Chapter 7 - THE VISITATION
Two weeks before the trial was set to begin,
I received a request that I never expected.
Dominic wanted to see me.
He was being held in a high-security federal facility,
his lawyers claiming he was suffering from "severe depression" and "health issues."
I told the warden I would come.
Not because I cared about his health.
But because I wanted to see the man who thought he could threaten a Federal Judge.
I was ushered into a small,
sterile visiting room.
The smell of bleach and floor wax was overwhelming.
Dominic sat on the other side of a thick plexiglass window,
wearing an orange jumpsuit that clashed with his sallow skin.
He had lost weight,
his hair was unkempt,
and the arrogant smirk was nowhere to be seen.
He looked like a trapped animal,
small and pathetic.
I sat down and picked up the phone,
my face a mask of judicial indifference.
"You wanted to see me,
Dominic?"
"I want to make a deal,
Evelyn,"
he rasped,
his voice sounding like gravel.
"I can give you more names."
"I can give you the international connections."
"Just get me out of here."
"Tell the prosecutor to drop the trafficking charges."
"I’ll plead to the fraud."
"I’ll pay the fines."
I listened to him,
marveling at the fact that he still thought everything was a transaction.
"You're not in a position to negotiate,
Dominic,"
I said.
"We already have the names."
"We already have the connections."
"The ledgers you so carefully kept have told us everything we need to know."
He slammed his hand against the glass,
the sound echoing in the small room.
"You bitch!"
"You're destroying a legacy!"
"I built this city!"
"You infected this city,
Dominic,"
I corrected him.
"And the law is the medicine that’s finally cleaning it out."
"You threatened me,"
I reminded him,
leaning closer to the glass.
"You sent a text message to a Federal Judge telling her she would 'regret' protecting her daughter."
"That alone is enough to keep you in a cell for ten years."
"But the trafficking?"
"The lives you destroyed for a few extra zeros in your bank account?"
"That’s what will ensure you never see the sun again."
He began to sob,
a jagged,
ugly sound that held no remorse,
only self-pity.
"I loved her,"
he blubbered.
"I gave her everything."
"You gave her bruises and fear,"
I spat.
"You treated her like a trophy you could kick whenever you were bored."
"And now,"
"you're just a statistic."
I stood up,
hanging up the phone.
"Clara is doing well,
by the way,"
I said,
though he couldn't hear me anymore.
"The baby is healthy."
"And they will both grow up in a world where your name is a cautionary tale."
I walked out of the room,
the sound of his screaming muffled by the heavy steel door.
As I walked through the prison gates,
the air felt fresher than it had in years.
The ghost of Dominic Ward was finally laid to rest.
But the trial was still ahead,
and I knew he had one last card to play.
His lawyers were calling it "The Insanity Defense."
But I knew better.
Dominic Ward wasn't insane.
He was just evil.
May you like
And evil is a choice,
not a diagnosis.
