Betrayal - Fern Michaels [29]
Alex stood up and walked across the office to gaze out the window. Several seconds passed before he turned to James and Kate. “So in essence what you’re telling me is that I’m guilty until proven innocent? And that, if we’re lucky, I’ll be able to avoid going to jail because I happen to be wealthy?”
Kate was beginning to hate the law with every passing minute. “What do you mean? Alex may have to stay in jail until he proves his innocence? He didn’t do anything! Why wouldn’t he be able to get bail set? This is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard of!” Kate was roaring, pissed as hell, and didn’t care who knew it.
“I don’t make the laws, Mrs. Rocket, but I do have to follow them. All isn’t lost, though. Are you prepared to put up at least five hundred thousand to assure your presence at trial? It might take a million, given the seriousness of the charges of molestation over a long period of time.”
“That’s not a problem,” Alex said. “If you can get the judge to set bail, it will be paid. In cash.”
“That’s good. Okay. In the meantime, Alex, you’re going to have to prepare yourself, just in case, for a few weeks in the Collier County jail. From what I understand, it is the cream of the crop. Air-conditioned, three good meals a day. Books, television. Try to think of this as a restful vacation, should worse come to worst.”
Kate flew out of her chair, stood in front of James’s desk, and pounded her fist on its surface. “Are you out of your mind? A restful vacation? Do you realize the stigma that Alex will have to carry around for the rest of his life? This isn’t some . . . some traffic ticket! This is my husband’s life we’re talking about!” Kate reeled backward and collapsed into the chair she’d just vacated. She held her head in her hands. Sobs racked her shoulders. Alex stood behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders.
“She’s right, James. I can’t stand back and do nothing. Isn’t there some way to prove Sara is lying? What about her destroying Kate’s studio? Kate still has her sneaker with the glass embedded in the sole. Doesn’t that prove she’s capable of making this up? Where is the actual proof?”
Behind Kate, Alex remained rigid. The nightmare worsened by the minute. His muscles tensed, he wanted to hit something or someone, anything to relieve the intense anger building in him.
“That’s the downside of an accusation of this kind. You have only the victim’s word. Unless there is physical evidence, bruising, swelling, bleeding, it’s up to the court to decide guilt or innocence. We’ll order a psychiatric evaluation. My investigator will check her school records, friends, anything she’s been involved in for the past several years. If we need to go back further, we will. Since she’s stating this began when she was five or six, there should be some pattern of behavior that proves she’s had issues with telling the truth.”
“I just remembered something,” Kate said. “The first day the girls were here, Emily took me aside. She asked me not to say anything to her parents. I didn’t, but now I wish I had. Emily saw Sara terrorizing their neighbor’s cat. Said she was dragging it around by its tail. The poor thing was screeching like a baby. Emily thought Sara was out of control. She even mentioned how she told lies. Isn’t this something we can use?”
James wanted to reassure the Rockets, but he also wanted to be honest with them. “It could be. We would have to get Emily’s testimony on the record. She’s underage. That would require her parents’ permission. It’s something to work with.”
“What about having her subpoenaed?” Kate questioned. “Wouldn’t she be forced to tell the court what she said to me that day in the kitchen?”
“Courts don’t like to subject children to testifying, unless it’s a dire emergency.”
Alex backed away from the chair. “What the hell would you call this, then? It’s a goddamn emergency to me. My life and Kate’s are at stake. I don’t think there is anything else this could be called but an emergency.”
Kate agreed. Had she been too hasty in hiring James Conroy?
“You