JPB 03 - Trial by Fury by J.A. Jance

Author:J.A. Jance
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2006-12-23T08:00:00+00:00

He slammed the door and pushed his way past us into his small but sumptuous office, taking a seat behind a large, imposing desk. He made no suggestion that we be seated. We sat uninvited.

“Bambi had nothin’ to do with that man’s death,” he declared, speaking slowly, attempting to keep his voice carefully modulated, making a visible effort to maintain control. Despite his efforts, the words virtually exploded into the room as they left his lips.

“Did you see Darwin Ridley last Friday?” I asked. “Did you talk to him after you saw the picture that came in the mail that morning?”

He glared at me. “I did not!”

I knew he was lying. I can’t say for sure how I knew. I just did. Maybe it was the momentary flicker in his eyes. “Where were you Friday night, Mr. Barker?”

“Home.”

I shook my head. “No. Not all night. Someone came to the Coliseum and spoke to Darwin Ridley just at the end of halftime. Were you that person?”

Tex Barker’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “And what if I was?” he demanded. “What if I stopped by long enough to tell that son of a bitch that if I ever caught him near my daughter again I’d cut his black balls off?”

“Did you?” I asked.

He slammed his fist on the desk, sending a coffee cup skittering dangerously close to the edge. “No, sir, God damn it! I didn’t. Never got a chance. Some SOB beat me to it. It ain’t often somebody catches Wheeler-Dealer flat-footed, but someone sure as hell outdrew me on this one.”

“So you’re saying you’d have killed him yourself if you’d had the chance?”

“Damn right.”

Peters had been observing this exchange from the sidelines. “What did you say to him when you saw him?”

“That he was a dead mother if I ever caught him within fifty miles of Bambi.”

“I’d be willing to bet that wasn’t news to him”

A self-satisfied grimace touched the corners of Barker’s mouth. “No it wasn’t. He’d gotten my message.”

“What message? From his wife?”

Barker nodded. “That’s right.”

“And when did you tell him that?”

“Just at the end of halftime. I caught up with him after the team went on the floor.”

“Let me get this straight,” I said. “You came to the Coliseum, tracked him down during halftime, and told him that if he ever came near your daughter again, you’d kill him. Where’d you go after that?”

“Home.”

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