Then I told her I was going to take on the murder defense of Edmund Morris. Pro bono.
Sylvia smiled. “Thank you,” she said.
“No need,” I answered. No one would ever know about Sylvia’s planting of the medical report, at least from me. I figured it would be worth it to have a good prosecutor in the system, one who would not turn a blind eye toward justice.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
AFTER HOWIE’S RELEASE, he moved back in with Fred and Janet and Brian. He took a job with Fred’s outfit, and last time I heard from him, he and Fred were planning to take a little camping trip with Brian next summer. “I’m going to show him how to make knots,” Howie said. “Remember?”
He also told me that from the moment he saw his son again he hasn’t had another dream of the devil. He says that God took the dreams away so he could be a father to his son.
And Brian is his son. A blood test confirmed it.
I patched things up with Barb and Rick. They didn’t move east after all, and that has made my relationship with Mandy a whole lot easier. Mandy and I ate at Chippers again the other night, and she showed me her latest horse drawings. A few of them were actually looking like honest-to-goodness four-legged animals.
Partway through her liver and onions, Mandy said, “Daddy, you look happy.”
“I am.”
“You’re a whole lot happier than you used to be.”
“I know.”
“How come?”
There were two reasons that shot into my mind.
The first one happened one week after the explosion in Hinton. I was back in my apartment, cleaning things out. I found three old bottles of booze and took them outside and tossed them in the Dumpster. It felt good and clean and final, though I knew it would always be a fight. But I've been going to the meetings, regular, and have not had a drink since that day.
The second one happened on a Sunday afternoon. I showed up, unannounced, at the guest house where Lindsay lives. When she opened the door I handed her the copy of Penseés.
"I wanted to return it," I said.
She smiled and gave it back to me. "I got it for you."
I held the book in both hands for a second, looking at the cover, running my thumbs over it. Finally, I said, "Rember once I told you I didn't believe, because the world had too much chaos?"
"I remember," she said.
"I'd like to talk to you more about that."
"I think that can be arranged." We stood there silently for a moment, my pulse making a drum set of my ears.
Lindsay said, "Remember when you told me you might kiss me for all it's worth?"
The drums went crazy.
"Now would be the time," she said.
And it was. Oh yes, it was.
The memories gave way to Mandy's voice, in Chippers, saying, "Daddy?"
I looked up. "Hm?"
"How come?"
"How come what?"
"How come you look happy?"
I reached over and took her hand. A third reason, the best reason of all, was staring me right in the face. "That's easy," I said. "Because you're with me. And there's nothing better in the whole, wide world."
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to Marjorie Bruce, legendary high school English teacher, who thought I might actually have what it takes to be a writer.
For more thrillers from James Scott Bell, go to:
http://www.JamesScottBell.com
Table of Contents
Blind Justice
Table of Contents
Part One
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Part Two
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Part Three
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
DEDICATION