Chapter 2 – Tyler
I waited for Camilla by the bathrooms. She was in there quite a while and she looked worse for wear when she finally opened the door and came out.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
She smiled and gave me the brave face she thought I wanted to see. I could tell that there was something wrong, but Camilla was still close with her feelings. For someone who got other people to bare their soul to her, she wasn’t all that forthcoming.
“Stop asking me that or I’m going to think that you’re the one who doesn’t want to be here. There are other witnesses, you know.”
That was not it at all. I had no qualms about going in there and pointing to the man who’d murdered all of those people in the mall. I’d gotten a good look at him, and I knew that my words were going to carry weight. There was nowhere else that I would want to be but right where I was.
“No, this has to be done.”
“Well, I’m here with you. Sometimes I wonder if we would have met if this hadn’t happened.”
“Do you think it was fate?”
Camilla grinned and leaned her head against my shoulder as we walked up the stairs to the courtroom. “I don’t know what it was, but I’m glad for it.”
I was too, and I enjoyed our moments together before we had to go into the courtroom. It wasn’t going to be a time for that, so I took the chance now to her feverishly to remind her how much I loved her. Maybe it was to remind me of what I had when I was with her. She completed me, and just the fact that she was willing to be here for me was enough to tell me what was truly in her heart.
When we pushed the door to move in, I saw several people that I remembered from that day, as well as the next few days when I’d had to go down to the police station for questioning. I stopped and said hello to a few while Camilla went to speak to the shopkeeper’s family. She’d apparently known her better than I’d thought. I waited for her to finish visiting before finding a seat near the front.
The judge wasn’t there yet and there was a buzz of conversation all around. Camilla sat down, but her eyes were taking everything in. I wondered what she was thinking with such a serious look on her face. How many of the people in the room were her old patients? She’d nodded to a few, but it wasn’t something that would have been broadcast. Camilla was on vacation from her practice, but her secretive ways would never stop. That was just part of who she was.
I tried to focus on everyone there, the ones that had lived. There had been a memorial a couple of weeks after the shooting for all of the families, and there I’d met most of the people involved. They were now in the room together and there was a lot of anxiety in the air. It felt like a reunion of sorts. Too many of the people there with me had been affected by that day. It was the final chapter in a horrid book that most would want to forget. It was hard not to notice that the families of the deceased greatly outnumbered the survivors.
The man who’d changed so many lives was seen being brought in by one of the bailiffs. He looked smaller without the gun in his hand, and months of prison had changed the look in his eyes. There was no remorse for his deeds, but I was positive that he regretted what he’d done because of where he was now. The man looked beaten, and I tried hard not to feel bad for him. It was easy to hate him as a monster, but it was just a man in front of me.
I watched some of the expressions on the other people’s faces. It was clear to anyone who was paying attention that no one there was happy to see him. He’d ruined so many lives, and there was still not a clear reason. He refused to give it to the police, so everyone had to wonder why he’d done it. As he looked at each person, making sure to make eye contact like he didn’t want to forget a thing, I was convinced that there was no reason. He did it because he just wanted to. How could there be any kind of reason for such madness?
The judge came out and everyone sat down after him. The room became silent. It felt eerie in a way. I sat down next to Camilla and sought out her hand, thinking that she needed some comfort. I was ready for my name to be called and my chance to take the stand. It would end it, and I could finally put my energy into something else.
***
It wasn’t as dramatic as the TV shows that Camilla liked to watch at night, but there was a satisfaction in pointing out the person who’d caused so much destruction. He stared at me with his dead eyes, and I could tell that there was nothing there. If everything went as it should, the sentencing wouldn’t be too long from now, but the fact was that the man was already gone. He’d been seen by several citizens and law enforcement officers, and there was no way he was going to get off. I’d done my part, and as we left, the weight that I hadn’t even known was there was lifted.
“Why don’t we get some lunch and then get back to the house for a while?”
The silkiness of her voice piqued my interest. It sounded so smooth, and I could tell that there was something naughty on her mind. That was how Camilla was. She would get hot in a moment, and when she was, she was scorching hot. I hoped that she was thinking along the same lines I was. That quickly my brain was on one track and hoping not to be derailed.
“What did you have in mind?”
Camilla shrugged and sent me the answer through her eyes. I melted right there, and I knew it was going to be a long lunch. I would have rather skipped the food altogether.
“I don’t know. I’m sure we’ll think of something. We can’t mess around too long, though. The wedding starts at four and I don’t want to be late.”
I should have been bothered about the wedding. If it made any sense I would have been, but I wasn’t. I was happy for the bride and groom. It was going to be a little weird to see my wife marrying someone else, but she was not the one I was supposed to be with.
“We won’t be late. Why don’t we get something to go so we’ll have a little more time?”
“You’re so impatient, Tyler. You can’t wait a little while longer?”
“No.” Not with the look in her eyes that she had then. I couldn’t wait a moment longer.
We started in the car.