The dinner went pretty well. The upside: Nick and Kindlin both liked Jake and Jen, though they could tell Jake was very professional and didn't seem too eager to "ruin his reputation." The downside: Jake continued to refuse testifying about his daughter, in court, when Nick had talked to him, in private, while Kin and Jen were cleaning the kitchen.
A month later, Nick and Kindlin were sitting at the dining room table, paying the bills together. The kids had long since gone to bed. The only sound in the room was the clicking of Nick's pen against the table, and the occasional, and accidental, slurp from Kin as she ate her peach. Other than that it was awfully quiet. The phone rang, breaking the much-needed silence.
Kindlin sighed, "If it's not a kid, it's a telephone."
Nick stood up, a childish grin on his face at her comment.
She couldn't help but laugh at his smile.
"I'll get it, baby," he trudged from the room and into the kitchen.
"Hullo?" Kin heard him asked. Mindlessly, she went back to her checkbook, which she was balancing.
A few minutes later, Nick came back in the room. "That was Mr. Spalding."
Jim Spalding was their attorney. He was a short, bald, middle-aged man, who was fairly nice when you got to know him... otherwise he came across as testy and grumpy. But Nick and Kindlin loved him anyhow.
"He was reminding us that the case goes to the grand jury this Saturday."
Wendi had pleaded innocent, so it hadn't gone straight to trial. Instead it was going through the grand jury, which would determine if the case would go to trial, or not. The only way it would is if the grand jury thought that there was enough evidence against Mrs. Kross. If it didn't go to trial? Wendi got off with a lot less than she deserved.
Kindlin looked up at Nick with a halfhearted smirk that held a hint of grimness, "Like we could forget."
~ * Saturday * ~
Wendi Kross stepped into the courtroom, her head held high. She was determined to maintain at least some of her dignity, even if there were handcuffs around her wrists. Her lawyer had told her repeatedly to look upset, but she refused.
Bob Carles nudged Wendi in the ribs with his elbow, "Look down, Wendi."
Wendi glared at him before finally giving in and casting her gaze to the floor. From then on, she acted heavy-hearted. She acted as if she were the victim.
After all, as Mr. Carles continued to say, Nick and Kindlin (and all the other parents who were coming up against her) were the villains. She was the wronged.
~ * Hours Later * ~
Kindlin stepped into Nick's and her Durango, leaning her head back and closing her eyes, while waiting for Nick to get into the driver's seat. The grand jury had decided to readjourn early the next morning. Everyone needed some rest. Night had come and it was dark outside, though still undeniably warm... after all, it was Florida. But she felt cold on the inside.
Things didn't look too good for their case against Mrs. Kross. They didn't exactly know why, but the judge seemed to be leaning towards Wendi only getting a small amount of jail time... and the rest being community service. The case wouldn't go to trial, and that would just be the end of it.
The thought made Kindlin want to puke. The only thing that the judge had to go by was a small bunch of parents who were saying that their children had told them that their preschool teacher had touched them. But don't kids lie all the time? Or maybe the parent's were reading into things?
Plus, Mrs. Kross had an excellent and manipulative lawyer.
Kindlin knew that they had to do something so it would go to trial. They had their linking piece... they had their main evidence... they had Jack... he'd walked in on Wendi touching his daughter, after all!
But Jack wouldn't talk.
