“We'll just have to wait and see what they decide,” Sarah said quietly. Their fate was in the jury's hands.
“What about you?” Seth said anxiously. He didn't want her to desert him now. He needed her too badly, whatever it cost her. “Have you made any decisions about us?” She shook her head and didn't answer. They had too much on their plates just then to add divorce to the mess they were dealing with. She wanted to wait for the jury's decision, and Seth didn't press her. He was too afraid of what would happen if he did. He could see that Sarah was at the breaking point already, and had been for a while. The trial had taken a toll on her, but she had been staunch and faithful to the end, just as she had promised. She was a woman of her word, which was more than anyone could have said for him. Everett referred to him as a scumbag to Maggie. And others had said worse, although not to Sarah's face. She was the hero in the story, and the victim, and in Everett's eyes, the saint.
They waited six days for the jury to finish their deliberations. The evidence was complicated, and the wait agonizing for Sarah and Seth. Night after night, they went home to their separate apartments. Seth had asked if she would come home with him one night, he was too terrified to be alone, but Molly was sick, and in truth, she didn't want to spend the night with Seth. It would have been too hard for her. She was trying to protect herself a little, although she felt sad to say no to him. She knew how badly he was hurting, but so was she. He went back to his apartment and got drunk instead. He called her at two in the morning, incoherent, telling her he loved her. And he was visibly hung over the next day. The jury finally came back into the courtroom, late that afternoon. And everyone started scurrying, as court was reconvened.
The judge was solemn as he asked them if they had reached a verdict in the matter of United States v. Seth Sloane, and the foreman stood, looking equally solemn and serious. He owned a pizzeria, had attended a year of college, and was a Catholic with six children. He was extremely respectful of his duties, and had worn a suit and tie to court every day.
“We have, your honor,” the foreman said. There were five felony charges against Seth. The judge reeled each of them off, and in each case the foreman answered the question of how the jury had found Seth. The entire courtroom held its breath as he responded. They had found him guilty of each charge.
There was a momentary silence as spectactors in the courtroom absorbed it, and then an explosion of talk and sounds, as the judge rapped his gavel soundly, called them all to order, thanked the jury, and dismissed them. The trial had taken five weeks, and their deliberations had added a sixth. And as Sarah understood what had happened, she turned to look at Seth. He was sitting in his chair and crying. He looked up at her in desperation. The only hope they had for appeal, according to Henry Jacobs, was in the case of new evidence or some irregularity during the proceedings of the trial. He had already told Seth that, barring some unforeseen later development, he had no grounds for appeal. It was over. He had been found guilty. And in a month it would be up to the judge to sentence him. But he was going to jail. Sarah looked as devastated as he did. She knew it was coming, she had done everything to prepare herself for it, and she wasn't surprised. She was just heartbroken for him, for herself, and for their children, who would grow up with a father they scarcely knew in prison.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered to him, and then their attorneys helped get them out of the courtroom.
Everett sprang into action then, to get the photographs he knew he had to get for Scoop. He hated to intrude on Sarah, at such a time of distress for her. But he had no choice but to rush at them outside the courtroom, in the press of photographers and news cameras. It was his job. Seth was almost snarling as he pushed his way through the crowd, and Sarah looked as though she might faint as she followed him to their waiting car. They had a driver and town car waiting for them outside the courthouse. They were gone in minutes, as the crowd milled around.
Everett saw Maggie on the courthouse steps. She hadn't been able to get near Sarah to say anything to her. He waved at her, and she saw him and came down the steps to meet him. She was grave-faced and looked worried, although the verdict was no surprise. And the sentencing was liable to be worse. There was no telling how long the judge would send him away for, but it was likely to be a very long time. Particularly since he hadn't pled guilty, and had pushed for a jury trial, which wasted taxpayers’ money, in the hope of having a fleet of highly paid lawyers do their fancy footwork to get him off. It hadn't worked, but made an inclination toward leniency less likely for him. He had pushed it to the max, and there was a good chance the judge would push back. He had a certain amount of discretion in the range of sentencing for Seth's crimes. Maggie feared the worst for him, and for Sarah now.
“I'm so sorry for her,” Maggie said to Everett as they walked to his rented car parked in the garage. It was all at Scoop's expense. His job was over in San Francisco. He would fly up for the day of the sentencing, and maybe get a couple of shots of Seth being escorted into a federal prison. In thirty days, it would be all over for Seth. He was out on bail till then. And once the money was returned by the bail bondsman, it was going straight into a fund for his defense for the civil suits that had been filed against him by the investors he had defrauded. His conviction was all the evidence they needed to justify their suits, and even win them. After that, there would be nothing left for Sarah and the children. Sarah was well aware of that, as were Everett and Maggie. She had gotten screwed, just as his investors had. They could sue him, the government could penalize him, and all Sarah could do was pick up the pieces of her and her children's lives. It seemed so desperately unfair to Maggie, but some things were in life. She hated to see things like that happen to good people, and she looked profoundly depressed as she got into Everett's car.
“I know, Maggie,” he said gently. “I don't like it either. But there was no way he should have gotten off.” It was an ugly story with a sad ending. Not the happy ending Sarah had hoped to live with Seth, or that anyone who knew her would have wanted for her.
“I just hate this for Sarah.”
“So do I,” Everett said as he started the car. The Tenderloin wasn't far from the courthouse, and he stopped in front of her building a few minutes later.
“Are you flying back tonight?” Maggie asked him sadly.
“I guess so. They're going to want me in the office tomorrow morning. I need to check the pictures and coordinate the story. Do you want to have something to eat before I go?” He hated to leave her, but he had been in San Francisco for well over a month, and Scoop would want him back.
“I don't think I could eat,” she said honestly. And then she turned to him with a wistful smile. “I'll miss you, Everett.” She had gotten so used to having him there, and seeing him every day, at the courthouse and afterward. They had had dinner almost every night. His leaving was going to leave a terrible void in her life. She also realized that it would give her a chance to see how she felt about him. She had important decisions to make, not unlike Sarah. Sarah didn't have anything to look forward to if she stayed with Seth, except his release from prison a long time from now. His sentence hadn't even started, or been determined yet. And her sentence would be just as long as his. It seemed like cruel and unusual punishment for her to Maggie. In her own case, there were blessings whatever she decided, although there were losses too. In each case, there was a loss and a gain woven into each other. It was impossible to separate them, which was what made the decision so difficult for Maggie.