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Blind Justice

Page 29

by James Scott Bell


  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 EIGHT

  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

 

 

 


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