Chapter 33

 

Kristen wrung her hands. Ethan hadn’t called in days, Camila was still in jail and she was going out of her mind. Her civil case date was the following morning and here she was at ten that night, unable to sleep.

Ethan promised that he’d wait until the courtroom to hear what she’d been keeping from everyone, but she wished she could have told him first.

A knock on her window made her jump. What could it be? She’d had the hickory tree trimmed so no branches were able to brush the window. There is was again. Annoyed with whatever was bothering her, Kristen stomped to the window to check that it was locked. As she parted the curtains, something hit the glass, like a small stone.

Perring into the dark, she made out a figure on the lawn. Her heart skipped a beat, wondering if a prowler in her yard. Should she call the police? Another hit on the glass made her grind her teeth together. The damn idiot was throwing pebbles.

“Who the hell throws pebbles at… Ethan?”

Kristen pushed the window open, letting a rush of cold air.

“You took long enough,” he complained.

“What are you doing?” she yelled at him.

“I’m coming up.”

“Where are your keys?”

He didn’t answer but started climbing the hickory. A gasp escaped her lips as she watched him nimbly reach up and swing his legs onto a branch. When he was near the window, he swung his legs again and flew through the window. Kristen had to move out of the way.

“Are you crazy? You think you’re a ninja or something?” she shrieked.

In response, Ethan grabbed her and pulled her roughly to him. “You ask too many questions,” he murmured. “I thought we’d pretend we’re in high school.”

“What’s with you sneaking into…?”

Before she could finish her question, he crushed her lips with his, while tightening his arms around her. His hard chest crushed her breasts as his tongue twined around hers. A tremor ran through her from the thrill of his caress.

With a groan of pleasure, she began unbuttoning his shirt. This was going to be quick, she realized. After all, her ‘boyfriend’ had snuck in and didn’t want to be caught. Admittedly, playing this game made her pulse rate and her body wanton.

With lips still sealed, they frantically peeled off their clothes, tossing them away without caution. He tore his lips away from hers to plant hot kisses along her neck. While he left a trail of fire on her skin she explored the plains of his chest, liking the feel of his muscles beneath her hand.

Right there at the window, ignoring the bed, Ethan spun her around and bent her over. Kristen pushed her ass up to his groin where she felt his cock brush her backside. With one smooth move, he slipped into her slippery slope.

He began pumping her from behind while she fiddled her clitoris with her index finger. Each stroke of his shaft sent a ripple of current through her. Her orgasm was swift and explosive. As her walls closed her around him and cried out in pleasure, he pumped harder. His strokes began short and swift as he swelled, filling her to the hilt. His fingers dug into her hips as he rammed his hips up against her ass. A deep rumbling sound erupted from him as his release came.

“Mommy?” a voice came through the door. “Mommy, I’m scared.”

“I’m coming, honey,” Kristen answered.

She could barely breathe as she grabbed her robe and slipped into it. Quickly Ethan grabbed his clothes and disappeared through the window. Kristen rolled her eyes, as he seemed to be taking this game of his too far. She closed the window, trotted to the door and opened it.

“What took you so long Mommy?” Hailey inquired.

Kristen’s cheeks stained scarlet. “Nothing honey. What’s the matter?”

“I couldn’t sleep and I got scared. Can I stay with you tonight?”

She pulled her daughter into her arms. “Of course, baby. Now get into bed. Mommy has to use the bathroom.”

As Hailey got under the covers, Kristen worried about Ethan. The man was brave, and she knew he could handle himself, but his antics were making her worry.

 

*

 

The cold air bit into her face as she pulled open the front door. Her keys in hand, she stepped onto the portico and was about to close the door when a messenger rode up on a motorcycle. He killed the motor and removed his helmet.

“Good morning Ma’am, Are you Kristen Broderick?”

“Yes.”

“I have a letter for you,” he said.

Kristen groaned. She’d grown accustomed to receiving bad news through this method. For a few seconds, she stared at the outstretched hand holding a white envelope. Peering closer, her heart leaped at the sight of Andrew’s handwriting.

She snatched the envelope and stared at the neat handwriting of her name. Andrew’s penmanship was beautiful. He loved writing by hand and she often stared at the notes he made for the beautiful calligraphy.

“Where did you get this?”

“Someone asked me to deliver it. He said it should have been delivered four months ago, but he mislaid it. He apologizes.”

“Who is this ‘he’ you’re talking about?”

“I’m sorry ma’am, he asked not to disclose his name. Just that I should let you know that Andrew wanted you to have it.”

“Thank you.”

The man got back on his motorcycle, clamped his helmet on and rode out. Kristen was tempted to read the letter right there, but she was running late to get to the courthouse. She dropped the envelope in her handbag and got into her car. Twenty minutes later she was pulling into a parking space beside the courthouse.

Kristen pulled her coat around her from the chilly fall air as she slid out of her car. Rain had fallen in the early morning leaving the streets damp and the atmosphere cold. She made her way up the courthouse steps, running through her mind all that Mark had told her.

They were going on the offensive to finally get Helen off her back. Ethan hadn’t disclosed what he discovered at the house, but Mark made it seem that he’d found some evidence that was of use.

Mark met her inside the building. “Just in time,” he remarked.

Glancing at her watch, she noticed that she had two minutes to spare. “The roads are wet, I had to drive slowly.”

“Let’s go.”

He led the way into the courtroom where the case number was already called. It seemed as though it was the same room where Helen tried to take her daughter.

Already inside and sitting beside her lawyer was Helen. The woman’s smug look told Kristen she believed she was going to win. Not on your life, Helen, Kristen told herself.

Two rows behind Helen sat Ethan. When their eyes met, he gave her a wink. She blushed, remembering their little rendezvous the night before. He smiled as though he too remembered.

The jury, which was previously selected by both attorneys, was watching. Kristen felt stripped and naked before them. Today and the coming days of this fiasco, she would be stripped bare of her dignity. Her marriage would be exposed for the world to judge, not only her but also her husband.

Remembering the letter delivered to her that morning, she dug into her bag and retrieved it. As soon as she pulled the sheet of paper from the envelope the bailiff’s loud voice echoed in the room.

“All rise!” the court bailiff called.

Everyone stood. The last person Kristen expected was to see was Judge Lorde. She groaned as she sat back down and scowled at Mark. She nudged her attorney. “Why didn’t you tell me he was the presiding judge?”

“I figured that if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t panic. This might work in our favor, relax.”

Kristen had no time to question what he meant as the judge began speaking. “I see we are back here,” he said, perusing the file before him.

“Mrs. Broderick,” Judge Lorde settled his eyes on Helen. “You’re bringing a case of negligence as well as a case for wrongful death against your daughter-in-law?”

Helen’s attorney stood. “That is correct Your Honor. We are first presenting the case for wrongful death, your honor.”

“Proceed.”

Mr. Brown cleared his throat. “Your Honor. We will show the court that Kristen Broderick contributed to the early death of her husband by having an affair with his brother.”

Kristen snorted. “Affair my ass. How the hell will they prove that?”

Mark leaned close to her ear. “They are just blowing smoke because you married Ethan,” he whispered. When he saw the letter she held in her hand, he asked. “What’s that?”

“A letter from Andrew. Someone delivered it this morning. Apparently, he left it with them to give to me.”

Mr. Brown was speaking and all eyes turned to him. “Your Honor, the defendant met Ethan Broderick before Andrew Broderick as she once declared right here in this very courtroom. Ethan was disinherited from his parents and did not have any money, so the defendant broke up with him and married his brother instead.”

Kristen glanced at Ethan whose face appeared grave. She wondered if he believed the crap Mr. Brown was spewing.

The lawyer continued his diatribe. “Helen Broderick, a model citizen of the city and the mother of both men, will testify to the depressed state her son was in at the time of his death and the month leading to his untimely demise.”

“Do you have any evidence to back up your claims Mr. Brown?” the judge asked.

“We’ll call Kristen Broderick to the stand your honor,” Mr. Brown replied. “She will corroborate what I just said.”

“Very well,” the judge said.

Kristen was confused. “Can he do that?”

“Yes, it’s not uncommon,” Mark told her, before rising to his feet. “Your Honor, this is highly unusual to call the defendant as a witness.”

Judge Lorde waved his hand. “Have a seat, Mr. Rickards. I will allow it.”

“I tried,” Mark whispered.

“Call your first witness, Mr. Brown,” Judge Lorde instructed.

He called Helen, who took the court oath. Kristen tried to concentrate on the questions asked by her lawyer, but they seemed to just be babbling on about how great her son was. According to Helen, her son was happy before he met Kristen and he only married her because she trapped him.

Apparently, Helen and her lawyer did not prepare well for such a lawsuit. There was no evidence to back up her story except for the coroner’s report, stating the cause of death and a report from his psychologist talking about how depressed he was.

It was time for Kristen to answer questions from Mr. Brown and she took her place in the witness box.

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth. And nothing but the truth. So help you God?”

“I do,” Kristen clearly stated, staring pointedly at Helen.

After the primary stating of the name and that she had been Andrew’s wife, Mr. Brown commenced his questioning.

“Miss Kristen, could you please tell the court when you met your current husband?”

“I met Ethan a little over ten years ago.”

“And when did you meet your late husband, Andrew?”

“Almost a year later.”

“And you were engaged and married to Andrew within three months of meeting him, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Your Honor, I fail to see the relevance in this line of questioning,” Mark objected.

“Your Honor, I have a point. If I may continue...”

“Go ahead, Mr. Brown.”

“Mrs. Broderick, is it correct to say that when you met Ethan, he seemed like an ordinary kind of guy? He didn’t drive a nice car, he lived in motels and couldn’t take you out to nice places?”

“Ethan was never an ordinary man, Mr. Brown,” Kristen replied.

“Let me rephrase. Didn’t it bother you that he had no money?”

“No.”

“Why is that?”

“I had my own money and the times we dated, Ethan never made me feel like I wasn’t special.”

“Remember you’re under oath, Mrs. Broderick.”

Mark stood once more, he sounded exasperated as he objected. “Your Honor, Mr. Brown clearly did not prepare for this farce of a lawsuit and has failed to provide one shred of evidence that my client was responsible for Andrew Broderick’s death. He is badgering my client.”

“Sustained. Mr. Brown. Where is your evidence that Mrs. Broderick is responsible for her husband’s death?”

“Your Honor, we have proven by the report from the psychologist that the deceased was depressed. He’d only started seeing a therapist after he married her.”

“Sit down, Mr. Brown. I’m tempted to dismiss this lawsuit but I’m curious about Mrs. Broderick’s counter-claim. Mr. Rickards, do you have anything to say on behalf of your client?”

Mark walked to the front of the courtroom and turned to the twelve-member jury panel. Their faces showed their amusement as they thought this was some kind of mock trial. “I don’t have much to say. I will allow my client to speak for herself. She’s already on the stand. May as well end this farce of a lawsuit!”

“Tone it down, Mr. Rickards, this isn’t television court,” Judge Lorde scolded.

Mark beamed and focused his attention on Kristen. Since she entered the courtroom she’d been confident. Now, her stomach quivered and her heart raced.

“Mrs. Broderick, your husband died of a stroke, did it not?”

“Yes.” Her voice came out a hoarse whisper. She cleared her throat and repeated. “Yes.”

“We all know that, but was there something else wrong with your husband? Please tell us.”

She looked at Ethan who was staring at her. She shifted her gaze to Helen. If looks could kill, she’d surely be dead by now.

“Andrew was diagnosed as HIV positive before we met. I didn’t know he’d been living with the virus. In his last month, he stopped taking the medication and was trying something new which he didn’t tell me about.”

“Objection,” Mr. Brown yelled. “My client’s son never disclosed that. His autopsy never showed anything of the sort, your honor.”

“Your Honor, if I may,” Mark picked up a file from the desk and walked to the judge’s rostrum. “We have the medical records from Mr. Broderick’s private physician.”

Judge Lorde scanned the file and nodded for Mark to proceed.

“Tell the court, Mrs. Broderick, how did your husband contract HIV?”

“Objection,” Mr. Brown called. “Hearsay.”

“Sir down, Mr. Brown. This is not a criminal trial,” the judge said. “Continue, Mrs. Broderick.”

Kristen chewed her lips and rubbed her palm on her wool skirt. “Andrew was a homosexual.”

A clatter of voices rang through the court as people started speaking at the same time.

Helen shot to her feet, her eyes wide. “That’s preposterous! Andrew wasn’t gay!”

Judge Lord smacked the wooden block with his gavel. “Quiet. This is not a circus! Calm your client, Mr. Brown.”

It took a few minutes for the room to be quiet. Helen was shaking her head and glaring at Kristen. Ethan had a smirk on his face.

“Mrs. Broderick, are you telling the court that you married a man knowing he was homosexual?” Judge Lorde asked her.

“No, your honor. I had no idea. I found out later.”

Mark stepped closer to her box. “Tell us what happened.”

“I found out Andrew was gay a few months after we got married. On our wedding night, we didn’t do anything much. I was disappointed. As the months went by and he showed less interest in the bedroom, I thought that he was impotent. I searched for a doctor that specialized in erectile dysfunction.”

A few people laughed, resulting in the judge’s sharp eyes glancing over the room. She waited until all was quiet again, before continuing.

“I wanted my marriage to work, but something told me that something wasn’t right. I thought perhaps he was cheating since he’d wake up most mornings with an erection. One afternoon while doing the laundry, I found a receipt from a club downtown. The following evening, I waited until he left work and followed him. He went to the club…” she swallowed and inhaled a shaky breath. “When I followed him inside I was shocked. To see him all cozy with a man… I stood there for what seemed like an eternity staring at them fondling and kissing. Then he saw me and I bolted.”

“What happened next,” was Mark’s next question.

“I went home to pack and he followed me home. I was ready to walk out and he confessed that he married me to keep his secret. He begged me to stay and talk it over, at least to stay a couple of days and think about it before leaving. I don’t know what made me stay in the first place, but I did and three days later we talked. We made a contract that we would remain married.”

Mark held up a piece of paper. “Is this the contract?”

Kristen took it and looked it over. “Yes, that’s it.”

“Your Honor, if I may present you with another piece of evidence, that the deceased not only married my client under false pretenses but his wish was to remain married to her.”

Judge Lorde read from the piece of paper, “It says here that you two agree to remain celibate until such time when you either divorce or one should pass away. It also states that each party should wait at least three years before marrying someone else.”

“Your Honor, hence the reluctance of my client to get married by your order. She wanted to honor the contract but you forced her hand,” Mark stated.

Mr. Brown stood and walked to the front of the room. “Your Honor, all this is utter nonsense. The couple has a child together. Miss Broderick, are you telling me that your daughter is not the child of your late husband?”

Kristen glanced at Ethan. She never imagined they would question Hailey’s paternity.

“Yes, she is not Andrew’s daughter.”

Mr. Brown gave a sly smile. “So, you broke the contract and slept with another man.”

“No! It was Andrew’s doing, he drugged us and had us have sex.”

The courtroom erupted into another cackle of voices speaking together. Kristen imagined them looking at her like an idiot. Who allows their husband to drug them to sleep with another man? They must have wondered why she stayed. She couldn’t answer that, except, she was already married and she felt that she needed to protect him.

“ORDER!” Judge Lorde shouted. “Order, or I will remove all of you.”

Slowly, the noise died and Kristen felt the sting of tears. She’d bottled her feelings towards Andrew and what her marriage was for so long that she now felt a sense of relief.

“Kristen, can I call you that?” Mr. Brown asked. She nodded. “We are confused. Are you telling this court that Andrew Broderick drugged you and forced you to have sex with another man?”

“No, he didn’t force us. He drugged me and I went to bed. Next thing I knew someone was making love to me in the dark and… I thought it was my husband. When I realized it wasn’t, it was too late.”

“Kristen, are you that easy?” Mr. Brown began.

“Enough!” A thundering voice echoed through the room. All eyes turned to the speaker. Ethan was on his feet, his face twisted in anger. “I will not have you speak to my wife that way.”

The judge pounded the gavel on the block for order. There was a commotion up front, which drew everyone’s attention. Helen was gripping her chest while leaning precariously off the chair. Mr. Brown and Ethan moved at the same time as she was about to topple.

“Mother!” Ethan rushed to assist Helen before she fell face down on the courtroom floor.

Judge hit the block once more. “Given that Mrs. Broderick looks like she’s not feeling well, we’ll adjourn for today. I’m dismissing the lawsuit of wrongful death. We’ll reconvene to hear the case of negligence seven days from today. Court is adjourned.”