False Witness by Andrew Grant

Author:Andrew Grant
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2018-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Sunday. Morning.

Alexandra chose the rearmost pew at the Trinity Presbyterian Church for the second week running.

That day she knew Devereaux wouldn’t be joining her, so she wasted no time hanging around in the shade of her favorite oak tree, waiting for him. She just parked her Range Rover at the side of the lot, dragged Nicole past the line of spherical bushes at the side of the driveway that she normally liked to run and hide between, and hurried inside the simple, single-story building. There were still ten minutes before the organ was due to begin playing. Nicole had no problem passing the time. As usual she’d brought a couple of Barbies with her, and quickly set about continuing whatever scenario she’d sketched out for them. Alexandra glanced at her daughter to check that everything was OK, and after dismissing a flash of frustration when she noticed that one of the dolls had lost an arm—they were made far more robustly when she’d been a child, she was sure, because none of hers had ever broken—she settled herself and tried to clear her mind ahead of the sermon.

The preacher’s words were a disappointment to her. Normally she found that whatever topic he chose, however obscure it may seem at the outset, it wound up shining a helpful light on some aspect of her life. Often she hadn’t even realized it was something she was struggling with and marveled at his almost telepathic ability to sense the areas that were troubling her before the symptoms came to the surface. But that day, his message missed the mark. It was as if she’d strayed into a lecture on some obscure branch of science—she recognized the words as English, but none had any discernible meaning. She felt only numbness on the drive home rather than the…what, relief? absolution? she’d hoped for, though she was beginning to give the preacher the benefit of the doubt as she turned in to her street. What words could compete with what had happened the night before? She was so distracted by the question that it took her a moment to recognize the Lexus that was parked at the curb in front of her house.

Alexandra opened the door from the garage to the backyard, sent Nicole out to play, then reluctantly made her way to the driveway.

Tim Jensen climbed out of the Lexus holding a folder that was a good half-inch thick. “How are you doing this morning? I was worried about you after last night. Then when I got here I was worried you’d left town!”

“I’m fine.” Alexandra crossed her arms. “I was just at church. It was nice of you to think of me. But you were there last night, too. How are you doing?”

Jensen shivered despite the warm morning sun. “I’m still a little freaked out, to be honest. When that guy pulled a gun on us? It was horrible. I couldn’t sleep a wink. I gave up trying in the end. So I pulled this together for you instead.

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