“Possibly, yes. Or it’s done to cause a delay. They might know the initial trial will still end in a guilty verdict from the jury, so this is giving them more time to assemble some psychiatrists who can examine her and testify on her behalf.”
More time.
“How much longer could this drag out?” I asked. I felt winded and leaned against the back of my SUV.
“The sanity trial was set to start in a few weeks. The initial trial will have to take place first to determine if a sanity trial will be needed. I won’t have the exact date for the trial until later in the week.”
“Great.” I sighed. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. Of course Elise would do something to make this more agonizing and drawn out. She knows I’m in the midst of opening a coffee house with my dad.
“Andrew, try to relax. I have it handled.”Did he really?“Remember, she could be misconstruing something or even fabricating a situation.”
“What?” I understood what he was saying, without really saying it. I felt sick and angry.
“She could have changed her story and claimed self-defense.”
“Self-defense? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Andrew, calm down. I know you didn’t do anything that could be misconstrued—”
“You damn well better, Michael. I didn’t do a damn thing to her.”
“I know, Andrew.”
I kept the phone to my ear, but neither of us were saying anything else. My mind ran through everything with Elise. I never retaliated for anything.
“Where are you?”
“I’m in the parking lot of the new coffee house. I stepped outside to call you.”
“You’re wheezing. Are you all right?”
I looked down and realized my hand was clutching my side again. Sometimes I wasn’t even aware I was doing it. It had become almost automatic like, breathing.
“I’m okay. I just got frazzled and worked up.”
“Listen, go inside, sit down, and drink some water. Relax. I have this under control. I’ll call you as soon as I know the date of her initial trial.”
“Okay.”
“Concentrate on your new coffee house location. Let me worry about Elise.”
“Thank you. I’ll talk to you soon.”
I ended the call with Michael and immediately opened my text string with James. I quickly typed out a long mess of a text about everything Michael and I had spoken about. My thumb hovered over the send button as I reconsidered sending it. I wiped the sweat from my forehead as I stared at the text that took up a full screen.
Stand on your own feet,I reminded myself. I deleted the text and stood. As I walked toward the store, I could see my dad standing by the front window watching me. I went inside and acted like nothing had happened or that I hadn’t just received terrible news that literally knocked the wind out of me.
“Everything all right?” Dad asked as I walked past him and around some tables on the way to the counter area.
“Yes, just a friend.”
“Elise?”
“No. I said it was a friend.”
I plastered a smile on my face and noticed Brandon was also staring at me from behind the counter. When our eyes connected, he quickly looked down and resumed putting straws in the straw container. Brandon knew much more than my dad did. I walked behind him to the cooler and grabbed myself a bottle of water.
“Is everything okay?” Brandon mumbled so only I would hear.
