CHAPTER 9

Cameron was waiting for Amanda to show up. She was 15 minutes late. Yesterday she told him not to stand her up, but he was beginning to think she was the one doing it. The judge was waiting and he was getting mad. If something came up, she would’ve called. He was really nervous, even when Gary tried to calm him down. Cameron knew this wasn’t the wedding he wanted to give the love of his life, but until his problems with the law were finished, this was all he could do. Looking at his watch, he told Gary he would go and call her up. Rachel told him Amanda left more than half an hour ago, without telling her where she was going. Alli was with her, and they didn’t call since. Cameron was even more nervous, because the City Hall was only 15 minutes away from the Cory house. Gary was nervous too, but couldn’t tell Cameron because he would panic. He was pacing the floor with his hands in his pockets.

"-Cameron? He heard"

Turning around he saw Alli in a cute little white dress, with a flower in her hair.

"-My mom is coming soon. She had something to take care of. She said.

-I thought she wasn’t coming. He answered

-Well she is coming, don’t worry. She just ran into Ms. Watts."

Cameron felt his blood boiling. Josie was keeping Amanda on purpose. He just knew it. Sometimes, people in love do crazy things, and he was sure that was one of them. Amanda arrived a few seconds later, in a beautiful dress. Like her daughter, she had a flower in her hair. It was a beautiful, hot autumn day. Her dress was a simple, summer dress, but it took Cameron’s breath away. The judge saw, by Cameron’s face, that this was the woman he was waiting for. The judge said they could finally start, but Cameron and Amanda were too busy looking in each other’s eyes to answer. The groom’s heart was beating so fast, he was short of breath.

"-Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man, and this woman, in matrimony."

Started the judge, but Cameron wasn’t hearing anything of his speech. He was holding Amanda’s hands in his, and was looking deep into her soul. Alli was holding Billy, and Gary had the rings. They were all smiles, and the judge thought he had rarely seen two people that much in love. Billy was cooing every time the judge said the name Amanda, and she was smiling every time she heard him coo. Cameron was seeing her with a ray of light around her, and he whispered to her she looked like an angel.

"-Cameron, do you take Amanda, to be your lawfully-Wedded wife? Do you promise to cherish her, love her, and honor her, till death do you part? Asked the judge

-I do, answered Cameron, with the heart about to leap out of his chest.

-Amanda, do you take Cameron, to be your lawfully-wedded husband? Do you promise to cherish him, love him and honor him, till death do you part?

-I do.

-Does someone have the rings, a symbol of their love and promises to each other?

-I do, answered Gary"

he gave the rings, and stepped back.

"-Cameron, take the ring in your hand, place it on her finger and say with this ring, I thee wed.

-With this ring, I thee wed.

-Now Amanda, take the ring, place it on his finger and say with this ring, I thee wed

-With this ring, I thee wed.

-By the power invested in me by the laws of this state, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Mister Sinclair, you may now be the first to kiss Mrs.. Cameron Sinclair."

Gary pushed his brother aside and took Amanda in his arms, but Cameron objected loudly.

"-But he said Mister Sinclair, he didn’t specify! Said Gary"

Everybody bursted out laughing, and Cameron took Amanda in his arms.

"-Mrs.. Sinclair, said Cameron, softly. Can I kiss you?

-You better, said Amanda, holding her breath.

-Won’t your husband be jealous? He said with a smile

-You are my husband

-I have never heard a most beautiful sentence in my whole life, he said seriously, before kissing her with all the love he felt for her, while the judge, Gary and Alli started clapping their hands.

-I now present to you, Mister and Mrs. Sinclair said the judge"

Alli went to join the embrace, and Cameron kissed her on the cheek. Amanda took Billy in her arms and started crying. Gary looked at Cameron, and said;

"-Man you are fast. You just married her and she’s already crying!"

Amanda turned around, as they were going down in the street, Cameron told her he had reservations at Carlino’s. Gary took Billy and started walking in front of them, with Alli, while Cameron was holding Amanda’s hand. They looked like any other couples, but something in their eyes was telling how much they had to fight to get there. But at last, Amanda was Mrs. Cameron Sinclair, what she wanted from the first time she saw him.

Cameron let her pass in front of him, holding the door, when she heard, Congratulations! In a very loud voice. Carlino’s was packed up. Rachel, Matt, Lila, Paulina, Jake, Vicky, Remy, Nick, Chris, Joe, Toni, Etta Mae, Tyrone, Cass, Felicia and even Josie were waiting for them. Amanda gasped from the surprise, and tears started rolling down her face again. Cameron whispered in her ear that they knew since the morning and were waiting here.

"-I know you would rather have had a real wedding, in a church, but I thought that this would cheer you up a little.

-Living in a card box with you would be enough for me"

Kisses and hand shakes were all around, slap in the backs and tears too. Rachel was holding Amanda close, saying how much she knew her daughter wanted this. Paulina was talking to Cameron, saying a thousand and one recommendations on how to treat Amanda. Josie was sitting all alone in the back, holding her son. After talking to everyone, Cameron went and sat beside her. He could tell she had been crying. He knew how much being here must have been hurting her, but he was glad she was. After all, she was her friend and he cared a great deal about her. They talked a little, and he got up to make a speech. Gary, Jake and Tyrone had to get him up, and Joe had to threaten to throw the cake on his head if he didn’t.

"-Well, I’m not very good at speeches, so I’ll make it as short as I can. Thank you!

-Longer, longer, started to chant the crowd

-Ok, Ok, he said laughing. Well, it’s true, thanks for sharing this wonderful day with Amanda and me. I just hope I won’t receive the bills for this!"

Everybody laughed, even Josie.

"-Seriously. I never thought I’d find my place in the world. I was a loner, and I thought I was cursed to stay that way. But I met a lady, Josie, and she got me out of prison, for a while anyway, and because of her, I met Amanda. I fell in love with that stuck-up princess the minute I saw her. Cameron smiled, and Amanda blew a kiss at him. Josie got me my brother back, and she gave me a beautiful baby boy. So I guess I owe her some thanks. Thanks Josie, because of you, I have my family back. Gary, I love you man, but not as much as I love Alli. I hope you and me will get along. I already love you like my own.

-Poor kid! Said Gary

-To many years of happiness! Said Cameron. Amanda, you’ll have my thank you’s later!"

Everybody drank their glasses, and Alli went to Cameron. She kissed him, saying she loved him too, and felt she was a part of their family, just like Billy was. Amanda was looking at them, holding each other close, and she was so happy. They were on top of the world, and nothing could stop them.

Nothing except the prison, in less than a week.

CHAPTER 10

Amanda and Alli wanted to move in with Cameron, but he objected. They needed to stay in the Cory house because his lease was over at the end of the week. Also, he didn’t have enough money, but was too proud to tell Amanda. Amanda asked Rachel if Cameron and Billy could move in with them until Cameron had to leave, and the matriarch agreed to it, so the Sinclairs moved in with the Cory house. Gary had already moved out, because he thought Amanda and Alli would move in. Rachel gave the little family a wing of the house, and Alli changed rooms, to be close to Billy’s. The baby was in love with his "sister". Every time he saw her, a big smile was on his face, and he always wanted to be in her arms. Cameron knew that even if he had to spend his whole 2 years in prison, Alli wouldn’t give up on Billy, neither would Amanda. He already talked to Josie about letting Amanda and Alli see him, and she agreed.

The deadline was closer, and Cameron was beginning to feel the first signs of desperation. Nobody found something to re-open the case, so it looked like Cameron would end up in jail. Giving up on the life he learned to love, even for two years, was too much to ask of him. Even if Amanda was now his wife, she may not wait for him, and then he would be alone again. William would have learn to live with his mother and he knew he had no rights asking Josie to give the boy back after two years. Once again, he stood to lose everything in his life.

Last day of freedom was now in front of him. Jake, Chris, Tyrone, Gary and Joe had promised him that they wouldn’t give up, and would get him back to his family. He spent his last day with his wife and his two kids. Alli had started calling him dad, even if she loved her real father to death. At 8 o’clock the next morning, he had to bring Billy to his mother and then hit the road. They tried not to think about it, but everyone was always wiping off tears from their faces. Amanda was desperate. She was sure that he would find something and get to stay with her. She knew how claustrophobic he was, and he would be bitter when he would come back home, and every little bit of progress she made for him to open up to her would be gone, and she would have to start all over again, but she was up to the challenge. Alli was losing another man in her life, and she made no effort to hide her tears. Cameron was looking at the two women he loved and he came to hate himself for doing that to them. Alli stood up from the chair and ran in his arms in tears. Amanda joined them and the three of them held on to each other, like there was no tomorrow.

They all slept in the same bed, in each other’s arms. Cameron was up at the crack of dawn and got to the terrace, his son in his arms. Talking to the baby, he was looking at the sun coming out. Billy knew something was going on because he was wimpy, cried for nothing. At 7:30, he went up, kissed his wife on the forehead and left. He didn’t have the courage to wake her up, even though he knew she would be mad at him for not doing so. Josie was waiting for him, and took him in her arms when he broke down in tears. He was holding onto her and Billy, and he didn’t want to let go. When he finally did and closed the door behind him, he heard his son crying at the top of his lungs and had the impression that he was hearing him scream da-da.

Amanda woke up and reached out to him, but felt only cold sheets.

"-Cameron? She said in a whisper, but didn’t here a response."

She got up and went downstairs, but he was nowhere to be found. Getting a peek at the clock, she saw 8:45 and thought that was impossible, but realized it was true when she saw that Billy was gone too. Getting down on the floor she cried like she never thought it was possible. Rachel came down the stairs for breakfast and found her daughter sitting on the living room, crying all the tears she had inside.

Cameron was in front of his agent’s office, waiting to have the courage to get in. One step at a time, he went up the stairs and got in. Mister Fry was waiting for him. Cameron had troubles breathing, and started to sweat. The situation finally kicked in. He was going back to jail, back to this hell hole. Before, it wasn’t that bad, because he had nothing to look forward too anyway.

"-Mister Sinclair, I’m glad to see you’re in time. Said Mister Fry

-Yeah well, it’s not because I’m happy to go back in there. Cameron responded

-I’m sure it’s not. I received some interesting phone calls today. Care to hear what they were?

-Why not? I’m not in a rush to go to my cell you know.

-I know. Well, the first call was from the Bay City police Captain, mister Joseph Carlino. He wanted your sentence to be transferred to his jurisdiction. I told him it wasn’t possible. He said he would try to get a hold of the Police commissary and have it done. After that, I received a call from Mrs.. Rachel Cory-Hutchins, saying that she would pay whatever bail we’d set up to get you out, and she even proposed to be held responsible for your release. And we even received the call of a FBI agent, Ms Josie Watts, saying she was your partner with the case you were working on, and that you really did your job. That was the call we decided to look into. We know that Ms Watts is one of their best element so her word is the one we believe. You still have to go back, until the investigation is complete. After that, if it’s conclusive, you will be allowed to ask for parole and get the hell out.

-REALLY? How long will that take?

-not more than a couple of weeks, maybe even days."

Cameron felt like the whole world got lifted off of his shoulders. He would get home to Billy sooner than he thought, and all that because of Josie. Mister Fry took him up to the prison, but Cameron wasn’t mad anymore. He would be home for Xmas, even maybe for thanksgiving. For the first time in two weeks, his hopes were up again. If Josie could pull it off, and make them understand that they did find out Carl was the one who hired the hit man, and it was his half-brother, Scott Hutchins, A.K.A. Guthrie.

Arriving at the prison, he saw that they gave him his old cell and his old cell-mate. The guardians were the same, like he woke up here this morning, and he hasn’t been out for a year and a half. Nothing changed inside. Phil, his cell-mate, was glad to see him, and even gave hi his old bed back, on the top bunk. Cameron thought that the time he would spend in, it wouldn’t be so bad.

CHAPTER 11

Two weeks have been by and Cameron didn’t hear from his probation agent. He was starting to think that Mister Fry lied to him and he would stay in prison. The guardians were brutal with him and he already had a black eye. After being mind-tortured about Amanda by Sly, another prisoner, he asked to see mister Fry, to find out what was going on. On visitation day, he was called up, and was sure to find the agent, but came face to face with Amanda. His heart was racing a hundred beats a second, but he was mad at her. She had promised him not to show up here, but she did anyway. The other prisoners there were looking at her like she was a piece of candy and that they were starving children and Cameron was raging with jealousy.

"-Amanda, I though we agreed you wouldn’t come here. He said in the phone.

-I couldn’t stay away. Why didn’t you wake me up?

-Because you looked like an angel and I didn’t want our good-byes to be too hard on you and Alli. How is she? How is Billy?

-They both are great, but Josie said that Billy is always crying. Mister Fry came by the other day. He said he needed Gary’s number. Something about a neighbor remembering something about that night.

-WHAT? Who remembers something?

-Mrs. Deschannel is that possible?

-Yes! Tell Gary to call him, we may have something to hold on to here."

They talked about everything and then she had to leave. Tears came up to her eyes, and Cameron told her not to worry, he would be home soon. She said he better because she had news to tell him, but not before he got out.

Another week went by before the agent came to see him. Mister Fry told him he had good news. The neighbor could testify in his defense, saying she saw a woman come out of his father’s home, carrying a gun. They had a picture, and the needed Gary to identify, if he could, the woman coming out of their father’s house. Cameron asked to see the picture, and mister Fry said he couldn’t bring it here, but that was enough to ask for a new trial. Joe was already on it, and as soon as they had the authorization, Tyrone would ask for bail. Cameron saw for the first time that his agent was really on his side.

Inside was a nightmare. All the other prisoners were on his back, trying to beat him up every chance they got. He knew it would be like that and hung on for his wife and kids. The new trial was going to begin in two weeks, and is hearing for bail was in 4 days. Cameron was nervous because he didn’t want to get his hopes up. Just before his hearing, he got beat up by three prisoner and had troubles seeing with his left eye.

Amanda, Gary, Alli, Jake, Chris, Paulina, Joe, Vicky, Josie, Rachel, Matt, Lila, Cass, were all there incase Tyrone needed them to testify in Cameron’s behalf. When she saw her husband, all banged up, Amanda gasped of surprise.

"-All rise, the case number 2011353, Cameron Sinclair demand for bail is now in session, the honorable judge Austin James Smith presiding. Said the bailiff.

-You may sit down. Counselor Montgomery, you may start. Said the judge

-Thank you your honor, said Tyrone. I’d like to have Mister Cameron Sinclair allowed to have bail.

-And I take it you disagree counselor? Said the judge to the D.A.

-Yes your honor.

-Very well. Mister Montgomery, you may proceed.

-Thank you. We believe Mister Sinclair should be granted bail because he is no threat to society, and his trial to prove he’s innocent start in less than a month. And, mister Sinclair was out for more than a year and proved he was no danger to himself or other. If you please, I’d like to call my first witness to the stand, Mrs. Amanda Cory-Sinclair."

Amanda was nervous when she took the stand. But after saying the oath, she regained her confidence. After all, she was there to get her husband home!

"-State your name for the record. Said the bailiff

-Amanda Cory-Sinclair.

-Mrs. Sinclair, started Tyrone, how long have you known the defendant?

-A year and a half. He was working for my family as the security expert.

-Why was he the security expert?

-Because Carl Hutchins hired him, saying we were in danger. The real danger was Carl’s half-brother Scott. He kidnaped me and took me to Boca Lynda.

-And who got you back and saved your and mister Gary Sinclair’s life?

-Cameron.

-And now you are married to him?

-Yes.

-No further questions your honor

-Mister Cates? Asked the judge

-Ms Cory, isn’t it true that for a time you didn’t want to have anything to do with the defendant?

-Yes but

-and isn’t it true that you told him to stay away from you? Why is that?

-Objection your honor, irrelevant! Said Tyrone

-Sustained, answered the judge. Mister Cates, go on with another question

-no further questions your honor"

The day went like that, and Tyrone was a tiger against Cates’ witnesses. After 4 hours of deliberating, the judge was ready to say the verdict.

"-After hearing both cases, I decided to grant bail to Mister Cameron Sinclair to the amount of 500 000$. If he is found innocent, the money will be returned. Court is adjourned.

-All rise! Said the bailiff, while Cameron jumped into Amanda’s arms.

CONTINUE