Excerpt


Michael woke early the next morning. The sound of the phone caused him to jump out of bed. “I’m coming,” he screamed. He quickly looked at his watch realizing that he had no scheduled appointments and he was only meeting Jade later that night. “Hello. Just a moment, I can’t hear you. Yes, that’s better.

“What’s the hurry? I thought we had a thirty-day postponement. I know it’s not your fault. Tell him I’ll be there in an hour,” he said, very perplexed. A wave of panic came over him. He could not figure out the reason for this hurried summons. It was much too soon for a decision regarding Lil’s trial. This did not look good for the defence. He thought something serious must have happened to call such a hasty session. He had one foot out the door when his phone rang. “Yes,” he said getting more annoyed by the minute. “Jade, what’s the matter? Calm down. That’s right, I saw her yesterday in the afternoon. Holy shit, what happened? I’ll call you later; I’m on my way to the courthouse. They called some sort of meeting. Yes, I promise to call you as soon as I know something.”

Mike Miller was visibly shaking as he got into his car. What the hell happened? Sister Mary was fine when he left. Could it have been his encounter with her? True, he had bullied her, but she seemed fine when he left. He hoped this wasn’t the case. Before he knew it he was parking his car and sitting in Judge Sauvé’s chambers.

The defence and prosecution lawyers were present as well, looking as forlorn as he was. They gave each other a brief nod and exchanged looks of concern. All stood as the Judge entered.