Page 6 of Lawman’s Witness

Josie reached past her to shut off the water she’d left running in the sink. “You looked as if you were miles away.”

“Not so many miles actually,” Amy Sue said as she put the spinach in a pot on the stove, then checked the beef roast in the oven. “Dinner’s almost ready.” She felt Josie come up behind her and put her arms around her.

“Would it help to talk to someone about it?” her sister asked. “Witnessing something like you did would be hard for anyone to get over.”

“It wasn’t witnessing the murder,” Amy Sue snapped. “It’s knowing he’s escaping justice. I know what he did because I saw him do it. I saw his expression. He knew the police wouldn’t believe me. He killed that woman. How do I live with that?”

“The law isn’t always fair,” Josie said. “Not everyone gets justice. But I do believe that you reap what you sow.”

Amy Sue continued as if she hadn’t heard what her sister said. “I should have stayed there and called the cops from my car,” she said, chiding herself for being so terrified that she’d left and let him get away with murder—not to mention getting rid of the woman’s body.

“No, you shouldn’t have stayed,” Josie snapped. “Do you really think he would have let you just sit there in your vehicle waiting for the cops to arrive? He was counting on your panic, on your fear of him, and why wouldn’t you be afraid of a man who you’d just watched murder a woman?”

Amy Sue could feel the heat of her anger and frustration. She already knew what Josie would say before she said the words. “I can’t let him get away with murder. If the police aren’t going to do anything, then I have to.”

“Okay,” her sister said in a conciliatory tone. “You’re angry and upset, but you need to let the police handle it. Consider the man you want to bring to justice and how dangerous he is.”

“Exactly. That’s why I can’t let it go. The cops either think I lied or was mistaken. Either way I can’t walk away from this. Like you said, there was a reason I was there that night and witnessed that woman’s murder, and it wasn’t to do nothing about it.”

Her sister fell silent for a few moments as she always did when she was about to say something Amy Sue wasn’t going to like. “Forgive me for asking this, but how are you planning to go about bringing Jack Marshall to justice?”

It was a good question, one she hadn’t worked out yet, but that didn’t stop her. The moment she opened her mouth, she knew she’d been thinking about this ever since she’d returned home. “I’ll find out everything there is to know about him, including who that woman was and why he killed her. I’ll talk to everyone who gave him an alibi, people who work for him, people he fired. I’ll dig up whatever dirt I can find until I ultimately prove he lied.”

“And while you’re doing that you do realize he’ll hear about it,” Josie said, clearly trying to reason with her.

“Good, I want him to know I’m not going to quit until the truth comes out,” she said defiantly.

“He’ll have you thrown in jail for stalking him. Worse, you could get yourself killed. He’s already murdered one woman that we know of. What makes you think he wouldn’t come after you?” Josie clutched her arm. “Please, really think about it before you do anything.”

Christine Marshall could tell by her husband’s mood what had happened.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t gone through this before. Not to mention, if the man was anything, he was more transparent than he thought. Then again, she also knew him so well. “Is everything all right?” she asked, knowing it wasn’t.

“Fine.”

She didn’t bother to listen to the rest of his excuses for his behavior since his latest breakup two weeks ago. Christine always took some satisfaction in knowing that he would no longer be seeing whatever woman he’d been with the past few months. She could always tell when it was over. Usually, though he seemed freer, more relieved, more relaxed. Often after one of his affairs, he came back to her almost joyous.

What was different this time? she wondered. Maybe this time the woman had broken it off with him. That would be something new.

She found Jack’s extracurricular activity of little interest. Her own life was full of what made her happy as the wife of such a prominent, powerful man. A lot of ambitious men had affairs. Her mother had warned her the first time Christine had brought Jack Marshall home.

He’s going to be just like your father. He’s far too handsome, far too ambitious, far too charismatic. He’s going to need other women temporarily and if you want this marriage to last, you’ll have to accept that graciously.

And Christine had, because rocking the boat would mean destroying their very public life, and she enjoyed the fruits of being married to Jack Marshall. She knew he’d married her for her money and her blue-blooded family name. Both had helped him rise quickly in stature, providing them with a very nice lifestyle that made even her closest well-to-do friends envious.

It was a fair trade-off, she told herself as she watched her husband leave for work and tried not to worry. But something was definitely different his time. For a moment, she feared that Jack might have fallen in love with this latest one.

She wasn’t, however, fool enough to ever ask. Jack didn’t seem to know that she knew about his extracurricular activities. Nor was she worried about Jack ever asking for a divorce. So even if he had fallen for someone else, she assured herself, he would never destroy the perfect life they’d built together. It was why Jack was so discreet. For fear of losing her and this life, the last thing he’d ever want was for her to find out what he did with the other women, she thought as he headed down the drive on his way to work.

As he neared the end of the drive, Jack looked back to where she was standing watching him leave. He seemed startled for a moment, clearly surprised that she had walked out to the veranda as if to wave goodbye. He smiled and called back to her, “Have a good day!”

She smiled and waved as he drove away, again telling herself that whatever was bothering her husband would pass. There was nothing to worry about.

CHAPTER FOUR

Jack Marshall glanced at his watch impatiently. He had better things to do than sit in an uncomfortable chair in an interrogation room at the police department. He’d thought the detective was joking when he’d gotten a call to come down to the station for a formal statement.

“If this is about what some woman thought she saw, I already told you, I was in Great Falls,” he’d argued. “I can’t believe you’re taking any of what she said seriously. Was anyone actually killed?”