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to unpleasant publicity, as well as Josette and Dale Jennings s mother, and anyone else who d had ties
with the old case. He had to make sure that he didn t slip up. He had to be methodical, and not let his
old feelings for Josette get in the way of good police work.
He wondered how it was going to be for her, having to suffer his company when he was the one
man in the world she had reason to hate. He felt sorry for her. He felt sorry for himself. He had plenty
of regrets.
Two rows up from him, a woman was cuddling a toddler, who was grasping her hair and
gurgling as he smiled up at her. Marc smiled involuntarily, thinking of his young nephew whom he d
only seen in newsreels and in the photos Gretchen had sent him copies of. He wanted to see the child,
to hold him, to see his sister s eyes in that young face. He would have bet that she and her husband
Philippe spent a lot more time watching the baby than they spent watching television.
He d have liked a child of his own. He was beginning to see the long, lonely years ahead. He
wondered if Josette ever thought about kids. He grimaced. With her distaste for anything intimate, he
doubted she d let herself think of kids. It was a shame, too, because she had such a sweet, nurturing
personality. She was forever doing things for her parents, for neighbors, for kids she didn t even
know. He remembered taking her to an amusement park once, and she d found a little boy crying with
a cut knee. She d dug a bandage out of her pocketbook and put it in place, drying the tears and even
buying him an ice-cream cone. By the time his frantic parents found him, he was laughing and
holding Josette s hand as if it were a lifeline.
He hated that memory. It had been the day before her graduation, before he took her to the dance.
It had been the last full day they ever spent together. It was his last chance, and he didn t know until it
was too late.
He thought of the lonely years he had left and almost groaned out loud. He had to keep his mind
on the case, not on the past; even if they did end up being one and the same thing.
The past was inextricably linked to what was happening now. He and Josette had to find a killer
before he decided to target another unknown victim. And they had to find him fast.
Chapter Five
San Antonio was bigger than Josette remembered. She d attended college here. She d fallen in love
here. Now she was up to her neck in a murder investigation, facing an enemy whom she d loved with
all her heart before he betrayed her.
Her knowledge of the Jennings trial gave her an edge that most investigators wouldn t have.
Still, she didn t want to step on any toes, especially those of the local police department. But it was a
crime that could reach all the way to state government, and that required cooperation and sensitivity
from all the agencies involved.
It was going to be a tricky investigation. The murder victim had escaped from prison, where he
was serving a long sentence for killing Bib Webb s elderly business partner. How he escaped, and
why he was killed execution-style, were questions that currently had no answers. Josette was expected
to help find those answers.
She looked around the district attorney s office with a smile, because it reminded her of her own
office cramped and bogged down with file folders. It was a nice, modern office, but she had yet to
meet any district attorney who didn t have a caseload that he or she could never catch up with. It was
almost a hallmark of the profession.
A door opened and a trim young woman with dark hair and eyes motioned her inside another
office, also stacked with files too numerous to fit inside the two filing cabinets.
I m Linda Harvey, one of the assistant district attorneys, the young woman said pleasantly.
I m the one who requested your help. We spoke on the phone.
I m glad to meet you. I m Josette Langley. I was just noticing the overflow, she added with a
smile and a handshake. I feel right at home.
Linda Harvey just shook her head. I expect to go to my grave with a box of unfinished case
files, she admitted. If you want coffee, there s an urn right outside the district attorney s door, just
put a quarter in the box and help yourself.
Thanks, but I ve had two cups to wake me up. Any more and I ll be flying around the room.
Linda chuckled. I know what you mean. Have a seat. She dropped into her own chair. I
understand from Simon Hart that you were personally involved in this case.
Far more involved than I wanted to be, Josette confided. The murder victim was my date on
the night he was supposed to have killed Henry Garner. I couldn t give him an alibi, but I never
thought he was guilty.
I ve read the file came the quiet reply. You suspected that Bib Webb was somehow involved.
Josette grimaced. That didn t win me any points, I can tell you. I only mentioned that he was the
man with the most to gain from Garner s death, which was a fact. The media blew it into an
accusation and went to town speculating on Webb s involvement, which was dynamite, considering
that he was running for lieutenant governor at the time.
Yes, Linda said, frowning thoughtfully. His opponent dropped out at the last minute, leaving
him a clear field. I always thought the timing was interesting, especially since Webb fell behind in the
polls after the trial. She smiled at Josette. As I recall, the prosecution was pretty rough on you when
you tried to testify for Jennings.
They dug up a rape case I d been involved in when I was fifteen, she said, obviously
surprising the other woman. She nodded. Yes, I was pretty sure that would be in my file. She leaned
forward. That boy did try to rape me, she said firmly. I didn t realize until much later that he d
slipped something into my Coke. It was like a forerunner of the date-rape drug.
The other woman let out a breath. I wondered if it wasn t something like that, she confessed.
I m glad you were honest with me. In fact, what I heard bothered me so much at the time that I
tracked down that attorney, and had him tell me himself why the case was thrown out of court. He was
very apologetic. He was young and the boy had family and friends who convinced him the boy was
the wronged party.
Josette took a slow breath. How nice of him. And only nine years too late.
Women are still getting a rough deal in a lot of places, Linda said quietly. But at least he s off
the streets for good. The year before last, he had raped a young woman and strangled her almost to
death in Victoria. He died trying to run away from the police in a high-speed chase.
Josette grimaced. I know. I had a lot of calls from people in Jacobsville afterward. Including
one from the district attorney who prosecuted the boy. He believed in me, right up until the verdict
and even past it.
At least you were exonerated, Linda said. You ve done well, despite everything.
Josette shrugged. I had motivation. I wanted to be able to do something for other innocent
victims.
You re a trained investigator. Why aren t you working on a district attorney s staff? In fact, why
aren t you a district attorney? We have a female one here.
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