Chapter 4 #2
“Ms. Devereaux, I understand your conviction record is over ninety-five percent. There are those who call you a shark, incapable of flexibility. What do you say to that?”
“Well, I…”
“Ms. Devereaux. If convicted, will you be seeking the death penalty?”
Jesus. Could they slow down? This I wasn’t used to.
A strange feeling washed over me as if I was being watched.
Just like before. Very slowly, the questions and voices faded and I peered through an opening in the crowd toward the street.
While there were too many people crowding the sidewalk, the feeling lingered.
Now creepy-crawlies were slithering up my back.
Shake it off.
“Ms. Devereaux.” Another jarring voice yanked me out of the haze.
“Excuse me?”
How in the hell had anyone gotten my name?
Unless Mr. Bernat had planned to hand over the case to me all along and had even told the court.
Why would he do that? He’d been right in that this was a very important case.
Enough so that the weight of what I was doing felt as if more than just a bail hearing.
Why give it to me? Unless there were aspects about the case he’d yet to explain. Another irritation.
Both Mr. Prince’s reputation and potentially his life were on the line.
I didn’t take that lightly. Nor did I shove aside the knowledge that his family going way back was known for their criminal activity.
I’d had only twenty minutes to delve into Alexander’s past and the charges against him.
I needed as many details as possible in trying to establish what bail I’d request if any.
I’d also made mental note of the number of times someone in his employ had been arrested.
How interesting very few had led to charges that had stuck.
Or anyone spending time behind bars.
That annoyed the hell out of me. Anyone who thought they were better than the law was nothing but an irritation.
Something did snap inside about the questions they were asking.
“I’m late for court and other than just saying no comment, I will say this. This case has yet to be tried and until it does, there will be no conjecture on guilt or innocence. That is not only unfair to the defendant, but also to the state of Louisiana. I suggest you keep your eye on the ball.”
While I had to push my way through them, they weren’t eager to let me go, following me as far as to the security line.
As soon as I was checked and cleared, I finally took a deep breath, but I remained rattled. With a quick glance at my watch, I groaned. I really was late and going into Judge Marcus Wentworth’s court even a few minutes tardy could mean the kiss of death.
I took a deep breath, smoothing down my suit jacket, growling at myself for the choice of attire that morning. This wasn’t a power suit by any means. It would have to do.
Before I headed into the courtroom, I noticed several suspicious men in suits hanging around the corridor. To say all four of them gave me a hard look was an understatement. I wondered if somehow they’d managed to hide weapons under the jackets of their expensive suits.
The moment I walked in, I was blasted with the heat and irritation of the judge. He slowly and deliberately looked at his watch before rapping his fingers on the bench’s wooden surface.
“Nice of you to join us, Ms. Devereaux.”
That answered my question. Mr. Bernat had made the court aware of the change.
I doubted that had occurred earlier in the day.
Why had he waited to tell me? It was neither here nor there at this point.
I kept my mouth shut and headed past the empty seats inside the courtroom to the counsel table, trying to be as quiet as possible when pulling the necessary items from my briefcase.
With the silence in the room, my nerves were even more on edge. More than that was the heat resonating across my face and neck, sliding like firecrackers all the way down to my toes. I knew when someone was staring at me and that’s exactly what was happening.
Very casually, I glanced to my left, forced to hold my breath.
Alexander was even more handsome than I’d remembered, certainly more so than the photographs I’d found on the internet.
His chiseled features were as close to perfection as I’d ever witnessed.
With a high forehead, carved cheekbones, and aristocratic nose, his face should appear on magazines instead of on wanted posters.
He was also huge, his massive body taking up much of the table where his attorney sat beside him.
He was impeccably dressed in a dazzling suit with obvious Italian origins, and I was notably impressed.
I was also more than a bit hot and bothered, which was entirely unprofessional. I was rarely flustered by anyone, but he was doing that and completely aware I was already perspiring from simply being so close to him.
I’d read enough about him to know I was in the presence of a dangerous man.
There was a presence about him that went way beyond his physicality.
He was casual in his demeanor, sitting still and still managing to control the room.
Cold and detached, only his eyes held a flicker of anything remotely linked to passion.
While this was merely setting the stage for his trial for murder, he didn’t seem fazed by the heaviness of being inside a courtroom. He was a ruthless criminal, a mobster, a prince with a kingdom.
Alexander Prince was indeed as formidable as I’d read he would be, not only commanding the room but my attention as well. The man was dangerously still and that made me increasingly nervous. I could tell he was looking right through me.
Or undressing me with his eyes.
Either way, I forced myself to act as nonchalant as possible.
Had I seen a flicker of recognition or was he simply reacting to any woman who had the nerve to challenge his manhood? And that’s exactly what I was doing by being placed in charge of the case. I doubted a man like Alexander took notice of anyone.
His attorney finally glanced in my direction, nodding just before I did, acknowledging some false kind of respect. I’d read about him too. He wasn’t well known in the world of defense, which begged the question of how arrogant Mr. Prince must be to hire a junior attorney for a case so important.
He’d plead innocent, although there’d been enough evidence to bring him to trial. Although even I had to admit the evidence was circumstantial. Still, from what I’d learned, he was clearly capable of something so heinous.
I tried to concentrate on the paperwork, reminding myself this wasn’t my case. At least I hoped that it wasn’t.
Yet my eyes wandered to Alexander once again. He was not just undressing me with his eyes. He was devouring me an inch at a time, enjoying the feast as if I was his last meal. What I also noticed was that he hadn’t blinked. Not once. Meanwhile, I’d done so a thousand times.
Shuddering inwardly, I turned my attention to my notes.
The attraction to him was entirely different than I’d experienced with any man, digging at a level of darkness that I couldn’t understand.
“Now that we’re all here,” Judge Wentworth snarked while tossing me yet another annoyed look, “bailiff, will you bring this case to order.”
I barely listened as the bailiff did as he was asked, citing the case number. When the judge began to speak, I stole another glance at the stunning man.
He was still staring at me with a slow smile sliding across his face. The arrogance I’d felt a few days before was very much in the moment and I allowed his assumption that I’d fall easily for his tempting good looks to pull me free of the insanity and need.
A slight buzz began in my ears as the judge confirmed his identity and read the charges against him. The more time that ticked by, the more annoyed I became.
Then it was my turn. Fortunately, since I’d done this several hundred times, I was able to fall into my routine.
“What is the bail amount you’re requesting, Ms. Devereaux?” the judge asked.
I’d wanted to ask that Alexander be remanded in custody until his trial, but I knew that wouldn’t fly given his influence and notoriety.
So I did the next best thing. “Your honor, given the heinous nature of the crime, the prosecution asks for two million dollars as well as a turnover of his passport.” Heinous wasn’t a strong enough word to use regarding the horrific murder.
The man had been dismembered after being beaten so severely, his face hadn’t been recognizable.
From what I’d determined in the short time I’d had to go over the case, the man murdered had been from a rival crime syndicate.
While I certainly couldn’t use the information that I’d almost met the defendant before and had noticed a bloodied and battered fist where he’d obviously beaten someone, I kept it in the forefront of my mind.
That allowed me to see the man for who he truly was.
A cold-blooded killer. A monster.
Leaving a body in a populated area had allowed him to be found quickly.
That didn’t sound like any intelligent criminal, let alone a man with a Yale education with a powerful, influential family backing him.
Pictures of the scene indicated a sloppy assassin at best action.
More as if done by someone out of rage instead of calculated elimination.
Maybe I didn’t have all the information, but there was almost no evidence pinning the murder on Mr. Prince. Still, I had to be cautious of allowing his release to be easy.
The defending attorney choked on purpose and stood. “Your honor. Two million dollars? Not only is the amount almost unheard of, but given the lack of evidence, the amount is ridiculous.”
“Maybe so, but Mr. Prince has a passport. His families own several jets and various properties outside the United States. In addition, Mr. Prince has access to at least six offshore bank accounts. I believe he’s a flight risk.”
“He has ties to this community,” Sebastian Drake barked, almost talking over me. “He has family here. Brothers. A sister. His businesses are here, several of them. I hardly think as an innocent man Mr. Prince is willing to risk everything because of this trumped-up charge.”
I almost laughed. Not a bad performance although he definitely lived up to his smarmy reputation. When I started to rebut what he’d said, the judge threw up his hand.
“I’ve heard enough. What bail amount are you suggesting, Mr. Drake?”
“We ask for fifty thousand dollars.”
While usually fairly good at keeping my mouth shut at inappropriate times, the absurdity of a mere fifty thousand dollars when the family was worth billions was something I couldn’t ignore. So I laughed, which instantly angered the judge.
“Fifty thousand sounds about right to me.” He smashed down the gavel so hard even I jumped.
“All rise,” the bailiff said and the judge was already halfway out the door.
I stood silently, trying to recoil from the rapid fire of what had just occurred. Without knowing why Mr. Bernat had insisted I take the case, I shouldn’t be worried about the facts of the case. That wasn’t my job, or at least so I believed.
Except they bothered me.
Aware of whispers next to me, I began to collect my things. There was no need to belabor the point. I’d slink back to the office, get a few things accomplished, and leave for the day.
The hair on the back of my neck suddenly stood on end. This time as I was trying to hold my breath, I gathered a whiff of an exotic aftershave, the scent highly intoxicating. I also experienced a tickle of shock as if I’d accidentally touched a live wire.
When I slowly turned my head, I realized the reason.
Alexander Prince remained inside the courtroom.
And we were very much alone.