Chapter 13 - The Missing Juror
For several hours, everyone feared Victor had somehow reached beyond the jail walls.
The truth was less dramatic but equally serious.
The juror had received an anonymous threat.
He panicked and left town.
Federal investigators traced the message.
It came from an associate of Victor's who had escaped the first wave of arrests.
The juror was found safe.
A mistrial was avoided.
The associate was arrested.
And the jury returned.
That evening, Violet asked me a question.
“What happens if Victor gets away?”
“He doesn't.”
“You can't know that.”
She was right.
So I corrected myself.
“If the system fails, we keep using the system until it works.”
She smiled slightly.
“That doesn't sound like old you.”
“No.”
“What would old you say?”
I thought about the sentence that had lived inside my head the day I found her.
Traitors will die tonight.
It sounded childish now.
Not because my anger had disappeared.
Because Violet was alive.
And living demanded more discipline than hatred.
“Old me would've confused punishment with justice.”
“And new you?”
“New me has a teenager who won't stop correcting him.”
“Sounds exhausting.”
May you like
“It is.”
The following afternoon, the jury announced it had reached a verdict.
