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From the Eyes of a Juror

Frank Terranova


FROM THE EYES OF A JUROR

  By Frank Terranova

  Copyright 2012 Frank Terranova

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarities to actual persons, living or dead, or real events, are entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Special Thanks

  To my friends, family, co-workers, and acquaintances that inspired the characters in this novel (you know who you are!).

  To the 15 wonderful people I had the pleasure of working with in the month of June, 2008.

  And last but not least, to Marianne, wherever she might be in this great big world. You said that I would always be an artist…and surely, an artist I will always be.

  Table of Contents

  Slow Death -- A Song to Set the Scene

  Prologue - Built to Last?

  Chapter 1 – A Summons (He had to Look Back)

  Chapter 2 – Momma’s Boy

  Chapter 3 – Three Horrible Hubbys, One Horrible Vision

  Chapter 4 – May God Forgive Me

  Chapter 5 – Lines and Queues

  Chapter 6 – Tracy Stone’s Sad Anniversary

  Chapter 7 – On Trial?

  Chapter 8 – Ships in the Night and Sacrificial Lambs

  Chapter 9 – Rhyme or Reason (God’s Plan)?

  Chapter 10 – Counselor R. J. Gleason’s Colorful People

  Chapter 11 – A Bus Ride and ‘a View’

  Chapter 12 – The Smell of Blood

  Chapter 13 – Dreams so Real

  Chapter 14 – Saeed Kahn’s Gibberish

  Chapter 15 – A Wonderfully Terrible Idea

  Chapter 16 – Show Time

  Chapter 17 – Cam Miller’s Burden

  Chapter 18 – All Rise, Jurors Entering

  Chapter 19 – Just a Theory

  Chapter 20 – Meet the Jurors

  Chapter 21 – The Wise Judge Gershwin

  Chapter 22 – DA Lyons’ Roar

  Chapter 23 – Jurors and Witnesses

  Chapter 24 – First Impressions

  Chapter 25 – No Signs of Life

  Chapter 26 – O’Toole’s Tavern and Grill (Celtics Pride)

  Chapter 27 – The Only Woman He Ever Loved

  Chapter 28 – Two Tough Cops

  Chapter 29 – Rearview Mirror (He Always Looked Back)

  Chapter 30 – The Red Car

  Chapter 31 – An Unexpected Visitor (Janis Barry’s Story)

  Chapter 32 – The Riderless Chariot

  Chapter 33 – An Unexpected Letter (Marianne Plante’s Story)

  Chapter 34 – Saeed Kahn’s Congregation

  Chapter 35 – Monday Morning Blues

  Chapter 36 – Fear of Falling

  Chapter 37 – Brent Blain, Private Detective Extraordinaire

  Chapter 38 – Recommendations & Suggestions, Guns & DNA

  Chapter 39 – Two Years to the Day (The Moral Compass)

  Chapter 40 – Three Old Friends, One Haunted House

  Chapter 41 – Love’s Addiction (The Tide Can Turn So Quickly)

  Chapter 42 – Remembering the Dead

  Chapter 43 – Ringing Phones and Roller Coaster Rides

  Chapter 44 – The Temptress

  Chapter 45 – A Split Second

  Chapter 46 – Saeed Kahn’s Vision

  Chapter 47 – White Flags

  Chapter 48 – Turned to Stone

  Chapter 49 – Dead Heads and Love Letters

  Chapter 50 – To a Man, To a Woman (We All Make Choices in Life)

  Chapter 51 – Mahoney’s Pub (Dead on Arrival)

  Chapter 52 – Dream a Little Dream…of Me

  Chapter 53 – Friday the 13th (Everything’s Gonna be Alright?)

  Chapter 54 – Saeed Kahn’s Errand (A License to Kill)

  Chapter 55 – Three Little Letters, S O S

  Chapter 56 – More Silent Communiqués

  Chapter 57 – Sisters, Only by Name

  Chapter 58 – The Good Doctor

  Chapter 59 – Domestic Violence

  Chapter 60 – A Reunion; 20 Years in the Making

  Chapter 61 – Surveillance Systems Converging

  Chapter 62 – Who Knows What Another Man Would Have Done?

  Chapter 63 – Playing With Fire

  Chapter 64 – Landslides and Falling Stars

  Chapter 65 – Another Man’s Woman

  Chapter 66 – An Incident in Progress

  Chapter 67 – If Someone Wants You Dead Bad Enough

  Chapter 68 – There’s not a Damn Thing You Can Do About it

  Chapter 69 – Saeed Kahn’s Meeting with the Master

  Chapter 70 – Childhood Miracles (Live to See Another Day)

  Chapter 71 – Brilliant Disguises

  Chapter 72 – I’ve Got a Feeling…Somebody’s Watching Me

  Chapter 73 – Learning to Let Go (A Mother’s Love)

  Chapter 74 – The Chase…for Banner 17

  Chapter 75 – Bar Hopping

  Chapter 76 – The Crime of the Century (Twenty Two Pages)

  Chapter 77 – Confrontations (A Gun in Her face)

  Chapter 78 – Revenge in Motion

  Chapter 79 – Familiar Territory (Welcome to the Club)

  Chapter 80 – Real Men?

  Chapter 81 – Counterfeit Bills

  Chapter 82 – Betrayal & Subterfuge, Legitimate & Imagined

  Chapter 83 – Blood on the Tracks

  Chapter 84 – Broomsticks and Daggers

  Chapter 85 – The Prosecution Rests

  Chapter 86 – The Right to Testify

  Chapter 87 – His Own Worst Enemy

  Chapter 88 -- Arachnophobia

  Chapter 89 – Astronomy (Life’s too Short)

  Chapter 90 – Anyone Else Would Have Done the Same Thing

  Chapter 91 – Death by a Thousand Cuts

  Chapter 92 – Reason for Hope?

  Chapter 93 – A Visit to the Cemetery (Whispers in the Wind)

  Chapter 94 – Juror Number 8

  Chapter 95 – Symbolic Coincidences or Psychic Revelations?

  Chapter 96 – The Master’s Edict

  Chapter 97 – Not Dead Yet

  Chapter 98 – Juror Number 8 (An Alternate Take)

  Chapter 99 – Closing Arguments & Crosses to Bear

  Chapter 100 – Buns in the Oven

  Chapter 101 – Temptations (People Everywhere)

  Chapter 102 – Repressed Memories

  Chapter 103 – A Stroke of Pride

  Chapter 104 – A Sudden Change of Plans

  Chapter 105 – Jane’s Tricky Day

  Chapter 106 – Deliberations Begin

  Chapter 107 – There’s Always Hope (Until There’s no Hope)

  Chapter 108 – A Stalemate?

  Chapter 109 – They’re Ready for you Your Honor

  Chapter 110 – Over a Woman

  Chapter 111 – Relieved of Duty

  Chapter 112 – Dueling Press Conferences

  Chapter 113 – Grateful Dead Drinks (More Ships in the Night)

  Chapter 114 – A Solemn Goodbye

  Chapter 115 – A Combined Evil

  Chapter 116 – Shots Fired

  Chapter 117 – Fade to Black

  Chapter 118 – Closure for Some

  Chapter 119 – End of the Road

  Chapter 120 – The Man on the Moon

  Epilogue – We Will Never Forget