Chapter 9 - The Courtroom Reckoning
Three weeks later. The Final Trial.
The State Supreme Court was filled to maximum capacity. Federal prosecutors, international news journalists, and city leaders packed every bench.
Derek Voss sat in the defendant’s chair, wearing an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs, flanked by court guards.
On the witness stand sat seven-year-old Sadie Brooks.
She wore a clean blue dress, her hair neatly braided, sitting tall on the booster cushion provided by the court bailiff. Her small hand rested near the microphone.
The defense attorney stood up, trying one last desperate tactic.
“Little girl,” the defense attorney said softly, trying to sound gentle. “Isn't it true that Mr. Cole offered you toys and a big house so you would say bad things about your step-father?”
Sadie looked at the lawyer. Then she looked across the room at Derek Voss.
She didn't cry. She didn't flinch.
“Derek locked my mother in the cold bedroom when she was coughing blood,” Sadie said, her clear, brave voice echoing through the silent courtroom speakers. “He took her medicine away. And when she died, he told me he was going to throw Emma away if I didn't help him find the paper.”
The courtroom was completely breathless.
“What paper, sweetheart?” the chief prosecutor asked softly.
“The paper with Mr. Ethan’s name,” Sadie answered, turning her eyes toward Ethan, who sat at the front row watching her with quiet pride. “Because my mama told me Mr. Ethan was a good man. And my mama never lied.”
The judge closed her binder with a final, heavy thud.
“This court has heard enough,” Judge Robertson announced, her voice trembling with emotion. “Derek Voss, you are sentenced to forty-five years in federal penitentiary without the possibility of parole for human trafficking, child endangerment, and attempted extortion.”
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The courtroom burst into thunderous applause.
Derek was dragged out by court marshals, screaming curses until the heavy doors slammed shut behind him.
