CHAPTER 159

The DA stands up, "Final witness, I call Gideon Cross" he states.

Dad stands up and as he does so I reach for his hand and squeeze it, he wasn't going to testify originally but when it was decided that Christian was going to he also approached Arash and made it clear he also wanted to. He turns to look at me and wordlessly squeezes back before striding confidently to the stand and taking the oath.

"If you could state your full name" the DA begins.

Dad nods, "My name is Gideon Geoffrey Cross" he says calmly and clearly.

"Can you in your own words recall the events of the night in question when Peter and Suzanne Martin died?" the DA asks.

Dad nods, "Yes, I was at home in my study. My wife was at her self-defence class in Brooklyn and I was using the time to reorganise my schedule as I was planning a visit to Seattle to visit my son. We had been communicating via Skype and telephone calls and texts since our initial meeting and a strong bond was slowly growing between us".

"Can you explain why your son was living with Peter and Suzanne Martin at that point?" the DA asks.

Dad nods, "I was a stranger to him, he didn't know me. I couldn't just barge into his life and turn it upside-down, it wouldn't be fair on either of us and I could risk alienating him and causing resentment. I had already done enough; I had removed him from his abusive uncle and assured him I would do everything to help him bring his uncle to justice for what he had done. Which left me with the issue of where Jared was now going to live as I wasn't prepared to leave him where he was. Jared had told me about Peter and Suzanne Martin and how they had originally tried to claim him and how he had wanted to go and live with them after his parent's murder. Jared spoke of them with such affection and love I realised very quickly it would be in his best interests to place him with these people, and from what he told me I was confident they would take good care of him. I knew I had to make that happen for him, so I contacted them and my assumptions about them were correct. They didn't hesitate. When they first arrived, I saw first-hand how much Jared loved them. He had been sitting in the same room as myself and my family and we had talked but there was an understandable wariness and distance because we were strangers to him. As soon as Peter and Suzanne Martin appeared his face lit up and he ran to them, so I knew at that point I was making the correct decision to arrange for them to become his official guardians. It was done for his sake… regardless of how much I wanted him with me".

Dad looks across at me and I feel my heart lurch at his words, and I swallow hard.

"So, returning to the night in question" the DA prompts.

Dad nods, "Yes I was in my study when my phone pinged with a message from Angus McCleod my Chief of Security. It simply stated, 'Code Red, Seattle'. I knew immediately that Jared was in danger and I had to go. That was the protocol that was in place should anything happen to Jared. I had security on the ground they would send that message to Angus he would inform me and I would immediately drop everything and fly to Seattle. Simple, efficient and in theory the best course of action. However, in practice it didn't work out that way. I was immediately panic stricken; I didn't know what had happened I was terrified my son was hurt or even dead and I was frantic. I had to get there. It was established in the protocol that I would not contact security or try and find out information as it could hamper or cause distraction on the ground, but I felt helpless I felt useless and I had to trust everything was being done to keep my son safe till I got there. I considered calling Christian as we had made Jared promise to call him if there was a problem, but again I didn't want to be a distraction if he was dealing with things and I just had to trust he was aware and doing what he could for my son… and that was horrible".

Dad pauses and shakes his head. He looks at me and then continues. "Angus arrived and he took control, he packed clothes for myself and Eva and tried to reassure me that everything was being done. He said… 'Gideon just calm down it is code red, not code black'. That had calmed me a little as a code black would mean… would mean… my son was already dead. I tried to focus on what I had to do. We collected Eva from her Krav Maga class and Angus drove us to the airport. He had relayed what he knew which at that point was very little. At that point all he knew was that a man was staking out the house and the alarm had been raised. As we were heading to the airport, Eva called Ana to try and discover what was happening but she was in complete ignorance at that point. I was getting to the point of breaking protocol and calling Christian when he called me and told me what had happened up to that point, how Jared had called him and what was happening. I was still terrified that something was going to happen to Jared and Christian tried to reassure me that everything possible was being done. I called Jared to find out for myself if he was safe, and he assured me that while he was scared he was safe and in his room. He told me that Christian had told him to hide if the situation escalated and he assured me he would. I promised him I was on my way to him and leaving New York at that point, he seemed reassured by that and I hung up also reassured, now that I had spoken to him personally. A few moments later my security operative on the ground called Angus and informed us of the death of Peter and Suzanne Martin. He also told us that Jared couldn't be found, I knew that he would be hiding as that is what Christian had told him to do so while I was in an increased state of concern I held on to the fact he was hiding and safe… I couldn't bring myself to consider the alternative. We boarded my plane and just before we took off Christian called again and told me he had Jared and that he was safe. I spoke to Jared personally and reassured him I was coming as quick as I could. During the flight I made the decision that I wasn't going to put myself through anything like this again and that Jared was coming home to New York with me and I was going to take full guardianship of him. During the flight Christian text me saying Jared wanted to talk to me and I Facetimed him on my phone, it was during that call he asked if he could come and live with me and I immediately agreed. During the flight I was talking to Jared, Angus was working trying to figure out what was happening in Seattle and making sense of the drip feed of information that kept coming in".

"What was the information that came in to you?" the DA asks.

"That Jerry Barnett had been apprehended at the scene and that he was implicating Philip Martin in the plan to kill Peter and Suzanne Martin".

"Thank you Mr Cross, no further questions".

The DA sits down and Uncle Phil stands up, I roll my eyes is he seriously going to try and question dad about this? But when he speaks it is not to dad but the judge.

"I don't have any questions" he says simply. I look at him and I realise that he has now come to the conclusion that it is a lost cause. Trying to intimidate and discredit Uncle Christian had backfired severely on him and it seems whatever plan he had for dad he is now reluctant to do.

The judge nods, "In which case that concludes the case for the prosecution. The defence will now make their case" he says coldly.

Dad sits down and I reach for his hand, "He's lost it and he knows it" I whisper to dad and he nods.

"But will his stubbornness make him continue with this charade or will he do the right thing and throw in the towel?" dad murmurs back to me.

Uncle Phil looks at the DA, at dad and then at me. His gaze lingers on me for a moment and I see the complete hatred in his eyes. He looks at the jury, and I see him almost sag before he turns his attention to the judge.

"I wish to change my plea" he says quietly.

The judge looks at him coldly, "Approach the bench" he says in a bored tone which tells everyone just how fed up he is with Uncle Phil and everything he has done.

Uncle Phil shuffles to stand in front of the judge. "I wish to change my plea to guilty" he mutters, his head down.

The judge looks up, "Go and sit down" he says and we all watch as Uncle Phil shuffles back to his seat.

The judge turns to the jury and looks at them, "You have heard all the evidence on behalf of the prosecution, you heard the defence cross examination of those witnesses, you also heard the appalling outburst from the accused where he openly admitted his guilt, and yet he still insisted on continuing with this charade. The vindictive nature of that decision to try and destroy a child is breath-taking. However, now it appears that the accused has finally seen sense and changed his plea. Which means the jury is no longer required in this process, thank you for your participation up to this point but you are dismissed". The jury stand and file out of the court. Once they are gone the judge looks towards us.

"Are there any victim statements to be read?" he asks.

Dad looks at me questioningly, and I nod. I hadn't prepared anything for today like I did for Chicago but I know exactly what I want to say.

The DA turns and dad nods at him. He stands up, "Yes we have one victim statement" he says.

I stand up and look at Uncle Phil who rolls his eyes, "Do I have to listen to him whining again?" he splutters.

The judge stares at him, "You are in no position to question the process. You used and abused it for your own warped revenge so you will sit quietly and listen to the victim statement" he says.

I move towards the stand, and look at Uncle Phil. He looks at me with total hatred and I grin. This seems to confuse him and he tries to look away.

"That's right look away. Just like in Chicago, you can't look me in the eye because you are weak and pathetic. I am not afraid of you anymore and you cannot stand that fact, you have lost your control over me and you hate it. I told you in Chicago that I was a real Martin and it was you who was not. I am more sure of that fact now than ever before. My dad was a good man, Uncle Pete was a good man… Uncle Patrick wherever he is, is a good man… but you… you are nothing more than a stain on humanity. You are greedy, selfish, vindictive but you are also very stupid. You are stupid because you failed to see the flaws in your grand plans… your game and as such, we ended up here. You wanted to regain your control, you wanted to try and destroy me but all you succeeded in doing was destroying yourself and showing everyone in this room exactly what a hateful and stupid person you really are. Your greed resulted in the deaths of good honourable people, and they were all real Martins. Your selfishness and jealousy towards me saw you want to try and destroy me, but you failed… like I said in Chicago, game over because you failed - epically. Do you know why you failed? Because I am a real Martin I was raised with the values, honesty and love of real Martin's". I pause and look at dad who is watching me with pride rolling off him in waves. "But I am not only a real Martin, I may have been raised a Martin but I also have the blood of Gideon Cross running through my veins. I am Jared Martin-Cross, and I am proud of my name and where I came from and who I am. You cannot take that away from me and you never will. You have not destroyed me you cannot destroy me because I am a real Martin and also a real Cross, that is a potent combination and as such I will not allow you to destroy me because you… you are nothing, by your actions, your greed, poor decisions and your stupidity you are less than nothing you are a pathetic disgrace, and as such you will rot in hell for the rest of your life, before you even add today's sentence to your list… as I said in Chicago Uncle Phil". I make sure I say uncle with enough sarcasm and bite as I possibly can, when I see dad and Uncle Christian grin and Uncle Phil wince slightly, I know I nailed it. "Game over! You lose, you tried to destroy me but I think in the end it is I who have destroyed you… because I am Jared Martin-Cross".

I move away from the stand and towards my family who in unison all stand up and I am engulfed in their love and I feel safe… it's over, I got justice for Uncle Pete and Aunty Suzy. He will go to prison and I will eventually come to terms with this episode of my life and I will move on. I look up at dad who is holding me tightly and I return his hug.

"Thanks dad" I whisper quietly, so quietly that I'm not sure he hears it at first. I know he has when he gives me an extra squeeze and presses a kiss to the top of my head.

We sit down and wait, the judge just stares at me for a moment and then he clears his throat.

"After everything I have heard in this unusual, disturbing and at one point almost farcical case, I have no doubts in my mind of the motives behind your ridiculous behaviour. You have already been convicted of the murders of your own brother and his wife, who died through your own greed and selfishness. Not content with depriving a child of his parents, and let's be clear here they were his parents despite your views on the matter. You then wanted to turn the knife even more and deprive him of his aunt and uncle on the grounds that they stood in your way, they were a threat to you to collect money which was not intended for you. You refused to admit to your crime, on the grounds that you wanted that boy to suffer, you wanted to break him completely. I find that behaviour unacceptable and it is in rare occasions of this nature meeting individuals like you who make me lament this state's decision to not impose the death penalty as a punishment. However, the most severe punishment I can give in this instance is life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. You are currently serving a similar sentence in Chicago and I hereby order that you are returned to Chicago as I do not want you incarcerated in this state. You will serve your sentence in Chicago with the sentence of this court to run concurrently with the one you are serving, take him away". The judge bangs the gavel and stands up.

We watch in silence as Uncle Phil is led away and an odd sense of peace fills me as I watch the door close behind him. I close my eyes, mom is holding my hand, dad has his arm around my shoulder. I feel safe, satisfied that Uncle Pete and Aunty Suzy got their justice and now all I want to do is go home.

I look up at dad, "Dad can we go home now?" I ask quietly.

Dad nods, "Of course we can" he says with a reassuring smile.