Rogue Hearts

Mr. Jackson replied, “I was getting married in Buffalo to my wife, as she stated earlier.”

“Thank you for confirming that. Your wife stated that my client was a guest at your wedding. Can you confirm that?”

“Yes, I can. I have pictures taken by our photographer and multiple guests to prove it.”

“Let the court note the pictures are evidence, which shows my client with the wedding party.” He presented the pictures to the judge. “In addition, a timestamp in on some of them to show the date they were taken.”

“Objection, Your Honor,” the prosecutor said. “We had no prior knowledge of such pictures.”

“Approach the bench,” Judge Hughes said, beckoning to him and the prosecutor. “Your client has already had two outbursts in my courtroom, and now you’re presenting this without letting the prosecution examine the evidence? It should’ve been sent to them during discovery.”

“We’ve only just received them, Your Honor,” Andrei said. He left off that he had to use some untraditional methods to pull the bride and groom away from their extended honeymoon, but that was not important.

“If you have pictures of your client being in another place, then how do you explain the use of his gun and pick-up truck during the murder?” Judge Hughes asked.

“I’d like to see your client testify about that discrepancy,” Prosecutor Bellamy said. “Unless he has a surprise twin we don’t know about.”

He smiled down at her, which made her shift. “Ms. Bellamy, Your Honor, I have a formal complaint reported by Mr. Vasin about a break in that occurred to his home just about the time of the murder, which was when his truck, gun and several other items were stolen from his home.”

“I saw the papers.” Bellamy said. “That seems pretty convenient.”

Andrei handed the report papers to the judge, who read over them carefully.

Judge Hughes stated. “Since this means this catastrophe of a case can end sooner rather than later, I’ll allow it, but your client must take the stand first.”

Andrei nodded, “Yes, Your Honor.” He could practically see the fumes coming from the prosecutor. This wasn’t going her way at all, and he took a little bit of pride at being the one to throw her off her game. He liked a challenge, and he could sense the same from her. Neither of them liked to lose. That meant someone was going to leave that courtroom disappointed; it wasn’t going to be him.

“Let the court enter these papers as exhibit number four,” Judge Hughes said. “Mr. Vasin, approach the witness stand, and I’m warning you, one wrong action and I’ll have you thrown back in lockup. Understood?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” Roman said as he made his way to the stand.

The bailiff approached the bench, “Mr. Roman Vasin, please raise your right hand and place your left hand on the Bible. Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

“I do.” He sat down and looked at Andrei uncomfortably.

“Mr. Vasin, how did your pick-up truck and gun manage to be involved in this murder?”

“I am not sure. All I know is that while I was away at the wedding, my house was broken into. At that time, those items along with my safe and stamp collection were stolen.”

Judge Hughes sighed. “After looking over the certified documentation and hearing from the accused, I now call this case dismissed.” He took his gavel and banged it once and said “Court adjourned.”

Chapter 3

Victoria

Victoria had been side-armed and hadn’t even expected it. She was prepared to take this idiot all the way through a full trial.

She stood a little under five feet, but she never let anyone intimidate her for it. Her cocoa-brown skin wasn’t common in the District Attorney’s office either, but she wasn’t there for anyone’s entertainment. That’s why they called her Pitbull Bellamy.

She made sure she worked out when she could, but she never starved herself. Besides, she loved her curves since they made her feel more confident. Her breasts sometimes felt a little too large for her small size, but she’d found a way to make sure they weren’t too obvious to distract the men she encountered in a male-dominated profession. Extremely supportive sports bras were her closest friends. Over the past few years she dated occasionally, but nothing serious had ever come out of any of the dates, because she had buried herself into her work.

As she packed up, she could sense the defense’s eyes still on her as he talked to her client. Of course the one guy she thought was handsome would be the one to ruin her case. She needed a drink with her friends after the long day she was having.

She left the courtroom and went straight to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face. She wouldn’t be surprised if the heat made the judge speed the case up. New York heat was something else. With the close concrete buildings and asphalt in between them, it was a heat nightmare every summer.

But it wasn’t just the heat that had her flustered. “Get it together, Victoria.” She looked in the mirror, hoping to regain some sense of control. Yeah, she definitely needed a cold alcoholic drink and fast. She rushed out of the bathroom and ran smack into something hard, which knocked her on the floor.

“Ow!” She grabbed her ankle as a sharp pain raced through it. “Watch where you’re going you—”