Life after Death

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Land of the Living (Three months after Hezekiah's execution)...

The Chamblee family dynasty was reaching its futile demise.

Since the jaw-dropping revelations that took place during Mariah and Andrew's wedding at St. Angus Catholic Church, the rumor mills were being spun like wildfire as the people involved in the murder were being brought to trial. The former bodyguards who were hired to execute the late teenager had pled guilty and were given plea bargains in exchange for testifying against their former employees. Their lawyer, a Hispanic older woman named Yolanda Reyez, was adamant that they made sure that they told the whole truth if they wanted to be eligible for parole. "Make sure that you two give full details about how Mr. Chamblee arranged everything and give specific reasons," she had explained firmly. "Leave nothing out if you want some form of pity."

As far as their testimonies were, they were fully detailed and one of them even offered a theory of why Mr. Chamblee wanted Hezekiah dead. Of course, the prosecutor had insisted that the men take lie detector tests to make sure that their stories weren't consisting any form of deception. The men obliged. And they passed after several tests that were taken with no forms of deception.

Their rewards? They were given two to five years for involuntary manslaughter with possibility for an early release if they were on good behavior. The men accepted it with no reservations, citing that they should have never gone through with it in the first place. "If I could trade my life for the kid's, I'd gladly do it," one of them said. "Mrs. Simmons believed that Hezekiah had a good heart that was snuffed out by a family of haters."

One week after their confessions, they were sentenced to five years at a medium-security prison over in Stonehill.

***********************

Dudley Wainwright was known as a hard-faced court-assigned lawyer with clients up the wazoo that didn't care much for him since he had a losing streak as long as his arm. Facing an acrimonious divorce from his wife of fifteen years with no chance to have custody of his only son (a cherub-faced pre-teen who reminded him of his mother and had a heart of gold), he knew that the odds weren't stacked in his favor since he was assigned the case of the Fatal Four (Jeffrey and Adelle Chamblee and their children Leigh-Anne and Alex). The moment that they sneered at him and made snide comments about being a low-level attorney was when he decided to screw them over, even more so since he knew Captain Seymour well (both of them being bullied by the Chamblee couple back in high school) and they had vendettas against the family.

"Make us deals, sir," Jeffrey demanded. "I'm a very rich man with plans and ambitions. You're not worth our time."

I'll make sure that you get the best deal, Dudley vowed silently with anger in his heart. You'll get the deal of a lifetime that involves electric chairs or being broke as MC Hammer in jail while your two spawn face the same fate.

"Write your own  statements," he said. "Make sure that you confess to everything and leave nothing out. If you want to fight this all the way to the end and plead not guilty, I'll understand. But know that you're not going to have it easy."

So the four Chamblee family members, not the brightest pebbles on the beaches of Martha's Vineyard, did just that.

****************************

At a boutique hotel in downtown Boston...

For Mariah and Andrew, the shock of Cameron being shot by Alex and Leigh-Anne became too much for them to handle as they decided that the time was now to cut their losses and cut ties with Boston completely. "We can't risk being involved any longer," Andrew explained as he and his new bride packed their belongings after cleaning out their bank accounts. "We need to start fresh somewhere where no one will recognize us."

"I have a few contacts in London," Mariah offered. "We might have to work our way to the top, but at least we can actually build our own family name from the ground up."

It took a few days, but arrangements were made for them to defect to Britain under new names and get decent jobs. The newlyweds had no intentions to attend the pending trials for the others since they would be long gone with only their share of the cash and the clothes that they packed in the waiting rental car (Mariah and Andrew sold their cars to pay off any pending bills and ensure that the hired servants had their severance pay).

Mariah, now dressed in a simple cocktail dress, greeted her new husband (who wore all-black Kenneth Cole) as they got into the car. "You know that we can never come back to Boston, right?" she reminded him as they fastened their seatbelts. "People will talk and they will ask where we were. Not only that, Dad has a vendetta against anyone who betrays him. And we're on his list since his trial is coming up."

"All the better to start anew in London," Andrew commented as he gunned the engine. "As of today, Andrew and Mariah Coleman are no more. Instead, we're now Jennifer and Draven Grevers."

"Right," Mariah hummed as she checked her made-up face in the mirror. "Let's get out of here."

And just like that, the Grevers (formerly known as the Colemans) drove away from the Mercer Hotel and to Logan International where a private jet would take them away from Boston for the last time.

Unfortunately, the jet would suffer a nasty engine failure and cause the drowning deaths of the couple, the pilots, and the attendants that would gain national attention.

Karma was indeed a nasty female.

*********************

At the courthouse...

Jeffrey Chamblee and his surviving family members were not living charmed lives.

The moment that they requested a hasty trial (causing Mr. Dudley to quit representing them) and offering their confessions was when their fates were sealed. It only took several days with plenty of evidence stacked against them as well as the testimonies from Mrs. Simmons and the other former employees; Hezekiah's journal entries, and a testimony from one Cameron Chamblee (who was a miracle survivor from the shooting) that caused many of the attendees and even the judge to shed tears to officially convict Jeffrey, his wife Adelle, and their children Leigh-Anne and Alex of premeditated first-degree murder, conspiracy of murder, money laundering, and other crimes. Alex was sentenced to a youth detention center that would last until he turned eighteen where he would join his father at the men's ward of the prison. His parents and Leigh-Anne were all sentenced to life without parole.

"We did what we had to do," Jeffrey said nonchalantly, sending a quick sneer to his surviving son (who was soon placed in the care of Minnie Jean Simmons and her large family). "We'd do it again if given the chance."

"May God have mercy on your souls," the judge intoned. "There's a special place in hell for your ilk, sir. And I hope that you and your other family members will be sentenced there unless you repent to God for your sins."

Indeed, the condemned Chamblee family members were not living their charmed lives. But they knew that they weren't going to stick out a lengthy prison sentence to stick around for long. It was little wonder that all four convicted Chamblee members were found dead in their cells from hanging themselves four days after being sentenced.

No one attended their funerals, not even Cameron who was enjoying living like a commoner and attending public school with his foster siblings.

The Chamblee diamond standard...was no more. Justice was granted for the late Hezekiah Chamblee.

Cumulative word-count so far: 32,321 words.

Sorry if this was a bit rushed, folks. I needed to go ahead and wrap up the Chamblee arc completely and make sure that justice was granted for Cameron and Hezekiah, which was perfectly issued.

Anyway, the next chapter will feature Rosalia's endgame as Lucifer has something planned for her. And you won't believe how it all plays out! Stay tuned!

Dedication: MKG2012. Song: "Revenge" by P!nk ft. Eminem.

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