###
About the author:
Mark Richard Masters was born in Northern California, but his family moved to Oregon when he was very young. After they finally settled down in a very small town, his family fractured. Shortly after that Mark began to write. For many years he would alternate between writing and not. Finally he decided to try to make money off of his hobby.
Please feel free to get in contact with me at:
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-Richard-Masters/123720121127809
Twitter
https://twitter.com/markrichardmast
A Call to Witness (A Christian E-chapbook)
As Seen In (A Horror Anthology and E-chapbook)
Trial of the Innocent (A Murder Mystery Poem)
Justice for Ashley
a Horror short story
check out this preview
Life had been hard on Ellen recently, but that year proved to be the worst. When Thanksgiving had come and nothing bad had seemed to happen she thought that maybe the dark times were over. After all, the only cloud over the festivities that she could see was that her younger sister, Ashley, had a good reason to think that her husband, Devon, was cheating on her, or so Ashley had told her recently. Ashley had also told her that every time it was brought up he denied it, and accused her of being crazy. But that did not explain the secret phone calls or the hang ups when she answered the phone.
Ellen had argued with Ashley and the rest of her family over Ashley's involvement with Devon in the past. All of her family knew that she thought that he had robbed the cradle and that Ashley's trust fund was what Devon really saw in her. After all, why else would a man in his late twenties chase after a moody nondescript girl of fourteen. But that didn't seem to bother their mother who pushed her teenage daughter to him. Nor did the fact that he had been married before worry her mother. After all he was a Laurel, she was a Fielding and their great granddads had started the timber yard together many years ago. Before she had even turned eighteen they were married.
For the first little bit it seemed like Ellen's concerns may not have been founded. Devon was working for the family business and he treated his new wife well. He even got a mortgage on a manufactured house on the outskirts of town. When she said she wanted to get a job and help out, he told her that he would be glad if she did. To help her, he even co-signed for a loan on a small white ford truck.
But that did not last long. At first it was just little things. He would become really angry at the littlest things and yell a lot. Then yelling was not enough and he began to grab her hard when-ever she was around and he was upset. That's when Ellen had first noticed the bruises and asked her sister about them. She said it was just a bad time, he was really sorry, and it would never happen again. It did happen again and again though, and even though Ashley called the police several times, she never formally filed a complaint.
Then Devon was fired from the family business because he broke the company's rules on drug use a couple times. So Ashley had to go from helping to support them, to being the sole provider, and also had to use her trust fund to pay the mortgage. For the indignity of being fired Devon got even angrier. Several times he would hit her in the face or sprain something like a wrist. Ashley still loved Devon too much to leave him though, even when Ellen begged her to think of herself.
So it was no surprise when they showed up to the family's Thanksgiving meal at the restaurant together. Even though there was tension between them, most of the family acted like nothing was wrong. That, however, would be the last time they were all together. Two days later, Ellen got the phone call that she had feared since Ashley had gotten involved with Devon.
Earlier that evening Ashley had gone to the Wet Pine Tavern looking for Devon to ask him something about the groceries. Depending on the account Ashley wigged out and while trying to restrain her in their car, Devon accidentally broke her neck from the back seat. He had a customer call 911 after he told them that he killed his wife. After they called the police Devon ran away before they showed up to question him. He was found later at his house where after several minutes of talking to his family Devon turned himself in.
The day of the funeral Devon was not allowed to attend but Ashley and Ellen's mom had hired the best lawyer money could buy to defend him. She also left for a two week vacation in Hawaii right after her coffin had left the chapel. Ellen, however, had stayed and gone to the grave side service as well. That whole day almost anything sent Ellen in to tears because she thought that she had failed to save her sister from a fate she should have seen coming.
Six months later Devon's trial began at the Courdlis City Courthouse, in Wallace County. From the beginning the lawyers defending Devon went out to destroy Ashley’s reputation. They brought up the fact that she had been in a mental hospital and even hinted at the fact that she had used drugs and may have been wasted before she came looking for their client. The prosecutors did nothing to refute this nor did they bring up the past history of physical abuse or Devon's drug use. In the newspapers it said the Center to Protect Against Household Violence were the ones gathering the information for the prosecution. So the next day Ellen made an appointment to see them.
"Good day, how can I help you?" asked the receptionist behind the pristine white counter at the center.
"I wish to speak to someone about Devon Laurel's trial," Ellen told her. "My name is Ellen and I am the sister of the deceased."
If you liked the sneek peek please buy the story!
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends