A week had passed since Laura's stunt with the cops, and now everyone was prepared to testify in court against her.
"The floor recognizes Joseph Beaufort."
Joe stood in front of the courtroom and took a deep breath. "Katrina était placée en garde de moi quand elle avait quatre mois, après la mort de sa mère. J'ai pris soin d'elle depuis ce jour. Elle est vraiment heureuse avec moi, et je ne peux pas vivre sans elle." (Katrina was placed in my custody when she was four months old, after the death of her mother. I've taken care of her since that day. She's very happy with me, and I can't live without her.)
"So, Joseph," said Laura's lawyer, "are you aware of the circumstances of the death of Heather Sanders?"
"Elle meurt à cause des complications de l'accouchement," said Joe. "Laura a essayé de déclarer que j'ai tué-elle, mais ce n'était pas ma faute." (She died from childbirth complications. Laura tries to claim that I killed her, but it wasn't my fault.)
"Now, Joseph, if this is true, no one will be blaming you for something you had no control over," said the judge.
"So, Ms. Laurence," said Joe's lawyer to Laura's lawyer, "how did your client describe the death to you?"
Ms. Laurence shifted in her seat. "She told me that Joseph beat Heather to death in her home, took the child, and made up the childbirth story to cover up the crime."
The judge tapped his mallet. "The floor recognizes Katrina Beaufort."
Katrina marched up to the stand and looked the judge directly in the eyes. "Let me get this straight right now; if you take me away from my dad and make me live with Laura, I will hit her and run away every day until you put me back."
"Miss Beaufort, please remain civil," said the judge. "Describe to us any previous incidents with your aunt."
"When I was eight, she tried to take me away by separating me from Dad and trying to make a run for it," said Katrina. "I screamed until someone came to help me, and then I found Dad and we left."
"Have you had any other encounters before or after?"
"It was only my second day knowing her," continued Katrina. "She came to our house and was super rude to Dad. After the thing at the mall, Dad filed a restraining order and I haven't seen her until last week."
"It's clear that the child doesn't want her custody changed," said Joe's lawyer.
"She may not," said Ms. Laurence, "but it would be downright irresponsible to leave her with a potentially dangerous person."
"Let's see what the witnesses have to say about it," said the judge. "The floor recognizes Dr. Luanne Pearson."
Joe was surprised to see the doctor who gave him Katrina so long ago. Her face was slightly more creased, and there was a slight sliver of gray in her braids. She took the stand. "I was Heather's main caregiver during and after her giving birth. She lost a lot of blood during the delivery, and we had to end with an emergency cesarean birth. Afterwards, her body never truly recovered, and eventually, she just gave out." She also presented the judge with the medical records.
"I've never seen this woman in my life," said Laura as the judge read the records, "how do you know she's legitimate?"
"Hold on," said Ms. Laurence, "you claimed to me that you were by your sister's side in the hospital before she died. If you were, then how don't you recognize her doctor?"
"Furthermore," said Joe's lawyer, "if we're to believe that my client beat your sister to death in her home, then there would have been no need to take her to the hospital, as they would have easily declared a DOA."
"Order, please," said the judge, tapping his mallet. "We're moving on to the next witness. The floor recognizes Pierce Adamson."
Pierce took the stand with a "let's get this over with" look on his face. "I've worked with Joseph for over a decade, and I can tell you with full certainty that the story about him beating a woman to death is a crock o' crap."
"Please speak respectfully in the courtroom," said the judge.
Pierce nodded, and continued. "See, Joseph's been at the bottom of the Minor Circuit for as long as he's been in our organization. I've refereed every fight he's been in, and his punches are certainly not strong enough to cause such serious injury."
"How do you know he didn't have a weapon?" Laura asked.
Pierce scoffed. "Joe struggles to pick up barbells, let alone bludgeoning weapons. Even if he did have a weapon, the cops likely would have found it during the investigation and we wouldn't even be here."
"Can you elaborate on that claim?" Ms. Laurence asked.
"Okay," said Pierce. "If Joe had used any sort of weapon to murder Heather, it's likely to have a trace of his DNA of it. Fingerprints, sweat, maybe a stray hair, what have you. If it wasn't left at the scene of the crime, then it would have been on his person. As the father of Heather's child who now would have custody, he would be the primary suspect. During the investigation, they would have scoured both Heather's home and his, and unless he had the foresight to destroy or otherwise dispose of the weapon, they would have found it, arrested him, locked him up, and your client would have custody."
"Thank you, Pierce," said the judge. "The floor recognizes Louise Sanders."
"Ca c'était impressif," whispered Joe to Pierce when he stepped down. (That was impressive.)
"What can I say," said Pierce, "I watch a lot of law shows."
Louise took the stand. "None of my family knew about Heather's death until years after the fact," she said coldly. "They had cut her off from the family when she left for college."
"Why didn't you try and contact her all those years?" Ms. Laurence asked.
Louise sighed. "I was scared. Scared of losing them, and scared of having no one left. If I could go back and change things, I would have taken Heather's side."
Ms. Laurence looked up at Joe's lawyer. "Mr. McMullan, my client claimed that both of their parents cut them off and threw them out when they found out Heather was pregnant."
The judge turned to Louise. "What happened, ma'am?"
Louise looked like she wanted to cry. "I never knew about it," she cried, "and if I did, I would have been with her every step of the way." She rubbed her eyes. "Maybe if I was there, things would have been different."
"Now, Mrs. Sanders," said the judge, "let's not dwell on the past; we can't change it." He tapped his mallet. "The floor recognizes Xander Whittier."
Mr. Sandman stepped up. "Alright, so we all got an emergency alert that morning saying that Katrina was missing. We all took one look at it and knew something wasn't right. See, Pierce had warned us that we had to keep Laura away from Katrina at all costs, and we all knew she was up to something. When we got there, they were already cuffin' Laura, so our testimonies were pretty much just icing on the cake."
"That man and his gang threatened to beat me!" Laura shouted.
Ms. Laurence gave Mr. Sandman a look. "Is this true?"
"We never said we were gonna do anything to her," said Mr. Sandman. "The most I can think of is Brad saying we were gonna have a problem if she didn't leave."
The judge nodded, and turned to the jury. "The defendant has pleaded not guilty, but every witness claims otherwise. Has the jury reached a final verdict?"
A blond man - the same blond man who helped Katrina, Joe noted - stood up. "Yes," he said. "We find defendant Laura Sanders…"
The entire room fell silent. Joe felt his heart beating painfully fast. He felt as if he might faint.
"...Guilty."
"Motion carried," said the judge. "With the power vested in me, I declare Laura Sanders to be guilty on the charge of attempted kidnapping, harassment, and breaking a restraining order. She will be sentenced to a 700$ fine, 200 hours of community service, and one month of probation upon completion of the community service. In addition, the restraining order will be reinstated, and any further violations will result in instant jail time."
Joe breathed a sigh of relief. He was going to keep his daughter. He put an arm around her as they walked out of the courthouse.
Mr. Sandman gave Joe a pat on the back once they got outside. "You're a good man, Joey," he said. "Now you go home and appreciate the crap outta that kid."
Joe couldn't help it; he hugged Mr. Sandman. He was incredibly grateful for his and the others' help. And with that, he and Katrina got into the car to go home, where they would be safe at last.
