Brown, Sandra-Friction

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win me custody of my granddaughter. Permanent custody this time. I’m going to fight you tooth and nail. And, after your antics today, I’m assured a win.” By the time the detectives finished interviewing Crawford Hunt, Holly was already exhausted just from sitting and awaiting her turn. Then she was in the interrogation room for an hour, giving her official statement and providing detailed answers to their questions, many of which related to Mr. Hunt’s actions. It was nearing two a.m. when she finally arrived home. As she’d promised Mrs. Briggs, she requested a police escort home, and, actually, she was grateful for the pair of officers who followed her in their patrol car, then walked her to her back door and saw her inside. She lived in the guesthouse of a secluded two-acre estate belonging to a friend of the late Judge Waters. The cottage was quaint, charming, and surrounded by lush landscaping. Tall azalea bushes and dense evergreen hedges separated it from the main house, partially screened it from the street, and kept her backyard completely obscured. Ordinarily she relished the privacy the place afforded, but as she bade the officers good-bye, she would have preferred, for tonight only, having neighbors close by. Feeling on edge and vulnerable, she shot the bolt on the back door, then went through the rooms checking closets and behind interior doors to ensure that no masked man in white coveralls was lying in wait. Her search yielded nothing, of course, and she ridiculed herself for being such a ’fraidy cat. He’s dead. Nevertheless, no matter how many times she repeated that to herself, the image of distorted features behind a clear mask stayed with her, and she knew it would for a long time. Still nervous, she reconsidered calling Mrs. Briggs, but talked herself out of it. She would insist on coming over, and that would make Holly feel like a ninny. Calling Marilyn was another option. Even at this hour, she would probably be up. But Holly lacked the energy to engage with Marilyn tonight, who was overbearing even at the best of times. In the end, she didn’t phone anyone. Her fear was unrealistic. Nevertheless, she showered with the stall door open, even though it was made of clear glass. Dressed for bed, she went into the kitchen and found a bottle of whiskey in the cupboard, one Dennis had left behind. Ordinarily she didn’t drink anything as strong as bourbon, but she couldn’t think of an occasion that better called for hard liquor. After making certain that all the windows and doors were locked, she took the tumbler of whiskey to bed with her, where she propped herself against the pillows and gratefully sipped it. Jorge Rodriguez. She searched her memory for even a spark of recollection. It would be a relief to attribute the man’s shooting spree to a grudge over a ruling that either she or Judge Waters had made. Finding even a tangential connection between her and Rodriguez, any fragmented reason for retribution, would have provided some closure. As of now, however, the motive for the attempted assassination remained unknown, and that was unsettling. Even if her own peace of mind didn’t require an explanation, the voting public would. Her constituents would wish to know what was behind the courthouse tragedy and if it related to her. She had little doubt that Sanders would use it, twist and manipulate it, to discredit her. Tonight, he was probably awake, too, preparing his onslaught of open criticism and innuendo. He would want to attack while the incident was fresh, possibly launching it as early as tomorrow.
With that in mind, she finished the last of the whiskey, set the glass on the nightstand, and reached for the lamp switch. But she hesitated and momentarily considered sleeping with the light on. Just for tonight. Then, chiding herself for the silliness, she extinguished the light with a decisive snap. But as she did so, she noticed that her hands were still shaking. The bourbon hadn’t soothed her, but rather seemed to have magnified her memories of the gunman, made the images of him more distinct and frightening. She lay tense and wakeful, her senses highly attuned. So that when she heard the noise coming from the backyard, she sprang upright, heart racing with fear.
Page 3 and 4: Begin Reading Table of Contents New
Page 5 and 6: The massive red stain was fresh eno
Page 7 and 8: Crawford hedged. “I’ll see how
Page 9 and 10: They were monopolizing one of three
Page 11 and 12: The bailiff slapped him on the shou
Page 13 and 14: Moore turned to the judge and sprea
Page 15 and 16: Chapter 2 Shots were fired rapidly,
Page 17 and 18: huddled together, looking frightene
Page 19 and 20: “Want something to drink?” He m
Page 21 and 22: it.’ I guess my survival instinct
Page 23 and 24: to do was to give her formal statem
Page 25 and 26: decided to take a break.” A taut
Page 27 and 28: award me custody of my daughter. On
Page 29 and 30: That got Crawford’s attention. He
Page 31 and 32: the curl between his fingers. Her l
Page 33: “That building is crawling with o
Page 37 and 38: the truth. He relaxed somewhat and
Page 39 and 40: He placed his right hand over his h
Page 41 and 42: “All the same, I would like to kn
Page 43 and 44: Choking up entirely, she paused to
Page 45 and 46: Neal had closed the door but had re
Page 47 and 48: “Why the costume?” Musing out l
Page 49 and 50: He saw no reason not to. “Chargin
Page 51 and 52: Chapter 7 The morgue was in the bas
Page 53 and 54: Mrs. Barker, and had been touched,
Page 55 and 56: Mrs. Briggs was interrupted by the
Page 57 and 58: Crawford sat down and tilted his ch
Page 59 and 60: the shrewd stare that had cowed lyi
Page 61 and 62: Most of his visits with Conrad—wh
Page 63 and 64: nine. Tell Mrs. Briggs—” “Not
Page 65 and 66: “How’d you know?” “I got on
Page 67 and 68: Then she asked, “What about you?
Page 69 and 70: coveralls and the cap. The cap was
Page 71 and 72: squirmed in his chair, muttering un
Page 73 and 74: Chapter 11 The person in the morgue
Page 75 and 76: lended in when all hell started bre
Page 77 and 78: “And have Greg Sanders paint me a
Page 79 and 80: Chapter 12 They caravanned to an al
Page 81 and 82: “Then you also owe Mr. Hunt an ap
Page 83 and 84: your priorities are. But Chet’s k
Page 85 and 86:
“Please.” She passed a bottle t
Page 87 and 88:
“I shouldn’t be alone with you.
Page 89 and 90:
“Is it too painful for you to tal
Page 91 and 92:
His will was airtight. In any case,
Page 93 and 94:
gunfight. We just hoped to neutrali
Page 95 and 96:
the door shut and, with some quick
Page 97 and 98:
Chapter 14 Crawford rolled to a sto
Page 99 and 100:
worked in nearly every state, savin
Page 101 and 102:
“Then say so! It’s too bad Sand
Page 103 and 104:
Crawford spoke softly but emphatica
Page 105 and 106:
Chapter 15 Overnight, Neal Lester m
Page 107 and 108:
making the flower arrangement for t
Page 109 and 110:
enough to list all the reasons why
Page 111 and 112:
Crawford said to him, “You see an
Page 113 and 114:
“We will.” “If you don’t?
Page 115 and 116:
“I didn’t notice.” Crawford m
Page 117 and 118:
Crawford was beginning to understan
Page 119 and 120:
“I didn’t notice his name tag.
Page 121 and 122:
Chapter 17 Marilyn was on her third
Page 123 and 124:
When Crawford asked the bouncer if
Page 125 and 126:
proudly advertised as “Totally Nu
Page 127 and 128:
Chapter 18 It was late afternoon by
Page 129 and 130:
“One of the policewomen offered t
Page 131 and 132:
“Why ‘of course’? Have you lo
Page 133 and 134:
explained the situation, and attach
Page 135 and 136:
“This morning after the press con
Page 137 and 138:
nervous about leaking information,
Page 139 and 140:
As soon as her back hit the sofa, h
Page 141 and 142:
the cheekbones, and the fact that h
Page 143 and 144:
outside it hadn’t yielded much. O
Page 145 and 146:
fixings. He poured tepid sludge int
Page 147 and 148:
othered to shave and had only towel
Page 149 and 150:
accessed his police radio and blurt
Page 151 and 152:
Chapter 21 Crawford pushed Neal asi
Page 153 and 154:
“Our daughter didn’t.” He sco
Page 155 and 156:
“Except the one who gunned down C
Page 157 and 158:
corpse. I admitted I had noticed. H
Page 159 and 160:
estraining order hearing. “Well,
Page 161 and 162:
efrigerator door. So far as she cou
Page 163 and 164:
“May I sit down?” “Sorry.”
Page 165 and 166:
“Come here. I want to show you so
Page 167 and 168:
Chapter 23 As soon as Smitty told C
Page 169 and 170:
“Where’s the old man? I thought
Page 171 and 172:
I’d be having guests tonight.”
Page 173 and 174:
truck cleaned out. Blood was sloshi
Page 175 and 176:
an inside joke he’s playing on ev
Page 177 and 178:
“It won’t be up to me. I recuse
Page 179 and 180:
mother lode would be if you could t
Page 181 and 182:
“I hope you’re not calling me t
Page 183 and 184:
Chapter 25 Crawford’s purposeful
Page 185 and 186:
Judge Spencer. He saw you leave, ho
Page 187 and 188:
“He lived with a woman. Two kids.
Page 189 and 190:
Chapter 26 Holly was in bed but not
Page 191 and 192:
“You make is sound so easy. As I
Page 193 and 194:
more, you know who to call.” And
Page 195 and 196:
Joe’s eyes cut to her. “It’s
Page 197 and 198:
“You’re the only person I trust
Page 199 and 200:
“No. However, I can’t talk now.
Page 201 and 202:
where I am or what my plans are.”
Page 203 and 204:
She looked at Neal. “He asked for
Page 205 and 206:
Chapter 29 Crawford slid his hands
Page 207 and 208:
“If he misses it, I’ll beg forg
Page 209 and 210:
away, can he?” The detective seem
Page 211 and 212:
The merest flick of his tongue elic
Page 213 and 214:
“I agree, so why not call Neal Le
Page 215 and 216:
clubs. This was a place for down-an
Page 217 and 218:
each him. He called me.” “He’
Page 219 and 220:
a gulp. Before he could take anothe
Page 221 and 222:
was a lucky guess.” “An educate
Page 223 and 224:
Chapter 31 Crawford wanted to talk
Page 225 and 226:
knees that poked up out of the visc
Page 227 and 228:
their squad car. She eschewed the s
Page 229 and 230:
him first.” “Well, he might be
Page 231 and 232:
fast?” He let him think about it
Page 233 and 234:
Last in line was Harry. He stopped
Page 235 and 236:
“And,” Otterman continued, “I
Page 237 and 238:
“He’d made some contacts for me
Page 239 and 240:
Chapter 33 Holly followed the carav
Page 241 and 242:
ground, but I wanted to make sure.
Page 243 and 244:
chest and hands. Tap water mingled
Page 245 and 246:
Chapter 34 Holly’s lips parted in
Page 247 and 248:
“Keep your eyes covered till I te
Page 249 and 250:
that Georgia was never going to fee
Page 251 and 252:
Acknowledgments I want to thank the
Page 253 and 254:
Thank you for buying this ebook, pu
Page 255:
This book is a work of fiction. Nam
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Brown, Sandra-Friction

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