Breaking Ties: An Ensemble Story (Read 248,980 times)

[André DiMera]

Of course Sarah won’t believe the doctor. I hope he tells Maggie everything.

So glad Doug convinced David to sit by Valerie. They’re both going to need each other! Hope David isn’t jealous of Abe.

I hope Judge Hilliard is fair to Hannah, but like Sally, I have my doubts. We’ll see.

It was probably Paula who sent those messages. Even if it’s not, I hope no one hurts Judge Walston’s family.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[krw627]

Jun 6, 2019 6:42:36 GMT -5 André DiMera said:

It was probably Paula who sent those messages. Even if it’s not, I hope no one hurts Judge Walston’s family.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

I agree, great chapter!

I think it was the other judge who took the photos and made the threat. Judge Walston said he would have to do something if he thought the relationship with the warden was affecting his fairness; I'm sure he was scared Walston would go through with it. Also, if Hannah talks about her treatment in prison all heck will break loose for the warden.

[tghca]

It seems Walston's family specifically his grandson and daughter are being threatened...not that much can be done because Paula is not your typical Salem villain...she's ruthless as she is smart and she is dangerous...we have no idea who she really is or what she's capable of. If she is as dangerous as the DiMera family is, then JJ and the others have no idea who they are really dealing with.

Hannah's trial I have a feeling is a set up especially if Paula has her way

Glad Doug convinced his step son David to talk to Valerie

I had no idea Nicole and Rafe were a couple

Ciara is a little brat now isn't she?

Abe just doesn't have 1 son he has 2 sons...well he has Theo and he has his other son Brandon

Sarah is in denial...alcoholism is a disease and denial is part of it

[heroicmuse]

Week 235 - 5

At Nashville General, Maggie and Victor sat together in a waiting area, while Melissa stood at a magazine rack in the corner, pretending to browse through the magazines.

“I wish I knew what was taking so long,” Maggie said. “I thought the doctor told you over the phone that Sarah could have visitors.”

“He did,” Victor said, “but I imagine he wants to go over her care with you before you see her.” He played with his phone. “I could make myself useful and reach out to a specialist or two, but I’d prefer to know exactly what we’re talking about first. Besides, you’re the expert on these matters. All I know how to do is what worked for Brady. I had him kidnapped for the purpose of forcing him into rehabilitation and didn’t allow him to escape with his addiction intact.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Maggie said. “One act of violence against her is enough. Besides, she has to decide for herself she wants sobriety or the whole thing’ll fall flat.”

“Of course,” Victor said, but he paled just a tiny bit. Melissa raised her eyebrows, noticing from over at the magazine rack. “Let’s hope that that bump on the head knocked some sense into her, then.”

“Yes, let’s,” Maggie agreed, wringing her hands. “Oh, how I wish we were all in Salem. Kayla would make sure we knew what was going on right away, none of this sitting around.”

Victor squeezed her hand. “My world-renowned ability to throw my weight around is not confined to Salem. If you want, I could - “

Just then, the doctor came out. “Mrs. Kiriakis?”

“Yes, that’s me,” Maggie said, rising.

“I thought so. If you put red hair on our patient, she would look just like you.” The doctor smiled. “My name is Dr. Lowder, and I treated your daughter Sarah here in the ER this morning. Why don’t you come with me to talk about her condition before I let you see her?”


Judge Thorpe was looking over a bunch of transcripts. “My decision in the Larson case was sound, it had nothing to do with Wanda. It had to do with those damn protesters. I was keeping Ms. Larson safe as well as everyone else. I was.” He pushed that transcript aside and opened the next one. “As for Hannah Martin - “

There was a knock on his door. Thorpe sighed and put the transcripts away. “Come in.”

Wanda came in. Thorpe made himself smile. “I was just thinking of you,” he said. “I could use you right now. But how come you’re not up at the jail?”

“I switched with the night warden,” Wanda said. “I just had to see you.” They kissed and then she said, “So, out of curiosity, did Judge Walston go for it?”

Thorpe shook his head. “He was too concerned with how it would make me look. He seemed to think the world might think I’m covering my tracks too much if I took Hannah Martin’s case off his hands after I was responsible for sending her to jail in the first place. Not that I could have done anything differently. There was a plea bargain and she stated she wasn’t coerced. I couldn’t have thrown it out.”

“I’m glad you didn’t. That girl deserved to be locked up, standing out in the street with a can of beer like rules don’t apply to her.” Wanda sighed. “Too bad about your friend. But it really doesn’t matter if Hannah Martin’s given probation or not. It won’t last.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Wanda said, taking a paper out of her pocketbook, “that all you have to do is sign off on this arrest warrant and whatever freedom she gets will be taken from her the second she gets it."


Berger straightened his tie. “Your Honor,” he said, “the circumstances under which the original plea bargain was made are questionable, to say the least. Ms. Martin was represented at the time by a public defender that spent all of 30 seconds with her before advising her to plead guilty, and that was after my client had already been sitting in jail for a month waiting for her day in court. Surely this doesn’t satisfy her Sixth Amendment right to representation by counsel, nor does it satisfy the requirement that any plea bargain be entered into freely.”

The judge raised an eyebrow. “Mr. Berger, are you suggesting the public defender didn’t do her job?”

“No, your Honor. I believe she did it to the best of her ability, but with 200 other cases on her desk, how could her best possibly constitute the competent defense my client was entitled to?”

“I see.” Judge Hilliard fingered her gavel. “I’ve reviewed the defendant's case file, Mr. Berger, and everything seems in order with her plea bargain. Are you arguing that because this defendant had to rely on a public defender, she did not receive adequate counsel? Because if you are, I’ll be quite frank: that will be a hard sell. The public defense system exists precisely for the benefit of defendants such as Hannah Martin, to ensure that their rights are protected despite their ability to pay. Unless you have evidence that this particular public defender was derelict in her duties, I am loathe to grant your request. If we set a precedent of assuming that public defenders are inferior to private ones, it will undermine the system altogether, which will leave people such as your client without any recourse at all should they find themselves in legal trouble and without the means to hire a private attorney.”

Aiden stood up. “Your Honor, it’s clear that the public defense system is underfunded, causing people like Hannah Martin to fall through the cracks. But even if you disagree with that premise… we’re talking about a teenager with a whole future ahead of her, and she’s been robbed of nearly a year of that future over nothing more serious than an open container that she didn’t even drink from. Now maybe you’re not convinced that she had inadequate counsel the first time she was made to answer that charge. All right. I’ll give you that. But even so, there’s still a ban on cruel and unusual punishment -- can you really justify locking up an 18-year-old for nearly a year for something so small and insignificant?”

The judge was quiet for a second. "I did see the news reports about the prejudice on the part of the S-Mart manager, so that does make me want to give this defendant another chance despite the fact that she already made the choice to accept a jail sentence for her offense. I will treat this like a sentencing hearing and speak to her directly to determine whether she deserves to be given probation."

Aiden inclined his head slightly. "Thank you, your Honor." He squeezed Hannah's shoulder. "Answer her questions honestly. Mr. Berger and I are right here and we'll speak up if anything seems out of line."

Hannah nodded, her eyes wide with fear.

Judge Hilliard said, "Ms. Martin, eight months ago you pled guilty to the misdemeanor offense of possession of an open container of alcohol on a city street. This behavior can be punished in several ways, and at the time the ADA chose to ask for it to be punished via a jail sentence of 12 months and the judge agreed. However, your new lawyers are arguing that this sentence is inappropriate and have asked for it to be converted to a sentence of probation. In order to decide whether probation would be a more appropriate punishment for your behavior, I must gauge whether you are able to take responsibility for your part in this incident. Please tell me in your own words what you did that was contrary to the laws of the city of Salem.”

(In the spectator section, Paige scowled. “She didn’t do anything wrong! Why can’t they get that through their thick skulls?”

JJ squeezed her hand tight.)

Hannah swallowed hard. She said, “I-I let my friend talk m-me into holding her beer a-after she opened it.”

“Don’t be afraid,” Aiden whispered to her. “She’s more on your side than you might think, and you need to show her some confidence.”

Hannah nodded. Her mouth was very dry. “Can someone give me some water?”

Berger poured some and held the cup to her lips since she couldn’t do it herself.

The judge wrote something on a pad. “And what crime did holding that beer constitute?”

“Possessing an open container of alcohol in a public place when I’m too young to have beer at all.”

“That’s correct.” The judge made another note. “Now, the police report states that you resisted arrest. Please describe the behavior you engaged in that led to you being charged with that crime.”

Hannah’s eyes flashed. “I can’t do that, cause it would be a lie. I didn’t have an attitude! I didn’t resist arrest!”

“Is that attitude you didn’t have like the one you’re displaying now?” Judge Hilliard asked while in the spectator section, Valerie shook her head sadly. “Because the way you are behaving is inappropriate and doesn’t demonstrate the maturity you need to display if you hope to get your sentence converted to probation.”

“Your Honor!” Aiden said. “The DA’s office dropped the charge of resisting arrest, To force her to discuss it now - “

“ According to the probation guidelines, defendants must demonstrate a willingness to take responsibility for their past misdeeds to be eligible for early release on probation. So let’s try this again and see if this time she’s going to cooperate. What did you do, Ms. Martin, that made the officers believe you were resisting arrest?”

[tghca]

Hannah of course is innocent so there is no way she will take responsibility for her past misdeeds because she didn't even do anything...she was more or less in the wrong place at the wrong time and because of that she ended up behind bars

It seems Hannah's freedom won't even last because the second she goes free, she will be re-arrested almost immediately because of that arrest warrant being signed...so it will be like Hannah won't even be able to enjoy her freedom...well Wanda as well as Judge Thorpe are making sure of that

Maggie is about to find out that her daughter Sarah has fatty liver disease...I wonder how Maggie will react? I wonder how Melissa will react? I mean Sarah with her condition if she drinks again, she could very well die or come close to death's door because Sarah God forbid might need a liver transplant and who is a match? Maggie could donate her liver...but other donors well there's Sarah's biological half-sister Noelle she could donate her liver...there's Daniel, Maggie's son he could donate. Well there's Sarah's niece Melanie she could be a donor or I would have said Sarah's nephew Parker but he's not old enough. I know there are the rest of the Hortons who would try to donate their liver to try to save Sarah like Jennifer, Hope, David, JJ, Abby, Lucas, Will, Julie, Doug, Rory, etc.

[André DiMera]

Wonder if that made Melissa suspect that Victor called for one of his goons to be the one who assaulted Sarah. I’m glad Dr. Lowder is gonna tell Maggie what’s going on.

Man, Wanda really has it in for Hannah, doesn’t he? I hope Thorpe doesn’t go for it, but he probably will.

Um...Hannah didn’t have an attitude then and certainly doesn’t now, so I’m not sure where Judge Hilliard is getting that from. Looks like this is gonna turn out badly for Hannah.

Can we please have previews, heroicmuse?

[Kpatch]

I loved the reminder about Victor's intervention in Brady's addiction.

[heroicmuse]

Thank you André DiMera, krw627, Kpatch, & tghca for your comments this week!

Some of my favorite scenes are coming up next as Hannah's hearing continues, Maggie learns about Sarah's condition, and more! Check out this sneak peek.

Next week on Breaking Ties...


Things don’t look great for Hannah. Aiden asks for a recess to consult with her and she seems depressed and convinced that even Aiden doesn’t have the power to get the judge to do the right thing. Aiden disagrees and does his best to encourage her, though he does admit that he's worried that should they lose, the warden could seriously hurt Hannah between now and the date of the appeal he plans to file.

Hannah is especially worried that if she’s denied probation, her mom will become even more convinced that she’s a criminal, and her fear may not be unrealistic, as Valerie thinks Hannah is continuing to dig herself into a hole by refusing to go along with what the judge wants, while David thinks his daughter is just standing up for herself. Hannah’s parents argue and Valerie tries to get Abe to take her side -- will he? Meanwhile, JJ has to be talked out of doing something impulsive while Julie swears to Doug and Rory that the judge will be sorry if she messes with the granddaughter she is eager to meet.

When the hearing resumes, Hannah is so nervous she can barely speak, but she manages to give the judge an answer. The judge isn’t happy with what Hannah has to say, but help may be coming from a surprising source, as Julie takes it upon herself to make a speech defending her granddaughter. The judge isn’t happy with the interruption, but it seems to have an impact anyway as she does grant Hannah probation -- along with a lecture about needing to take responsibility for her misdeeds and a ton of restrictions and requirements she claims are meant to teach Hannah a lesson, including something that really angers Hannah but which she doesn't dare complain about. Is Hannah’s new sentence really fair, or is she going to end up in trouble all over again?

With some help from Aiden, the judge is convinced to allow Hannah to be held at the police station until her release is processed. Hannah’s friends and family are all thrilled that she will be coming home soon, though JJ has to talk Paige out of running to the police station to see her friend before Hannah’s parents have a chance to do so. Paige is reluctant to agree, but Julie provides a distraction -- she wants Paige to tell her all about her granddaughter so that she can begin to get to know her while she’s waiting for her to be released, and she also has something else in mind: a welcome home party for Hannah and David. But when JJ suggests they also celebrate Paige’s birthday at this party, will Paige agree to let them?

Alone in her cell at the police station, Hannah begins to freak out, convinced that she’s not really going home and that the cops will somehow delay her release while Aiden is busy elsewhere, and seeing her mom doesn’t help. Hannah has no choice but to talk to her mother since she can’t go anywhere, but expresses a lot of anger over the fact that Valerie refused to help her after her initial arrest. Valerie is filled with remorse and does her best to explain herself and ask for forgiveness, but will Hannah accept her apology?

Elsewhere in Salem, Sami is not pleased when Lucas tells her about Johnny and Sydney’s misbehavior, and Sydney takes it especially hard when Sami sends both kids to their rooms, especially after Sami threatens to take away something very important to Sydney. Sami feels guilty about being so hard on her youngest child, but doesn’t have time to think about it because she and Lucas need to deal with what Allie confessed to her. And instead of going to his own room, Johnny goes to bother Allie and comes up with an idea that Allie thinks is even worse than the trouble they’re already in -- only to get caught by Sami before they can even agree on whether or not to do it.

Finally, Roman has his meeting with the IAB agent, the warden and Judge Thorpe find themselves in a tight spot when Rafe shows up, and in Nashville, Sarah’s doctor asks Maggie to try to convince her daughter to stop drinking.

[André DiMera]

I have no doubt that, whatever her probation guidelines are, they are far from fair. The deck has been stacked against Hannah from the beginning. I’m so glad Julie stands up for her, and wants to know all about her from Paige! It’s gonna be hard for Hannah to forgive Valerie, since she immediately thought the worst of her daughter and made no real effort to help her until a former lover of hers told her what really happened.

Glad Sami catches Johnny before he can bully Allie into going along with whatever nonsense he’s planning.

Can’t wait for this meeting! Wonder what Rafe’s gonna do with Thorpe and Wanda. Sounds like the doctor is gonna tell Maggie everything.

Thanks for the previews, heroicmuse!

[heroicmuse]

Week 236 - 1

Victor got up with Maggie, but the doctor said, “I’m sorry. This is awkward, but Sarah has only given me permission to speak to her mother, no one else.”

“Her mother and I are not joined at the hip to the point where it requires surgery,” Victor said, “but I came here to support my wife and stepdaughter and that is what I intend to do.”

“It’s all right,” Maggie said, patting his hand. “Stay here with Melissa, she needs support as much as I do. I’ll fill you in after.”

“I doubt she finds my presence at all comforting, but whatever you say.”

“Actually,” Melissa interjected, “could I possibly see my sister while you’re talking to my mom?”

Dr. Lowder nodded. “Room 1512.”

“Thanks.” Melissa left. Maggie and the doctor went in the other direction, towards the offices.


Hannah’s mouth opened and closed. She said under her breath to Aiden, “Now what? The judge says I have to lie to go home, what am I supposed to do?”

“We’re waiting, Ms. Martin,” the judge said.

“I’d like a moment alone with my client, please,” Aiden said. “The question you’re demanding she answer could affect her future significantly, if she’s required to answer it it’s only fair she have the opportunity to discuss the matter with her attorneys first.”

“All right. You have two minutes.”


JJ leaned forward as Aiden turned towards Hannah. “This is BS,” he whispered. “Someone got to Walston so they could put some freaking judge in who’s gonna keep doing Thorpe’s dirty work.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Paige said. “This is the same judge that told me she wished I hadn’t pled guilty to anything so she could throw my whole case out instead of having to sentence me to therapy. Why is she being like this?”

“That’s what I wanna know.” JJ started to stand. “I’m going to go see Walston and find out what the hell happened.”

“You’re going to do that in 90 seconds?” Nicole asked. “Cause that’s about how long this judge is going to take to let Aiden do damage control, and you’re supposed to be covering this hearing.”

JJ scowled. “I’ll cover this, all right,” he said. “If I gotta expose every judge in Salem to get this straightened out I will.”

Paige ran her fingers down his wrist. “Let’s just wait and see what happens. Maybe Aiden’ll get Squeaky out of this.”

“Paige’s right,” Jennifer added. “Come on, JJ, you outgrew this impulsive jumping headfirst into danger a long time ago.”

JJ let his breath out slowly, giving in to his better self after all. “You’re right. It’s just, I hate feeling so freaking powerless.” He turned towards Paige. “For months and months you were locked up and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it, but after you got out I figured if we got Hannah justice too at least something good came out of the whole thing. Only there’s like, a billion people against her, judges and cops and God knows who else and every time we turn around someone else is messing with her so that she doesn’t get to come home.”

“I know,” Paige said. “And I love you for caring so much, I really do, but you can’t let it get to you like this, JJ. Remember what Agent Gibson taught us. If you let them push your buttons, you’ll walk right into a trap and they’ll win.”

“Like Jeff did. Right.” JJ slumped over. “What the hell is taking them so long to get started again?”

Paige put her hand on his shoulder. Jennifer said, “Listen to me, baby. Your dad and I went through a lot of really hard situations and there were a million and one times when we thought all hope was lost, but in the end we always came out on top. You know why? Because evil only has so much strength. People with bad motives can only pull you down so far before running out of options and if you hold on sooner or later you’re going to win.”

“Are we?” JJ said. “Cause it seems like it’s been a long time since the good guys won around here.”

“I came home, didn’t I?” Paige said. “Tiana and the warden and the cops and everyone else didn’t get me in the end, I didn’t get stabbed and neither did Squeaky.”

“Yeah, but it changed you forever. And if this judge doesn’t get her head out of her ass - “

“JJ!” Jennifer said. “Not in a courtroom.”

JJ rolled his eyes. “I’m just saying, if they send Hannah back to jail there’s no telling what’s gonna happen to her before Aiden straightens it out.”

“Well, hopefully it won’t come to that,” Paige said. “I want her home as bad as you do, half my problem is I was forced to leave the best friend I made in there on the other side of those bars.” She took JJ’s hand. “Whatever happens, we’ll fight it together, okay?”

JJ nodded as he took her hand.


Meanwhile, in the next row, Valerie said to David, “I can’t believe that after all she’s been through, Hannah still doesn’t understand that there’s some times you just have to hold your tongue. Isn’t this exactly what led to her arrest in the first place, her getting all hot under the collar in front of people who have the power to send her away?”

“Seriously?” David said. “Are you even watching the same hearing I am? Our daughter did nothing wrong! All she did was stand up for herself.”

“It’s not what she said! It’s the tone of voice, the way she sounds like she’s about to throw a tantrum over it. Maybe if I’d never allowed her to take that tone of voice with me in the first place she wouldn’t think it’s okay to take it with the police or with a judge.”

David shook his head. “Unbelievable. So she got a little angry. Wouldn’t anyone, if they were accused of something they didn’t do over and over and punished for refusing to make a false confession?”

Valerie turned towards Abe. “You had this conversation with your son. Would you be upset if he spoke to an officer of the court the way Hannah just spoke to the judge?”

Abe sighed. “I think it’s best I avoid the appearance of taking sides.”

“Good idea,” David said. He crossed his arms. “If my daughter - “

“OUR daughter,” Valerie said, “not that you do much in the way of raising her.”

David glared at her. “I wasn’t the one who decided to leave her sitting in jail to teach her a lesson. Apparently you believe that she shouldn’t stand up for herself.”

“I never said that,” Valerie said. “But she has to use common sense. The police were given false information about her being in a gang. They were coming at her with the presumption she was a troublemaker. And this judge’s read the same report and probably believes the same things. Yes, of course she’s angry that she’s being told to confess to something she didn’t do. I’m angry too, believe me. I don’t like seeing my baby’s freedom stripped from her over nothing and I don’t like seeing her learning the hard way how cruel people can be just because she’s inherited my skin tone instead of yours. But these people don’t just have their wrong opinions, David. They have the power. They have the ability to use the law as a weapon to crush her based on beliefs that they would realize are false if they would just take two seconds to see beyond her appearance to who she really is. And when someone holds your very life in your hands, the worst thing you can do is give them a reason to hurt you. Can’t you see that?”

“This damn town. It hasn’t changed in 30 years.”

“That’s not an answer. Our child is being forced to walk into this room in chains and we don’t know yet if this judge will set her free. Please don’t waste energy railing against this town as if that’s going to change anything. “

“ I’m not, believe me. We have a secret weapon.” David let his breath out slowly. “I swallowed my pride and went to my mother this morning. If anyone can go above this judge’s head to get Hannah out of this mess, it’s her.”

“If you say so,” Valerie said. She made herself smile. “But thank you.” She took David’s hand again, then turned to Abe. “I apologize for airing our dirty laundry in front of you. David and I have a lot to talk about.”

“I’ve been on the other side of this for years,” Abe said. “I’ve arrested thousands of people, some for big crimes, some for small ones. But I’ve never had to deal with the fallout after someone goes to jail and I can’t imagine what the two of you are going through.”

Valerie patted his hand. “Let’s hope you never have to find out.”

Behind them, Julie said to Doug, “I see why David came to me. Now I don’t know that girl at all, but she is David’s daughter and from what I’m hearing today, she’s no Gabi Hernandez. She didn’t shoot someone in the back like a coward and then run away to let him die in my arms. She was drinking a beer. So what? Back when I was her age I did far worse, and did the police do anything except send me home to Grandpa to get told that I was too good for the life I was living? And now after eight months in jail they want to send her away for longer because she has too much self-respect to admit to something she didn’t do? Oh no, not my granddaughter. They’re messing with the wrong girl if they try anything like that.”

“Wow,” Rory said. “You’re gonna go all Rambo on them.”

“Not Rambo, no,” Doug said. “Julie’s way is a little more refined than that. But believe me, if this court continues to treat our granddaughter unfairly, they won’t see Julie coming until it’s too late for them.” He smiled slightly.

“Whatcha gonna do?” Rory asked.

“I don’t know yet,” Julie said, “but they’d better be as grateful I have Doug as I am, because that’s the only thing stopping me from giving that judge a piece of my mind right now.”


Hannah stared straight ahead. “I have to go along with this, don’t I? If I don’t, I’m sunk, my probation’s down the drain and the warden made it real clear what she’s gonna do to me then.”

“Admitting to it is certainly the easier path,” Aiden said, “but I don’t like it. Something smells fishy. The judge was switched at the last minute and this one’s insisting you cop to a charge that was dropped in the original plea bargain.”

“Yeah but you can’t do anything about it, can you?” Hannah had tears in her eyes. “The judge got too much power, even a top notch attorney can’t do a thing for me.”

“I didn’t say that,” Aiden told her. “Now it’s true you might lose out if you stick to your guns, but if you do we can appeal. Problem is, that could take a while and in the meantime, the warden’s free to stick you with some spurious charge.”

“Right.” Hannah shook her head sadly. “That stupid warden wants me locked up for life over a beer that wasn't even mine.” She sighed. “Say I give in and confess to something I didn’t do like I did the first time. What happens to me then?”

“I wouldn’t recommend that,” Berger interjected. “We’re having enough trouble getting you out of the guilty plea you made the first time that you shouldn’t have. Besides, that’s letting them get away with this crap.”

“Yeah, but I can’t afford to stand on principle.” Hannah’s voice shook. “My MOM’s here, Mr. Berger. My dad too but he believed in me from the start, Mom didn’t. She thinks I deserved to go to jail, she wouldn’t pay my bail or anything. So if I refuse to admit to this nonsense, she’s gonna hold that against me too and then when I do get out, if I ever do, it’s gonna be that much harder to convince her I’m still the same girl she once cared about.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Aiden told her. “Your mom loves you, there’s no doubt about it.”

“You don’t get it.” Hannah’s voice was thick with pain. “I bet you’d do anything if it was your kid, pay his bail, get him a good lawyer from the start, right? Well, it’s not like that for me and her. From the day I was born she thought there was no way I’d ever stay on the right path. She was always scared I’d do something to end up in jail and there was never a time she wasn’t warning me about drugs and gangs and bad people. When I started middle school she sat me down for a talk about what to do if the police ever stopped me for anything. I was ten years old! Ten! And she was already expecting I was going to get arrested. And then I didn't listen to her anyway, I talked back and they said I had an attitude and she believed them over me and wouldn't put a dime towards getting me out of jail and never comes to visit, either. She's already written me off as it is, i if I stand up there and I say no ma’am, I did not resist arrest and they send me back to jail, it’s just going to make her even more convinced I’m just a bad seed.”

“Listen to me,” Aiden said. “I talked to your mom,all right? She's all torn up about you being in all this trouble and believe me, she regrets not hiring a lawyer the first time around."

"Yeah, right. She's probably sitting there right now cheering the judge on for trying to get a lesson through my head."

"If she didn’t give a damn about you and then some, would she even be here?"

Hannah shrugged. "My dad probably made her come. Though I don't know how he even knew it was today, he's all the way in California, far away from all this stupid crap."

Aiden raised his eyebrows at her. "I need you out of this mood. Forget your mom being here, she's not the deciding factor in this cause it’s your life and you’re the one whose gotta bear the consequences whatever you decide about this. Now if you go on the record saying you resisted arrest, that's gonna make things harder for you. When you get out you're gonna be looking for school or work, one or the other, and the last thing you need is some employer running a background check and seeing you got a conviction for resisting arrest on your record. So I’d rather you roll the dice on this so it’s not another mark against you while you’re trying to get your life back on track. If we lose, we appeal, and in the meantime get you transferred out of that jail so at least the warden can’t get to you. And if we win, you get to go home and straighten things out with your mom. What do you say? Is it worth the risk?”

Hannah hesitated, but the bailiff was getting up to announce the judge’s return. “I-I guess,” she said weakly as her attorneys helped her to her feet.

[André DiMera]

Glad the doctor is gonna talk to Maggie.

Well at least they get a few minutes to talk. Glad Paige and Nicole are trying to keep J.J. calm. I agree with him, even though Paige got out, it does seem like a long time since the good guys won. Wow. It didn’t seem to me like Hannah even raised her voice or anything, and it’s not like she can confess to something she didn’t do, so I’m not sure where Valerie or the judge got the idea that Hannah had an attitude. I’m glad David spoke to Julie. I’m sure whatever she does will be interesting! And I like Aiden’s idea. Can’t wait to see what happens now that the judge is coming back.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

Very curious about what Dr. Lowder is going to say to Maggie.

[heroicmuse]

Week 236 - 2

Roman sat down across from Agent Maxwell. She said, “As you know, Commissioner, you have been called in today in connection with our internal investigation into the arrest of Hannah Martin. You were the commanding officer when Ms. Martin was brought into the station, is that correct?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Roman said.

“Were you consulted at all prior to Ms. Martin’s arrest?”

Roman was quiet, trying to think. “This is going back almost a year,” he said, “and at the time I was neck deep into the investigation into Jill Larson’s murder. I don’t recall anyone asking me about Hannah Martin’s arrest before it happened.”

Agent Maxwell made a note. “After Ms. Martin was brought into the station, did anyone consult you about her?”

“Not as I recall. The first I heard of her was a day or two later when I was reviewing arrest reports.”

“I see. Do you review all reports or just select ones?”

“Once a week I review all arrest reports for the previous week. I wish I could do it sooner but with the volume of arrests in this town…”

“Of course.” Agent Maxwell crossed her arms. “Did you notice anything unusual when you reviewed Hannah Martin’s arrest report?”

“If I had I’d have flagged it for further review. If I could see my notes it would be real helpful, you think I could take a look at the file?”

“Certainly,” Agent Maxwell said, “in one minute.” She crossed her arms. “Commissioner Brady, have you ever heard the term ‘crossover’ in relation to suspects?”

Roman frowned. “Some of the patrol officers use it as shorthand for suspects coming over from East Salem.”

“Do you condone the use of this term?”

Roman shrugged. “Can’t stop cops from saying what they want to say. I don’t use it myself, but we got more important things to worry about around here. The last two, three years, violent crime’s shot up and I’ve been working hard to put a stop to it. Think I got time to care if a couple of the cops talk about troublemakers using some stupid word?”

“I see. You don’t think that the use of this term is prejudicial and can lead to situations such as Ms. Martin’s, in which an arrestee is detained because of factors such as the color of her skin or where she hails from instead of because of actual criminal behavior?”

Roman leaned forward. “I’m gonna stop you right there. I might not have looked as closely at the body cam footage as I needed on this case, but that doesn’t mean I’m running a racist police department or that my officers arrested Hannah Martin for any reason other than that she was engaging in an arrestable offense.”

Agent Maxwell raised her eyebrows. “Really?” she said, her voice neutral. “I spoke with Officer James Wolfe yesterday. Officer Wolfe is wracked with guilt over the fact that when he heard there were two African American suspects involved in this case, he pictured two dark black girls and totally missed the lighter skinned girl -- who, as it turns out, was the one who produced a fake ID for the purpose of illegally buying beer. That girl has, to date, spent zero days behind bars, while the darker skinned one is in court today attempting to get her year-long incarceration converted to probation despite the far less serious nature of her crime. But regardless of what happens now, regardless of whether Hannah Martin is set free or her accomplice arrested, that’s eight months where justice has not been served, and you could have easily stopped this before it started by reviewing the body cam footage and realizing that your officers focused almost completely on the less bad suspect. But you chose not to do that and chose also to ignore your officers calling Hannah Martin a ‘crossover’ and treating her as guilty until proven innocent from the moment they met her. Now, I’m certain you didn’t set out to put a girl in jail for the color of her skin, but I need to know -- why, exactly, did you choose to skip the more detailed review of this case that would have allowed you to catch your officers’ errors before it’s too late?”


“Ms. Martin,” Judge Hilliard said. “Are you prepared to answer my question?”

“Y-yes, your Honor,” Squeaky stammered. She winced as the leg cuffs dug into her ankles. “I-I know what you want me to say but - “

“I don’t want to hear what you think I want you to say. I want the truth. What did you do that led to you being charged with resisting arrest?”

Squeaky bit her lip. She wanted to ask if the judge really wanted the truth, but she knew that was a bad idea. She said, “I… the only thing I can think of is I tried to tell the cops - “

“The officers, you mean,” the judge said. “Go on.”

“I tried to tell the officers that I was just holding the beer for my friend. That’s when they told me I had an attitude and dragged me across the street to arrest me.”

“I see.” Judge Hilliard fingered her gavel. “So what you’re telling me is that you simply answered the officer’s questions and they took offense for no reason at all. That doesn’t sound like taking responsibility to me, Ms. Martin. Would you care to try that again?”

Squeaky’s eyes flashed. She looked the judge in the eye and said, “I’m telling you the truth, your Honor, like I said I know what you want me to say but I don’t want to lie to you.”

The judge sighed. “I suppose that’s your final answer then. All right. All that’s left is for me to make my ruling, then.”

There was a ton of rustling behind Squeaky. She twisted her head over her shoulder and saw a thin old lady, a white lady with blue eyes and an oval face that looked almost like her dad’s, getting to her feet. The old lady said, “Excuse me, your Honor, but may I say something?”

The judge frowned. “This is highly irregular, Mrs. Williams, and I’m not sure what you think you could add.”

“What I can add is that the young lady in front of you is my granddaughter. My granddaughter who I only recently learned existed and who I would very much like to get to know, but I can’t even introduce myself to her because she’s been brought before you in chains, and for what? Drinking a beer gained not quite legally? Is that really worth all this hoopla, her being held behind bars for months on end and brought to you chained from head to toe as if she’s the most violent criminal in the world?”

“The law is the law, Mrs. Williams,” the judge said, “and with all due respect, who she is related to has nothing to do with whether she broke it. She has to be treated like any other defendant.”

Julie put her hand to her mouth to hide her laughter. The judge glared at her and she said, “I’m sorry, your Honor, but the idea of these proceedings being anything approaching fair is… well, it’s a joke. Look, when I was Hannah’s age, I did far worse things than crack open a beer on a street corner and nobody even dreamed of putting me in jail for more than a couple of hours. This girl did nothing worse than what millions of teenagers across the country do every day, and it could have been settled by calling her mother down to the police station to pick her up, but instead she’s been in jail almost as long as I was pregnant with her father! And now, today, when her lawyers are asking you for nothing more than to let her come home, you’re doing everything in your power to try to convince yourself that she deserves another four months behind bars. Do you really think anyone believes justice is being served in this courtroom?”

The judge scowled. “Mrs. Williams, with all due respect to your prestige in this town, you are not a lawyer. I’m going to have to ask you to sit down.”

“And what if I don’t?” Julie asked. “Are you going to hold me in contempt? Me, Julie Williams, the matriarch of the Horton family now that my dear grandmother has gone to heaven, and just as importantly, a big donor to the Governor and the Mayor’s campaigns? How’s that going to look tomorrow when the front page of every newspaper screams that you locked me up because I stood up for my granddaughter’s rights and you refused to even consider that you may be biased?”

“Please don’t try to threaten me,” the judge said. “No matter how big your name is, you’re still subject to the same laws as everyone else. Now sit down.”

Julie glared at the judge, but Doug pulled on her sleeve and said, “You’ve made your point, darling. Now let her do the right thing.”

Julie’s eyes snapped but she sat down. Doug took her hand.

Paige whispered to JJ, “I see where you get it from.”

JJ squeezed her hand. “I just wish she’d have been that gung-ho about getting you home instead of believing Roman’s BS.”

The judge banged her gavel. “I will have it quiet. The next person who speaks out of turn will spend the night in a holding cell, no matter who they are.” She gave Julie a look. The courtroom quieted down and she said, “That’s better. Now if Ms. Martin could please rise, I have a decision in this case.”


“Where’s Allie?” Lucas asked Sami. He had just come home and was holding Sydney, who was staring at her feet, by the hand, while Johnny stood next to him, glaring at nothing and crossing his arms.

“In her room writing an essay,” Sami said. “I’d ask how breakfast was, but these don’t look like the faces of children who appreciated being given a special treat.”

“That’s because it was a lie,” Johnny said. “You just wanted to get us out of the house.”

“Hey!” Lucas said. “Don’t take it out on your mom that I caught you and Sydney up to no good.” He turned towards Sami. “I come back from calling you to say we’re on our way home to find these two fighting and both of them claiming the other one tried to steal candy from a bowl on the counter. Now I would have gladly bought each of them a mint if anyone had bothered to ask me, but since they both decided to act like delinquents instead, I took them home. Hence all the sour looks and sarcastic comments.”

“I see,” Sami said. “Well, in that case, Sydney can go sit at the kitchen table and think about the right way to behave and Johnny can go to his room.”

“That’s not fair!” Sydney said. “Johnny started it, I didn’t even want to - “

“SHUT UP!” Johnny said.

“Didn’t I just tell Sydney to go in the kitchen and Johnny to go to his room?” Sami said to Lucas, as if the kids weren’t there. “Because I thought I did, but it must be my imagination since our children would never stand here being rude to each other after they were told to do something.”

“I thought I heard it too,” Lucas said. “I must be hearing things.”

“Well, I’m saying it now. And I’m also saying -- with you as my witness -- that if they don’t go right now there’s going to be hell to pay. Like… Sydney will not have that visit with Nicole that she keeps begging me for and that I was going to let her have against my better judgment and Johnny will not get another lunch out with Rafe. And they’ll be lucky if I don’t decide to take a broom to them to sweep them out of here on top of it!”

“All right, all right,” Johnny said. “We’re going, even if you can’t really do any of that to us anyway.” He stomped off.

“Yeah,” Sydney said, “if you hit us with a broom you’ll go to jail.”

“Not like it’d be the first time,” Sami said. “But I guess I should call Nicole and tell her your plans this Saturday have been cancelled by a mean ogre named Mommy.”

Sydney’s eyes flashed. “You’re double mean! And not fair. AT ALL!” She ran to the kitchen and slammed the door. Lucas and Sami could hear her crying afterwards.

Sami said, “I’d ask you if I was too hard on Syd, but we have bigger problems. The reason I had to send her to the kitchen was that I don’t want her talking to Allie until I had a chance to talk to you.”

“Uh oh,” Lucas said. “I take it Allie finally told you what’s going on with her?”

Sami nodded. “She’s in trouble… and I think Johnny is too. And we have to decide what to do about it.”


Meanwhile, Johnny had not gone to his room. He’d gone to Allie’s.

Allie dropped her pencil when he came in. “What are you doing? Mom said to go to YOUR room, I heard her.”

“You’re not going to tell,” Johnny said. “I already know you’re in trouble too.” He came in. “Mom got it out of you, didn’t she?”

Allie stammered, “I-I tried not to tell her, but…”

“But you were weak.” Johnny crossed his arms. “Anyway, it’s too late now, she knows. So we have to figure out our next move.” He went over to the window. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to juvenile hall. So the question is, what are we gonna do now?”


Thorpe raised his eyebrows. “An arrest warrant? On what grounds?”

Wanda crossed her arms. “You remember I told you I had a problem with this prisoner that I was handling in house? Well, I’ve changed my mind.” She took a bag out of her pocket. It had the hollowed-out pen Squeaky had been taken to the hole for. “Last week the guards caught Hannah Martin with this on her. We see it a lot up at the jail, prisoners are very inventive in their attempts to circumvent the rules and they often mutilate common household items like this pen so that they can use them to get illegal drugs into their system. So when it was found during a random search, the guards took Hannah Martin to solitary confinement. I could have called the DA but since it was her first offense, I went to see her and told her that this time I would handle it privately but if she did it again she was going to get charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.”

“I see,” Thorpe said. He sighed. “The fact that you waited so long to ask for her to be charged might backfire on you, especially if she is arrested immediately after her release from your custody. She’s represented by Aiden Jennings now, and he won’t hesitate to claim vindictive prosecution.”

“So? If you’re the judge you can dismiss his claim.”

“I doubt I’ll be the judge. I couldn’t even convince Henry to let me take her case off his hands.”

“Won’t be him either.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because,” Wanda said, pushing her hair behind her ear, “if he’s stupid enough to let her out and she’s arrested right away it’ll throw his judgment into question and if he gets her case again… well, he’ll recuse himself for the same reason he refused to give it to you.”

“You could be right.” Thorpe read over the warrant. “I don’t think I can sign this, though.”

Wanda crossed her arms. “Come on, Alan, don’t you want to see justice done? I’m telling you, Hannah Martin belongs behind bars.”

“I’m sure she does.”

“Then why can’t you sign off on keeping her there?”

“Sit down a second,” Judge Thorpe said, pushing the warrant away, “and I’ll tell you.”

[André DiMera]

I’m so glad Maxwell is asking Roman these questions! His response should be interesting.

I really hope the judge makes the right decision! Absolutely loved Julie’s speech and her standing up to the judge, even though a short time ag she had no idea Hannah even existed.

Hope Sami and Lucas figure out what to do about Allie. Johnny, go away!

Wonder what Thorpe’s gonna say. I’m sure he won’t have a good reason for this.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[heroicmuse]

Week 236 - 3
Bev’s phone rang as she put her groceries in the trunk. She stared at it. It was Principal Lockridge.

She gulped. Might as well face the music, she thought, and picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Beverly Walters, please,” Mrs. Lockridge said, as if she thought Bev was a secretary or something.

“That’s me. I mean, speaking.”

“I’m glad I caught you,” Mrs. Lockridge said. “I’m sure you’re quite busy. I wanted to let you know that we made a decision about Mason. Would it be possible for us to meet at the school in an hour or so?”

Bev wanted to scream at her to just give her the bad news and get it over with, but her father’s lifelong insistence on being polite and respectful kicked in and she said, “Let me just call my father and make sure he’s all right with watching Mason.” She left off that her dad was probably leaving Mason with the nanny so he could get some work done.

“Of course,” Mrs. Lockridge said. “I’ll text you the address in case you misplaced it.” She hung up without another word.

“Great,” Bev said to herself. She took the rest of the grocery bags out of her cart and put them in the trunk of her car.

“Excuse me,” a voice said from behind her.

Bev turned.. She saw a woman with dirty blonde hair tied back into a ponytail. The woman smiled and said, “I thought that was you. Bev, right?”

Bev’s eyes narrowed. “Do I know you?”

“We met at the meet-and-greet,” the woman said. “I’m Rebecca. Jimmy’s mother. You’re Mason’s mom, right?”

“Right,” Bev said guardedly.

“I didn’t like the way certain people treated you,” Rebecca went on. “I wanted you to know we’re not all creatures from Planet Snobby.”

“Thanks.” Bev sighed. “Mrs. Lockridge just called. She wants to see me in person to tell me her decision, but I’m sure it’s just prolonging the inevitable.” She bit her lip. “I’d like to get to know you, I really would, but since we’re probably never going to see each other again…”

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Rebecca said. “Mrs. Lockridge is an elitist, but she has more of a heart and more of an independent spirit than she lets on. She might not let Melinda Trask call the shots after all.” She patted Bev’s hand. “Tell you what. How about I buy you a coffee and throw in a pep talk for free?”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were asking me out,” Bev joked. She slammed her trunk closed, sure that was the wrong thing to say. “Lead the way.”


JJ turned on his tape recorder, quietly, and leaned forward as the bailiff helped Squeaky to her feet.

“This case should have been straightforward,” Judge Hilliard said. “Last September, the police were called to the S-Mart, where this defendant was caught red-handed with an open container of beer. Salem law is clear on this: underage possession of alcohol is an arrestable offense, and thus the defendant was taken into custody. But then a number of things happened that muddied the waters, so to speak, and that’s what landed her in my courtroom this afternoon after serving two-thirds of a year long sentence for a crime that more often results in a fine or a mandatory alcohol education class. Her lawyers now contend that her continued incarceration constitutes a severe miscarriage of justice and that her original guilty plea in this case was obtained not quite fairly, and yet there is no doubt that this defendant was indeed guilty of the crime she confessed to as part of a plea bargain last October.”

There were angry murmurs coming from the audience. The judge fingered her gavel as she looked Squeaky in the eye. “Ms. Martin,” she said. “Throughout these proceedings, you have maintained that you are innocent because the beer was not yours. But that does not matter, young lady. Under the law, you are not to possess alcohol nor to open an alcoholic beverage on the street, but the police found you standing on Walnut Street with an open can of beer in your hand. Thus, you broke the law, and you should not have attempted to use the fact that the beer was not yours as an excuse for your behavior with the police nor in this courtroom today. That was inappropriate and showed a lack of willingness to take responsibility for behavior the police could see with their own eyes. Furthermore, the time to contest a charge is in the courthouse, not on the street. You chose to argue with the police officers when they informed you that you were under arrest. Despite your contention to the contrary, THAT is the reason you were charged with resisting arrest. In the future I hope you will be more cooperative if the police should ever again make the decision to detain you for any reason.”

Squeaky’s eyes flashed, but she mumbled, “Yes, your Honor,” and looked down at the ground the way the guards expected whenever they confronted a prisoner.

“Lift your head, please.” The judge played with her gavel as Squeaky did. “I want to impress upon you the seriousness of your choices and the ways in which you contributed to this lost year of your life. However, I also intend to give you something no one else in this case has given you, and that is the benefit of the doubt. You were 18 years old at the time of your arrest, legally an adult but still very young and inexperienced in the way the world works. In fact, according to your post-arrest statement, you were belatedly celebrating your graduation from high school -- perhaps that was why you or your friend or whoever cracked open that beer. In any case, I believe that your decisions during this incident were born out of youthful naivete and not out of willful defiance of the law or disrespect for those who enforce it. I therefore do not want to continue to hold your inappropriate behavior during the incident against you despite your refusal to take responsibility for it in my courtroom. I therefore order you be released from jail and instead be sentenced to six months of informal probation.”

People in the audience began cheering and applauding. Valerie held her hands to her mouth, her face trembling. “She’s coming home,” she whispered to David. “Our baby is coming home.”

Julie said to Doug, “We have to offer our backyard for a welcome home party so that our granddaughter can begin to get to know her family.”

Paige had tears in her eyes too and JJ said, “YES!” He and Paige hugged.

The judge said, “I am aware that a lot of you are excited about this decision, but please hold your celebration. I’m not quite finished. Ms. Martin, I believe that when a young person comes before me, it is my job to determine consequences for her behavior that do not solely punish but also educate and help that young person to avoid further bad behavior. For that reason, I am putting restrictions on you during your probationary period. If you feel frustrated by the limitations I am putting on your freedom during the next six months, I hope you will think deeply about what choices you made that led to these uncomfortable consequences rather than continuing to blame the police or anyone else for the punishment you are suffering.”

“Y-Yes, your Honor,” Squeaky whispered, too scared to speak up.

“Now, the primary condition of your probation is, of course, that you stay out of further legal trouble, with the exception of minor traffic violations. You also are prohibited from possessing weapons of any type, including pepper spray, are prohibited from leaving the state without prior written permission from this court, and prohibited from spending time in the company of anyone with a felony conviction. You must either seek full-time employment or go to school full-time. You also must keep us up to date with your job status, your finances, your living arrangements and the license plate and VIN number of any vehicles you have been given permission to drive. Your lawyer will go over with you how to do that.

“Now, I am also imposing a few additional requirements related to the nature of the crime you committed. Number one: I am requiring you to submit to biweekly drug testing for the duration of your probation.”

Squeaky’s eyes flashed. She didn’t use drugs! But she didn’t want to go back to jail so she did her best to keep her face blank, even biting her lip so she wouldn’t say anything the judge might think was talking back.

Aiden started to get up, but the judge said, “This is not up for discussion, Mr. Jennings. Your client is guilty of underage possession of alcohol. She gets drug testing to make sure she doesn’t go any further down the wrong path.”

“Fine,” Aiden said, “but will you grant her mother permission to enter the testing site with her so that she can more easily stay on top of what’s going on with her daughter?”

Squeaky scowled. The last thing she wanted was her mom looking over her shoulder, convinced she was on drugs when she wasn’t.

Aiden said under his breath, “This is for your own protection, trust me. We don’t need any more nonsense like the warden tried to pull, your mom can back you up if somehow they lose the proof you did what you were supposed to. Now untwist your face before the judge decides she has a problem with that angry look.”

Squeaky put on her best poker face, but she was seething inside.

“I agree that more parental involvement will be helpful to your client’s rehabilitation,” the judge said. “Your motion is granted. Ms. Martin, you are not to be on the streets of either East Salem or Salem proper between the hours of 9 PM and 7 AM. Since the police were originally called because you and your friend disturbed other customers at the S-Mart on Walnut Street, I am also issuing a restraining order forbidding you from being within 100 feet of that store until your probation is lifted.”

(“Geez,” JJ whispered to Paige. “This is like bail requirements on steroids.”

“Make sure you report that,” Paige whispered back. “People should know the lengths Salem is going to to protect everyone from someone like Squeaky.” She rolled her eyes.)

“I will have your lawyer go over all of this with you so that there are no misunderstandings,” the judge went on, “and then you will be returned to Salem City Jail to be processed out.”

Berger stood. “Your Honor, it’s vital that our client not be returned to jail for processing. Two months ago, she was almost stabbed by another inmate who had a grudge against her friend Paige Larson and jail has not been a safe environment for her since. And unlike Ms. Larson, Ms. Martin has no FBI agent brother willing to protect her while her release is processed. Thus, I ask you to please make an exception and allow her to be held at the police station while her release paperwork is faxed over.”

The judge frowned. “I have a feeling I’m being given a half-story here.”

“Sidebar, please, your Honor,” Aiden said. The judge nodded and he went up to her bench. She covered her microphone and Aiden said, “Your Honor, ever since the story first broke that my client may have been arrested partially because of racial factors, several people have been threatened in an attempt to keep that suggestion under wraps. A reporter sitting in this courtroom was told that if he pursued the story, measures would be taken to ensure Ms. Martin stayed in jail, and Ms. Martin herself was warned not to talk to the press or the staff would find a reason to press additional charges against her. For these reasons, I’m really afraid that if she is returned to jail even for a few hours, something’s going to go down to try to ensure her probation ends before it begins.”

“I see.” The judge fingered her gavel. “I am loathe to believe that any officer of the court would behave in such a manner. If anyone else came to me with such a story, I would dismiss it as some paranoid nonsense a guilty client told them to try to manipulate her attorney. However, I know you too well for that. You would not allow yourself to be so easily tricked and I must thus believe that some bad actors at Salem City Jail are conspiring to intimidate your client and several other people to ensure their own bad behavior doesn’t come to light. Thus I will grant your unusual request, on the condition that if you have specific information about who these troublemakers are, that you report it to the appropriate authorities so that they can be investigated and removed from power.”

“Of course,” Aiden said. “Thank you, your Honor.”

He stepped back and the judge said, “I am granting your request this one time. I am ordering that Hannah Martin be removed from the custody of the Salem Department of Corrections and temporarily be placed in the custody of the Salem Police Department until her release is processed. Bailiff, please take her across the street to a temporary holding cell.”

“Can we dispense with the theatrics?” Aiden asked as the bailiff seized Hannah’s arms. “There’s no reason for her to be chained from head to toe to be transported across the street, especially considering the non-violent nature of her crimes.”

“Granted,” the judge said. “The defendant’s chains will be removed, with the exception of the wrist cuffs.”

Hannah had tears in her eyes at the bailiff took off the leg irons and the chain around her waist. “It’s really over?” she asked Aiden. “I’m really going home?”

Aiden nodded. “You’ll have to put up with being behind bars for an hour or two, but as soon as we got the paperwork squared away, you’ll be free.”

The bailiff said, “Let’s go, Miss.” He took Hannah’s arm and began leading her away. She looked over her shoulder at Valerie, then away, feeling suddenly anxious and not sure what her mom would be like once she finally got out.


Rafe hung up his phone. “We’re all set. My guys aren’t gonna let Jimmy out of their sight, or your daughter either. In fact, I could tell you exactly where she is right now, that’s how good the security detail is. Right now she’s - “

“I don’t need to know, as long as she’s safe.” Judge Walston sighed. “And I presume you’re tracing the origins of this fax?”

Rafe nodded. “We’re looking into it. But it would be real helpful if you could shed some light on what this is all about. Now, seems to me we only got half the story here. Some lowlife’s threatening your three-year-old grandson but what he doesn’t mention is what he wants you to do to stop him from hurting Jimmy. You got any idea?”

“Being a judge can be dangerous. I’ve put away many criminals over the years who might be hungering for revenge. Perhaps looking at my calendar can help.”

“That’s a start,” Rafe said. He leaned over Walston’s shoulder as Walston looked at his calendar. “Hannah Martin -- you were seeing her today?”

“I was, but I handed her off to a colleague after I got the fax. Why?”

“Cause I heard someone’s going around threatening reporters involved with her story.” Rafe crossed his arms. “You think whoever this was wanted you to rule a certain way in this case?”

Judge Walston’s eyes widened and he remembered Judge Thorpe asking him if he could have the case.