“No.”
“Did she ask you to destroy her phone?”
“No.”
“Did she ask you to fabricate sounds outside the bunker?”
Michael hesitated.
“No.”
“Did she ask you to convince her that people trying to rescue her wanted her dead?”
Silence.
The prosecutor waited.
Finally:
“No.”
“Then you did not save her.”
Michael looked away.
“You controlled her.”
The physical evidence left little room for doubt.
Tess’s hair in the SUV.
Her phone.
The tire tracks.
Access to the tower.
The bunker.
Michael’s flight.
His own statements.
And finally Tess’s testimony.
He was convicted of kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, and severe psychological abuse.
The court sentenced him to life imprisonment without parole.
When the verdict was announced, Tess did not smile.
