Chapter 38

The eyes of the public bore into Anson Banks and he fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat, feeling his face burn. But the moment had come for him to tell the truth and to shine a light on the web of secrets and lies that surrounded the murder of Liam Smith.

Anson’s eyes fell on his sister who sat with her head faced down, unable to meet his eyes. He had been selfish to force her into this madness and now it was time to set things right. He cleared his throat, feeling a sudden dryness in them as his heart beat thunderously in his chest.

‘Your Honor, allow me to tell my side of the story,” his voice came out soft and uncertain at first.

The elderly judge pulled off his glasses and pressed his lips into a thin hard line before nodding his head.

“I was supposed to be in the hospital on the night of the murder, but I had a feeling that Amber was up to something. You see, between us two, my sister has always been the one shouldering the burden of providing for us and protecting us, so I sort of had an inkling as to what she was up to.”

“That night, after she left the hospital, I crept out of my room only to find that the CCTV in the hallway was spoilt.”

At this point, Kirk the policeman sunk lower in his seat on the public’s bench, looking as though he wished for himself to disappear. Detective John Grant who sat next to him gave him a weird look.

Anson continued, “I decided to check on her, make sure she was okay. That bastard—”

The judge hit his gravel, “Defendant, you shall refrain from using derogatory remarks on the deceased.”

Anson looked at the judge and nodded his head, “My apologies your Honor. Like I said, I wanted to make sure Amber was okay. That bas—sorry, that man was not a good man. I couldn’t sneak wearing the hospital gown with my butt hanging out, so I tried looking for something to cover myself and that was when I found a pair of jeans and jacket at the nurse’s counter.”

Kirk the policeman hid his face in his hands and John Grant smacked him on the head.

Anson sighed. He had dragged Kirk into the mess. He only hoped the young policeman wouldn’t be slapped with a punishment that was too grave.

“I took them and ran out. It didn’t take long for me to reach that bas…I mean Liam Smith’s place. And the front door was unlocked too. At first, I hesitated, everything was quiet from the outside, you couldn’t hear a thing, so I thought maybe Amber hadn’t gone there. But I opened the door anyway.”

Anson sucked in his breath and bit his lips. He could still feel the burning sensation deep within when he opened the door the other night. He frowned and tried to control his emotions, “That son of a bitch—”

“Defendant!” the judge pounded on his gavel again.

This time, Anson’s voice came out clear and strong, “I’m sorry your Honor but he truly was a monster. I opened the door and saw that…”

His hands curled into a fist, as his breathing became labored, “That man was trying to rape my sister! He was choking her too! He had her shirt ripped and was trying to force himself on her!” Tears welled up in his eyes.

A gasp rippled through the courtroom and the public heard Fabian swore, “Bastard!”

At the defendant’s table, Amber’s head remained hung low, avoiding eye contact with anyone. No one could tell what she was thinking. 

“Had I arrived just a minute later, Amber would have been a gone case! I saw her trying to pry that man’s hand off her neck as he pulled down her pants with his free hand!”

All eyes went to Amber who remained motionless in her chair, her red tresses covering her face like a drawn curtain. The detective had to keep a hand on Fabian to stop him from running over to Amber.

By now even the jury was enraged. Judge Rodney had to hit his gavel again, “Order!”

It took a good ten minutes before the murmur finally died down and Anson was asked to continue.

He wiped the tears that stained his face with the back of both his cuffed hands, “She didn’t deserve that…” It was a whisper filled with anguish.

“I’d be a monster to let that…that…I’m sorry, I can’t address that animal with respect. I’d couldn’t let him violate my sister like that!”

Someone in the crowd shouted in agreement, “Damn right!”

The judge groaned, giving up on his gavel and signaled for Anson to just continue.

“I lost my mind then, I … I ran straight at him and knocked him off her. Amber lost consciousness then. I wasn’t sure if she was still breathing. Her face had turned deathly blue then. Liam Smith rolled towards this shimmery coffee table, and somehow he pulled out a stun gun from underneath it and charged at me.”

“I had to fight back. I mean, I had to. I couldn’t just let him attack me. So, I deflected his attack and fought him for the stun gun. I don’t think we fought for long; one moment the stun gun was in his hand and the next thing I knew, it was in mine and I…” Anson choked back a sob and buried his face in his trembling hands.

Amber finally lifted her head and looked at her brother, her eyes red and puffy, she had been shedding silent tears.

“I shocked him with the gun. I didn’t know how powerful it was. I just kept pressing the gun into him and just like that…he…he slumped to the ground.”

Anson sighed and shook his head, “I didn’t know it would kill him…I thought he had just passed out, but then I saw his eyes.”

A brief silence. A deathly silence.

“His eyes were open, and he had this frozen maniacal grin on his face, just staring up at the chandelier. That was when I realized he was dead.”

“I freaked out! I got scared. I looked down at my hands and the memory of Vincent Rodriguez’s blood on my hands came rushing back like a tsunami. I quickly rubbed off my handprints from the gun and…”

Another sigh.

“Like a coward, I placed the stun gun in Amber’s hand. She had just gained consciousness, and I could tell she was confused as to what had happened, but she registered what I was doing the moment I shoved the gun into her hands.”

“I begged her to save me again and before she could even reply, I ran from the scene. I did the exact same thing on the night of Vincent Rodriguez’s death. I should have stayed until the cops came, but I didn’t. Instead, I chose to run and push the responsibility to Amber. I’m … I’m sorry.”

Anson Banks broke down then, his body racked with sobs as he kept apologizing over and over again to his sister. His remorse was eating him alive. 

A whisper started to spread through the crowd in the public’s bench and soon it became a smothering chatter, its volume climbing until the sound became a deafening roar. All were shocked by Anson Banks’ story. And it seemed that even Amber’s former attorney was upset by it for he suddenly stood up and banged his hand against the table. “The fuck!”

His voice was so loud it overtook the crowd’s chatter, and everyone turned their attention to him.

“She’s bleeding!” he shouted, his eyes bulging out as he frantically pointed to Amber’s now deathly pale face.

“Amber Banks is bleeding!”

And Amber fell from her chair and slumped onto the floor and onto a pool of blood that surrounded her.