Free Off the Beaten Path by Unknown Page B

had stood against everything that she had been told. She stood against her mother's insistence that, “No good could be served by such a public trial”. She had stood against the lawyer that her father had hired when he saw how determined she was. Her lawyer had told her with unwavering certainty that she had almost “No Chance of winning this court battle”. She had stood against the generous out of court settlement that the good reverend had offered to, “Help her secure her future”. She understood instantly that the good reverend was more interested in his son's future than hers.

    When the defense attorney could finally see around the reverend he saw the empty chair where Jennifer had been sitting. In the brief moment that the reverend had captured his attention she had escaped from the courtroom. He stood up and looked over the crowd and thought he could see the back of her head. For just a split second he thought that he saw her blond ponytail bobbing in the crowd. He was sure that it was not her, the blond hair in the crowd did not have the pink ribbon in it that she had had in her hair every day of the trial.
    He made his way over to the prosecution table and the empty chair where Jennifer had been sitting. As he turned to leave his eyes caught a glimpse of something resting on the seat of the old hard wood chair where she had been sitting. He reached down and picked up a pink ribbon.
    Even though she had not wept openly at the verdict he thought that he could feel her tears soaked deep into the ribbon. A smile came across his face when he realized that she had left the ribbon for him. She had forgiven him and as he turned left the courtroom he knew what he was going to do.
    The next morning the defense attorney walked straight into the senior partner’s office of the law firm of Hendricks, Dillon, & Marshal, the firm that employed him, without an appointment. The senior partner came out of his chair with a gracious smile and his hand extended, “Hell of a win yesterday, Jack, Hell of a win”. Jack Evans thought to himself, Ya it was a Hell of a win yesterday, or at least a win that would send him to Hell. But that was not the direction that he wanted to go. After offers of coffee or maybe something a little stronger Mr. Hendricks could see that his Lead defense council had something on his mind, “What can I do for you, Jack?. Jack did not blink, “I'm Done.” he said it with such force and conviction that the stoic Mr. Hendricks burst out laughing, he thought that he was being, what did the kids call it, punked. When Jack stood there without a single outward sign of emotion the laughter died and the smile disappeared from the old lawyers face. The only thing that he could say was, “Holy Shit, you’re serious?”
    Jack said in a relaxed confident tone of a man that has weighed every option in his mind and has made a decision so final that no force human or otherwise could sway him. The senior partner grew a hopefully devious smirk across his face and said in his low savvy lawyer voice, “Is it more money?” He saw Jack's face harden and knew in an instant that it was not about money. The senior partner stood up walked around and sat down on the edge of the desk and looked down at Jack.
    He asked, “Jack, what is this about?” even though he knew the answer before Jack opened his mouth.
    “It’s about what I did to that innocent girl, I am as guilty as that son of a bitch that raped her”
    Mr. Hendricks drew a deep thoughtful breath and addressed Jack as if he was speaking to a jury.
    “Jack, it’s part of the job. A defense attorney can't afford to choose only the good people to defend; we would all be out of business.” He thought that his last statement would at least get a smile out of Jack, it did not.
    He had known Jack Evans long enough to know that when he made his mind up there was no changing it. The two men starred hard at each other and did not move. The senior partner was trying