She squinted over the reading glasses that sat on the end of her nose. “Don’t you try to turn this around on me. I walk into court and find you disrespecting your attorney, my law partner. How dare you carry on like that in a court of law? Are you trying to hang yourself?”
He dropped his voice. “Oh, Ruby’s doing a fine job of that, with no help from me.”
Suzanne reached for Lee’s ear again, but when her hand rose, he stepped out of range. She paused and crossed her arms on her massive chest.
“Lee Greene, if you can’t follow your attorney’s lead and assist with the representation in a respectful fashion, then I believe you’d best go on back to Jackson and hire somebody else.”
He glanced around the courtroom. It was empty, save for a gray-haired spectator napping on a far bench. “Where’s my daddy? I’ll have him make some calls. To the Jackson defense firm we’ve been thinking about.”
Suzanne snorted. “You do that. You bring in some fancy-pants lawyer from Jackson. Stick him or her in court in Rosedale, in Williams County, where Ruby Bozarth is a rock star. The locals don’t cater much to city slickers.”
After a moment, he huffed a haughty chuckle. “So Ruby has dragged this trial to a hick town on the riverbank, and I’m stuck with her. Because of the hometown advantage.” He dropped into his wooden chair at the counsel table and rubbed his eyes.
The courtroom door opened and I tensed, glancing over to see who might witness the battle at the defense table. When I saw a tall figure making his way toward me with a paper bag in one hand and a plastic cup in the other, my shoulders sagged with relief.
“Shorty! You should be at the diner, hon; it’s gotta be packed today.”
“I was worried about you. Why didn’t you come over to eat lunch? You know I put a Reserved sign on your counter stool when you’re in trial.” He bent down and kissed my cheek, then set the bag on the table and handed the cup to me. “Sweet tea.”
“Oh, Lord, honey—you’re a saint.” I took a long drag on the striped straw.
From his seat at the counsel table, Lee said, “Ruby, darling, introduce me to your friend. I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.”
I made the introductions as briefly as possible without being rude. To Suzanne, I said, “Suzanne and Lee, maybe y’all should go to the office and talk.”
“Talk? About what?” Lee wore a hurt expression.
“You know. About what you want to do regarding your representation.”
Lee laughed. “Now, Ruby, don’t get moody on me. I’ve known you too long for that.” To Shorty, he said, “She gets a little feisty sometimes.”
Shorty’s face was stony. He didn’t respond.
In a warning tone, Suzanne said, “Lee, you’d best come along with me. Let Ruby have some lunch.”
Lee ignored his aunt. He sighed and spoke to me in a wheedling tone, so sweet that butter wouldn’t melt. “Ruby, honey, you know I wouldn’t trust this case to anyone but you. You must have misread my meaning.”
I was standing within arm’s reach of his chair. He reached out to squeeze my calf.
“We’re old, old friends…”
The sentence was cut off when Shorty reached across the table, grabbed Lee’s striped necktie, and jerked him out of his chair.
As Lee clawed at his neck, Shorty gave the knot of the tie a twist. “Keep your hands away from her.”
I watched with my mouth agape as Lee nodded, his face turning scarlet. When Shorty released him, Lee fell back against the railing. Shorty’s eyes glittered with an unspoken threat. Lee raised his hands defensively and said, “I was just messing with you, man. Ruby and I are ancient history, everyone knows that. Our relationship is professional. Strictly business.”
Suzanne took his elbow and ushered him away from the counsel table. Watching them go, I saw Lee loosen his necktie and try to smooth down the wrinkles in the silk fabric.
And I had a thought: maybe I’d just witnessed the real reason that Lee Greene began wearing bow ties.
Chapter 53
I REACHED INSIDE the paper bag sitting on the counsel table and pulled out a fresh cheeseburger, still hot. As I took a wolfish bite, I moaned with pleasure.
Shorty said, “I left the onion off, since you’re in trial.” He glared at the courtroom door through which Suzanne and Lee had just exited. “Wish I’d layered them on.”
Lodging the bite in my cheek like a chipmunk, I said, “This is so good. You’re my hero, Shorty.”
Shorty studied the courtroom for a long moment. Then he bent down and spoke into my ear. “I think you should bail on this one.”
As I swallowed, I looked at him with surprise. “You’re not serious.”
“I’m serious as a heart attack. Got a read on that guy. I think he could be a sociopath.”
“Oh, please. You’re being dramatic.” I sunk my teeth into the burger again.
Shorty turned his head away, running his fingers through his hair in a gesture I’d come to know well. Then his arm snaked around me. He pulled me to his chest.
“I worry about you. I don’t like you having to be in such close company with Lee Greene. He’s not our kind of people.”
I felt his chin resting gently on the top of my head. Closing my eyes, I relished the embrace for a peaceful moment before I broke away.
“He’s not a murderer, Shorty. He’s the worst kind of jerk, but he wouldn’t kill somebody.”
“How do you know?”
I shrugged. “Gut instinct.”
Shorty shook his head. He’d heard me raise my gut reaction as a rationale for all manner of decisions.
“Your instincts don’t work where that douchebag is concerned.” Shorty cocked an eye at me, adding, “He almost talked you into marrying him, remember?”
I sat on the surface of the counsel table and dug into the burger again. Chewing was a good dodge against tough questions.
I didn’t believe that Lee killed that girl. But even if he had, it wouldn’t cause me to drop my representation. Guilty people were as entitled to counsel as innocent folks.
Men who refused to cooperate with their lawyers—well, that was another matter. But maybe Suzanne could pull Lee back into line.
Shorty sat down beside me, his hip touching mine. “Damn, I almost forgot to bring this up. When will we have a minute to talk? I have a surprise for you.”
To buy time, I sucked on my sweet tea. What had Shorty said that morning at the diner? He wanted to ask me something? Now he wanted to spring a surprise on me—but what kind of surprise? I didn’t much like surprises—never had. And my gut told me that it involved our relationship. Did he seriously mean to advance our relationship—which was perfectly satisfactory, just as it stood—when I was up to my eyeballs in crazy?
Because I totally couldn’t handle it. Not at the moment.
“Ruby,” he said, but stopped when the courtroom door creaked open. The bailiff stepped inside, giving me a look of disapproval.
“This ain’t no cafeteria,” he said sternly.
The bailiff’s announcement woke the sleeping spectator on the back bench of the courtroom gallery. The old-timer’s head jerked up and around, as if to see what he’d missed.
The bailiff pointed an arthritic finger at me. “Ms. Bozarth, you can’t eat in here. This here’s a court of law. What are you thinking, sitting up on the table like it’s a picnic bench?”
I ducked my head like a guilty child and dropped the remains of the burger into the bag.
The bailiff’s lecture continued. “I’m doing the work of two men as it is, since they pulled Deputy Brockes out of here. Good old Potts volunteered to step in, but that judge from Vicksburg said no. I think Judge Ashley’s half crazy.”
Shorty spoke in a whisper. “Want to go out in the hallway and finish it?”
I shook my head. “Better hit the ladies’ room and get ready for the afternoon round.”
The bailiff called to me from the doorway. “Don’t be leaving your trash in here. I’m not the janitor.”
Shorty took the bag from the table. “I’ll toss this for you. Talk to you later.”