? Superstar attorney, the case was fairly easy for him.