First Class Justice (First Class Novels) (12 page)

They were supposed to meet Sarah on Thursday morning at
10:30am as the sentencing hearing was at 11:00am. Matt and Janie had left
before Mark, they were going to walk the few blocks. Janie had some nervous
energy she needed to get rid of and Matt thought walking might help.

Mark had put Katy in a cab the evening before. There wasn’t
very much talking after they had gotten dressed. Katy said she needed to go
home and write her statement, so Mark had paid the cab driver and let her go.
He’d wanted to pick her up this morning but she’d graciously declined.

I should have insisted,
he thought as he stood
outside waiting for a cab.
I should just sit her down and tell her how I
feel.

A cab pulled in front of the hotel and the doorman opened
the door for him. He told the driver where he was headed and sat back and
thought about his options; when to talk to her and how to tell her topped his
list.

We’ll just get through this morning and then I’ll figure
it out.

*****

Katy was running up the steps to the front door of the
courthouse when she saw Mark step out of a cab.

Oh shit!
she thought
. Be cool. Be very, very cool.

She stood and waited for him to catch up to her.

“Hi,” he smiled.

“Hey,” she replied and turned and continued to the door. Her
stomach was doing somersaults and her breathing was short and shallow, but she
didn’t know if it was nerves for the hearing or seeing Mark.

Last night had been so much more than she had anticipated.
He had made her feel wanted and desired and the sex was over-the-top fantastic.
And then when it was all over she had been terrified. She knew she had to get
out of the hotel before she became that sixteen year old airhead that confessed
her undying love for the boy of her dreams only to have him laugh in her face
at the absurdity of the idea. She couldn’t take his rejection. That would break
her. And she didn’t want to break. So she’d left, quickly, and now here she was
trying to play it cool. She really did feel like she was sixteen again and that
thought made her nauseous.

“You okay?” he asked as they walked to the elevator.

“Yep,” she said as she pushed the call button. “I am
so
ready to have this all over and done with.”

“I can’t even begin to imagine,” he said.

They didn’t talk on the way up to Sarah’s office and as the
elevator doors opened she turned to him and smiled.

“Thanks for coming today.”

“Of course. I’m here for you Katy.”

*****

Sarah had the two women in her office and was giving them a
quick rundown of what was about to happen in the sentencing hearing.

“Do you have your statements ready?” she asked.

Janie nodded. “It’s short, but I’m ready.”

“The length doesn’t matter,” Sarah explained. “Just the
content. Katy?”

Katy sighed. “I wrote a few things down but I think I will
just say whatever comes to me in the moment.”

“No pressure, Katy, but this is the time when your voice is
heard. Don’t hold back. Let the judge know how you feel.”

Katy nodded. She would try to do her best.

“Ok, let’s go.” Sarah stood and gathered some files from her
desk and stuffed them in her briefcase and the three women left her office,
Mark and Matt joining them in the hallway.

Matt immediately took his wife’s hand in his and Mark placed
his hand on the small of Katy’s back and opened the door for her into the
courtroom.

“You amaze me,” he whispered in her ear. “You are my hero.”

Katy looked at Mark bewildered. “Me?”

“Yeah, you.”

Sarah ushered them to the seats behind the railing and went
and sat behind the table. There were a few other people scattered in the
courtroom and anxiety hit Katy full on. This was it. She was going to have to
face Danny. But she wasn’t here alone; Mark was on one side and Janie and Matt
on the other.

Here we go.

*****

The Honorable Judge Maria Glazer sat at the bench. And then,
as Katy’s breakfast almost came back up, Danny Salvo was escorted into the
courtroom in shackles. She looked down at her lap and Mark put his arm around
her. His other hand clenched in a fist at the sight of the bastard.

The proceedings began and each of the attorneys spouted off
legal jargon that nobody but the judge understood.

After just a few minutes, the judge addressed the gallery,
asking for the statements from the victims. Sarah turned to Katy and Janie and
nodded. It was their turn. Katy kept her eyes forward, Mark’s arm still around
her and tried to just focus on breathing.

Janie stood and pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and
unfolded it. She took a deep breath and then began to speak, trepidation in her
voice.

“I have known Danny Salvo since October of 2006. He was a
quiet neighbor that never bothered us. Although in hindsight I recognize
peculiarities that I wish I’d noticed back then and maybe we wouldn’t be where
we are now.”

She took another deep breath and Matt put his hand on the
back of her knee, an offer of support. Janie looked down at him and smiled.

She continued. “I knew that he bothered Katy and I kept
telling myself that he was harmless, but now we know that isn’t true, is it?
When she rejected his advances he lured her to his house with a lie and then
kidnapped her.” Her voice hitched and she smothered a small sob.

“When I went to find her, I didn’t think that he would ever
hurt me, but again, I was very wrong. The real Danny Salvo presented himself
and I found myself tied up with rope and a nasty gash on my head. But that was
nothing compared to what he had done to Katy.” She wiped a tear from her eye
and tried to continue reading.

“This man is unpredictable and dangerous and I cannot
imagine any woman having to face what Katy did. Please don’t allow him to hurt
anyone else. Please don’t let him hurt us anymore. Thank you.”

Janie sat and Matt wrapped his arms around her tightly and
kissed her temple. Sarah turned and looked to Katy. It was now her turn.

With her eyes still staring directly ahead, Katy stood
slowly and looked at the judge. If she just stared at the judge she could do
it. She took a breath in and then exhaled gradually, letting all the tension
out with it.

“I work as a nurse. I see accidents and injuries all day
long. I see blood and broken bones and bacterial and viral infections. I see
every kind of physical ailment out there and one of the reasons I love my job
is because with drugs or surgery or other medical procedures, those physical
conditions can get better and the patients go back to a happy and healthy
life.”

Katy took another deep breath and Janie grabbed her hand and
squeezed it tight.

“On August 14
^th
of last year, I was kidnapped by
the man sitting over there and held for thirty hours against my will. I was
stripped of all my clothes and my wrists and ankles were tied to a bed so that
I couldn’t move. I was groped and touched and molested to the point that I
wanted to just die. I wanted him to kill me so that it would just end.”

Mark squeezed his eyes shut, his teeth were gritted and his
fists clenched. Her words had pierced his heart and he felt completely helpless
knowing that he couldn’t make it all better, that he couldn’t make her whole.
He wanted nothing more than to beat Danny, slowly and painfully, to death. The
thought scared him a little. He’d never felt such violent thoughts about
another human being, but then he really didn’t consider the piece of garbage a
human being.

“And while I physically survived, part of me didn’t,” Katy
continued. “He didn’t just steal my freedom for those thirty hours; he stole my
sense of security, my sense of freedom. He stole my trust in men and my sense
of adventure. He took my future. And no amount of surgery or medication will
ever get that back. It is gone and he took it. Please make him pay for that.”

Katy sat down and the trembling began. She had said all she
could and now her body released all the emotion as Janie cradled her, soothing
her and telling her it would be okay. The judge said that she was ready to
pronounce the sentence.

Janie and Katy looked to the front. Katy blew her nose. Danny
stood.

“I have reviewed the case and I have listened to the
victims. I understand that you have agreed to a plea and that the recommended
sentence is fifteen years. However, with the prior assault charge from 2005 and
the nature of this crime, I hereby sentence you, Danny Salvo to the maximum
sentence of twenty-two years.”

Katy gasped and Janie reached for her hand.
He’s going to
prison for a very long time.
There was some more talking but Katy didn’t
hear any of it. Her mind was letting go of all the fear and anxiety. He would
be in prison and she was free.
I am free!

The judge banged the gavel and left the courtroom and the
guards walked towards Danny to return him to the county jail to await transportation
to prison. He looked back and yelled, “bitch”.

Katy stood and without thinking stepped over Janie and Matt
and walked to Danny. With a confidence she had not felt in a very long time,
she stared him down and spoke very slowly.

“You had me for thirty hours but you didn’t break me. You
also didn’t rape me because you are a weak little boy. But I know that when you
walk into that prison for the first time, all the other bastards there will
smell fresh meat and I know it won’t take them thirty hours before they rape
you over and over again. Think about that tonight and every night for the next
twenty-two years.”

Katy turned and walked back to Janie who hugged her tightly.
Danny was removed for the room and Sarah quickly ran to Katy and hugged her.

“I wish every woman had the balls to do what you just did,”
she exclaimed.

“Thank you Sarah. Thank you for this. We have our justice.”

Katy sat on the bench outside the courthouse; the others had
started walking to a Chinese restaurant around the corner for lunch. Mark had
offered to stay with her but she’d needed a moment alone.

It was over. It had been the longest and most difficult five
months of her life. And she was grateful it had only been five months. Sarah
had told her that if the case had gone to trial it could have been dragged out
for over a year, so she was relieved it was over. She could sleep easy knowing
he was in prison. The death penalty was obviously too much to hope for.

Katy smiled as she looked up at the sun. Now she needed to
get back to living.

Sarah startled her as she sat down on the bench next to her.

"Hi," Katy smiled.

"I love it when we get a day like this. It makes the
winter livable," Sarah sighed.

"Yeah, I know. Sarah, thanks again for everything. I
really do feel at peace."

"It's my job," she said. "But you're
welcome."

"It must be difficult dealing with this crap every day.
How do you do it?"

Sarah took a deep breath. "I’d been practicing law for
about seven years and was a partner in a law firm on Sixth Avenue. I'd been
working pretty late for a few nights in a row and was really tired so I guess
my guard was down one night when I headed down to the garage to go home. I
didn't see him. He jumped out from behind the car parked next to mine and
forced me into the back seat. He stabbed me three times after he raped me. I
really thought I was going to die."

Katy was horrified as she heard Sarah speak.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"That was eight years ago. They never caught the guy.
Every time I prosecute a case, I wonder if the perp is him. I wonder how many
other women he has tortured."

Katy was speechless.

"Anyway, I knew that I could make a difference so now I
do everything I can to make sure women like you get the justice that you
deserve. The fact that you now feel peace, gives me a little peace too. And that's
why I do it every day."

"Oh, Sarah!" Katy threw her arms around the tough
ADA and the women just held each other in the warm sunshine on a January day in
Portland.

*****

Katy slipped into her seat at the restaurant and felt like a
massive weight had been lifted. Janie immediately noticed.

"You look cheerful," she grinned.

"I feel cheerful," Katy smiled.

"Well then we need to celebrate!" Mark laughed. He
called the waiter over and ordered champagne. The waiter apologized because
they didn't have any.

"Well then, four beers," he shrugged, as everyone
laughed.

Matt had already ordered for the table so within just a
couple of minutes the food started arriving. They ate and laughed and ate some
more.

"When do you go back to work, Katy?" Janie asked.

"Monday," she replied.

"Big plans for the weekend?" asked Matt.

"No. Derek is coming for dinner on Saturday."

"Tell him hi for me, will you?" Janie smiled.

"Sure thing."

The waiter arrived with the check and Matt handed over his
credit card. A little more small talk and Matt had signed the receipt and was
helping Janie with her coat.

"I'll call you before we leave on Sunday," Janie
said, walking around and giving Katy a hug. She and Matt left, hand in hand.
Katy watched them with a twinge of envy.

Mark cleared his throat and then turned to face Katy.

"I wanted to talk to you about yesterday," he
began.

"Yes," she interrupted. "Thank you so much
for helping me with that. You exorcised some demons for me and I really am
grateful.

"Grateful?" he said.

"Yes. It will be much easier moving forward with my
life now. Thank you." Katy stood and lifted her coat from the back of the
chair. She stooped and kissed him on the cheek. "Goodbye Mark."