Betrayal - Fern Michaels [40]
With thoughts of planning a gourmet meal upon Alex’s arrival, Kate found the guest bedroom. It was decorated in a palm tree motif. Not her cup of tea, but it worked there. Celery green walls, a beige comforter with palm fronds looked too inviting. She removed her sticky clothes. Just a few minutes. That was all she needed. She closed the plantation shutters and pulled the switch to turn on the paddle fan. She lay on the bed, her thoughts a whirlwind. Before she realized it, she fell asleep. A loud knock at the front door awakened her.
She jumped up from the bed, off guard in her new environment. She still wore her bra and panties.
Damn. She only meant to rest her eyes for a few minutes. She looked at her watch. She’d slept for over two hours.
The knocking continued.
“Coming,” she shouted. It had to be James. She grabbed the much-hated black slacks and blouse, slipped the latter over her head, and raced to the foyer as she stumbled into her pants. A glance in the mirror above the small table said she looked like hell, but she didn’t care. At that point all she wanted to do was put this nightmare behind her and get on with her life.
Chapter 12
The court bailiff, a male deputy sheriff wearing the standard gray-and-black uniform issued to the Collier County Sheriff’s Department, called, “All rise,” in the oak-paneled courtroom. His words echoed in the small space. He was not much taller than she, Kate observed, as he turned to the door that opened behind the judge’s bench. Kate, along with the rest of the people in the courtroom, rose.
Tall and thin, with brown beady eyes behind what Kate always referred to as granny glasses, the female judge presiding over the morning’s arraignment hearing fanned her black robe around her shoulders like a proud peacock. Her short gray hair had been cut into a distinct blunt bob. Severe came to mind. Judge Jean Stowers. Upon hearing the name, Kate thought the judge was male, not that it mattered. James assured her that Judge Stowers was as good as any other judge in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit in Collier County. The second she laid eyes on her, there was something about the judge. Kate couldn’t put her finger on it, she’d never met the woman, only knew as much about her as she’d learned from James in their meeting the previous afternoon. Still, she was on edge. Though she’d always relied on gut instinct in the past, Kate hoped for once that her instinct was wrong.
Not more than twenty people were seated in Judge Stowers’s courtroom. Crime must be taking a vacation, Kate thought as she scrutinized the group. Or was it possible there wasn’t a lot of crime in the moneyed town? Probably the latter. James had told her what to expect, but nothing prepared her for the actual vision as Alex, along with three other scruffy-looking men, entered the courtroom through a side door.
Shaking hands covered her mouth to keep her gasp from being heard. James touched her arm and nodded. Only forty-eight hours since she’d last seen Alex, and he’d aged ten years. Kate’s eyes filled with tears. Alex, her wonderful, decent, honest Alex. Jailed with a bunch of God knows what kind of criminals, all because of a lie. Her heartbeat increased, sweat beaded her upper lip. This wasn’t good.
Dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit with black flip-flops on his feet, his appearance was a shock to Kate. Alex’s hands were in handcuffs, and the handcuffs were attached to a heavy chain. The chain was attached to shackles on both feet. Each man was attached to the other. If one decided to run, then they’d all go for the fall. Kate had no idea Alex would be treated in such a . . . criminal manner. He’d come willingly. James said that would be favored by the