Betrayal - Fern Michaels [47]
Twenty minutes later, Don was on the phone searching for a reputable psychiatrist.
He called Sara into the den.
“What do you want, Daddy? I was watching MTV.”
“Sorry to interrupt, kiddo, but this is important.” Don motioned for her to sit next to him on the white leather sofa.
“What?” Sara dragged out the word longer than Don thought possible.
“I know you’re going to be upset, but I want you to listen. I’ve made an appointment for you to go to a doctor. She’s going to help you talk about what happened with . . . Alex.”
Sara screamed, “I told Mommy I was not going! And I’m not!” She stormed out of the room.
Don screamed right back, “Get your ass back in here, young lady!”
Sara came back to the den, her face mottled with tears streaming down her fat cheeks. “What?”
“You have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with Dr. Kenton. I don’t want to hear your whining. Now get out of my sight!”
“I hate you!” Sara screamed as she exited the room.
“Yeah, well, so do a lot of others,” Don said, knowing it was childish but unable to help himself.
If there was the slightest hope of Sara leading a normal life, Don knew he would see to it that she kept the appointment, even if he had to drag her by the hair.
It was time she learned to play by the rules.
His rules.
James Conroy placed the call he’d been dreading all morning. There was no way around it, no matter how he tried to talk himself out of it.
He drew in a shaky breath. “Kate, it’s James.”
“What’s wrong? You sound terrible.”
He was hoping by the tone of his voice, or at least by his lack of enthusiasm, that she would pick up on why he was calling, anything to save him from saying what he knew the Rockets didn’t want to hear. He had really come to like the couple over the last week. Hell, he’d practically promised them this would all be over with before they knew it. He was wrong.
“I was hoping to have better news. Apparently the grand jury has made its decision. They’re binding Alex over for trial. I’m so sorry, Kate. I was almost positive that this would go in Alex’s favor.”
Kate’s hands trembled. Her eyes pooled with hot angry tears. Damn that little bitch! She’s about to ruin Alex’s life. If I could get my hands around Sara Winter’s fat neck right now, I just might choke the life out of her. I can’t stand the kid. Kate knew she’d regret her thoughts later. But not just then. She needed her anger to get her through this. Without it, she didn’t know if she could.
“I’ll tell Alex,” Kate responded.
“I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear. I want to go over a few details with you and Alex today. I’ll stop by the house this afternoon. Will that work for you both?”
Their life was falling apart minute by minute. If their attorney wanted to make a house call, it mattered little to her. “That’s good. We’ll be here.” Still in a daze, Kate hung up the phone. The Winter family had won the first round. They were out to ruin Alex, or so they thought. While this was the worst news possible, Kate was ready for battle no matter how daunting the challenge. She had to be strong for Alex. Let him know they would get through this, no matter what. They would. She knew they would. They had to.
Alex entered the kitchen. “Who was on the phone? You don’t look too happy.”
Kate shook her head. “You’re not going to believe this.”
“Try me. At this stage of the game, I’m willing to believe anything.”
“That was James. The grand jury came back, Alex. They’ve issued an indictment.”
Kate watched the play of emotions dance across her husband’s face. Surprise, resignation, anger, then acceptance.
“I thought as much. James talks a good talk. This is Florida. They don’t take these kinds of accusations lightly, we knew that going in. Let