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Alanna shook her head. “That isn’t what I’m saying. Owen is dangerous. He won’t like that you will be defending me, and the fact that you’re a woman will only make him happier if he decides to go after you.”
Her lawyer gave her a steely-eyed stare. “If he comes after me, he’ll end up with more than he bargained for.”
She may think that now, but Alanna had no doubt that the lawyer was going to rue the day she didn’t take her up on the offer to get someone else to take over defending her.
“I think you’re going to end up with more than you bargained for …” Alanna couldn’t consciously let the woman walk blindly into her nightmare life without letting her know what she wasgetting into. “Owen is sick. He gets his kicks by hurting women … Mrs. Bates, you have no clue …” Alanna chewed on her bottom lip.
“I have repeatedly asked you to call me Diamond.”
Alanna refused to use Diamond’s first name in person. She had to remain detached from her.
Her lawyer gave her a quizzical smile. “I’m well aware of Owen Hudson’s attitude where women are concerned. I’m curious as to why you’re more concerned for my safety versus your own?”
Alanna stood up, unable to sit still another moment. Being couped up in the small rooms was getting to her.
“Oh, I’m terrified of him.” Alanna nodded her head as she spoke. “Why do you think I haven’t been anxious to get out? At least, in jail, I don’t have to be afraid when I close my eyes.”
“Then what made you decide to finally talk to me?”
“Because I would rather take my chances with Owen than having to deal with Deputy Porter monitoring me morning, noon, and night. Is he normally so irritating, or has he been doing it just to get me to talk to you?”
Mrs. Bates’s lips twitched in humor. “Sadly, abrasiveness comes to Greer naturally. He takes a lot of patience to deal with.”
Alanna thought that was the understatement of the century.
“Deputy Porter would make a saint want to strangle him.”
“As much as we could discuss how obnoxious Greer is until we’re old and gray, I would really like to hear how you found yourself in this situation.”
“You don’t believe I’m the mastermind of kidnapping my niece?”
The lawyer narrowed her eyes on her. “I need you to be one hundred percent honest with me. Any discussions between us are protected under attorney-client privilege. I won’t even disclose anything to my husband without your permission. So,let’s begin again, this time with you being completely truthful. Elizabeth has no family connection to you. She’s not your niece. You have no immediate siblings, nor any half- or stepsiblings.”
“You’ve done your homework.” Alanna stopped chewing on her lip when she tasted a tinge of blood.
“I have. Listen, there’s nothing more I can do without your help. I can’t defend someone who doesn’t want to be defended. Tell Greer I said hi …” Her lawyer started to rise from the table.
Alanna sighed, sitting back down. “I entered the foster care system when I was four. My parents went out for a hike and never came back. I still remember I was watching cartoons when the woman who was babysitting me freaked out when they were late picking me up. Instead of my parents coming back, a police officer and a woman from Social Services came to tell me that they wouldn’t be back. They had fallen off a path, which had been declared unsafe. I don’t know how familiar you are with group homes, but believe me, especially in a large city, it was a hell of an adjustment.”
“I can imagine.”
Alanna grimaced. “I don’t think you can. It was horrible. The older children picked on the younger ones. Foster homes were few and far between, and they usually picked the cute ones, or the children who could contribute to chores, who don’t require as much supervision. I was sent to two foster homes, and they didn’t last because, both times, my foster family found themselves expecting.” Alanna folded her hands over each other to hide their trembling. “I met Kate when I was six.”
“Kate?”
Mrs. Bates picked up her ink pen and started writing on the legal pad.
“Elizabeth’s mother.”
“What’s her full name?”
“Kate Easton.”
“That’s not the name I found listed as the name for Elizabeth’s mother.”
“Kate adopted Elizabeth.”
“Legally?”
