Chapter 33
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Elisha sat nervously on the sofa as Nick answered the door. When he ushered David in, she stood
and ran her hands down her pants leg, unconsciously smoothing them over and over. "How are you
doing, Elisha?" David asked, looking around the room. "It's pretty quiet here, where are the
kids?" Elisha smiled and moved to clear off the dining room table, remembering once she got
there that is was already clean. "My parents took them out, we thought it would be easier."
Nick offered. "And the twins are sleeping." "For now!" Elisha grinned and sat down in the
chair David had pulled out for her. "Well this is good, we should be able to discuss quite a bit
in the time we have then." David pulled some files out of his briefcase and folded his hands on
top of them. "What's the plan of attack?" Nick asked. "I'm going to ask that your charges be
dropped right off the bat Nick. There's no way you can be convicted for this, no way in hell."
"But won't the prosecutor try to make is sound like Nick is guilty?" Elisha clasped Nick's hand
under the table. "He can try, but there is no proof, absolutely nothing. I've checked
everything. It should be a cakewalk." David coughed slightly. "I'll be talking to the
prosecutor tomorrow and working on it. I should have you free and clear in a couple days." He
looked at Elisha. "You on the other hand." Elisha ducked her head. "Lots of proof for me,
right? No cakewalk." "Now, don't be so hasty. Your plea is going to be not guilty. We will
prove that it was a justifiable homicide. That you were frightened to death of this woman and
were simply protecting your family." Elisha nodded. "I was, but what about me holding her in
the barn? I kidnapped her!" "We will run through questions that the prosecuter will probably
ask. And that will come up." David assured her. "But you will make an excellent witness on the
stand. I personally have very little worries about this." Elisha smiled and shook her head.
"You men are all so positive about this!" Nick stood as they heard the babies crying. "I'll get
them 'Lish, stay here." "Can we go over some of the questions now?" she asked the lawyer.
"Certainly. But I will be tough on you, just like the other lawyer will be. I need to see your
reactions so we can correct any problems before the trial." Nick returned with the twins in his
arms and handed Diana to Elisha. "It's too bad you can't bring the babies to court." David
casually mentioned as he watched the family. "Why is that?" "One look at these cuties and you
would be found not guilty in an instant. Everyone would understand why you fought for them."
Elisha settled on the sofa again to feed Diana and David paced the floor in front of her. "Are you ready, Elisha?" She nodded and glanced over at Nick for support. He beamed at her and placed his free hand on her knee. "You'll be fine." "Okay, he will probably start by asking your background with Mandy, that's all pretty cut and dried." He flipped through some papers and then turned suddenly to face her. "Isn't it true Mrs. Carter, that you purchased the gun because you thought your husband and Miss Willaford were having an affair?" Elisha started. "What? I bought the gun because I was terrified that she would come back and try to harm us again!" David nodded encouragingly. "Excellent, you weren't thrown at all." Nick smiled triumphantly. "See, you're gonna do fine!" David threw some more questions at her and she answered them all the same way, honestly, but defensively. "Can you explain to the court how Miss Willaford came to have rope burns on her wrists? Do you have any idea?" Elishas face turned white and she looked to Nick. The realization that the only people who knew she had kidnapped Mandy were sitting in this room and looking after her other children hit her suddenly and she leaned against Nick. "They don't know I kidnapped her! What am I going to say?" David sat in the chair across from her. "You tell them. Tell them the whole story and look at the jury. She was taking you so that she could get to Nick and the children again. You were terrified. Let them know." Tears ran down her face and she leaned into Nicks shoulder. "I'm so scared! I can't do this!" Nick set Gene down and hugged Elisha and his daughter. "You can do it honey. They just have to know how scared you were. You thought she was going to hurt us again and you did the first thing you could think of to stop her." David patted her shoulder. "I think that's enough for today. We'll do this a couple more times before the trial." He straightened and placed his files back into the briefcase. Nick and Elisha walked as one with him to the door. "I'm sorry, David. I'll do better next time." "You did fine." he reassured her. "I'll be in touch, folks." Later in the evening Nick and Elisha walked down the main street arm in arm, stopping now and then to peer into a store window. "It was so nice of mom and dad to look after the kids tonight." Elisha sighed happily. "Well they thought we needed a bit of a break. Do you realize how long it has been since we went anywhere by ourselves, just to enjoy ourselves?" Nick asked. "Since before the twins were born, I think." Elisha answered. "I think you are right." They continued walking down the street, just enjoying being close to each other. "I love you so much, Nick." Elisha murmered. Nick answered by stopping, turning her to face him and kissing her gently. "I love you too, you are my life." "Do you ever wonder what would have happened if we had never met each other?" she asked, breathlessly. "I don't even want to think about it." Nick answered. "I didn't have a life until I met you." Elisha smiled up at him. "You don't mean that?" He nodded eagerly, taking her hand and continued their walk. "You are the best thing that ever happened to me." Elisha slipped her arm around his waist. "I don't deserve you." "Nope, you've got that wrong. It's me that doesn't deserve you." She laughed. "So we both don't deserve each other! We're quite the pair!" Nick kissed her lips lightly and laughed with her. Elisha glanced up as they passed a theater. "Want to take in a movie?" Nick glanced at his watch. "Sure, they kids are probably on their way to bed. What do you want to see?" Elisha smirked wickedly. "You in the dark, in the back row." Nick tugged on her hand and pulled her to the ticket booth. "Let's go!" |