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Copyright © Carol Lynne 2020. All Rights Reserved, Totally Entwined Group Limited, T/A Pride Publishing.

Eric Kloiber concentrated on the small tag of skin he was desperately trying to remove from the corner of his well-bitten nail. He wasn’t normally a nail-biter, but his sore, bloody cuticles had suffered as much as his head and heart since the night he had been drugged and raped.

“Something’s wrong,” Eric mumbled to himself.

“Excuse me?”

Eric glanced at the police officer posted outside the courtroom door. “Sorry. I was...” He shook his head. “Never mind.”

The officer went back to his post, leaving Eric to wonder what the hell was going on. What should have been a speedy trial had turned into the hardest two weeks of his life. After his initial testimony, the defence had suddenly produced a copy of the prescription Jigger had used to get the Rohypnol in the first place. According to the defence attorney, Jigger had been prescribed the sleeping aid because of his odd employment hours. Coincidentally, the prescription had been signed by Jigger’s brother, Dr Adam Williams. The prosecutor argued that the evidence should have been presented to them in the discovery phase of the hearing, but the defence claimed they’d only just obtained the copy from a mail-in pharmacy Jigger used.

The whole thing was fucked up. Even worse, everyone had told him it should be a quick deliberation for the jury, but that hadn’t turned out to be true either. Six days. What the hell was there to discuss in an open-and-shut case for six fucking days?

Eric stood and began to pace back and forth in the marbled hall. He wished he’d asked Becket to sit with him while they waited for the jury’s decision, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that. Becket had attended every day of the trial with his boyfriend, Locky. It wouldn’t have been fair to ask him to miss the verdict. Even though Jigger was being tried for Eric’s rape, Becket had also been one of Jigger’s victims. Unfortunately, Becket had kept his rape a secret until it was too late to obtain the evidence needed for a conviction.

The heavy door to the courtroom opened and Eric stopped walking at the explosion of voices filtering into the hall. Cries of outrage from several familiar voices took Eric’s breath away. He lowered himself back to the bench and stared up at the detective who had been in charge of the investigation. Will James’ light brown hair, was longer than it had been at the start of the investigation, but Eric assumed his attention had been too focused on putting Jigger away to worry about something as trivial as his appearance. The grim expression on Will’s face seemed to confirm Eric’s biggest fear.

“Not guilty,” Eric surmised.

Will nodded and sat beside Eric, his much larger frame making Eric feel small and vulnerable. “Not guilty on the drug charge. They couldn’t reach an agreement on the rape charge. The judge had no choice but to issue a mistrial.”

“Mistrial.” As he said the word, Eric’s body began to go numb. “What exactly does that mean?”

Will rested his forearms on his thighs and rubbed his hands together. “The prosecution will take a second look at the case and decide whether or not to retry it.”

“You mean they might not?”

“Trials are expensive. Evidently we didn’t have enough to convince this jury.” Will sighed. “Sorry, kid, but I honestly don’t know what Byron will decide.”

Misplaced anger filled Eric. Whether he was mad at Byron Long, the prosecutor, or the whole fucking judicial system, he didn’t know or care, but he lashed out at Will. “I’m not a kid. You don’t go through what I’ve been through and remain a damn kid.”

Will sat up. “You’re right. I apologise.”

The heavy door opened again as people began to leave the courtroom. The last place Eric wanted to be was at the centre of his friends’ pity. “I gotta get outta here.”

Before Will or anyone else could stop him, Eric jumped to his feet and ran down the hall. He considered hiding out in the bathroom, but he knew that would be the first place Becket would search. Instead, he ran down the wide staircase, taking the steps two at a time. He slowed to a walk as he got to the security station and nodded to the guards before exiting the building.

Eric didn’t realise until he was two blocks down the street that Will hadn’t told him whether or not Jigger would be freed. “Fuck!”