Reasonable Doubt by Tracey V. Bateman

Author:Tracey V. Bateman
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2005-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

With aching tenderness Keri sat in a straight-back chair next to the bed and watched Josh’s angelic face as he slept. His wasn’t even close to the sleep of the peaceful, a fact she acknowledged from his shifting, moaning and spastic eye movement. Her heart swelled with compassion, but even more with the startling newness of what could only be maternal love. He should be my son, Lord. Mine and Justin’s. She drew in a deep, troubled breath. What’s going to happen to him?

From the recesses of her imagination, Keri found an image of herself cooking and cleaning, playing in the yard, reading bedtime books, overseeing homework and doing loads of laundry. Her stomach knotted with the power of the desire for that image to become reality. She refused to allow Justin’s beautiful image to spill over into the mini-film. She wasn’t ready for that heartbreak just yet. Could she bear it if Josh told her he’d witnessed Justin kill Amelia?

A chill began at the base of her spine and crawled upward until it reached her shoulders and became a violent shudder. She stood and crossed silently to the window.

She pushed back the deep-blue curtain. Staring out at the gray world, she wondered what was in store for the unlikely group huddled together in the small cabin. Here they were, nestled in a secluded part of the world, an unlikely hodgepodge of human beings fitted together for different reasons. Topping the list were a grizzled ex-cop and his senior-citizen girlfriend, whose purpose was to bring the family together and gain some acceptance from Dad’s three girls before they formally set a date for the wedding.

Then there was Raven, an investigative reporter, whose motives weren’t entirely clear to Keri. Maybe she wanted to help. Maybe she wanted a scoop. One thing was clear, she wasn’t happy about Dad’s bride-to-be. Keri dreaded Raven deciding to voice her opinion. It would happen. Raven wasn’t one to hold back for something as trifling as politeness. Most important, in the group were two precious look-alikes with very different concerns in the world.

Keri leaned her head against the cold glass. Oh, Justin. Justin—possibly a murderer, possibly the same wonderful soul mate she’d grown up loving with her whole heart. Guilty or not, all he wanted was to keep his family together for as long as he could.

And she capped off the unlikely group, a policewoman with a promotion on the line. As chief, she had a much better chance of influencing procedural changes in dealing with drunks like Junior Conner. Irritation bit at her. Who said just because Briarwood was a throwback to Mayberry that they had to treat the town drunk the same way Andy treated Otis? Junior had narrowly missed plowing into a bunch of kids during his latest binge. It was time to be a little more heavy-handed with him before he killed someone.

As chief, she would definitely make the town safer from the Junior Conners of the world, even if she

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