Page 28 of Say Yes to the Death

Alice tried to rise, but he held his nightstick in her direction.

“Mom? What the hell is going on?” Claire asked. So much for making it through the trial with no unnecessary shenanigans.

More shouts came from inside the courtroom. A gavel banged in the background.

“I can’t believe you would take this case,” Luke said as the door flew open again. Even from this distance, his eyes were stormy and dangerous. “How in the hell is this not a conflict of interest? You’re defending the man who tried to kill my girlfriend.”

Oh, he said the g-word. Did that make them official? But he had lied about George. And didn’t tell Rachel she existed. Wait, who was he talking to?

Rachel strode out just behind him. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were even sharper and more unforgiving than they had been the night before.

“Lucas, I would hardly consider this minor dalliance your ‘girlfriend.’ She doesn’t even know the difference between a salad bowl and a soup bowl.”

Claire’s mouth dropped open. Who the hell cared what kind of bowl was being used if someone served you a free meal in it? That was it, she was going to kill her. Luke started to speak, but he was cut off.

“You dried-up old hag!” Alice leapt up from the chair and charged toward Rachel.

The bailiff, moving surprisingly quickly for a man of his size, scooped his arms underneath Alice’s and held her back. Deprived of arm movements, Alice instead began jumping, kicking her legs out in Rachel’s general direction.

Sawyer moved toward Alice but turned to look back at Claire. She shook her head, and he stopped.

“How dare you speak of my daughter that way?” Alice spat at Rachel. “She is a beautiful, smart, independent businesswoman who has suffered unspeakable horrors at the hand of your client.” She emphasized the last word as if it was profane.

Claire gasped. That fossilized twat was representing Barney. No wonder she had been grilling her the night before. Was she even allowed to do that?

“Mrs. Alejo, I’m just doing my job. And my job entails uncovering the truth, and the truth is that your daughter isn’t as innocent as she likes to pretend. She assaulted someone in front of a hundred people shortly before she was ‘abducted,’” Rachel said with air quotes.

A hand flew to Claire’s chest. She was frozen in place like an ice sculpture. Every time she thought Rachel couldn’t possibly be more heinous, she proved her wrong. The Islestorms were quicksand, sucking people in and suffocating them with lies and subterfuge.

Alice wriggled even harder, like a bull caught in a pen. The bailiff cleared his throat loudly, and the cop who had been sitting behind the metal detector with earbuds in suddenly jumped up.

“What seems to be the problem here?” he asked, sounding awfully official for someone who had been blatantly ignoring his job.

“Little help here, Steve?” The bailiff looked pointedly at the middle-aged psychic who was doing her best to escape his grasp.

“What kind of a mother could defend a man like Barney Windsor? You’re the real monster here. Your heart is as black as your aura” Alice hissed as she was transferred back to the chair. Fighting words from the television psychic. The cop pulled her arms behind her and snapped on a pair of handcuffs, threading them through the slats of the chair. Alice shot daggers at Rachel, who ignored her.

Sawyer was trying to catch Claire’s eye, and when he succeeded, he scrubbed his hand against his cheek. She shrugged at him, confused. Did she still have drool on her face? Her cheek didn’t feel wet.

“You seriously went through our recycling?” Luke said to his mother, hands balled into fists at his side.

“I have an obligation to my client—” she began but stopped when the courtroom doors opened again.

Mindy and Nicole slid out, looking alarmed. They spotted Claire and hurried down the hallway, flanking her and snaking their arms through hers.

“You used your relationship with me to get information on Claire. I’m going to tell the judge about the conflict of interest,” Luke said, whirling around and heading for the courtroom.

“Maybe you should let me handle that,” Kyle, who had just exited, said. He was grinning despite the chaos.

“Lucas, the jury has a right to know about Claire’s violent history,” Rachel continued, softer this time. “And you never told me you were dating her until last night.”

Luke turned to her, rage flaming in his eyes. “Shut the hell up. And get your things out of my guest room. You’re not welcome in my home anymore.”

Claire gasped. Rachel’s face fell. The doors slammed open again, and the judge appeared in her billowing black robes.

“Counselors,” the judge said. “This is a courtroom, not a circus tent. As riveting as this family drama is, it won’t be tolerated. And you,” the judge said, turning to Alice. “You are dangerously close to being held in contempt.”

Alice took a deep breath and trained her baby blue eyes on the judge. “Your honor, do you have any idea what it’s like to get a call in the middle of the night telling you that your daughter has been stabbed? And you’re six states away and she’s bleeding out under a retrograde Mercury? Claire almost died at the hands of that man, and this woman’s trying to make it seem like she’s some underdeveloped, gin-guzzling middle schooler with a violent streak. That’s not my daughter.”

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