| |
BLINKING, AWARENESS filtered in and Steve inhaled against the sharp pain in his right leg. He ran a hand over the fabric of his suit pant and it came away tacky with blood. “Shit,” he muttered and looked up at the courtroom. Mouths moved but sound still remained muffled and all eyes were wide and looking at the balcony in the back of the courtroom.
Steve turned, and shock filtered through him, stunning him enough so the pain disappeared. Ty Ryan stood on the balcony, his wings spread in all their majesty.
He dropped his gaze to the witness stand and CJ standing with his fists clenched and a stance he recognized as barely contained fury.
“What did I miss?” he asked, but the room spun and with it his stomach. He dropped his forehead onto the table and the roar of sound filled his ears. His gaze fell to the growing puddle of blood dripping off the chair.
A scream pierced through his haze and he glanced at the prosecution table. The intern was staring at the same puddle and shrieking like she saw a dead body.
Chaos erupted, and Steve inhaled, closing his eyes and concentrating, making the wounds hidden by his slashed slacks disappear. He clenched his teeth at the burn snaking down his leg and gripped the edge of the table, willing himself not to lose consciousness.
CJ appeared at his side. “Are they okay?” he asked.
Steve nodded, still in the grip of the healing pain and unable to speak. He concentrated on the act of breathing, forcing slow deep breaths in and out while the pain receded.
“What happened?” he whispered to CJ.
“I kind of freaked out,” CJ said and nodded toward the image of his father on the balcony. “I gave him an ultimatum.”
Wind filled the courtroom as Ty dropped from the balcony. His wings folded neatly and faded as he waltzed up the aisle.
A hushed silence filled the room and people stepped as far away from the damned angel as they could get. Ty stopped at the defense table putting his hand on Steve’s shoulder. “Thank you,” he said, and Steve nodded.
* * * *
CJ STARED AT HIS FATHER not knowing whether to hug him or hit him. After all the years of pleading for him to appear, he chose this moment to do so. The moment CJ threatened to kill. When Ty’s gaze met his, he saw the flash in his expression, one that he knew meant business, but instead of reaming him for the threat, he reached out pulling him into a hug.
As soon as Ty released him, Ty stepped into the center of the courtroom floor, facing the jury.
“My son can be a little hot headed at times, but he has never lied.” His gaze flicked to the prosecutor. “You could catch flies with that mouth, honey,” he directed at her and CJ stifled a laugh when she popped her mouth closed.
“Excuse me, but who the hell are you?” the judge interrupted.
“Ty Alexander Ryan, sir. I’m CJ’s father,” he said, and his wings fluttered, coming back into view. “And as CJ mentioned and you all were so quick to mock, I am Steve’s guardian angel.”
The judge stared, the jury stared and the folks at the prosecution table stared.
“Ty, you don’t have to do this,” Steve said.
Ty turned toward the defense table. “Yes, I do. You didn’t even submit the envelope Lynn brought, did you?”
Steve looked down at the folder on the table and shook his head. “No, not yet.”
Ty crossed and pulled the sealed envelope from the folder along with Lynn’s certification and handed it to the judge. “I gave this to my lawyer with very specific instructions. Her certification of authenticity as well as my explicit instructions are attached.”
The judge bristled. “Bailiff, please take this man into custody,” he said.
Ty laughed. “It doesn’t work that way, sir. I’m already dead and buried and my penance for my past is keeping him alive and keeping his honor intact,” he pointed at Steve.
The bailiff approached, and Ty closed his eyes, reverting back to the full angel form, including the grand wings and white light. When he opened his eyes, the jury gasped at the unearthly blue, like the wings and white light weren’t enough to convince them.
The bailiff backed away, his face a mask of fear.
“Steve didn’t have a choice in any of this,” Ty said. “I manipulated him at every turn, coercing him into becoming my friend, into letting me help him on the case, even in not allowing him to kill Kyle Winslow.
“He had no designs on our money, like this court is trying to prove with their slanted facts. He had no desire for the powers now throbbing through his veins, powers that CJ alluded to and you all just laughed at. He had no desire to raise my kids either, but there is no one more honorable and honest than the man sitting at that table. And no one I trusted more to keep my son in line. So you see, he was doomed from the beginning,” Ty said and smiled spreading his arms out.
“What about his recklessness in bringing your son to Georgia?” the prosecutor said, flipping a stray strand of hair from her face.
Ty turned toward her. “If that killer had taken CJ instead of Tom that would have been the end of him.”
“Why is that?” she challenged.
“Let me show you,” CJ said and turned to the bailiff. “Put the cuffs on me as tight as they can go.”
“CJ, don’t,” Steve said from the defense table and stood.
CJ turned, “Sit down,” he ordered, and Steve dropped into the chair, his expression turning from concern to annoyance.
The bailiff traded a glance with the judge and received a nod. He did what CJ asked and stepped away.
The metal bit into his wrists. “Permission to approach the jury?” he asked.
“This is highly unorthodox,” the judge said. “But I’m now curious, so I’ll allow it.”
“Are these tight?” he asked the foreman and allowed the man to inspect the cuffs.
“Yes,” he answered.
CJ held his wrists in full view, stepping back far enough for the judge and jury members to see. “Open,” he announced, and the cuffs popped open, dropping to the floor.
“If it had been me instead of my brother, I could have stopped Lieutenant Danforth before anyone else died. But it wasn’t, and Tom didn’t know how to broadcast thoughts the way he does now, so that we can pick it up.”
“We?”
“Steve and I couldn’t hear him in Georgia, but we certainly did today.”
CJ watched the jury, their eyes riveted between him and his father, and their thoughts did a complete one-eighty.
The judge took the bait. “What happened today?”
CJ turned toward the judge. “The Windwalker attacked and from the initial condition Steve was in when he got back here, I’d say you’ll find not only Jennifer and Tom’s blood on the knife, you’ll also find Steve’s.”
* * * *
HEADS SNAPPED IN HIS direction and he gave a shrug. “There’s also a hole in Tom’s bedroom wall,” he said and wiped his hand on his shirt, streaking the white fabric with tacky blood. “The York police can confirm I made the nine-one-one call and that they found a man on my patio handcuffed to a concrete post,” he added meeting the jury’s shocked gaze. “Telekinesis and mind reading aren’t as rare as you think, but astral projection, well that takes some time to get used to.”
Gazes jumped from him to CJ and then to the angel standing in the room.
“The police will also be dumbfounded by the lack of wounds, especially with the amount of blood splatter in both the family room and Tom’s room, but I couldn’t let them bleed to death either.”
“What?” the prosecutor whispered, her eyes glued to the bloody handprint.
“Another gift from the Ryan’s,” Steve shrugged.
Ty cleared his throat. “How do you think I walked out of the complex after having four bullets shred my chest?” When no one spoke, he elaborated. “My wife was a very special woman, and when I kidnapped her, I had no clue of just how special she was. She saved me in every way possible.” His wings fluttered, bringing his point home.
Silence fell on the courtroom again and Steve traded a nod with Ty.
“The charges against Steve are unfounded where I am concerned. I was not coerced in any way and the idea that anyone could extort from me is ludicrous.” He spread his wings. “Reckless endangerment in the framework of Georgia is debatable, but where I’m concerned, it doesn’t apply. Either way, you’re crucifying a good man, and considering he’s already been crucified once—literally, I think you should cut him some slack. He didn’t abuse his power as an FBI agent. I did.”
With that, Ty extended his wings and took flight, light surrounded him and when he passed through the ceiling all eyes stayed glued to the spot until the light faded away. Then everyone in the courthouse dropped their awed gaze to Steve and CJ standing at the defense table.
Steve glanced at CJ. Thank God this wasn’t televised.
No shit.
Silence settled on the room and Steve looked at the prosecutor. “Are you done with CJ?”
She nodded and cleared her throat. “The prosecution rests,” she said and her voice cracked.
The judge turned wide eyes in Steve’s direction.
“Ty submitted my defense for me,” he said nodding toward the envelope forgotten in the judge’s hand.