My apologies to my readers for taking so long to post the next chapter of this story. But I have had a lot in real life to contend with including the joyful arrival of a grandson.
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James and Robby made their way into the courtroom and sat on one of the benches provided for those who wished to watch the court proceedings. It was Saturday morning and the two men who had abducted their sister were due to appear shortly.
James sat down and stretched his legs out in front of him. To a casual observer he appeared relaxed as he leant back in the seat; his legs stretched out before him and crossed at the ankles.
In comparison Robby sat beside him hunched forward and visibly tense as he clasped his hands in front of his knees. He turned his head to look to his left as he heard the heavy tread of a couple of people moving into one of the seats on the other side of the courtroom.
Robby tensed and sat up straight as he recognised the tough looking blonde guy who he had seen after the guy had turned himself in at the main police station in central Brisbane.
With the blonde guy was an immense brown haired man who looked vaguely familiar.
The court clerk spoke to the judge and Robby turned his head as the words caught his attention. At last! He would get to see the scum who had abducted his sister!
The two guys led in between two police officers looked inconspicuous enough. The first guy was actually quite handsome and looked unlike the sadistic bastard Janey had described. The second guy was average to look at, the type that got lost in a crowd.
"Who are?" James asked quietly beside Robby.
"They're the ones Janey identified as having abducted her. Greg Hawkings known to her as 'Hawk' and Jacob Lantry known to her as 'Jake'," Robby answered softly as he tried to listen to what the lawyer for the two men was saying to the judge.
"Considering the seriousness of the charges against the defendants and the new evidence that has come into light Your Honour, prosecution must ask that the defendants be reprimanded in custody and held over for trail." The police officer that was acting as public prosecutor said to the judge.
"What new evidence?" The lawyer representing the two men demanded, "I have no notification of this evidence or a copy of it."
Robby watched as several pages of notes where handed to the lawyer and he skimmed them quickly before turning to have a whispered conversation with the two men.
Robby and James watched as the black haired handsome man turned to look over his shoulder at the public gallery and glared angrily at the two men who were watching the scene being played out before them.
"He's lying!" The black haired guy, Hawk, yelled at the judge while his fellow defendant shook his head after a quick glance over his shoulder.
Robby listened with satisfaction as the judge ordered that the two men be held in custody while they awaited trail. He watched as they were taken from the courtroom and one seedy rat like man was brought in.
His appearance reminded Robby of vermin as he peered around almost furtively. He caught sight of the blonde guy across the room and blanched visibly as he looked at him with fear.
"Who's that?" James asked reminding Robby of his presence.
"Wilson James Brown, he has a long list of convictions for indecent assault, rape and attempted rape." Robby informed his brother knowing that James would be smart enough to guess what charges he faced.
James swore softly when he heard the prosecutor start speaking about the defendant's conviction history, stating that the charges against him were yet another lot of violent rape charges in a history of violent crimes.
"That one should be locked up and the keys thrown away." Robby commented when the judge had declared he would be held in custody to await trail.
James glanced at his brother beside him, Rob was visibly mad to see the men that were appearing before the judge. James himself was angry but he was also appeased to see the judge was putting them behind bars for the time being.
Another two men replaced the previous defendant and James watched as two men in the public gallery moved to the front rows. One man, definitely a lawyer by his expensive suit had joined them and this man entered the space on the courtroom floor where only the defendants, their lawyers and the police stood before the judge.
"Those two men up now are Andrew John Matthews and Steven Brent Winters. Janey identified them as Matty and Brent. She said they were nice to her," Robby informed James.
There was a brief consultation between the lawyer for the two defendants, the prosecutor and the lawyer who had just stepped forward in front of the judge's desk.
The judge looked up and spoke quietly to one of the police officers and the officer walked to the public seating to usher the blonde guy to the judge's desk.
"Any idea of what's going on?" James asked quietly.
"That guy that was asked to approach the judge's desk is Gabriel Renford, Ren. He's on bail for charges in this case. He's supplied a statement that supports what Janey said when she gave her statement," Robby told him. "It looks like he's helping the prosecution. The guy he was sitting with is Bradley Stanton or Brad,"
James watched with interest as Ren returned to his seat in the public gallery and the judge started listening to the defending lawyer who was talking earnestly.
"They just got bail!" Robby hissed through his teeth angrily and James glanced his way.
James looked across at Ren where he sat in the front row. As if he could feel unfriendly eyes on him he turned his head to meet James' glare levelly for several seconds before turning his gaze to the front once more.
"These are the last of the ones on charges," Robby said quietly as three men were ushered in to stand behind the defendants' desk. Two lawyers were with them as legal council.
The largest of the three men was called to stand before the judge first, he was looking around the courtroom rather cockily with a smirk on his face.
"Seth Markham. He has convictions for assault, indecent assault and is a known pimp," Robby growled angrily.
James couldn't help but notice the sheer size of the guy, there were taller men present but this guy had immense bulk that was clearly well toned muscle.
The court clerk started to read out the charges against the three men but the large man laughed loudly.
"Your Honour the girl wanted to get fucked and wanted it rough, then afterwards she decided she had wanted to stop half way through. She sure as hell wasn't saying no at the time!" He called lewdly.
"It's true she sure as heck didn't say no." one of his companions laughed to the third man.