Small Town Justice(30)

Jamie snapped her jaw closed. “Supposition? Since when do lawmen go around writing down guesses?” She waved some of the loose papers in his direction. “Do you know who these people are? Judge Randall presided over my brother’s trial and Abernathy was the prosecutor!”

“I realize that.” He lowered himself into the same chair he’d occupied before. “The thing is, their unproven misconduct has nothing to do with you or your family.”

“Does that make it right?”

“Of course not.” Restless and defensive, Shane rose again and began to pace, hands in his pockets. “The point is, there is absolutely no proof anybody negatively influenced Ray Junior’s conviction.”

Speaking firmly yet not raising her voice, Marsha said, “What about your father’s accident, Shane?”

“What about it?”

“Has it ever occurred to you that he was lured to that deserted dirt road for a reason?”

When Jamie started to speak, Marsha silenced her with a raised hand. “I’m not talking about who may have run him down. Not yet. I’m asking if the so-called accident was really murder in disguise.”

Shane shook his head. “Nothing like that was ever suggested before or during the trial.”

“That doesn’t mean it can’t be true.” She pressed her lips into a thin line, her mind obviously made up. “What I want to do, what I want all of us to do, is sift through this information until we have some answers. Not the usual ones, real ones.”

“You actually believe it was a setup?”

“Why not?” Jamie interjected. “Think about it. If you wanted a patsy, who better than an alcohol-abusing teenager with a bad reputation and reckless friends? I know R.J. wasn’t alone that night because he never went out partying by himself. It was always with a group, mostly boys his age and maybe a few girls. There also had to be one person old enough to buy liquor or a kid who could steal it from a parent’s stash, so why was the prosecution unable to find one single eyewitness?”

“The other kids were scared,” Shane offered. “I know I would have been.” Judging by the way her gaze immediately locked on his, he realized she’d come to another conclusion, one that was probably not favorable.

“That’s right! You were nearly as old as my brother, weren’t you? You can tell me who he hung out with and who I should talk to now.”

“I didn’t run in the same circles,” Shane countered. “I was only fourteen when my dad died. Three years makes a big difference to teenagers. R.J. and his buddies probably didn’t even notice me back then.”

“Agreed. But as the younger kid you’d have paid attention to what high school seniors were doing. That’s only natural. And with a father in law enforcement, I imagine it was tough to decide whether or not to tell on them for infractions like drinking or smoking weed.”

“I did what I thought was right. Still do,” Shane said flatly.

“Fine. In that case, you’ll be interested in helping us dig up the truth,” Jamie concluded.

He noted that the two women had joined hands above the files and were clearly demonstrating solidarity. Their minds were made up.

“Looks like I’m outnumbered,” Shane said with a huff. “I guess you can count me in.”

“That’s not good enough,” Jamie told him. “I’m not asking you to overlook my brother’s possible guilt, but unless you’re totally committed to uncovering the details surrounding Sheriff Sam’s killing, you may as well forget it. Marsha and I will figure it out without you.”

“Over my dead body.”

“Poor choice of words,” Jamie snapped. “I didn’t come here to get myself hurt—or anybody else.”

Leaning forward, elbows on his knees, Shane did his best to appear commanding and in charge without browbeating her. “But you may anyway. You do understand that, don’t you? These encounters you’ve been having can turn ugly in a heartbeat. Your narrow escapes may have been nothing more than God’s providential protection.”

“You don’t believe in luck?”

He clasped his fingers. “No. I don’t. I’ve seen too many instances where it’s clear that the Lord intervened.”

“Then what about your father? And my brother?” She scooted to the edge of her chair and the files almost slid off her lap. “Or my mom and dad? Tessie said that Mom believed Dad had been killed and his body disposed of. What about her, and women like her, who are so afraid? Why hasn’t God rescued all of them?”