An Unexpected Love by Amber Riel (dar e dil novel online reading .TXT) 📕

          “Not as bad as I think?” Zeke asked. “Dude, you went to rob a bank, you murdered someone, and you kidnapped this poor girl. That’s worse than I think. I can’t believe that I’m friends with a criminal. Come on, Cassie. I’m going to get you out of here and go down to the-”

          “Whoa… dude, if it helps any, I was thinking about turning myself in,” Brandon confessed.

          “Then why didn’t you?”

          “Because… I fell in love with the witness…” the guilt came rushing back to Brandon.

          “That’s no excuse. Come on, Cassie… I’m going to bring you to a safe place.”

          “But… I am safe,” Cassie replied.

          Zeke locked eyes with Cassie, confused. “What do you mean?”

          “I feel safe with Brandon,” she admitted. “Believe it or not….”

          Zeke was more confused than before. Nothing Cassie had said made any sense to him. “This is messed up. I’m calling the cops.”

          Brandon moved away from Cassie and stood up. “No.”

          Cassie and Zeke both turned their attention toward Brandon.

          “I’ll call the police. It’s my mess. I need to tell them myself,” Brandon told them.

A month later, Brandon was in his room preparing for his court date. Cassie was gone. He knew they would prove him guilty. All he wanted was to see Cassie one more time and remind her how much he loved her. The pain of not seeing his girlfriend for a while hurt. He would have rather been dead than to know that he wouldn’t be able to see her face.

          A tall skinny, blonde man wearing glasses and his hair brushed back walked into the room. He was dressed in a black suit and tie outfit. “Brandon, we have to go.”

          “Okay, Brain.”

          Cassie, Melinda, and Jennie waited inside of the courthouse. All three of them were glad to see each other again. “So, your kidnapper… he didn’t harm you in any way, shape, or form, did he? Because if he did, I’m going to kill him,” Melinda told Cassie.

          “No… actually, he treated me more like a guest than a prisoner and… well… um… um…” Cassie began. She had no idea how to tell her friends what had happened between her and Brandon.

          “Well, what?” Melinda asked.

          “Um… um…. What if I told you two that we might have… um…” Cassie was searching for the right words.

          “Might have what?” Jennie asked.

          “Okay. Please don’t yell at me when I tell you this… that means you, Melinda,” Cassie replied.

          “Okay… what?” Jennie asked.

          “Well… um…” Cassie bit her lip. “I love him.”

          “What?!” Melinda exclaimed.

          “No way,” Jennie replied, shocked.

          “You’re in love with the man who kidnapped you?!” Melinda shouted.

          “Yeah,” Cassie admitted. “And we kissed about twice.”

          “Are you stupid or something, Cassie?! You can’t just fall in love with-!” Melinda continued.

          “Cassie,” Brandon replied, cutting off Melinda. “I’m sorry, ladies, for interrupting.”

          Melinda grew quiet and stared at Brandon, confused.

          “Um… Melinda, Jennie, this is my kidnapper and boyfriend, Brandon. He’s not a bad guy once you get to know him,” Cassie explained.

          Brandon hugged Cassie. “I love you,” he whispered to her.

          “I love you, too,” she whispered.

          They broke out of the hug and Brandon turned to face Cassie’s two friends. Melinda and Jennie had to admit that Brandon was attractive and oddly enough there was something familiar about him. “It was nice to meet you two,” he told them. “I would love to stay and chat but I need to find Zeke to see if he can take care of Buck for me.”

          “Okay, bye, Brandon,” Cassie told him.

          Brandon left whilst Lloyd walked over to the girls. He was also glad that Cassie was safe.

          “Brandon’s pretty cute,” Melinda admitted. “Now, I see why you like him. He’s so fine….”

          “Um… boyfriend right here,” Lloyd reminded her.

          “Oh, but you’re the hottest guy I know,” Melinda replied.

          “I better be.” Lloyd wrapped an arm around her. “So, was that your boyfriend who just walked away that you were telling me about, Cassie?”

          “Yep,” Cassie answered.

          “He doesn’t seem to be a bad guy,” Lloyd told her.

          “Wait? You told Lloyd about that guy before you told us?” Melinda asked a little mad.

          “Yeah,” Jennie agreed. “We’re supposed to be your best friends.”

          “Yeah,” Cassie replied, “but I knew that he wasn’t going to yell at me after I told him.”

          Melinda and Jennie didn’t reply.

          “You know,” Jennie said after a moment of silence, “he kind of looks familiar.”

          “He kind of sounds familiar too,” Melinda agreed.

          “I’ve never seen him in a day of my life,” Lloyd replied.

          The court room was small with six rows of pews on each side. Cassie stood in the back next to the double doors. Tears filled her eyes when she looked at the people, knowing that she would never be able see Brandon for a while. She wished that she didn’t have to testify against him but she had no choice. People walked in and sat in the rows, preparing for the trial.

          There was a railing which separated the pews from the other half of the room with two tables and room for four people to sit at each table. The stand for the judge was on the other side of the room and was also connected to the stand for the witness. The jury was to the left of the judge’s stand.

          Melinda, Lloyd, and Jennie sat in the first row of pews on Cassie’s left. Cassie couldn’t move. She couldn’t believe that Brandon had actually turned himself in but she knew he had to.

          Zeke walked in, holding Buck’s leash. He walked the dog over to Cassie. Normally, they wouldn’t have allowed dogs or any other pets for that matter into the court room but for some reason they had made an exception. “Cassie, I’m glad that Brandon found you,” Zeke told her. “He seems to be happier when he’s with you than with any other woman he’s dated… don’t worry… things will work out. They always do.”

          “Thanks, Zeke.” Cassie smiled a little.

          Zeke hugged Cassie then walked away whilst Jennie made her way over to Cassie. “So, Cassie,” Jennie asked, checking out Zeke, “who’s that guy you were just talking to?”

          “Oh, that’s Zeke. He’s one of Brandon’s friends,” Cassie told her.

          “He’s cute.”

          “He is cute,” Cassie agreed. “He’s single too,” she hinted.

          “Oh really?”

          “Yep.”

          “Well, I think I’ll just go talk to him.”

          Cassie laughed a little whilst Jennie walked away.

          Brandon looked over at the table where Cassie sat. He knew she was hurt. He wished he could get up and walk over to her and give her a hug but he wasn’t allowed to move. Not only that but he had handcuffs around his wrist which would have made it difficult for her to hug her.

          The bailiff walked up onto the judge’s stand, picked up the mallet, and hit it against the desk. “All rise,” he spoke with a deep stern voice.

          Everyone stood up and the Judge walked in and took his place.

          “The court is now in session,” the bailiff said before walking away.

          “Sit down,” the judge told everyone. He looked over some papers and then at Brandon. “Brandon Cook?”

          “Yes, sir,” Brandon spoke with respect.

          “You know why you’re here today?”

          “Yes, sir.”

          “Okay.”

          Brain stood up. “Your honor, my client is innocent. He wasn’t anywhere near the bank at the time….”

          Cassie looked over at Brain.

          “He was out of town the week that it happened….”

          Brandon looked up at his lawyer, a little frustrated.

          “Judge Duncan, you can’t punish this man. I call Cassie Smith to the stand.”

          Cassie looked at the judge then to Brain. She stood up and walked over to the stand. Once she was there, she sat down and the Bailiff walked over to her. He had her place her hand on the Bible and had her quote the oath to tell the truth.

          Brain walked over to her. “Miss Smith, tell us about what happened when you were at the bank.”

          “Okay.” Cassie closed her eyes to help refresh her memory. “I was at the bank, helping Micheal out with placing money into the volt. We had stopped to take a break when this masked man came in. Micheal had me hide because he was an old friend to our family and he didn’t want to tell my parents that something bad had happened to me. I hid under his desk as the man made his way to the clerk.” She slowly began crying. “The man asked Micheal for some money, but he didn’t have a bag for Micheal to put the money in. Then, I guess somewhere down the line the man had pulled out a gun. About five minutes later, I heard a gunshot. It wasn’t long before I seen Micheal’s body hit the floor. I couldn’t help but scream. The man heard me and went to attack me. I hit him in the face with a book….”

          Brandon held his head in shame, remembering everything.

          “I got up and ran but I was trapped because of the wall. I turned around but the man was right behind me. He grabbed my arms and duck taped them behind my back. He dragged me to his vehicle, threatening me with the gun. Later that night, I saw the face of my kidnapper for the first time. I’m sorry, Brandon.” Cassie was now in tears. “I can’t lie to them.”

          Brandon looked at Cassie, wishing he could hold her close to him.

          Cassie looked up at Duncan, then to the jury, then to Brain. “Brandon’s not a bad guy once you get to know him. He treated me more like a guest than a prisoner.” Her eyes were now a cherry color when she locked eyes with Brandon. “I got to know him. If he was a murderer then he probably wouldn’t have a healthy, playful, overgrown puppy, which loves kids and gets along with anybody. I found the gun from that day and noticed there weren’t any bullets in it at all. Then I found the list that he had made for that day. I asked Officer Davis to place it in a Ziploc bag. It mentions how he wasn’t planning on killing anyone because he wasn’t expecting to have the bullet