Through the Storm (The Montclair Brothers) (21 page)

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Authors: Terri Marie

BOOK: Through the Storm (The Montclair Brothers)

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"It'll be okay." He put his arm around her.

"Tonight's presentation is very special. Please put your hands together for our very special performance! I bring to you, The Life and Times of Mr. Jacob Montclair!"

"Oh my God!
Are you going to sing for me?" She gasped.

Jacob removed his arm from around Emma's shoulders and proceeded up to the stage. The velvet curtains parted behind him. A large screen showed a picture of him as a baby, with his siblings.

"From the time I was born, I was raised with the knowledge of how important family is." Jacob clicked a remote, and a picture of him sitting by himself in a park appeared.

"I was never afraid of being alone, because my brothers made sure I wasn't." He clicked and there was another photograph of him with his brothers, and his mother and father.

"I always thought I'd have this kind of family. My mom and dad are gone now, but it didn't make us anything less." He clicked again to his high school graduation picture.

"The day I graduated, I thought I was so important. My brothers even told me I was. I had money, a future written in stone…I felt like I was on top of the world." He clicked again. There was a picture of Emma fixing coffee at the office.

"Then I met you. Suddenly, I realized I was missing something. I no longer felt whole." Jacob changed the picture to one of her smiling at him from the foyer of his house. He blew a kiss at the screen.

He switched the picture to a mountain.

"To get the best that life had to offer Jacob Montclair, I knew I'd have to climb one of these to better myself...to make myself worthy of the life I wanted."

The picture changed to one of him standing side by side with Emma, which Tyler had taken.

"But I did it. I got a few cuts and bruises along the way, but I'd do it all over again, because when I reached the top, you were there." Jacob clicked to the very last picture. It was of a photograph of a solitaire diamond on a gold band. He reached into his pocket, opened up a ring box, and held it out towards her. He slowly knelt down on one knee.

"You're my family, Emma. You're the one who's been worth waiting for my whole life. I want to be complete. I want the world to know how blessed I've become. As imperfect as I am, will you marry me?"

He could hear Emma's sobs as she ran down the aisle. When she reached the stage, she dropped on both knees, in front of him. All she could do, was mouth the words 'yes,' through her tears.

Chapter 21

The party to celebrate Jacob and Emma's engagement had been a lot of fun and had gone until just past midnight. Renee had raised some eyebrows when she declined the champagne, but she'd asked Tyler and Brian not to say anything about her pregnancy until after the trial. Tyler had obliged, but it was difficult for him to keep his hands off of her belly when others were around. Even though there was a big celebration, the conversations would still lead back to the trial.

The next morning, as they made their way through the line of spectators, cameramen, and news
reporters, Tyler found himself feeling even more protective of Renee, making her walk between him and Sean. Vincent had, just like every other court day, taken Brian in through a different entrance.

As the third week of the trial got underway, they were happy to learn today could be the last day of testimony. Hopefully the deliberations wouldn't last for days on end, causing them to remain tied to the courthouse. Tyler was dismayed to see Robert being escorted into the room. His hair was combed straight back, and his face was clean shaven. If only Tyler could have a crack at pissing the bastard off right now, leading the judge to throw the killer out, he
wouldn't complain one bit. Robert would be shot dead should he decide to make a beeline for Renee, but he wasn't going to take any chances, He made sure to seat her to his right, and have Sean sit on the other side of her. He had no doubt he could kill the monster with his bare hands, if he got past the guards.

After the judge was seated, he looked at the prosecutor. "Are you ready to begin Mr. Furrow?"

"Yes, Your Honor. The State calls Detective Delcan back to the stand."

As the detective walked down the aisle, he glanced at Tyler but kept a straight face. As he was sworn in again and seated, William Furrow asked him a few more questions
about what he'd observed on the Montclair Estate in Castle Lake. It was the same thing he'd testified about before. Tyler didn't know what the point of bringing him back to the stand was. It's not that Furrow had done a bad job, but Knowles was a pit bull.

"It's okay Tyler. Furrow knows how to dance with the jury." Vincent whispered.

That didn't stop Tyler from becoming a nervous wreck when the shooting was discussed again. "You didn't see my client in a threatening position, with a firearm or a can of gasoline, that night. Is that correct, Detective Delcan?"

Carrie Oliver was also brought in to testify again, and she did a
pretty good job of standing up to Knowles. If Tyler could have gotten away with giving her a high five, he would have. If he had been in her situation at that moment, he'd have probably gotten up and slugged the guy.

It didn't seem to matter that the .22 shell casings found in the driveway of the old house in Castle Lake, had been fired by Robert's gun. He wished Knowles would just say, "I'm sorry everyone. My client is a waste of flesh, so please lock him away forever."

When court adjourned for lunch, they headed to a small diner, off the beaten path, and ordered some sandwiches.

"Vinnie, are we going to lose this fight? I know Robert's going to get locked up no matter what, but will he get away with shooting us?" asked Jacob.

"Knowles job is to raise questionable doubt to a jury that has a lot of evidence and testimony to weed through. But they're given very precise instructions to find, what they believe, is the truth. He'll fry, trust me." Vincent was fiddling with his silverware and it made Tyler wonder if his little brother believed his own words.

"You're awfully fidgety, Vinnie. What's going on?" Tyler bit into his tuna melt.

"Furrow is looking for his last witness. He can't locate her." Vincent took a deep breath.

"You mean we're really done after today?" asked Renee with excitement.

"Both sides can agree to rest this afternoon, but we'll still have to wait on the jury's decision."

Tyler rolled his eyes, and looked over at Renee's plate. He paid close attention, making sure she ate enough. He didn't want this trial to end up causing her to lose their baby. If that meant picking her up and carrying her home in his arms, then that's exactly what he'd do. The second she started to unravel, he'd have her out of there. So far, she'd
done a great job at keeping herself calm.

After finishing their lunch, they headed back over to the courthouse. Tyler wished they had a restaurant or café inside, so victims wouldn't have to be confronted by the press so often. The day when their lives returned to normal, couldn't come soon enough.

After the judge returned to the bench, and everyone else was seated, he addressed William Furrow.

"Call your next witness."

"The state calls Angelique Barns, Your Honor."

"Objection!" yelled Knowles. "We were not given any information on this witness."

"My apologies to the court, Your Honor," Furrow responded calmly. "We were just now able to locate Ms. Barns again."

"What's her importance, Mr. Furrow?" It was obvious that Judge Weddle was just as tired as the rest of them.

"She'll testify that she didn't start the fire at Castle Lake, and she witnessed Mr. Preston attempt to kill Renee Preston, Jacob Montclair, and Brian Waters, Your Honor."

Judge Weddle turned to Furrow. "Do you need time to interview this witness beforehand? I'll give you an hour, but that's it."

"The defense chooses to proceed, Your Honor." Knowles sat down with a grimace on his face. Robert looked like he wanted to kill him.

Once Angelique was seated, Tyler noticed that the seven of them, suddenly sat up straighter. In all honestly, he couldn't imagine this woman to be physically capable of starting that blaze.

"Please state your name for the record." Furrow turned the page of his legal pad.

"Angelique Barns."

"How old are you Ms. Barns?"

"I'm fifty-four."

Tyler about fell off his chair. She looked more like she was in her late sixties, especially with the huge glasses she had on her thin face. She had to be lying.

"Do you remember a night in Castle Lake when a house caught fire?" Weddle looked back up at her.

"Oh my, yes! My home burned to the ground!" Angelique shook her head, looking down at her lap.

"Ms. Barns, the house isn't legally yours. You're aware of that, correct?"

She took a long frustrated breath. "I've lived there for years…If they wanted the house, one of them should have told me. I would have packed my things and moved away, but I just figured it was mine, so I stayed and cared for it."

"Did you see who started the fire, Ms. Barns?"

"No, I didn't. When I ran outside, it was already burning."

"Please tell the jury what happened after you ran out of the house," instructed Furrow.

"There was a lot of smoke, and it was hard for me to see. I began running down the driveway to a neighbor's house so I could phone for help. The closer I got to the road, the more I could make out a man with a gun. He was shooting people!" Angelique pointed at Robert.

"You saw this man, Robert Preston, shooting the others?" Furrow put his hands on his hips and stepped away from the podium.

"Yes. I hurried into the brush and looked around. The area where I was standing used to be a beautiful garden, so I knew there were rocks in it. I found a large stone, and snuck up behind him. I grabbed it with both hands and swung it hard at his head. After I knew I'd stopped him from shooting, I continued to run down the driveway to use someone's phone. There wasn't one at my house."

"You're sure Robert Preston was the shooter?"

"Yes, that's definitely him." Angelique glared at Robert and nodded her head.

"I have nothing further for this witness, Your Honor." Furrow walked back to the table and sat down next to his two assistants.

Knowles walked up to the podium.

"Ms. Barns, how can you be positive that the person you saw in the driveway of the Montclair Estate in Castle Lake, was Robert Preston?"

"Because I saw him!" Angelique stated with conviction.

"What's your vision like, Ms.
Barns. I see you're wearing glasses."

"I'm legally blind, or so they say." She adjusted the large frames on her face. The lenses were thick.

"Do you wear your glasses all the time?" Knowles glared at her.

"Oh my goodness, no.
Sebastian hates these things!"

She quickly put one hand to her mouth, while the other one clutched her chest.

The Montclair men were on their feet in seconds.

To be continued in

The Montclair Brothers

Book 3

From the Author

I want to thank you, my readers, for your amazing support and encouragement. Thank you for reading
The Montclair Brothers, Book 2,
"Through the Storm."

There's no one greater than you. I love you guys!

BOOKS BY TERRI MARIE:

A Billionaire in Disguise Series:

Forbidden Disclosure, Book 1

A Perfect Plan, Book 2

The Wrong Side of Midnight, Book 3.

Book 4 to be announced

The Montclair Brothers Series: New contemporary romance/saga:

Make it Rain, Book 1

Through the Storm. Book 2

Book 3 is coming soon!

The Ties that Bind Series