Tommy's Revenge

Tommy Whitfield's POV

Tommy Whitfield smashed through the courthouse's back door with a hammer, his heart burning with rage and pain.

"Judge Brennan!" he shouted into the empty halls. "I know you're in here! Come out and face me!"

Behind him, Danny Santos was breathing hard from their run across town. The two boys had escaped from the chaos at City Hall and made their way to the courthouse, determined to face the man who had destroyed their lives.

"Tommy, maybe we should wait for the police," Danny whispered nervously.

"No!" Tommy's voice cracked with feeling. "I've been sitting in jail for weeks while everyone thought I killed Sarah. Tonight, I'm getting the truth."

Tommy's hands were shaking as he climbed the marble stairs toward Judge Brennan's offices. For three weeks, he'd been locked up for killing the girl he loved more than anything in the world. Everyone in town thought he was a killer.

But Tommy knew the real truth now. Emma Morrison's radio show had revealed everything. Judge Brennan and Marcus Webb had murdered Sarah because she'd found their corruption. Then they'd framed Tommy to cover up their crime.

"Sarah trusted me to protect her," Tommy said, his voice shaking. "And I failed. But I won't fail her again."

They found Judge Brennan in his office, hurriedly shoving papers into a briefcase. When he saw the two boys in his doorway, his face went white with fear.

"Tommy! Danny! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in jail!"

"The jail got evacuated because of Webb's shooting," Tommy said, stepping into the office. "Lucky for us. Unlucky for you."

Judge Brennan tried to smile like the nice grandfather everyone thought he was. "Boys, there's been a terrible mistake. I can explain everything."

"Explain how you murdered my girlfriend?" Tommy demanded.

"I didn't murder anyone!" Brennan protested. "That was all Marcus Webb's doing. I just... I just looked the other way sometimes."

Danny moved to block the office door so Brennan couldn't leave. "That's not what Emma Morrison said on the radio. She said you were taking money from crooks for twenty years."

Judge Brennan's fake smile faded. "That little girl doesn't know what she's talking about."

"She knows you killed Sarah Martinez," Tommy said, his anger getting stronger. "Sarah was cleaning buildings downtown when she saw you and Webb meeting with criminals. She took pictures with her phone, didn't she?"

Brennan sat down heavily in his chair. "Sarah was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"So you had her murdered!" Tommy shouted.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like that," Brennan said desperately. "Webb said he was just going to scare her. Make her delete the photos and keep quiet."

Tommy felt tears running down his face. "But she wouldn't stay quiet, would she? Because Sarah was brave and honest, and she wanted to protect our town."

"She was going to destroy everything we'd built," Brennan said. "Twenty years of careful planning. Twenty years of making Millbrook wealthy and safe."

"Safe?" Danny interrupted. "You've been poisoning our water source! My little sister has been getting sick because of the chemicals you let companies dump in our river!"

Judge Brennan stood up and walked to his window, looking out at the chaos in the streets below. "You boys don't understand how the world works. Sometimes good people have to make hard choices."

"Good people don't murder teenagers," Tommy said.

Tommy pulled out his phone and started recording. "Tell me exactly what happened to Sarah Martinez."

"Put that phone away," Brennan directed.

"No. Sarah deserves the truth. And so does everyone in this town."

Judge Brennan stared at the phone, then at Tommy's determined face. Something seemed to break inside the old man.

"Webb came to me after Sarah took those photos," Brennan began slowly. "He said she'd seen too much. Our whole business was at risk."

Tommy kept recording as Brennan continued his statement.

"I told Webb to offer her money to keep quiet. Lots of money. Enough to pay for college and help her family."

"But Sarah wouldn't take it," Tommy said, knowing his lady too well.

"She said money couldn't buy her morality. She was going to report everything to the state attorney general." Brennan's voice got quieter. "Webb said there was only one way to stop her."

Danny gasped. "You ordered him to kill her."

"I didn't order anything!" Brennan snapped. "But I... I didn't stop him either."

Tommy felt like his heart was being ripped apart. "How did they do it?" Brennan was quiet for a long time. " Webb called Sarah and told her you wanted to meet behind the old movie house. Said you had something important to tell her."

Tommy's hands curled into fists. "She went because she trusted me. Because she loved me."

"Webb was waiting for her instead. He killed her with her own necklace, then put your fingerprints on it while you were passed out drunk at Jimmy's party."

"You framed an innocent kid for murder," Danny said in disgust.

"We needed someone to blame," Brennan responded. "And Tommy was perfect. Rich boy with a temper, fighting with his lady in public. Everyone would believe he killed her in a jealous rage."

Tommy was crying now, but he kept the phone recording. "What about Danny? Why did you frame him for arson?"

" The Santos boy saw Webb's men dumping chemical barrels behind the textile business. Webb was going to kill him too, but I suggested framing him instead. Make him look like a criminal so no one would believe his story."

"You destroyed our lives to protect your crimes," Tommy whispered.

Judge Brennan turned back to face them, and Tommy saw something cold and dangerous in his eyes.

"And I'll do whatever it takes to keep protecting them."

That's when Tommy realized they'd made a terrible mistake. Judge Brennan wasn't just a corrupt old man feeling guilty about his sins. He was a calculating killer who'd been part of Webb's group for twenty years.

"You boys shouldn't have come here tonight," Brennan said, opening his desk drawer.

"Judge, we have your confession recorded," Danny said nervously. "It's too late to cover this up."

"Oh, I'm not planning to cover anything up," Brennan replied with a twisted smile. "I'm planning to add two more names to Webb's casualty list."

Tommy's blood ran cold when he saw what Brennan pulled from his desk drawer.

A gun. Old but well-maintained, like something a judge might keep for safety.

"You're going to shoot us?" Tommy asked in amazement.

"Two dangerous escaped prisoners broke into my courthouse office and threatened to kill me," Brennan said quietly. "I had to protect myself. It's a tragic but realistic story."

Danny backed toward the door, but it was too late. Brennan was already pointing the gun at them.

"The beautiful thing about being a judge," Brennan continued, "is that everyone trusts your story of events. Even when you're lying."

Tommy looked at his phone, still recording everything. At least Sarah's real story would live, even if he didn't.

"Sarah Martinez was braver than both of us," Tommy said to Danny. "She tried to save this town even though it cost her life."

"And now you get to join her," Brennan said, raising the gun.

Tommy closed his eyes and thought about Sarah's smile, her laugh, her plans of going to college and becoming a teacher.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you," he whispered.

That's when the office door burst inward.

Tommy opened his eyes to see the most impossible sight of his life.

His father, Mayor Richard Whitfield, stood in the doorway with his own gun pointing at Judge Brennan.

"Put the weapon down, Harold," Mayor Whitfield said in a voice Tommy had never heard before. "You're not killing my son."

Judge Brennan spun toward the mayor, his gun wavering between Tommy and the new danger.

"Richard! What are you doing here? These boys have proof that could destroy us all!"

"Let them have it," Mayor Whitfield responded. "I'm done being part of Webb's organization."

Tommy stared at his father in shock. "Dad?"

"I made terrible mistakes, Tommy. But I won't let you pay for them."

Judge Brennan's face twisted with rage. "You're choosing your son over twenty years of partnership?"

"I'm choosing what's right over what's profitable," Mayor Whitfield answered.

That's when Judge Brennan made his final, desperate choice.

Instead of shooting Tommy or Danny, he directed his gun at Mayor Whitfield.

"If I can't have the son," Brennan growled, "I'll settle for the father."

Two gunshots rang out at exactly the same time.

Tommy screamed as he watched both his father and Judge Brennan fall to the floor, blood spreading around their bodies.

But only one of them was still alive.