Andrew woke at once, wrapped his arms around her, and quietly reassured her until the shaking eased. The closeness between them was such that he often seemed to sense her pain before she spoke it. Safe in his embrace, Emily finally fell into a deep, dreamless sleep and stayed there until morning.
The next workday began with a visit from a slick defense attorney named Oliver Bennett, who represented the four defendants. The lawyer tried to float the idea of a “practical arrangement,” but he ran straight into a wall of icy contempt. Judge Lewis cut him off and made it plain that she considered his clients dangerous predators who deserved no special consideration.
When the defendants were brought into the courtroom, they recognized her immediately. The color drained from their faces. Judge Lewis took in their fear without showing a thing. As the case unfolded, it emerged that one of the men, Victor Cole, had been working as a stagehand at a local theater.
Using that access, he had let his drunk friends backstage, where they noticed a young costume assistant working late after a performance. The pattern of the crime was chillingly familiar: they lured the woman into an empty dressing room and locked the door. As Judge Lewis listened to the victim’s unsteady testimony, she could almost see the shadows of her own past standing in front of her.
The prosecutor methodically laid out the evidence: medical findings, witness timelines, and preserved biological material that left little room for doubt. After a long pause, Judge Lewis delivered the verdict in a clear, measured voice. All four men were found guilty and sentenced to six years in state prison, with the full weight of the law behind the ruling.
Looking into the desperate eyes of the men who had once terrorized her, she allowed herself one brief moral statement. She said that a decent man protects women and treats them with respect; he does not prey on them to satisfy his worst impulses. When the hearing ended, Judge Lewis left the courthouse with a deep sense that something long unfinished had finally been brought to rest.
On the way home, Emily stopped at an upscale grocery store and bought bags full of good food, fruit, and a nice bottle for dinner. With lively music playing in the car, she drove through town feeling lighter than she had in years. When she pulled into the driveway, she called Andrew and asked him to come help carry everything inside….
