##Chapter 3: Broken Holiday

Elaine took small bites of her sandwich, using the time to think of everything she would need to assess the situation properly.

Okay, ninety percent of her mind was on the case and sandwich in her hands. Ten percent was too busy sneaking looks at Abigail to really pay attention.

How did she get her hair so soft? She had felt it earlier when they were fumbling the bags around. Thank God she'd thought to bring them, and there wasn't a hint of split ends or scratch anywhere.

She wanted to bury her hands in that hair. She needed to--

She needed to calm down and remember she was here to be a professional.

Professional ogling did not count.

It was certainly kind of that goddess of a lawyer (Was that too much? It was probably too much.) to let her ask anything she liked.

That made asking her to leave so much easier. But first… she should make sure Gina and Grace were taken care of. The lawyer wasn't hurting anyone just sitting there. She might even leave on her own after hearing the woman's story.

Turning to Gina and her daughter, ignoring the fact that it brought her closer to Abigail because if she kept thinking of that she would combust, Elaine was struck by how tired they looked. Their hair was in knots and horribly frayed.

Their clothes were smattered with mud and grass stains. There were deep circles under their eyes. Bruises littered their skin.

Elaine rummaged through the bags for one of the smaller shirts. For every shirt she put down, Abigail grabbed it and returned it to the bag, laid out neatly in an odd little roll. She had never seen anyone fold clothing like yule logs before. It was cute and endearing.

Elaine wondered if Abigail folded her own clothes like that?

Tearing it apart, she wet the scraps in the complementary water she'd gotten with her lunch, holding them out. She smiled at the way the young girl eagerly grabbed the cloth and began wiping the dust off her mother's face.

"You have both been through so much. Gina, if you don't mind speaking about it, would you mind telling us how you met your husband?"

The other cloth scrap was wrung in Gina's hands. "It all started about a year ago. I always knew there was something off about Bobby. I mean, when we first met, he was so friendly, but he never talked about his family or where he came from. No mention of a job. I thought it was because he was shy, you know?"

Elaine hummed, watching Abigail out of the corner of her eyes. The taller woman was riveted, watching every motion the two made. The intensity of her stare was almost frightening. Was this how she looked at the people she prosecuted?

"I've known men like that before. You always want to think the best of them because they are just so unassuming."

The hazel had an undercurrent to it now. Coffee became chocolate. The lights sure could turn shades all kinds of funny.

"Oh, yes. I'm a single mother. I was working in a laundry mat when Bobby came along. He was so good to Grace and made sure we were taken care of. It didn't matter that I'd only know him for three months at that point. He seemed like the answer to our prayers, so I didn't think twice about saying yes to his proposal."

Abigail tapped her fingers on the table. Elaine felt her spine curl at the sounds of her nails hitting the glossy surface.

"Try and stick to the main facts of the case please. How did you come to be involved in Bobby Holiday's line of work?"

Elaine wished she could pinch the woman. Gina deserved to tell her truth at her own pace. Rushing them would only make recovery that much harder.

Of course, she couldn't expect Abigail to know all of that. It wasn't likely the woman had taken therapy courses in her time at law school. All she needed to do was ask the woman for a private conference. Get her to see reason. Make her understand the plight of the victims.

Oh! She would bring up the statistics regarding abuse survivors and the cyclic behaviors they endured. How Gina and Grace escaping at all, and so quickly, was something to be praised rather than exploited for the sake of a possibility.

Grace took up the story next, brushing out her hair with her fingers.

"He started asking us to do things for him. Little things at first. Dropping off weird packages in the mailbox. Telling strange guys that he was or wasn't home. I thought it was all grown up stuff. Like secret surprises he couldn't tell us about but then… he brought… people home."

Abigail stood and walked towards them. "He brought victims into your premises!?"

Grace shrank away from her, nodding. Gina put her arm around her daughter.

"He told us they were family. He got jumpy about us talking to them too much though. Never let Grace play with them and ran them into the basement. At that point, I'd had about enough of Bobby and his secrets and followed him. I saw him…. Oh, God! He was chopping them to pieces!"

Gina burst into tears, putting her face in her hands.

Elaine rushed around the table, kneeling to take Gina's hands in her own. "Please don't beat yourself up, Gina! You did everything you could do. You got away from him! You got him arrested, and now you can live out your lives in peace. There's no need to tell us every detail. It's better now to think about your futures. We should start--"

Abigail practically sprinted towards the door. "I disagree. If you have eyewitness testimony of Holiday's murders, then we need to take your statement from start to finish. I was under the impression you'd contacted the police anonymously on account of a wanted poster. You shouldn't have hidden this information from them. I'll call them and get a protection detail around the--"

Gina lurched backwards, skin paling. She sobbed harder, chest heaving.

This could go on no longer. Elaine had to do something.

Abigail looked over her shoulder, tucking her hair behind her ear. She spoke slowly and softly. "I know this is terrifying, but that is precisely why we need your testimony. It is the only way to prevent other people from suffering under his hands the way you did. The way those children did."

Elaine grabbed some coffee from the table and eased it into Gina's hands, encouraging her to drink.

"Calling the police is only going to alert the people working with Holiday to their location. You'd be putting them and the rest of the people living here in grave danger. We should work to get them to new living quarters first. The first forty-eight hours after arrest are critical."

For the first time Abigail appeared frustrated. Her brows knit together and her hands flexed at her sides. "This is a criminal proceeding with very little evidence to support it. Without their testimony, Mr. Holiday will end up walking free, and then he'll be coming after them. It is imperative that the proper authorities be alerted and this situation handled by procedure."

Elaine walked towards the taller woman, grabbing hold of her arm, pushing her towards the door. "Come on. We need to have a talk."

They walked through the store into the alleyway beside it. Abigail leaned against the wall and inclined her head. "What is it? We really do not have the time to quibble about this. A choice needs to be made right away."

The sheer arrogance of this woman. Well, she wanted facts did she? "There are three facts that stand right now, Miss Fredricks. Number one, your insistence that the entire case rests upon the testimony of my clients is false. You mean to tell me you don't have a shred of alternative evidence?"

She crossed her arms. The way the jacket fit on her was downright wrong. No fabric should be that tight! It had to be her clothes were protesting the stubbornness Abigail wore like a shield.

The lawyer was not going to win this argument by being all walled off and stoic and too attractive for her own good. There were lives at stake for, God's sake.

"The defense will claim that Mr. Holiday's previous crimes are all alleged and meant as a smear campaign and have it thrown out. We have no physical evidence tying him to the crimes that I know of. All of it is conjecture and good police work. All of which holds very little weight."

Elaine clasped her hands behind her back. She was not going to strangle the pretty lawyer. Remember the plan. Remember the revenge.

"Then the police should investigate further and find evidence that doesn't involve my client. There's no guarantee you can give to me that my client's safety would be protected. It will only be made clearer that they were the ones involved in his arrest."

Abigail peered down at her. There was a tightness in her jaw that made the veins on her neck flex. "It will become clear this is the case when the rest of his associates are brought before a judge. You are right in saying I cannot give a guarantee, but neither can your plan provide them with safety either. What is the second portion of your argument, Miss Roberts?"

There had to be some way to shut her up.

"The second thing I wanted to bring up was the statistics regarding abuse survivors."

Abigail waved her hand. "Irrelevant. Your facts have nothing to do with the particular case we're dealing with. Gina Holiday and Grace were not victims of domestic violence. Kidnap victims and Stockholm syndrome I could entertain, but neither of them expressed any--"

Not relevant? She couldn't be serious. She was going on as if she knew the Holidays personally for years. She hadn't even listened to the entire story yet! How dare she just assume nothing she had to say was worth listening to.

Elaine ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it away from her face tilting her head to the sky to let out a small breath.

This was getting them nowhere. Starting over would be for the best. They would end up screaming at each other at this rate. That was the last thing anyone needed.

Abigail had stopped talking. Maybe the sheer disinterest Elaine was showing had gotten her attention. Great, now she could start again. She tilted her head back down, intent on apologizing and offering to start anew but....

Abigail was staring. Her eyes flicked up at Elaine's movements. It didn't take a rocket scientist to tell where she'd been looking.

Just to… test it though, Elaine let her finger trace her lower lip. Abigail's eyes followed the motion, looking into her own, stepping back and forth as if she couldn't make up her mind whether or not she wanted to follow through with what she wanted or not.

Elaine was more than okay with it. In fact, the idea sounded really fantastic.

She stepped forward, grabbed onto Abigail's blouse, and waited until the taller woman nodded to press her mouth against her.

There was a moment of surprise. A warm hum from Abigail before the lips began to move against Elaine's own. A gentle bite to her lips, a delicate request for a deeper kiss, made her groan and she pulled harder, wanting to bring Abigail closer.

Oh, God.

What was she doing!?

She shouldn't be doing this right now.

Abigail pushed her away, holding her by the shoulders to keep her at bay. As if she wasn't the one biting down on her lip two second before.

"Was that…. your third argument, Miss Roberts?"

Don't say… how the hell could her name sound so…

Elaine stepped away and brushed herself down.

"Maybe it could be. Either way, you heard me out. I'll go grab your things from the table and bring them to you."

Abigail pressed her hand to the front door, keeping Elaine from opening it.

"I am extremely disappointed in your lack of understanding on this matter. We can put them into witness protection so that they won't be harmed in the event of a non-guilty verdict. It's far safer than simply moving them beyond our reach where we will be unable to assist them should they need help."

Elaine gestured at the door and raised an eyebrow at the hand holding it. "I put off asking this because I wanted to see what your intentions were, but it's clear to me now that you care nothing for their wellbeing whatsoever. I'm going to have to ask you to leave, Ms. Fredricks."

The woman briskly tore herself from the frame, looking like she would sink through the concrete. "I'm going to wait outside for the Holidays decision. I advise you to think carefully over everything I've told you and everything you've gone through. My number is on the back of that card. That is merely a duplicate, so don't worry for my needing it. I look forward to your call."

Elaine smiled brightly as the woman passed her.

"There will be no need for you to waste your time. I will have the Holidays on their way to new accommodations shortly. If you follow them in any form, I'll be informing your superiors of your behavior and have you arraigned so fast on harassment charges your head will spin."

A scoff was all the answer she received as Abigail went down the boardwalk. Elaine made sure to watch her get into her car.

There was no time to lose. Abigail didn't seem the type to make idle threats or promises. Maybe her contacts down in Memphis would have room to take the Holidays.

Pulling out her phone, she began dialing. She would have to keep an eye on Gina and Grace in case they needed her for anything. All this fighting no doubt had their nerves frazzled worse than anything.

Despite it though… Elaine couldn't find it in her to be truly angry with the other woman. Abigail was only trying to do her job. She was just going about it in the entirely wrong way. Compassion was more important than vague promises of justice.

"Hey there, James! It's Elaine. I was wondering if you had any room in your shelter?"