Page 103 of Hunter or Hunted

A tight-lipped nod in response.

“...Your honor, my client requests the temporary Order of Protection you awarded to be continued indefinitely,” Kathy said. “Angela Burke has assaulted my client in the past, and⁠—”

“Objection, Your Honor.” Angela’s attorney stood. “There is no record of any such assault in the evidence.”

“Sustained,” Judge Walker said. “New evidence should’ve been included in discovery, counsel.”

“Of course,” Kathy said. “Angela has harassed my client on multiple occasions, all occurrences of which were stated in discovery. On one such occasion, she arrived at a family party my client was attending with her daughter and friends. Ms. Burke arrived and grabbed my client’s daughter by her forearm. She left noticeable marks on the child.”

“Do we have any photos from the event?”

“We do, Your Honor.” Kathy approached the bench with a sheet of paper. “These marks appeared in seconds. My client did not know that Ms. Burke was present at the gathering. She let herself in, approached the eight-year-old girl, and grabbed her. If she hadn’t screamed for help, Ms. Burke could have kidnapped⁠—”

“Objection,” Angela’s attorney said. “Conjecture, Your Honor. All my client did was hold the girl’s hand. She did not hurt the girl, and she had no intention of taking her. On the topic of kidnapping, though, Ms. Burke had not seen her granddaughter in nearly five years because the defendant violated a custody order when she left my client’s son.”

Glancing down at the papers before her, the judge arched a brow at Kathy. “Is that true, counsel?”

“No, ma’am,” Kathy said. “My client had shared custody with Ms. Burke’s son when she left the state. She fled through a domestic violence network. My law firm filed a motion for my client to attain emergency custody of the child, Junie Hall. She was awarded full custody when Ms. Burke’s son, David Burke, failed to appear. We have that documentation as well.”

“Where is David Burke?” the judge asked.

“Excellent question, Your Honor,” Angela’s attorney said. “No one knows. He’s been missing since October.”

“After fleeing police in Wyoming.” Kathy shot him a look. “Where he is a lead suspect in a murder investigation. Black Pines Police believe he ran after assaulting my client.” She approached the judge again with another sheet of paper. “It’s all documented, Your Honor.”

The judge rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger. “Does the child have an established relationship with Ms. Burke?”

“No, she does not. Junie has little to no memory of her grandmother,” Kathy said. “The only clear memory she has now is this woman interrupting a party she was attending with friends from school. Not only did she grab my client’s daughter and leave those marks on her wrist, she also screamed profanities and threats. In the audience, we have two witnesses of the event, one of whom is an officer with the Black Pines Police Department. Ms. Burke only left the party after Officer Malachi Edwards threatened to arrest her for disrupting the peace and public intoxication.”

Had Edwards been so descriptive that night? Not from what I recalled. But I saw what Kathy was doing, and I respected it.

“No charges were pressed following that incident,” Angela’s lawyer said.

“That incident rewarded my client the Order of Protection,” Kathy said. “Your Honor, Angela Burke may not have been the person who abused my client for half her adult life, but she did raise the person who did.”

“Objection,” Angela’s lawyer said again. “Relevance.”

“I would argue that the defense is perfectly relevant in that statement,” Judge Walker said. “Your client is arguing for access to her granddaughter and former daughter-in-law after years of physical abuse from her son. Some of which landed the defendant in the hospital. Five years passed before she cared to look for her granddaughter, conveniently timed just after her son’s disappearance.”

“Your Honor,” Angela’s lawyer began, “my client had no knowledge of this emergency petition for custody five years ago. If she had, she would have been present, right alongside her son⁠—”

“The son who didn’t show up to court,” the judge said, shuffling some papers around. “When I look at the photos of this child’s wrist, I see intent. This was not a quick hold of her hand. Her fingernails left scrapes on the child’s arm. Considering the harassment at both Ms. Hall’s home, place of work, and public gatherings, as well as this quote from Ms. Angela Burke at the time of the incident in question, stating, ‘she’s gonna pay for what she did,’ the court finds sufficient cause to continue the Order of Protection for one year. With credible threat to the petitioner established, any petition for visitation is dismissed without prejudice.”

And she smacked the gavel.

Teary-eyed, Simone cupped a hand over her mouth.

The judge said some other stuff that didn’t register. I caught mention of “appeal,” but I was too busy rushing to my feet to hug Simone to care.

Crying, wiping at tears, she stood as well. Over the wooden partition between us, she wrapped her arms around me and squeezed with all her might.

Was this real? Had the system actually done the right thing? Did it really help for once?

Then Angela and I made eye contact over Simone’s shoulder. Her glare could cut through diamond.

And that’s when it sunk in.

Of course a woman won this suit. Because it was already girl against girl. The system only worked if we were fighting each other.