Chapter Nine
The court case dragged on; the public began to reel from the onslaught of what they were hearing as one high ranking official after another became implicated in some way. Fortunately, Elliot was only involved in the parts relating directly to him. JD was required to put in an appearance regarding her kidnapping and there was silence in the court room as photographs were passed to the jury and the doctor on call in accident and emergency read the extent of her injuries from her medical report. Her voice was quiet and shook as she answered the questions that were put to her. Joe Maxwell came to the rescue and got her out of the building and safely Below before she was harassed by eager reporters and photographers, offering deals to get the exclusive story of her ordeal.
Evidence was supplied on the extent of the corruption; the payments and what they were for. Witnesses were few, due to their having been 'disposed' of after carrying out their instructions, but the police—carefully screened for this operation—managed to find enough. Everyone wondered how long it would take to sort everything out. One thing was certain though, it was costing the tax payer millions and millions of dollars.
The newspapers were having a field day. As further corruption was discovered, so other investigations were set up and they set about crucifying anyone and everyone. The funny thing was, Elliot, who had so often been the victim of their accusations was suddenly being portrayed as the man who sacrificed everything to expose the corruption, going 'undercover' to infiltrate the organisation.
In between all this, Winterfest approached and the tunnel dwellers got ready for the festivities. There were decorations to put up, special candles to make, invitations to send out, presents to be wrapped, and cards to be delivered. Everywhere was a hive of activity. The children rehearsed for the carol concert and JD, recovering well following physiotherapy sessions, found a niche for herself, writing arrangements and teaching the children about breathing, control and technique to improve their performance. She had started singing again, working hard at her exercises to recover her range.
Catherine explained that Winterfest was the occasion when Helpers were invited to share; a way of giving thanks and to maintain friendships and goodwill. This year, Joe Maxwell had been invited to join in the celebrations and he felt honoured to be included.
It was a grand and successful evening. When everyone was seated, Father, like he had done for so many years now, started the ceremony and soon, the hall was aglow with soft, flickering candlelight.
William had excelled himself with the food and homemade wine, beer and punch. Helpers had brought other items with them and the evening was filled with music, laughter and love, as helpers renewed their friendships, or made new ones. Everyone made sure that Joe was not left out of the festivities and kept him plied with refreshments!
Sebastian kept everyone entertained with his tricks and sleight of hand; the children sang and gave their recitals and the adults played some dance music.
All too soon though, the evening drew to a close. As the last dance ended, applause sounded for everyone, as way of thanks for the wonderful time they had all had. It was decided that Joe was far too merry to be allowed to go home, so he was allocated a guest chamber. One or two other special helpers also stayed, and eventually everyone left. Clearing up could be left until the next day.
As Catherine and Vincent settled down for the night, they chatted about how well the evening had gone and the little incidents that had made them giggle. "This will be the first of many we will now share," Vincent said as Catherine snuggled up to him.
"Yes. I feel as if life has started anew; although I have attended Winterfest before, tonight was a very special one, perhaps because I thought that I would never attend any more..." It was the first reference she had made to her ordeal in a while, but Catherine wanted to stress how important the evening had been to her. "I expect we will all sleep late tomorrow!"
"You mean today!" Vincent corrected. "It's nearly three in the morning!"
"No! And you know... I'm not really that tired, Vincent..." Catherine trailed a finger down his chest and looked up at him from under her lashes.
"You know what, neither am I..." he replied as he leant down to kiss her...
"How can you have so much energy at this time of the morning?" Elliot asked looking at JD with affection as she danced around their chamber humming softly.
"I'm making up for all that time I was stuck in bed," she replied. "Come on, Elliot, just one more dance, please?"
"JD, it's three o'clock in the morning, besides..." He paused as he peeled off his shirt, reached out and grabbed her firmly by a wrist to pull her body snugly up against his. "... I'd rather do something... else..." he breathed huskily into her ear, making her squirm with delicious sensations.
Pretending to be shocked, JD placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back slightly. "Like what?" she asked, in a wonderfully 'innocent' voice.
For a second or two, Elliot wasn't sure if she was serious, until he saw her lips twitch with barely concealed laughter. "Oh," he replied, playing along with her, "I dunno... I thought we'd just play things by ear and see..." He stopped again to pull at the ribbon fastening on her nightgown, "...what develops..."
"In that case," JD said breathily, as his hands began to work their magic, "I guess you'd better lead the way..."
Considering the amount of sleep everyone had had; they were all surprisingly cheerful the next morning as they cleared up the mess left behind from the party. Decorations were taken down and carefully stored away for next year, candles that had been left behind were collected and after a few hours, it was hard to tell that anything had ever taken place in the Great Hall.
Joe was invited to stay for breakfast before going off to work, which he accepted, then said he would be in touch if there were any new developments.
Life returned to some semblance of normality again. Elliot went back to his map room, JD taught music, basic dance, read to the children and helped with the needlework. Catherine did some work for Joe that enabled her to stay in tunnels and look after little Jacob who, now he could walk, turned out to be a real escape artist. If she turned her back for even a second, he would be off exploring.
"Maybe you ought to try tethering him," JD suggested helpfully as she returned the escapologist one morning on her way back from a dance session.
"I am so tempted!" Catherine said as JD handed him over. "Thank you. Oh, young man, what am I going to do with you?"
In reply, Jacob just giggled.
"See the respect he has for me! Right, back to work, no peace for the wicked!"
Joe turned up a few weeks later to see Vincent, Catherine, Elliot and JD. "It's decision time, folks," he began. "Everything is wide open, but there are a couple of points that can be cleared up now, such as the hotel and casino fire, the murder charge against you, Elliot, over John Moreno, and JD's kidnapping, to name a few. So you're to be in court tomorrow morning to hear the verdicts."
Needless to say, nobody got much sleep that night, or if they did manage to snatch a few moments, it was restless and haunted by nightmares.
The following morning, Elliot, Catherine and JD were in the courtroom. There was quite a speech by the lawyer, followed by an even longer one by the judge. Most of it went over JD's head. Everyone held their breath as the judge summed up.
"... I cannot praise the police highly enough for all their efforts so far in this continuing case against Malloy Davidson and Hanover Norton Trust. The extent of corruption has not only rocked the whole of our continent, but has had repercussions throughout every civilised country on the globe. There is still a long way to go, but some verdicts can at this time be given.
"For the St Louis Hotel and casino fire, I find Elliot Burch not guilty on all counts. For the murder of District Attorney John Moreno, I find Elliot Burch not guilty. Peter Norton, Michael Cadilles, David Wilson, Jeff Mullen and Paul Malloy I find guilty of kidnapping and of inflicting grievous bodily harm on Jahnine Davies and Catherine Chandler." The judge paused and looked at Elliot, JD and Catherine. "I realise there is much more to this than I have currently stated, but as you are aware, this case will go on for a number of years, as each new investigation is undertaken and heard in court. All of you have lost time in your lives. I see no reason for you to be put through any more suffering, tension and heartache in this matter and thus have made these rulings.
"Miss Chandler, Miss Davies, Mr Burch... you are now free to get on with your lives. I wish you all the best for the future." With that, he banged his gavel and the entire courtroom erupted with noise.
Joe hustled Catherine, JD and Elliot out through a back door to avoid all the reporters and photographers.
"Your life is going to be hell for the next few months, you know, they'll be clamouring to get your stories."
"Don't remind us," Catherine mumbled. "I think the best thing we can do is hide out Below for a week or two, until the initial commotions fades. There'll be plenty of other juicy information for the press to keep them occupied."
"Good idea, Cath. I'll get you safely out of here and see you all tonight with a bottle or two of champagne to celebrate."
With the help of a couple of policemen, Joe got them out of the building and into a cab, which they took to Cathy's apartment building. On entering the lift, they headed for the basement and the secret entrance to Below. Safe again in the tunnels, everyone let out a sigh of relief before heading for their respective chambers.
As promised, Joe arrived that evening with two magnums of champagne. No one asked where it came from.
Elliot popped the cork on the first one and quickly filled the glasses. Attending this private party were Father, Vincent, Mary, Catherine, JD, Joe and Elliot. Although Vincent did not drink, he made an exception and had a little champagne poured into his fruit juice.
"You know, this is sacrilege!" Elliot said, "but what the heck!"
"I'd like to propose a toast," Joe said. "To the future; we all have a lot to be thankful for. Elliot, do you want to say something?" Joe had seen him indicate with a hand.
"Yes. To the future. To new found friends and... to those we have lost, but who will be remembered, always." He was thinking mainly of Cleon Manning when he said this.
"As long as they fill our memories, they will never be forgotten," Cathy added.
Everyone maintained a respectful silence for a number of seconds, then they drank from their glasses.
"So, Elliot, what will you do now?" Joe asked.
"I guess I'll start again. I have over twenty-two buildings in this city, I think there's room for a couple more."
"Wait a minute," JD began, "Won't there be any apologies for false imprisonment, or thank yous for cracking open a can of worms? People have died; have suffered terribly and a judge's gavel is all they get?"
"That's justice," Elliot said a little sarcastically.
"That's not fair, Elliot," Cathy said defensively. "You know how huge this whole thing is."
"Okay, I apologise. I guess I should just be thankful I got let off, right?"
"For now, I guess that's all your gonna get, Elliot, but..." Joe held out his hand. "I owe you an apology, pal."
Elliot frowned. "You do?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you about Cathy and about Moreno. I have no excuse about Moreno, I just didn't want to believe that there was corruption in the office where I worked. Cathy... well that was because it was so painful. I was having trouble getting used to the fact that she was dead and that it was going to be another unsolved murder, when you arrived on my doorstep with news about where she'd been 'killed'. That really hit a raw spot. Plus, I was also still smarting from having been taken off the case. I realise now it was because I was likely to have found out things I shouldn't have done."
"You could have finished up dead too, don't forget that."
"Don't remind me. Hey, your glasses are empty, time for a refill."
"So, what happens now?" Where do we go from here? I know everyone down here has been incredibly friendly and you've made me very welcome and nursed me back to health, but... I couldn't stick it down here permanently. I've got to find myself a job, earn some money, find a new home," JD said.
"JD, you can still use my apartment until you're sorted out, it really does need someone living in it," Cathy said.
"Honey, I was hoping... after all we've been through together, that maybe—"
"Elliot," JD interrupted. "You could have the pick of any debutante you wanted. I'm just a singer in a nightclub—"
"Don't say that; that you're just a singer in a nightclub. You stuck with me, through thick and thin. You accepted me for what I was; when I was penniless; homeless. I don't want the pick of the debutantes. I want you, because I love you and I want to spend my life with you at my side."
"Come on, Elliot, you can do better than that," Cathy said.
"Catherine!" Vincent hissed, seeing his friend blush with embarrassment.
"Yeah, Elliot, that was terrible!" Joe got in.
JD looked from one to the other of them, not sure whether to put Elliot out of his misery or not, but one look from Catherine told her to keep quiet. Vincent disappeared for a moment or two, then reappeared and thrust a silk red rose into Elliot's hand.
"Perhaps this will help," he said softly.
Elliot cleared his throat and everyone fell quiet and expectant.
"JD, you once asked me if I considered you a friend and I replied that you meant more to me than that. You have been my friend and confidante; you have given me support and your love. I can think of no one I would rather spend my life with, than with you and therefore..." He took her tiny hands, placed the rose within her clasp and then wrapped his own hands around hers. He took a knee before her and looking deeply into her large dark brown eyes, with his best little-boy-lost expression on his face, he continued. "...I ask... will you marry me?"
Two large tears ran down her cheeks and she felt her throat constrict with emotion. JD was so happy she was almost overcome, but after what seemed like an eternity to Elliot—and his audience—she finally replied. "Yes, Elliot. I will," in a quiet whisper.
The relief on Elliot's face was clear to see. He stood up, and as their lips met, sealing the acceptance of marriage, the little crowd of people cheered loudly. The cheer went unheeded as the two lovers dreamed of their future life together; always.
The End...?