Bruins Peak Bears- Complete Series, page 169
part #1 of Bruins Peak Bears Series
Constable Griffin came to get Damian, but he got up before the Constable reached him. He had to do this all by himself. He straightened his jacket and marched into the council chamber. He walked in and out of that chamber thousands of times, but never like this. He always marched straight through the front door. He never teleported to the back room, and a murmur never went over the place when he appeared.
He dared not look at the people in the stands all around him. He couldn’t bear to see anybody he knew out there. He kept his pace firm, but when he appeared on the dais where the council sat, he hesitated. He didn’t know where to go or where to sit.
His father rose to meet him and waved him toward a separate desk set up on the council’s platform. “Sit here, Damian. As you know, I will represent your case while Jeremiah Hood represents the Police case against you.”
“Yes, I know that, Daddy.”
Joshua took his place behind the desk. “Then sit down and we’ll begin.”
Damian took the chair his father indicated, and Joshua sat down next to him. Damian did his best to ignore Constable Griffin standing right behind him. Jeremiah traced his finger over his computer screen. “We’ll begin by hearing the Police case. Then we’ll hear the case for the accused. After that, we’ll consider our decision.”
Damian settled back in his seat. He heard the evidence so many times, he wouldn’t hear anything in this courtroom he hadn’t heard before. At least now the trial was starting. The crowd relaxed, too. More noises of moving around drifted over the stands, but they didn’t disturb the proceedings.
Jeremiah held up his tablet screen and read the Police statement. “This case concerns the untimely death of Ryder Law between the hours of twelve midnight and three o’clock in the morning on the night of August 17th. Damian Powers met the deceased in the late afternoon, along with his brother Eli Powers. The three men discussed council business related to the Emergent faction before parting for the night. This department believes Damian Powers later left his home to meet the deceased again, whereupon he killed Ryder Law with a blow to the head before escaping. This department believes Damian Powers then manipulated the central computer system to disguise his movements.”
The crowd murmured. Jeremiah glanced up. “This council will now here the statement for the accused.”
Joshua got to his feet and read off his own screen. “Damian Powers has never denied meeting Ryder Law on the afternoon of August 16th. Ryder was his friend, and their disagreement over council business never rose to the level of conflict. He claims he never left home the night of the murder, nor has the Police department ever discovered any evidence to substantiate the claim that he left home.”
“And how do you answer the accusation that Damian Powers tampered with the computer system?” Jeremiah asked.
Joshua set his tablet on the table. “Unfortunately, neither the accused nor the Police possesses any evidence that Damian carried out said tampering.”
“On the contrary, my dear colleague,” Jeremiah held up his computer. “This report states that the codes used to hack the system belonged to Damian. Every programmer uses unique codes to access the central programming core in order to alter and maintain the system. That is the primary reason the Police suspected Damian in the first place.”
The crowd erupted in wild talking. Damian and his father exchanged glances.
Jeremiah frowned. “Didn’t you know that? Didn’t the Police tell you that was the reason they believed Damian tampered with the system?”
“No, they didn’t,” Joshua replied. “We knew they accused Damian of tampering with it, but they never told us the tampering was done using his own codes. This is the first time we have ever heard of it.”
“Then how do you counter that accusation?”
Joshua opened his mouth and closed it again until Damian spoke up instead. “Someone else must have done it. Someone else must have stolen my codes.”
“How could they steal them?” Jeremiah asked. “Don’t you keep them secured?”
“Of course,” Damian replied. “I keep them encoded on my own computer at home. No one could have stolen them.”
“Then your retort holds no water. We have no choice but to disregard it.”
Damian collapsed back into his seat. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t imagine a worse disaster if he tried. Joshua sank into the chair at his side.
Jeremiah bent over his screen. He pursed his lips and furrowed his brow. He didn’t like this any better than anybody else. The whole thing disgusted and revolted him. He let out a heavy sigh. “We will now call witnesses to substantiate the question of the deceased’s earlier activities. Call up Eli Powers.”
Eli shouldered his way out of the crowd. Jeremiah motioned him forward. “Take your place up here on the dais, son. Yes, right there will do.”
Eli stood to one side of the Elders’ platform. He squared his shoulders at the council. He tugged his jacket down into position and adjusted his collar. Damian relaxed. At least he could rely on Eli to paint him a positive light.
Jeremiah studied his screen. “You stated in your testimony to the Police that Damian and Ryder never fought over the matter of the Emergent faction, that they remained friends up until the day of Ryder’s death.”
“That’s right. That’s the statement I gave to the Police.”
“Tell us about your last meeting with Ryder. You claim you talked about the Emergent faction then, too.”
“We talked about it all the time. In fact, we talked of almost nothing else because it dominated the discussion in the council sessions. We talked about it all the time because Damian and Ryder argued about it all the time.”
Damian shot up in his seat. Did he hear that right? At the same moment, a startled cry ripped out of the upper balcony. Damian whipped around to look toward the sound, and he caught sight of Eden looking down on him. She listened to every word, and Eli’s statements shocked her as much as anybody.
Damian locked his eyes on her face, and she returned his gaze in all her wide-open intensity. A charge of tension passed between them.
Jeremiah spoke again, and when Damian turned around, he saw Eli staring up at Eden, too. His brother saw the depth of meaning passing between Damian and Eden.
“They argued?” Jeremiah asked. “How did they argue? Did they argue in a friendly, disagreeing way, or did they fight?”
“They had friendly disagreements up until that day,” Eli replied. “That last meeting between the three of us was the first time they fought about it.”
Damian gasped out loud. He couldn’t believe his ears. Eli couldn’t be lying about this in front of the council.
“This is different than the statement you gave to the Police, Eli,” Jeremiah growled. “You must make absolutely certain you say exactly what you mean.”
“I told the Police Damian and Ryder never fought about the Emergent faction, which was true,” Eli replied. “They never fought about it—until that day. They got in a fight after we left your house, Elder Hood. They came to blows for the first time. They would have killed each other if I hadn’t parted them.”
Jeremiah let out a shaky breath. “This is very serious, very serious, indeed. So after you parted them, you and Damian went home, where you both spent the night.”
“I spent the night there,” Eli countered. “Damian went out for a walk after dinner, but he was there when I woke up in the morning. What he did in the meantime, I can’t tell you.”
An even louder cry screeched out of the stands. The crowd exploded in raucous conversation. Jeremiah banged his gavel on the platform. “Order! Order!”
Damian couldn’t sit still a second longer. He kept all this tension bottled up inside him, and now this. He rocketed out of his chair. He raged and foamed and spat at his brother. “You liar! You stinkin’, lying cur. I’ll skin you for this. I’ll flay your flesh from your bones. You…you rat! You lyin’ rat!”
He launched himself across the desk. He stretched his fingers toward his brother’s throat. “I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you for this, you liar!”
Joshua leapt to his feet just in time. He grabbed a handful of Damian’s jacket to haul him back, but he couldn’t hold a man so much younger and stronger than himself. Damian slipped one arm out of his sleeve, still ranting and fuming. “You bastard! I’ll wring your neck! I’ll rip you to shreds. Let me go. You lying piece of…”
Joshua lost his grip, and Damian rushed forward in all his power. Constable Griffin got to him before he made it across the table and laid hold of Damian by both arms. Constable Griffin and Joshua wrestled Damian to the floor. They held him down, still kicking and screaming, until three other Police officers arrived. Between the five of them, they dragged Damian out of the council chamber.
He never stopped struggling and swearing and threatening and spitting. They bumped him down the stairs and flung him in a locked room. He crashed across the cold concrete floor, where he lay still, spent and broken.
Chapter 10
Elder Hood’s personal hovercraft lifted off the roof of the council building and flew away to the apartment block across the square. Jeremiah closed his eyes and let his head fall against the seat. “Phew! What a catastrophe! I never thought I’d live to see something like this, and now I’ve got to be in charge of it. What’s Arion coming to? What will become of a society where these things can happen?”
“I, for one, will be glad to stay home from now on,” Tamar returned. “I never should have gone down there to witness a sordid debacle like that. I won’t go again. I can tell you that.”
“You’re lucky, my dear,” Jeremiah replied. “It does no one any good to engage in trials like this.”
“At least now we know the truth,” Serenity piped up. “We all know Damian’s guilty now. Did you see the way he threatened his own brother in front of everybody? He’s a raving murderer. I knew it all along. I hope you lock him up, Grandpa.”
“Unfortunately, my dear,” Jeremiah replied, “I can’t lock him up until we finish the trial. If he isn’t guilty, then some more sinister force went to a lot of trouble to make him look guilty.”
“Who would do that?” Serenity asked. “It’s bad enough we had a murder in Arion. One murderer is bad enough. You can get rid of him, and the rest of us can go on with your lives. There can’t be anyone in this city worse than Damian Powers.”
“He was such a nice boy, too,” Tamar lamented. “He had so much promise, and now he’s come to a bad end.”
Eden listened in silence from her seat, but she couldn’t bring herself to join the conversation. Every NightShade in this city must be having the same conversation right now. Everybody thought Damian was guilty. No one believed him—and why should they? All the evidence stacked against him, and now Eli accused him in front of everybody. How could Damian ever counter that?
Blowing up in front of the council only made matters worse, but that couldn’t be helped. No one would believe him now. The Elders would rush to decide against him. Then they would have to decide what to do to punish him. This case and everything connected with it would go down in the city’s records. If anybody else got murdered in Arion, the Police and the Elders would look to this case as a precedent.
God forbid anyone else ever got murdered in Arion! God preserve this city and its people from situations like this. What could compel someone to smash in another NightShade’s head in cold blood? That didn’t happen—not ever.
The hovercraft landed on the apartment building roof, and the whole family trooped down to their own home. Jeremiah retreated to his office. Tamar sank onto the couch. “You girls can fix yourselves something to eat, can’t you?”
“Sure, Grandma,” Serenity replied. “I’ll have a sandwich, and then I’ve got to hit the books. I don’t think I’ll go back to the trial, either. I don’t have time for that kind of entertainment.” She laughed at her own joke and tapped the computer on the wall. “What would you like, Eden?
“I’m not hungry,” Eden told her. “You go ahead.”
Serenity cocked her head. “Not hungry? You haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
Eden turned away. “That trial made me sick to my stomach. I don’t think I could hold anything down right now, anyway.”
Serenity ordered herself a sandwich and took a bite. Tamar let out another moan. “I’m exhausted. I’m going to lie down for a while. You girls keep it quiet for the afternoon so your grandfather can get some work done.”
“Don’t worry, Grandma,” Serenity called after her.
Eden wandered around the living room. She didn’t know what to do with herself. She couldn’t stop thinking about the trial. If she could only do something, she could find a way to punch through all this confusion. She could sweep all the cobwebs aside to reveal the bright truth underneath.
She couldn’t hang around this apartment with the trial looming over her head. She had to act. She had to push herself against this mystery until she crumbled it between her fingers.
Serenity munched her sandwich and studied her tablet across the room when the doorbell rang. Serenity started to get up, but Eden waved her back into her place. She opened the door to find Eli in the hall. He showed all his bright teeth when he smiled at her. “Hi.”
Eden couldn’t smile back at him. “Hi.”
He jerked his head toward the elevator. “I just came by to ask if you want to go out again this afternoon. There’s a carnival over in Q section. They’ve got food and games and rides and stuff. What do you say?”
“Sorry, Eli,” she replied. “I couldn’t go out right now. I’m too upset about the trial. Maybe another time.”
He cocked his head. “What better way to get your mind off the trial than to go out with me? You had a good time the other night, didn’t you?”
“I had a very nice time,” she told him, “and I’m flattered and delighted you want to go out with me again. It’s just not a good time right now. I need to deal with everything that’s happened. You go ahead on over. I’m sure you’ll have a great time.”
A hint of a frown pinched his forehead. The next instant, he recovered his usual composure. “Will I see you again?”
“I’m sure you will.” She put her hand on the panel by the door. “Thanks for coming around. See you later.”
She hit the button to close the door without waiting for a reply. The door slid shut in his face.
Eden turned around to find Serenity staring at her in wonder. “What’s wrong with you? Can’t you see he’s sweet on you?”
Eden made a face. “Mind your own business.”
Eden set off for her room, but Serenity hurried after her. “I mean it. That’s the second time he’s asked you out. Don’t you know how successful and influential he is? You couldn’t find a better match if you made a list of the most eligible bachelors in town. You should be groveling at his feet to go out with him.”
Eden growled over her shoulder at her cousin. “I’m not groveling at his feet, and I’m not making a list of the most eligible bachelors in town. You might do that, but not me.”
Serenity laughed. “Come on, Eden. Where’s your spirit? He likes you. He’s pursuing you. Why don’t you go for it?”
“You heard what I said,” Eden shot back. “I’m still too tense from the trial. I couldn’t enjoy myself now if I tried. I don’t want to go on rides and eat and play games and stuff. I just want to be by myself. In fact, I think I’ll go out for a walk—alone. That’s all right with you, isn’t it? Does that meet with your approval for my social schedule?”
“Don’t give me that about being too tense from the trial,” Serenity told her. “If Eli was your real mate, you would still go out with him. You’d be too excited even to think about the trial.”
Eden rounded on her. “Then I guess that must mean he’s not my real mate, mustn’t it?”
Serenity stared at her. Then her shoulders slumped. “Of course. That’s what it means.”
“I think I would know if Eli Powers was my mate,” Eden continued. “I had a nice time with him the other night. He even kissed me, and he’s very tempting, but he’s not the one, that’s for certain. Him being the most eligible bachelor in town doesn’t change the fact.”
Serenity nodded. “Sorry, I mentioned it, then. I better go. Have a good walk.”
Serenity retreated to her own room and left Eden alone. Eli was the most eligible bachelor in town, huh? Well, that was just grand. He would make some girl a very good husband. Eden was sure of that.
In the meantime, she had her own mate to find—at least, she had to get to him, wherever he was. He wouldn’t be as eligible a bachelor as Eli, but what difference did that make?
Silence descended over the apartment. No one moved in the living room. She had a straight, clear run to the door. She slipped out, took the elevator, and strode out into the street.
Not many people moved around outside at this time of day. Everybody went home from the trial for lunch and a rest, just like the Hoods. She had the square to herself. She strolled to the other side of the train station. She watched the empty trains wheeshing into the station and disappearing again. She watched a woman step into the teleporter booth and vanish in a curtain of sparks.
She hung around for hours, not sure what to do or where to go. Why didn’t she just admit to herself what she wanted? Why didn’t she throw all caution to the wind? She wanted to investigate this mystery. She wanted to talk to Damian about the case and the trial, but more than anything else, she just wanted to talk to him. She wanted to talk to him about anything at all, so what was stopping her?
She crossed the square, but when she came to the Elders’ council building, she paused at the foot of the steps. Was she going in there? What if someone confronted her and demanded to know what she was doing there? She couldn’t exactly explain that she wanted to see Damian Powers, that she wanted to defend him and exonerate him. That made no sense at all.
