CHAPTER 1
2009
Winter had once again returned to the North Shore ofMassachusetts. Those brave, committed, or unstable individualsmaintained their exercise regimen of walking or running thewalkway separating the Atlantic Ocean from Lynn Shore Drive.However, not all visited the area with the intention of keeping theirhearts clicking in their appropriate rhythms. This particularly cold,windswept morning, JT Russell found himself on one of his favoritebenches trying to ignore the cold emanating from the frigid windoff the rising tide. Just looking at the breakers rolling to shore,seemingly a white capped rippling blanket of gray, sent the chillthrough-out the man's shivering body. A floating thought of why apolar bear does not suffer from frozen testicles cracked his formerlystern face. As always, he was here to contemplate, unscramble, andseek solutions to the unsolvable. He needed answers to rhetoricalquestions such as: Why me? Where did it go wrong? Who did Ipiss-off to deserve this? Forty-eight hours after placing his fraternaltwin daughter, Susan, and four month to the day after placing hertwin brother, Billy, into the ground at the cemetery which was nowhome to his father, his first wife, Rose Marie Lloyd, Tony Delvane,and so many others who had pieces of his heart, JT sought answersto questions which were answerless. Not only had the death of thetwins beaten down the man, but the loss of intimacy with the secondwoman in his life to possess his heart and mind had brought himto his knees. The twins lived a great sixteen years and though theirlives were destined to be short-lived, what parent was ever readyto bury her or his child? The twins cursed at birth with a much tooshort prospect for a lengthy survival were treated by JT and his wifeDiana, as well as all the Russell siblings, as if their mission in lifewas to fill as much love and happiness as possible into the time thetwins were given to them. The twin's departures more than left holesin the hearts of their family members; Diana and JT were sent on avoyage of separation from which he knew not the final outcome. Astranger to him for months, Diana had handled her grief in isolationand solitude. Their once close, blessed union now resembled shipspassing in the night ... each seeking its own course, each seekingits own means of staying afloat. Fate was such a fickled master!A tragedy originally brought them together in the form of Tara's,JT's first wife, death. Now another tragedy served to rip them apartat a time when they should be clinging to each other for survival.Unhappy, yet satisfied that there were no answers to be had onthis day at this place, JT began to stand thinking fleetingly of thetesticular frozen polar bear with whom he now identified. Slowly heglanced over his shoulder, said a brief prayer, and watched one lastblanket of gray rush to shore. As he walked to his vehicle, the tearsstreaming down his cheeks began to harden and crystallize. He didnot bother to wipe them away.
CHAPTER 2
2009
"Mr. Russell, are you well enough to continue? Mr. Russell, doyou need water?"
JT slowly turned his head in the direction of his lawyer's voice,nodded that he was fine, and quickly returned to the recesses of hismind where he had been visiting as his soon to be ex-wife's lawyercontinued her litany of accusations against a person he did not findrecognizable.
How could it have gotten to this point? How could two peopleonce so in love now fail in the most common of human interaction ...the ability to communicate? Diana rarely smiled any more. Thelosses of William and Susan had left her in full retreat to that portionof her mind which had a capacity for one and left no room for herequally injured partner. A Downs Syndrome set of fraternal twins, ararity in the annals of genetics, lay at the basis of the failure of thisunion. When Diana finally became pregnant once again followingseveral failed pregnancies, at the advanced age of thirty-nine, herlikelihood of having a successful pregnancy sank significantly.Following a positive result on her amniocentesis, they knew theywere in trouble. A child born with the twin's condition may have alife spanning decades, but that would be decades of special needsand services in learning to perform life's basic functions. Multiplythat by two children and even the medics were at a loss for thestatistical life expectancy and developmental challenges of the pair.Diana and JT faced yet another "pot hole" on their road to a happylife. Prudence would have most likely suggested a termination of thepregnancy when weighed against the potential mentally exhaustingtask confronting them with its fatal result a foregone conclusion.Their constant discussions were viewed from all angles of fairnessto the parents, to the fetuses, to the siblings, to the household, to theeconomic impact, but the concerns were not necessarily in that orderof importance. Diana's position fluctuated from moment to moment,hour to hour, day to day. She feared that her biological clock wouldno longer allow her to experience that which she desired most—achild with the man she loved more than life. JT, on the other hand,was adamant. He could not comprehend the willful termination ofany life after having experienced the losses of Rose Marie Lloyd, hisfather, Tony Delvane, and his beloved Tara to cruel fate. JT made hisstance well known; however, he held his final position until the lastpossible decision demanding moment. He told Diana as sincerelyas he was able that the decision was hers to make. He concludedby saying that together they could get through whatever life hadto offer them. In order to show her confidence, love, and supportfor her husband, an emotionally torn Diana suppressed her strongapprehensions and chose to continue the pregnancy. Looking back,JT viewed his position on that decision as the beginning of the endof their marriage, and he held himself absolutely to blame!
Both the twins and their expected developmental problems wereaddressed by the entire Russell family and resulted in sixteen yearsof love, joy, and commitment. It was during the sixteenth year of thetwins' lives that all came tumbling down. William died first duringhis sixteenth year, and Susan passed within four months that sameyear. The impact was devastating on the family. The losses wereheartbreaking to the parents. The result was fatal to the marriage.All the king's horses and all the king's men could not bring Dianaand JT together again.
"Therefore, Your Honor, the petitioner, Diana Brian-Russell,seeks dissolution of this marriage and fifty percent of all maritalassets including the sale of the home on Lynnfield Street, in Lynn,Massachusetts."
"What say you, Mr. Terminal, as representative of therespondent's position?"
"Your Honor, the respondent agrees to any and all requests ofthe petitioner."
The judge raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the solemn manholding his head in his hands.
"That is entirely generous of you, Mr. Russell. Are you inagreement with this position?" JT lifted his head from his hands andsimply answered in the affirmative.
"James Thurber Russell, Diana Brian-Russell, I render thismarriage dissolved in accordance with all mutually agreed uponstipulations. Good fortune, Mr. Russell and Ms. Russell."
The gavel brought JT's consciousness to the courtroom fromwherever it had been in full retreat.
"It's over, Mr. Russell," whispered Peter Terminal to his dazedclient.
As tears traveled slowly down to his lips, JT Russell stood andwaived to Diana who lingered on the far side of the courtroom.Diana in what was a session-long almost catatonic state appeared tosee the man but gave no sign of recognition.
"Would it be acceptable if I sat here for a bit, Mr. Terminal?"
"Do you need my help, Mr. Russell?"
"No, thank you, I just need a few moments to ..."
"I understand, Mr. Russell."
As the room emptied, JT, for the first time that morning, realizedthat he had been in this very venue before so many years ago ... thethought vaporized as instantly and completely as it had formulated.
CHAPTER 3
2009
Back at his home, attempting to lose himself in his work, thefledgling author lifted his pen from his tablet and placed the cappedplastic end of the tool of his new trade between his teeth. He rockedback in his black-leather desk chair trying to understand the naggingdisruption to his normally free-flowing writing time. The wordswould not cooperate by fitting themselves in neatly expressivesentences and paragraphs. He felt as if there were something lurkingin his creative center which prevented him from formulating andholding on to intelligent thoughts for longer than seconds at atime. Aside from the outcome of the morning's court date, therewas something less obvious playing with his concentration. Likethe unidentifiable face of someone which teases the mind in anexasperating case of where have I seen that face before, a shadowythought would push towards entering his consciousness only toretreat as quickly leaving the man perplexed and currently annoyed.Then as suddenly as the phantom had begun playing hide and seekwith the writer, it thankfully revealed itself offering him a renewedopportunity to finally get some work done.
"Well, Russell, perhaps you're in the early stages of Alzheimer'sor that once quick mind of yours has at last lost a step!" he mumbledto himself smiling. "Twenty years ago today, Diana and I were inthe Peabody Court House testifying against Dawn Woodruff in hercapital murder trial for the murder of Tara Anne Carlton Russell, thefirst love of my life."
Pleased with himself for identifying the phantom menace, yetupset with himself for dredging up that episode of his life withwhich he had still not completely come to terms, he closed his eyesand stretched out his full form in an effort to alleviate the stress hehad stirred from the past to that present moment. How could he havepossibly forgotten such a memorable date and occasion? Wantingdesperately not to walk down that memory lane, he soon lost hisbattle with the past and found himself in that time warp twenty yearsearlier.
CHAPTER 4
1989
"I will," trembled the final witness for the prosecution as shegingerly removed her left hand from the Bible and rested her rightarm by her side before taking her seat.
"Your name and address, please," inquired the tall, thin, redhaired, assistant district attorney of Essex County, one LisandraJustice, also known to defendants as "The Terminator of Freedom."A perfect twenty-two and zero in prosecutions during her brief careerspoke volumes for her number one seeding on the fast track for"big things" career-wise in the relatively near future. Her physicalappearance, rapid wit, logical, thorough, and uncompromisinghandling of witnesses brought her to nationwide attention on thefledgling Court TV cable network. She was a star in-the-makingamidst a bevy of star-quality characters under the magnifying glassof the Peabody, Massachusetts, court-room that was hearing casenumber M23023: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts versusDawn Woodruff in a capital murder case involving the pre-meditatedmurder of Tara Anne Carleton Russell on 10, December, 1984.
"Diana Brian-Russell, 324 Lynnfield Street, Lynn,Massachusetts," responded the beautiful woman who sat nervouslyawaiting her turn with Assistant District Attorney for Essex County,Lisandra Justice.
The extremely extended time frame leading up to the trial wasdue in large part to the legal manipulations of Woodruff's local legal"dream team" which had worked frantically to have a voluntaryconfession seemingly magically disappear or at least result ina basis for reasonable doubt. All the nervous anticipation hadkept JT Russell's present wife, Diana Brian-Russell, on a regularregimentation of antidepressants and tranquilizing drugs. From themoment she learned that her testimony would be the centerpiece,so to speak, of the commonwealth's case against her former friend,confident, savior, and lover, her sole concern was the survival of herrecent marriage to JT Russell. Quite naturally, they had thoroughlydiscussed and debated every aspect of the ordeal faced by the two,but her insecurities naturally led her to the question as to whethertheir pledge to start life anew, forgetting everything which happenedin the past, considering the events of their past separate lives as"practice" for the rest of their lives together could, would withstandthe public display of all their "dirty laundry"? The time was here.There was no turning back. What would be would be ...
The former love object, so obsessively desired for so long aperiod of time, now represented a symbol of failure, disillusionment,abject anger, and unmitigated hatred, hostility, and heartbreak to thedefendant. Dawn Woodruff could not watch the woman that she onceloved to watch as the witness sat before the eloquent ProsecutorJustice answering questions of the most personal of personal issues.Until that time, Dawn had been a calm yet distant observer. Herbehavior in the court room was reminiscent of a repentant thoughallegedly self-confessed murderer charading now as the innocentvictim of a conspiracy to deny her freedom for the remainder of herlife. At times she allowed herself to appear pathetic for the jury'sbenefit as one beyond help and hope. She usually sat listeningintently in her characteristically elegant, refined, educated fashionawaiting the end to all of this drama. On that day in that moment,a disturbing visualization swept across her mind ... her and Dianatogether, loving each other. Dawn tired to block the vision, but itwas followed by another, then another. How could she stop them?They were driving her to distraction. Pearls of perspiration appearedon her forehead and face. Her hands, arms, and feet began to twitchand move of their own volition. Her pounding heart, she was certain,could be viewed beating rapidly in her chest by all in the congestedcourtroom. She felt as vulnerable as she had made herself the lasttime she and Diana were together. Then there was no more ... justdarkness and forgetfulness. To that point in time, Dawn Woodruffacted the part of a model defendant; Dawn suddenly pushed herlawyer, who was reclining in his chair, away from her with bothfeet and to the court room floor. She toppled the defense table andpushed it to her right so that she had direct access to the witnessbox. With cat-like quickness, she reached Diana in a leap or twoknocking Lisandra Justice on her formidable bottom. She grabbedand pulled Diana by her long brown hair over the witness boxrailing to the floor where she pummeled the shocked witness whilecourt officers rushed to quash the attack as the judge alarminglycalled for a clearing of the courtroom. Diana was in a state of utterconfusion which was rapidly clarified by jolts of shooting painwhen she felt her left earlobe bitten through. She attempted to fightback and ignore the searing pain, but she found she was unableto do either. She experienced another piercing pain, this time onher face. The long painted fingernails of the attacker had root inher mouth and tore an inch into her cheek. Dawn fought off therescuers with the strength of a man. At least two officers went to thefloor on their knees holding their groin areas in agony. Before thecrazed woman could be contained and controlled, she had rippedopen Diana's blouse and bra exposing her breasts to what was leftof the assembled gathering, and with a single final lunge she sankher teeth into Diana's right breast. The handle of a wielded servicerevolver, turned into a hammer by a court clerk, brought the attackto a sudden, grateful conclusion as Dawn was struck from behind onthe back of her head. She fell like a weighted sack and began a seriesof involuntary choking, wheezing, coughing sounds. A fast actingofficer, recently recovering from a shoe to his testicles, checked theattacker's breathing, lifted her to an upright position and squeezedthe disabled woman around her middle just under her breastbonecausing Diana Brian-Russell's right nipple to jettison toward thejudge's bench!
