The Creighton File by David J Antocci

Author:David J Antocci
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: David Antocci
Published: 2019-08-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

The judge and jury filed back in, and the bailiff announced that court was back in session.

“Are we ready, Mr. Evans?”

“Yes, Your Honor. The prosecution calls Mr. Jacob Accardi to the witness stand.”

There were murmurs throughout the gallery as Jake walked up and put his hand on the Bible, but a glare from the judge silenced them.

As Jake sat down, he stared at the defendant’s table. One by one, he met their eyes: Barton, the senator, Crow...

I’m not afraid of you.

“Mr. Accardi,” Evans began. “You were Miss Keeney’s fiancé, correct?”

“Her husband,” Jake corrected. “We were married just a few hours before Crowley Creighton murdered her.”

More murmurs from the gallery.

Judge Tanner slammed his gavel once. He had no patience for a restless crowd. “We will remain quiet, ladies and gentlemen, or I will clear this courtroom.”

Evans continued. “Yes, sorry. Her husband. I know this will be painful, Mr. Accardi, but please, walk us through the events of the evening in question.”

Jake nodded thoughtfully, summoning the will to rehash excruciating memories while holding it together. “Well, it was a great night before Mr. Creighton came along; I can tell you that.”

Barton stood. “Objection.”

The judge waved him off, not even addressing the objection. “Let’s stick to the facts, Mr. Accardi.”

Jake smirked a little. He enjoyed seeing Crow and his team uncomfortable.

“Well, it was our wedding night, and it was a beautiful night. I was marrying a woman that, until I met her, I could only dream of. It was a small ceremony. Just our closest family and friends, the way we both always pictured it. Just the people who loved us most, you know? We did it in the function room at 45 Thames. They let Jessica park her car right by the back entrance in the alley. They didn’t want the bride and her girls to circle for a parking space and then trek back in with all the decorations. Anyway, at the end of the night, we planned to take her car to the hotel.”

“Where were you going after the wedding?” Evans asked, helping to move things along.

“The Marriott in Galveston. We were leaving on a cruise at noon the next day.”

“Sounds nice,” Evans said, looking at the jury, particularly the women. Jake was heavy, but still good-looking, and as he dabbed his eyes thinking about his dead wife, he noticed the women were equally moved. One was biting the inside of her cheek; another rubbed the corner of her eye with a finger. This just may work, Evans thought.

“It would be,” Jake conceded, taking a deep breath to steel himself before moving on. “So, we’re driving down the alley, and there’s a van stopped there. I’m just going to drive around it. It’s after midnight, and we’ve got an hour drive ahead of us. But the guy—Creighton’s roommate, Luke—was outside the van, flagging us down. Jessica has... had. Had a heart of gold and told me to stop and help him, so I did.”

Jake stared at the floor, thinking about that moment.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.