Page 91 of Provoke You

It would be great if we also had Mrs. Turner to justify against Andy. Getting Andy to answer for what he did wasn’t the purpose of our visit to the courthouse. But why not kill two birds with one stone? We weren’t that lucky. No way in hell Andy would show up to the proceedings. What would be the point for him?

The clouds hovering in the horizon promised rain later. But for now, we had an overcast day, and the heat wasn’t stifling. Ela fidgeted with her blazer several times as she stepped out of the car.

“Chase, see if Mrs. Turner decides to go back to the safe house. Be careful though, she may not be alone.”

“You got it.” He climbed out of the car and switched places with Kitt.

“I guess this is one of those times when we leave the guns and bring the cannolis?” Kitt slammed the door shut and watched longingly as Chase drove away. “I miss my scope rifle already.”

“It’s not that kind of assignment for today.” I adjusted my suit jacket. “At least I hope it isn’t. With Ela, it’s hard to tell.”

Kitt walked next to me, as we trailed behind Ela and Ben. She’d said she was afraid, but right now, she looked ready for battle. Inside the building, I did my usual checks. The place wasn’t crowded, and the guards seemed to mean business.

“What do you think, Boss?”

“I’ll go in. Let me know if anything changes out here. I just don’t trust Andre. He had to know Ben and Ela would be here today.”

The courtroom assigned to Ela’s proceeding didn’t look like those fancy ones on TV. The judge did have a high bench that overlooked the benches facing him. But other than that, the chamber was plain and unassuming. Ela sat at the front with Ben. I picked a row away from them and sat.

To his credit, Andre had a look of surprise on his face. He glared at Ela the same way he did the day I brought her home after her night of drinking. The judge kept his features neutral. He almost looked bored with the case.

He glanced over at Ela over the brim of his reading glasses. “Are you Ela Leblanc?”

“Yes, sir. I mean Your Honor.”

“She seems fine to me, Mr. Benoit.”

Andre’s lawyer stood, shuffling a few papers on his table. “We have an affidavit signed by her nurse where she states that Ela Blanc isn’t stable. She cites her substance abuse as the cause. She recently had an episode.”

“I can read,” the judge said with his gaze fixed on the document in front of him.

“Ben.” Ela turned to Ben, who patted her hand before he stood.

Jesus, I could never be a lawyer. Not with the way my blood boiled in my veins right now. If it were me, I would have Andre under my boot spilling his guts to the court.

Ben stood and presented the drug test Kitt found omitted from Ela’s file. “As you can see, Nurse Lydia didn’t have all the evidence to form a proper assessment.”

The judge nodded, glancing up at Ela every now and then. She shifted in her seat. Truth was, anyone put on the stand would never come out clean. Andre was an asshole for doing this to her. For making her answer for every little thing she’d ever done.

I was already tired of this cat-and-mouse game. Andre sat in his chair, confident he’d win. He had the nurse and Mrs. Turner on his side. Over the years, he’d been building his case against Ela. If we were being honest, she didn’t look good on paper. Andre had made sure of that.

Just when I thought I was going to burst out aloud to ask them to get on with it, Kitt came up behind me with a soft click of his teeth. I followed his line of sight. On the opposite side of the room, Andy strolled in and sat behind Ela’s dad, his dad.

Was he insane? I texted Chase. Anything on Mrs. Turner?

The stars were aligning in our favor, so maybe Chase got lucky too.

Got her. She was under the impression we were forcing Ben to do something he didn’t want to do. She’s friendly now. Stay put or come over?

I replied immediately.

Keep her there.

We had a suspect and an eyewitness. This whole dog-and-pony show Andre and Ben had going on was inconsequential. I pointed at the door with my chin, and Kitt nodded. Andy wasn’t going anywhere. What was he thinking? That Ela didn’t survive last night? That I wouldn’t be here to help her? Probably the latter after the way I acted at the hospital the day they admitted her.

Up on the bench, the judge kept his gaze on the documents in front of him. At least he was trying to give Ela the benefit of the doubt. I scooted over enough seats to sit behind Andy. How was it possible they’d allowed a killer into this room? I glanced over at Kitt. He would never kill for his own gain. That was never his trigger.

What was Andy’s trigger? What made him justify the attacks on Ela? Back at the hospital, I got the impression he wasn’t doing this for the money, though I was one hundred percent sure that was all Andre cared about. Money and the influence that came with it. How would he spend his days after he was no longer Ela’s guardian? How would the city of New Orleans see him? He’d have to leave and start over somewhere new.

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