82
The jury deliberated for seven full days before coming back with its verdict at 4:30 p.m. the following Friday, November 2, 2018.
After bringing them in, Judge Conrad asked the foreman to read the decision. When Russell Edmonson stood up with a piece of paper in his hand, a warm sensation ran through Jason’s body.
“We, the jury, find that the defendant, Jana Rich Waters, is . . . not guilty.”
The next few moments were a blur of hugs, shakes, and kisses. Jana had latched on to Jason and wouldn’t let go. Then Izzy and Harry came in for a group hug. Jason shook Shay Lankford’s hand as well as Sergeant Daniels’s and Sheriff Griffith’s.
The sheriff gripped Jason’s hand and spoke in a low tone. “We’re going to see about charging Burns. He hasn’t been in to work since he testified, and his family hasn’t seen him. Once we locate him, we hope for your client’s cooperation.”
“I’d hope for that too,” Jason said, before pushing past the sheriff and making his way to the back of the courtroom, where Satchel Tonidandel was standing by the door. “We good with Cade?” Jason asked.
“I think so,” Satch said. “He wants to talk, but he said there’d be no trouble from him.”
Jason exhaled with relief.
He turned when he felt his hand being squeezed. “I want to see my girls,” Jana said.
Jason nodded. “Let’s go home.”
83
As they exited the courtroom, the sun had almost completely set over downtown Guntersville. It was 5:10 p.m. Jason had parked in front of the Brick, and he was tempted to go in and thank Trey Cowan but decided against it. He wanted to see his nieces. He and Jana walked side by side down the walkway with Harry leading the way and Satch Tonidandel behind them.
Maybe it was the shadows. Maybe it was the exhilaration of the moment. Maybe it was just plain carelessness.
But Jason didn’t see the man standing under the awning of the Brick. He clicked the keyless entry to his Porsche and started to walk across the street. That was when he saw the man step out from under the covering.
Jackson Burns pointed a pistol at Jason’s chest. “You damn fucking prick. You ruined my life.”
Jason put his hands up instinctively. As a cacophony of gunfire exploded, he was engulfed in a hug by his sister, and he fell backward onto the pavement as more shots and blasts peppered the air.
Seconds later, he rolled out from under Jana and looked at her. Blood covered the front of her dress.
“No!” Jason screamed. He jerked his head around and saw Burns sprawled on the sidewalk, riddled with bullets. Dead.
Jason turned to see Harry kneeling with his pistol pointed at Burns’s dead body. Smoke swirled out the end of the barrel of the investigator’s weapon. He looked at Jason and mouthed, “You all right?” Behind and to the right of Harry, Jason noticed Chuck and Mickey Tonidandel holding shotguns pointed at Burns and Satch cradling the handle of a Glock. The brothers had also fired on the car dealer.
Jason tried to blink away his shock and gazed down at his sister. “Jana,” he whimpered, wiping at the blood on her dress and looking at his hand. “Jana, we have to get you to the hospital.” He yelled at Harry and the Tonidandels. “We need an ambulance!” But he already heard sirens closing in the distance.
He felt a hand grab his own and looked into his sister’s eyes. “Jana.” He was sobbing. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end. “We won,” he said. He leaned close to her face. “You won.”
She touched his face. “I love you, baby brother.” She coughed, and Jason again darted his eyes. Harry and Satch Tonidandel were now standing above him. “Help me,” he whined, but neither man said anything.
“J. J. . . .” Jason could barely hear her voice over the sirens.
“You’re gonna make it, Jana. You’ll be at the hospital real soon.”
“Come here,” she managed.
Jason leaned down and placed his ear next to her mouth.
“Will you take care of Niecy and Nola?”
“Yes, but you’re gonna do that yourself.”
“J. J. . . . thank you.”
“Jana, don’t leave me.”
“I . . . love . . . you.”
“I love you too, sis.”
And then her eyes went blank. Her hand dropped from his face, and Jason felt his grip on reality . . . and his heart . . . breaking. “Jana?”
When she didn’t answer, he screamed. “Jana?!”
Jason stood and stumbled backward. Someone kept him from falling, but he didn’t look to see who was holding him up. “Jana!” he wailed again.