AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Anyway, I had two open cases at that moment in time. And I was set to finish one up as soon as I could make one last connection. One that would come later in the day, hopefully.
The judge understood that and gave me the time that I needed.
Now, the other case? That one was cold.
I’d been doing everything that I could to find the missing woman—a surrogate that had taken off just days away from giving birth—and had come up empty. The woman that had the baby definitely knew how to cover her tracks.
Once at my office, I did what I could with my currently open case, then waited for the information to arrive.
It did half an hour later.
I was shifting through paperwork on my cold case when the call came in that I was hoping for.
I smiled and called the police chief of that particular county. Five minutes later, I got the confirmation that the child was found.
The next call went to the judge presiding over my case.
“It’s done,” I said. “I’ve solved it.”
The judge breathed a sigh of relief.
“I really fucking hate that I couldn’t fix this for you, son,” the Judge grumbled.
I knew he did.
I could see the torn indecision in his eyes.
He didn’t like the case.
He didn’t like the circumstances.
But, sadly, the letter of the law was simple. You couldn’t kill someone. Even someone that was doing something very, very wrong.
Or, at least, someone that you thought was doing something wrong.
I understood.
I didn’t like it, but I completely understood.
“I know,” I said. “It’s okay.”
It wasn’t okay, and we both knew it.
“Report to the jail tomorrow morning at nine,” he said. “Get the rest of your affairs in order. Then turn yourself back in.”
PROLOGUE III
ibeforeeexcept when your foreign neighbor Keith received eight counterfeit beige sleighs from feisty caffeinated weight lifters.
-Coffee Cup
KOBE
Five Years Later
“Who would you suggest?” he asked.
The man that was sitting behind the plexiglass window, his arms across his chest, looked at me like a snake would his next meal.
