“I’m sorry,” Carmelita said in a tiny voice.
“I didn’t hear you.” Joshua gave three raps with the gavel. “Address me as father.”
“I’m sorry, Father,” Carmelita said, this time in a louder voice. She sat back down and bit her fingernails.
“Good. Now, the trial shall begin. Vincenzo Salvadori hired a hitman, Pablo Sandoval, to kidnap my precious Carmelita. He would demand ransom because he is a greedy pig. What do you have to say for yourself, Vincenzo Salvadori?”
“I would never hurt a child or a woman of any age,” Axe’s father said. “There was a misunderstanding concerning Pablo. I stand corrected and vow that no harm will ever come to your daughter.”
Joshua turned to Carmelita and said, “Is his explanation acceptable?”
“Yes, Father,” the young girl said.
“Very well, let’s hear from my enemy, Axe Salvadori.” Joshua’s nostrils flared. “Axe Salvadori killed Carmelita’s adoptive parents, Ana and Eduardo Bandera. He attempted to kidnap Carmelita, but when Ana and Eduardo caught him, he shot them in the head and left them to die.”
“They’re dead?” Carmelita shot from the witness stand. “My parents are dead?”
Gabriel rushed to her and hugged her.
“Order in the court. Order in the court.” Joshua slammed the gavel hard, and the head broke off and went flying.
Leanna wanted to go to Carmelita and comfort her, but she was paralyzed, staring at Axe. There was no way she’d believe he would kill Ana and Eduardo. It was between El Bardo and Cano or maybe Axe’s father that the guilt lay.
True, she had only Axe’s word that he’d been knocked out the night she went to the cantina, but he was a protector, not a killer, and he had no motive. Why would Joshua want everyone to believe Axe was a stone-cold killer?
“Axe didn’t do it.” Leanna shot up from her chair, knocking it down. “You have no proof.”
“I do,” Joshua said. “You are out of order. Sit.”
Leanna sat, but she didn’t shut up. “If you have any concern for our daughter, please remove her from this court. She’s a child, and she shouldn’t be watching these accusations. She’s traumatized.”
“Absolutely not,” Joshua said. “My daughter will be an iron woman. Strong, not weak. She will sit through this trial and behave. Bailiff, put Carmelita back in the witness box and put Gabriel in the witness protection room.”
Witness protection room? Leanna had never heard of one inside a court. But this was not a real court, and Joshua was playing one of his power games to sow discord between the people on the stage.
He was poisoning Carmelita’s mind about Axe, and that was inexcusable. If Leanna were betting, she’d wager that Joshua would make her choose between Carmelita and Axe.
After Joshua made Carmelita sit down and Leanna’s father shoved the boy out the side door, Joshua pulled out another gavel and pounded it.
“Order in the court. The third guilty parties are Ivan and Juan. They tried to send Carmelita on a dangerous journey with human traffickers. They would have raped her themselves, but they were greedy and planned to sell her to a wealthy American. Fortunately, I rescued my precious daughter from these mercenaries. What do you have to say, Ivan, on behalf of you and Juan?”
“You lie.” Ivan spat on the floor in front of him.
“Order. Order. Order.” Cano hammered with a fury, unruffling his usually cool demeanor. “Leanna Rivera. You will execute judgment.”
Leanna noticed Carmelita bent down in the witness box, hugging herself and crying silently. Her nails had been bitten to the quick, and strangely, they were unpainted. Hadn’t Axe said she had a huge collection of nail polish?
Leanna gave Joshua Cano the evil eye. Why couldn’t he see how he was hurting his daughter? But then again, monsters like him only thought about themselves. He was obviously enjoying himself too much to care about anyone else. No surprise.
“Why me?” Leanna asked. “Why should I execute judgment?”
“Because I say so.” Cano stood. “Bailiff, give Miss Rivera her loaded gun.”
Leanna couldn’t believe Cano would hand her a gun. He had to be seriously arrogant if he thought she wouldn’t shoot him. But then, he had armed guards right outside the theater, and most likely, he had snipers on the catwalks above.
Leanna’s father approached with her gun, the Mossberg compact 9mm Axe had given her. He held it with a cloth to prevent his fingerprints from appearing.
“What’s going on?” Leanna asked Joshua. “Why are you doing this to me?”
