Choosing Hope -Moss Bluff Series Book Two

Chapter 10

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Chapter 10

Beckett

How the hell did that slimy little turd find out what happened? Georgia promised me it was buried. She swore no one would ever find out. But this bastard got a hold of a piece of my past, that I thought was behind me.

Keeping my eyes on Aubrey, I try to convey my apology. I can only tell her I'm sorry. I didn't want this to touch her. I've never claimed to be a saint but I really thought this was in the past.

With a glance over at Georgia, I can just about see the steam coming off her. The woman is as cool as a cucumber most of the time but Fitz and his cronies have pushed her to her limits. Normally I'd feel bad for anyone who had to face her wrath, but I just can't find any sympathy for him.

Georgia nods at me to explain the story. I told her this story a long ago. As much as I am ashamed of what happened, it was an accident. I wasn't even near the man when he fell.

"The insurance company's findings were that what happened was an accident." I stated coldly. "I had a problem with alcohol, that's not a big secret and with Georgia's help, I went through months of treatment for it. But that's not why the man died. I was ripped for coming to work drunk. And I was sent home for it. It was the right thing to do. So I wasn't on site when he fell. I was home nursing a hangover."

"But it was your job to secure the railing, wasn't it? A job you failed to do."

He is trying to send me down the river. I'm not going to fall for his tricks. I've shouldered enough blame for what happened. I've made my amends with his family, with Georgia and with myself. Did I screw up? Yes. Was it intentional? No.

Someone should always double check safety precautions on a job site. I might have done a shitty job on the railing but why didn't the foreman check my work? That was his fault. It was also on him for using substandard materials. That wasn't my fault. I didn't order it. I didn't okay it.

"I did my job. I secured the damn railing as I was instructed but the materials, used by the foreman, were substandard. He was skimming from the company. I found out about this and notified Georgia Bradford. When I came to work the next day, yes, I was drunk off my ass. Because of that, I was removed from the site immediately. I wasn't there when the foreman fell to his death." My explanation is as close to what I remember as I can get.

The materials were substandard and I did find that out and reported it to Georgia. I wasn't negligent in my work and I did have a lot of problems back then. I wasn't innocent in the whole situation but I didn't purposely kill the man. I'm also sober and healthy now.

"You have an alcohol problem, don't you, Mr. Eldren?"

He's screwing up my name on purpose. He knows I'm a Bradford but is purposely not acknowledging it. He's trying to piss me off. I'm not stupid. I see it just as Georgia does.

"Again, it's Bradford. And no, I'm sober and recovered. Maybe you have an issue. You can't seem to remember my name, although I've repeated it a few times and I'm sure you've got it written down. Do you suffer from Alzheimer's?" There's a rumble through the crowd at my comment. I knew I'd get in trouble for the comment but I don't care. This guy's purposely trying to push my buttons.

"No, I don't. You have a sorted history, Mr. Eldren. Your juvenile record says you were in trouble with schools, police and even your parents seemed to not have control over you. You were quite an angry kid, weren't you?"

"Your honor, this line of questioning has no relevance to the case! He's purposely badgering the witness." Wells stood, trying to get me off the stand.