180. Chapter 180

Chapter 180

Rick and Kate woke up early. Kate actually woke early, just before her alarm, and Rick unwillingly woke up when she reached to pick up her phone, to turn the alarm off.

"Few more minutz," he mumbled, pulling her back. "Come 'ere."

"I have to get in early, Babe."

"Few more minutz. Thaz all," he answered in a sleepy slur.

She caved to his appealing, entertaining, not-quite-awake morning request and snuggled in for a few more minutes.

"Mmmm," he sighed contentedly. "Thiziz nice." He kissed her head and held on a little tighter.

Kate smiled, kissed his chest, and kept an eye on the time, phone still in hand. After setting the phone's timer for ten minutes, her maximum leeway, she relaxed against him. When the timer sounded, she turned it off before it had time to drag him out of sleep and got up before he could stop her. Twenty minutes later, showered and wearing makeup, she got dressed quietly. After leaving a note on her pillow saying she'd miss him and their babies, she gently kissed his forehead and slipped out of the loft to head for work.

xxxxx

Fortunately, Beckett was in her office a little before seven-thirty. The DA, Earnest Fischer, was there to meet her well before eight. They discussed business for a few minutes. By eight, both had coffee and were in the conference room ready to meet with the detectives, all of whom had burned some serious midnight oil to be sure they were prepared.

"Do I understand correctly that this shooting just happened yesterday morning?" Fischer asked.

"That's right," Ryan answered.

"And you feel that you already have a solid case against Trent Layton?"

"And an accessory charge against his friend Justin Hazelton, with a recommendation for consideration of his charges based on the circumstances and his cooperation."

"That's fast," Fischer responded skeptically.

"The final piece of evidence fell into our laps late yesterday afternoon." Pushing the file across the table, Ryan said, "The file…evidence, witness statements, law enforcement statements and reports, lab reports, and the video. You have a copy of the video there, and we have another copy cued up on my laptop for you to watch now," Ryan explained confidently as he turned his laptop toward the DA. "Shall I start it now, or do you have questions first?"

"Let's see what you have and go from there."

Ryan played the video, and everyone watched the DA's face reflect the same horror and disgust they had also felt at seeing it.

"Trent Layton has been brought in for a wide variety of charges, but between his father and their attorney, something was always done in the shadows to have the charges dropped. I think we may finally have enough that he can't get out of it. And I've checked. His eighteenth birthday is in two weeks. I believe we can justify trying him as an adult. With this, if we get it to court this time, his attorney will probably try for an insanity plea; but we'll do the best we can. We should even be able to loosen the councilman's grip on controlling as much as he does on the sly."

"From what we can tell, Trent really believes he can get away with it. Seeing all this, could a judge possibly grant bail?"

"Stranger things have happened, especially with this family. Let's see what else you have to convince a judge and jury."

The detectives took the DA on a quick tour of the evidence other than the video and the four statements describing the shooting.

"I have no great love for Justin Hazelton and his part in the other crimes, either, but it does look like he finally decided to be straight with us this time." Fischer admitted.

"Captain Beckett suggested to the Hazeltons that, with a charge this serious, it might be wise to have an attorney who is focused solely on their son," Ryan explained. "She left it up to his parents and didn't push, but the parents took it to heart. Mr. Servantes didn't get another shot at influencing Justin…and won't."

"Well done, Captain," Fischer answered.

"I expect we'll see Servantes here trying to get Trent released soon, though," Beckett answered. "Yesterday, Councilman Layton was told Trent would be here at least overnight; and he left assuring me I'd be hearing from his attorney."

The district attorney had been taking notes and asked some questions for clarification on a couple of points. He then thanked the detectives for the work they had done and asked for a little time to look through everything on his own where he could still easily ask questions if necessary.

"If Servantes comes in, should we send him to you?" Beckett asked.

"It won't do him much good quite yet, but it would brighten my day to frustrate him a little further if you'd like."

As Beckett and the detectives stood to leave Fischer to his work, they all chuckled at the thought.

Not long after that, as predicted, Beckett was going to the breakroom for coffee and was confronted by Tom Servantes. "I'm here to arrange the release of my client."

"Snowball in hell," Mr. Servantes," she answered. "He's being charged with murder. The evidence is damning."

"You have no right…"

"The DA is in the conference room. It's in his hands now. I'll announce you."

"Mr. Fischer, Tom Servantes to see you." She held out a hand to usher him in and closed the door behind him.

She and the others in the bullpen heard Servantes' loud protestations and smiled as Beckett returned to her quest for coffee.

By the time Servantes left the room, he was furious and demanding to see his client. Arrangements were made; and later, the officer who escorted him to the room where he met Trent reported that Servantes had been lambasted by the councilman's son…a lot of shouting. Trent told his lawyer that he knew some of Servantes' own secrets, and if he didn't want them online, he'd better make this charge go away. Servantes returned that he didn't shoot anybody and he was doing the best he could.

"Nobody was happy," the officer concluded.

Castle came into the bullpen with his two young children. He had a cup of coffee in one hand and Jo perched on his other arm, and Jamie carried two bags. Ryan waved at him and smiled.

"Hi Uncle Kevin. We're going to the beach, but Mommy can't go."

"I know," Ryan said, ruffling his hair sympathetically. "I hope you have fun anyway."

"Is she busy, Kev?" Castle asked. "We just came to say goodbye. All of us were still asleep when she left this morning."

"We just finished with the DA. Nobody's been in her office since."

"Thanks," Castle answered and took his little entourage to his wife's office.

"Well, this is a nice surprise," Beckett said, standing to greet them. "You're doing impressively well," she told her husband. "I'm sure the car is packed, both of them are ready to go and all of you are here at the precinct…and it's barely nine."

"We came to say goodbye and bring you breakfast," he said, handing her the coffee. "I'll bet you haven't eaten yet." After a quiet pause while she put the coffee on her desk, he added, "The silence tells me I'm probably right." He took one of the bags from Jamie and handed it to Jo.

"Here's your breakfast, Mommy." Jamie held out a paper bag from the coffee shop.

Beckett opened the bag and found a breakfast sandwich. She gave him an excited look and said, "Thank you, Munchkin. I haven't eaten yet, and I was getting really hungry." She knelt down and gave him a big hug. "Thank you for taking care of Mommy this morning."

That brought a big smile from her son. "Jo has something for you, too," Jamie told her as she stood up again.

Castle prompted Jo, who was hugging the other bag tightly, to hand it to her mother. With both hands and a big smile, she held the rumpled paper bag out to Beckett. When that bag was opened, there was a cronut…a little squished here and there but still intact.

"Thank you, Baby Girl," she said, tickling Jo's tummy. "How did you know I love these? Did Daddy tell you?" Her daughter was smiling and enjoying the attention, and she put the bag down next to the rest of her breakfast delivery items, took Jo from Castle and planted kisses, hugging her close before the rest of the family had to leave.

"That was a nice note on the pillow. I'll miss you, too." Castle put one hand on Jo's back and the other on the back of Kate's head and pulled her in for a soft, lingering, loving kiss.

"Thank you for all this…the breakfast and the goodbyes," she answered as Castle took Jo back from her.

"Gotta go," he said, breaking the spell. "I want to be clear of the city when the mid-day traffic starts."

"Give Mommy another hug before you go," she told Jamie, picking him up. "I think you're getting taller again, Big Boy." He wrapped his arms around her neck and squeezed tight, and she hugged him the same way. "Have enough fun for me, too. I'll go with you and have my own fun next time."

Behind his son's back, Castle gave her his lopsided smirk and wiggled his eyebrows, and she laughed. "See you late Sunday afternoon," he told her and took Jamie's hand. "I love you."

"Love you, too." She gave him another quick little peck on the lips. "Bye."

After Castle left, she sat down at her desk and took out her sandwich to enjoy until someone else needed her for something.

Edgar Fischer was at her door before she had time to take the first bite, saying he thought he had everything he needed and he would get the paperwork completed and let her know when the arraignment was scheduled. "Breakfast?" he asked.

"My family is headed to our house at the beach. They stopped to say goodbye and make sure I ate."

"That was Richard Castle I just passed, wasn't it? That wasn't the image I would have expected."

"And our children," she answered. "He isn't the man the papers used to make him out to be. He's an amazing father…a real family man."

"It looked like it. I'll let you get back to your breakfast while I go and find something for mine. Your people have done an outstanding job, Captain. They must have been here at least half the night. We'll have a psychiatrist evaluate him before we go any farther; but if anything can finally put Trent Layton where he needs to be, this should do it."

"I'm going to send the detectives home as soon as I can. They probably put in at least a twenty hour day yesterday. I'm sure they'd appreciate hearing what you told me. A little morale boost now and then never hurts."

"I'll speak to them before I leave. And I'll be in touch."

Beckett raised a hand as he left and then quickly took a bite of her sandwich, humming her approval as she chewed. She had almost made it to the cronut when the phone rang.

"Captain Beckett?" a tearful, angry voice asked.

"Yes?"

"This is Leanna Bright. I'm so mad I'm still shaking. That Trent boy, the one that shot my son…his lawyer was just here."

Beckett sat up straighter and pulled a notepad and pen over. "What did he want?"

"He started out trying to sound all sympathetic and telling me how bad his client's father felt about what happened to my son, but what he really wanted was for me to talk Andrew into recanting anything he said that might go against his client. And he said his client offered to pay for things for me."

"Tell me exactly what he said," she responded, pen poised over paper.

"I can do better than that. Bess Hampton told me Virgil took you a video of what happened in the park. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like what that man was here to talk about, and I didn't want him to get away with lying about it later. I told Andrew to stay out of sight unless I called him, and I told my twelve year old daughter to put that phone of hers to good use, too. I told Shea to stay in the other room with Andrew and Jason and leave the door open just enough to get the lawyer in the picture. I used to wish I had never bought us a cell phone plan, but right now it's looking like a real good decision. That slimy excuse for lawyer said his client's father offered to pay my son's funeral costs and pay for the rest of Andrew's three years of college if Andrew would change his statement to agree with his client's version of the story. He even said his client would give us a big settlement payment. When I told him they were all crazy and I didn't want their blood and guilt money, he said it would be a shame if it got out that Andrew had done something that might result in losing his scholarships…that he might not be able to get into college at all. I told him my boy had never been in any kind of trouble at all and we'd work it out. Then I opened the door for him and told him not to come back."

"Before I forget, Mrs. Bright, you don't need to worry about the funeral expenses. I have an anonymous source who has offered to cover Shawn's funeral costs, with no ties to slimy lawyers at all and no strings attached. If you'll accept that, I just need the name of the funeral home you've chosen, and then you can make plans with them when you're ready. He's also checking with friends who might have jobs available that would bring your income back closer to what you had before you were laid off. I remember you said Shawn's income was helping you with expenses."

"Why would anybody just volunteer to help us like that?"

"He's a good man with the income and connections to do it, and he has children. He knows nothing can relieve the pain. He just wants to take some of the pressure off. Money doesn't always translate to evil. It just makes evil easier to accomplish when the inclination is there. You can think about it and let me know. He said it would be his honor to help. Now, getting back to the lawyer…would you have your daughter text the video to the number on the card I gave you, please? I need to see what you have and then make another couple of phone calls related to the video."

"I'll do that right now," Mrs. Bright agreed.

"Thank you. I'll be in touch later," Beckett promised.

A couple of minutes later, her phone pinged and she watched the video. Walking out to Ryan's desk in the bullpen, she announced to his team, "I love smart victims with cell phones! Look at this." She held out her phone and showed Servantes in all his fixer glory trying to charm, then bribe, and then threaten the victim's mother into letting her son's killer get away with it.

"Son of a…" Blount said softly. "Her son's body hasn't even been released from the morgue yet. How does that sleazebag manage to sleep at night?"

"Probably on fine bedding bought with the profits from his equally conscienceless clients," Beckett said acidly. "I'll take this from here. All of you go home and get some well-deserved sleep. I don't want to see you tomorrow, either. You're still on call for the weekend, but I'll tell dispatch to put you at the bottom of the call list. If I have a question, I'll call. Great job."

"You don't need to tell me twice," Ryan answered, already clearing his desk.

Beckett went back to her office and called a suddenly ecstatic DA. It appeared Trent wouldn't be the only one going down. Obstruction of justice was now in the mix for both Trent's father and the attorney…proving bribery and intimidation with more evidence than the rantings of a teenager.

It was a Friday, and there was likely more to be handled for the Shawn Bright case as long as Trent and Justin were still in custody at the twelfth, but it was winding down. After sending it to the DA, she took the video to tech to be copied. Later that afternoon, Earnest Fischer called back.

"Captain Beckett, I wanted to let you know that I've composed a letter and sent it with that video to the appropriate authorities. There will undoubtedly be others lined up to take his place, but this may take care of any future dealings with Tom Servantes. It also calls into question how the other charges against Layton's son happened to disappear so easily. The others who helped them out will probably be nervous about helping them again. And I think we have enough to prepare for an arraignment tomorrow night or Sunday. Then we can take those two boys off your hands."

"We'll be delighted to turn them over. What will happen with Justin? Will he be housed with Trent? He could be in some danger if Trent knows he ratted him out, and I doubt if that would take long to surface."

"He's a year younger. We'll allow bail for Justin, and treat him as a juvenile. But we'll recommend that Trent be held without bail and tried as an adult. Our psychiatrist will see Trent tomorrow morning. Since we'll have to tolerate him until we see what happens with the complaint I filed, I've let Servantes know. It won't hurt my conscience to inconvenience him on the weekend."

"Is your psychiatrist still Dr. Veda?"

"Dr. Elsa Morales now."

"I'll let my sergeant know to expect her."

"She should be there about ten-thirty. I'll be in touch as things develop."

When the phone call was over, Beckett got another cup of coffee and settled back at her desk to enjoy it, along with her daughter squished cronut.

xxxxx

When Castle and the children arrived at the beach house, Martha and John were already there. They had driven out on Thursday night. Watching Jamie's excitement as they entered the front door, Martha took Jo and asked why he was so excited, As he pulled at his shoes, he told her about their terdition, to have the word corrected again by his father as Castle was taking off his own shoes and Jo's and taking his daughter back from Martha. John, rarely allowing himself to be left out of such foolishness, took off his sandals and followed them into the waves, helping with the children and walking the beach with them when they tired of the water.

Martha sat on the back porch, smiling and sipping lemonade as she watched her husband and child enjoying her grandchildren. When they started off on their walk, she went in to prepare sandwiches for lunch.

JD and Alexis got there in time for the sandwiches and were disappointed that they had missed the initial charging of the beach.

"Mommy said next time it's gonna be too cold, so we can jump in the pool," Jamie told his big sister.

"Personally, I think you're all crazy," Martha told them, "but I have to admit it was fun to watch."

Jim and Meagan made it there a little later, and all of them enjoyed their afternoon at the beach while, back in the city, Beckett finished her neglected reports.

Before she started the last one, she called Lanie. "Hey, girl. What's up? I don't have anybody down here that you don't already have reports for."

"I'm not calling about bodies," Kate answered. "I wondered if Frank could spare you for a girls' night. Do you have plans tonight?"

"Oooo, your timing is perfect. Frank is going out for dinner and drinks with a friend from college. The guy was here for a business trip and has to leave tomorrow. It sounded like boring boy talk to me, so I told him to go enjoy his friend. What did you have in mind?"

"You could come to the loft. We can order in, have some wine. There's always ice cream in the freezer, and you know about Castle's collection of movies."

"We're on. What time?"

"I think I can leave here at five. Want to say six?"

"I'll be there."

"Good. I'll be looking for you."

With that, Beckett finished her last report and checked her list for what else she needed to do before she went home.

When Lanie got to the loft, she gave Kate a big hug. "We haven't done this in way too long," she all but squealed.

"Before we get too far into the visit, I have a strange request." She explained their new beach tradition, how quickly Jamie was fully expecting it, and how disappointed he was that she couldn't go with them this time."

"Well, I already knew you and Castle are close to certifiable, so what do we need to do?" Lanie asked with a little smirk.

Kate took a deep breath, rolled her eyes at herself, and admitted, "I told Jamie I'd get in the shower in my clothes and send him a picture. Will you take the picture?"

"What have you done with the Kate Beckett I first met? You surprise me constantly these days."

"I love my life now, Lanie. I know it's what my mom wanted for me. She talked to me about it more than once. She would have been such a good grandmother, and completely shameless about babysitting then sending them back to me totally spoiled."

"Sounds like she and Martha would have been cohorts."

"I think that's a good word for it." Kate picked up her phone and asked, "What do you want to eat? I'll call it in, put it on my card, and leave cash for a tip. Then we can take my silly picture and you can listen for the delivery while I dry off and put on clean clothes."

"Does Thai sound good to you?" Lanie asked

"Yeah. You want your usual?"

"Yep."

Kate called the order in and then said, "Come on. Let's go take a couple of pictures. Here. Take my phone." She kicked off her shoes at the foot of her bed, walked into the bathroom, and turned on the shower full blast…all the nozzles. Lanie shot video as Kate turned with her arms out, wetting down every side. Then she turned off the shower and faced the camera, dripping wet hair and all…making a few faces for Jamie's benefit. Then Lanie finished with a few still shots of silly poses just inside the shower door.

Laughing as she took the pictures, Lanie told her friend, "That ought to make our baby boy happy. The big boy will probably enjoy it, too."

"Just leave the phone on the breakfast bar. I'll dry off, clean up the water on the floor, and be out in a few minutes."

"Okay. I'm on food order detail now."

"You can pick out some wine to go with it if you want."

"Completely free rein in the wine cooler? For real?"

"Pick something really good. It's been a tough couple of days."

"Not arguing," Lanie said over her shoulder as she happily went to complete her task.

Kate wriggled out of her soggy clothes, hung them over knobs and fixtures to drip copiously until she could get them to the laundry room. Then she dried off, wrapped a fluffy towel around her head, and wiped up the water on the floor in front of the shower. A few minutes with the towel and the hairdryer left her hair damp but no longer soggy, then she put on yoga pants and one of Castle's T-shirts and went back to join her friend.

"Which one," Lanie asked, holding up two bottles of wine.

"This one," Kate answered. "The other one makes me…ummm…want things I can't have until Castle is back home."

"Really?" Lanie asked, taking a closer look at the label. "I may have to get some of this and see if it affects me the same way."

"Take that one. We pretty much owe you for the rest of our lives anyway. Consider it another small payment. Besides, after Castle found out the effect it has on me, he's kept a good supply ever since."

"I'll bet he has," Lanie answered with a grin. "The pictures are great, by the way."

Kate checked them and laughed. "Yeah, that should make my boy laugh. Thanks." She sent the pictures with a message to Castle that she and Lanie were drinking up his wine.

A text came back quickly. "Great pictures. You'd love the belly laugh we're hearing from Jamie." That message was followed immediately with another saying, "Save some of the good stuff for when I get home." And he had actually found an emoji that wiggled its eyebrows. She showed Lanie and they both laughed and proceeded to have a wonderful, relaxed girls' night.

xxxxx

Beckett went in on Saturday to be there when the psychiatrist had her visit with Trent Layton.

"Morning Sarge,"' she said as she came in with her beloved morning coffee.

"You're here on Saturday," he half observed, half questioned.

"Part curiosity, part Spidey sense as Castle would say. Before she leaves, I'd like to speak to the psychiatrist for Trent Layton. And let me know if anything even vaguely related to this case turns up. Who's the officer in charge of access to our incarcerated this morning?"

Consulting his daily roster, he answered, "That would be Officer Quinton."

"Then let her know to do the same…anything at all out of the ordinary. She can call me directly. I'll be wandering around the precinct, but I'll have my cell phone with me."

"I'll call her right now," the sergeant promised.

After going to her office and making a short list of things to keep her busy if she were to be here for longer than she intended, she made her way through some of the bullpens, looking in on cases, suggesting, sympathizing, and having conversations with those who were assigned weekend duty and those whose cases had dragged into the weekend, spoiling their personal plans.

At nine-forty, she got a call from the desk sergeant saying that Elsa Morales had arrived to evaluate Trent. A few minutes later, she had a call saying Tom Servantes was there, too. He wouldn't be allowed to sit in with the psychiatrist, but he wanted to talk to Trent after the visit. Not much later, Officer Quinton called to say that Servantes had asked if he could see his other client, Justin Hazelton, while he waited.

"I sent him back to the waiting area and told him I'd be there soon. He wanted to see Justin Hazelton, but according to a note left at my station, the attorney of record for Justin is Edgar Maldon."

"Good work, Quinton. Let him wait, and I'll be down in a few minutes. Don't mention me, though. I'd like to surprise him."

"Not a word from me," she answered with a chuckle.

Beckett strode into the waiting area saying, "Mr. Servantes, I understand you asked to see your other client, Justin Hazelton?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Keeping an eye on the activities in my precinct. I'm certain I heard Mrs. Hazelton tell you at the precinct on Thursday that their family didn't need your services. You are not Justin's attorney, so why are you claiming to be?"

"I…I just wanted to see how he's doing. I like the boy, and this has to be hard on him."

"Well, since Mrs. Bright turned down your offer of money in exchange for her son's altered statement to save his brother's killer…and then failed to give in to the threats that followed, I'd say it looks suspiciously like you're trying to influence Justin in your client's favor."

"Whatever that woman said was a lie. I did no such thing. And I just wanted to give Justin a little moral support while I waited to see Trent."

"Well, just so you know, the DA has a video of all Mrs. Bright's lies to help you prove your innocence. And you won't be seeing Justin this morning. Have a nice day."

Officer Quinton had obviously been listening, and Beckett walked to her desk and thanked her for her help.

"Good job, Captain," she answered quietly with a big smile.

"Made my day," Beckett grinned back, and they shared a surreptitious fist bump, then she strode through the waiting area past a drooping Tom Servantes and back to her office, looking pretty jaunty on the way.

Elsa Morales stopped to see her before she left the precinct. "I'm done."

"Are you free to tell me what you think?" Beckett asked.

"He seems to be fully aware of what he did. He seems to be well aware that it's wrong, but he took it as a challenge. Since he was much younger, his father has managed to get him out of problems, at first based on his own influence as someone with money and political influence, then with an attorney, then a more high powered attorney. The more he got away with, the more he wanted to see what else he could get away with. On the other side of things…although he knows what he did was wrong, he seems to have no remorse about doing it. And I saw no indication of understanding how the death of that innocent young man would affect his family. Personal relationships don't seem to be in his scope of understanding."

"What does that mean for the prosecution?"

"It depends on how the defense handles it. If they decide to use mental health as a defense, I have suggestions that would keep him confined long enough that he's aware he didn't get away with it this time. I feel so bad for the victim's family. I'm sure you're well aware that they're victims, too." After a deep sigh, she said, "I need to go…see what I can salvage of time with my own family today."

"Thanks for laying it out for me. I appreciate it. Enjoy your family time." Beckett stood and shook her hand.

On Monday morning Trent was arraigned on murder charges. In spite of the evidence, it looked like the judge was considering bail, going with the argument than the councilman was a responsible party.

Eli Guston, Virgil's uncle, wanted to see what happened in court, so he had spoken to a reporter for the Ledger, and for the promise of an interview later, the man used his connections to find out when Trent's arraignment was on the docket. Eli left the courtroom and posted the video Virgil had sent him to his Facebook page and his Twitter account and sent it to the reporter who had helped him. Then he told the security officer outside the door what he had done.

"I'm ready to be locked up if that's what happens, but the judge needs to know it's out there. That kid has threatened my sister, but that 'man of the law' is about to let him out on bail...and I know the DA would have made sure he had seen this video. It's wrong."

The security officer went inside and spoke to the bailiff, who then spoke to the judge. The judge, who was about to allow bail, heaved a deep sigh and instead announced that, in view of Trent's threats and the parents' ignorance of Trent's whereabouts or his possession of his father's gun on the morning of the murder, that bail would not be granted.

Tom Servantes and Councilman Layton were shocked, Trent was enraged, and the few members of the press who had caught wind of the arraignment were rushing to get a story out.

When the livid councilman and his attorney managed to see the judge later in his quarters, they were told, "Reporters saw me almost let Trent out on bail. The kid who made the video of the murder sent it to his uncle; and when the uncle saw that Trent was likely to be out on bail in spite of threats to his sister and possibly his nephew, he posted the video online, where it will probably go viral. I had no choice, but those reporters saw that it took word from the bailiff to change my mind. They'll dig around until they find out more than we want them to know…possibly dig into other times you've blackmailed me into helping you. Face it, gentlemen. Trent has probably ruined all of us this time."

xxxxx

The remainder of the Castle family returned on Sunday night, and Kate was there to greet them and laugh with them about all the foolishness they got into while they were at the beach house. The next excitement was Jo's first birthday in a little over a week.

Jo was trying hard to talk. She made sounds they could recognize as almost words, things they could at least identify as the intent; and Jamie reported on a couple of new ones from the weekend.

The parents enjoyed their time with their children, but both of them were exhausted. Jo's diaper had just been changed, both children were clean and in their pajamas, and each parent had one asleep in their arms. Kate pointed toward the master bedroom and Rick nodded. They carefully deposited their offspring in the middle of their large bed, changed into their own pajamas, shared a long, slow goodnight kiss, and got into bed with their babies tucked safely between them.

xxxxx

The video Eli posted went viral in no time, and the reporter from the Ledger got the exclusive about the councilman's fixer attorney trying to bribe and threaten the victim's family to recant Andrew's statement. Reporters speculated about the judge's sudden change of direction on bail, pointing out other suspicious circumstances connected to the Laytons. Tom Servantes was soon suspended from legal work until receiving his own verdict from the Bar Association, and Councilman Layton and the judge soon resigned in disgrace.

Trent's trial was an odd mix. On one hand, he seemed to understand exactly what he had done. On the other hand, he didn't seem to care about anything other than the fact that he didn't get away with it. The jury deliberated for an unusually long time before coming to a consensus that he should be in prison but recommended mental health intervention, the choice to incarcerate being based on the thought that he might want to see what he could get away with again.

It was found that there had been ample evidence available in Trent's other crimes, but the charges had been mysteriously dropped. Since there had never been trials, the charges from earlier crimes, including several rapes, could still be taken to court after the murder charges.

Justin was arraigned separately from Trent and was granted bail. His cooperation with the police and the prosecution, along with their acknowledgment of legitimate fear for his own life was considered, and accessory charges were dropped for the murder. After his help in establishing Trent's guilt in other crimes, Justin was given a relatively short sentence in a juvenile facility. It was decided that, although he didn't participate in any of the rapes, he facilitated them with his silence and lack of action as he heard the cries and pleas of the victims behind closed doors as they happened. His lies to law enforcement in Trent's defense didn't help his position, either.

His parents arranged counseling for him, and he did begin to return to the more responsive, caring Justin they knew earlier in his life. The Hazeltons told the DA of their intention to move a few states away after their son served his sentence. Since he was a juvenile offender and records would be sealed, they hoped to give the family a fresh start.