Extreme Justice Read Free Page A

the best flea markets in the country, a weekly event at the fairgrounds. And Mrs. Marmelstein had decorated most of her building in flea-market kitsch.
    “Well,” the elderly woman said slowly, “I suppose that would be all right.”
    “Good. I’ll tell you what she says.” He started toward the front door. “Don’t stay out in the sun too long. Remember, it’s still awfully hot for—er—whatever month this is.”
    He bounded up the front steps to the porch and opened the mesh inner door. A glance up the stairs told him Joni Singleton, one of his fellow boarders, was not in her usual afternoon spot. He had to remind himself that she was taking classes at Tulsa Community College this semester. A child development major, if the gossip he got from her twin sister, Jami, was to be believed. Joni’s brief stint as nanny for Ben’s nephew, when Ben’s sister had parked the kid with him, seemed to have had a profound impact on her.
    He took the steps two at a time till he reached his room. He cracked open the door and peered inside.
    Christina McCall was sitting on the sofa reading. Whatever it was, it was holding her attention. Her eyes were glued to the manuscript pages.
    Manuscript pages? Wait a minute—
    Ben burst through the door. “What do you think you’re doing?”
    Christina brushed her long strawberry-blonde hair back behind her shoulders. “Hi, Ben. Good to see you, too.”
    Ben stomped across the room. “I don’t recall saying you could read this.”
    “That’s because I didn’t know it existed. Of course, if I had known it existed, and I had asked if I could read it, you would’ve said no.”
    “Damn straight.”
    “So I saved us both a lot of bother.” She grabbed Ben by the shoulders and grinned. “Ben, you wrote a book!”
    He shrugged awkwardly. “Well … I’ve had a lot of spare time on my hands.”
    “True crime. Just like Darcy O’Brien. Very classy. And it’s about one of our actual cases. This is so exciting!” She beamed. “You know, television loves these based-on-real-events things. Maybe you could get a movie of the week!”
    “Well, that would be the be-all and end-all, wouldn’t it?”
    “I love the title. Katching the Kindergarten Killer. I think it’ll sell billions.”
    “Only if my mother buys all the copies.” He snatched the manuscript back and stuffed it in his desk. “What say I find a publisher before you negotiate the movie rights?”
    “I can’t help it, Ben. I think this is tremendous. Here I thought you were wasting all your time plinking on the piano and pretending you weren’t going to practice law anymore—”
    “Pretending?”
    “—and it turns out you’re writing a book! I’m so proud of you.”
    “Well, now my day is made.” Christina was the best legal assistant he had ever worked with, but sometimes she could be downright irritating.
    She ignored him, sweeping around the sofa with unrestrained enthusiasm. “You told me you’d been contacted by some professional ghostwriter and that he was going to write up one of your cases. What happened to that?”
    “What happened was he finished it and it was godawful. So I got rid of him. He played fast and loose with the facts. Took a serious serial murder case and turned it into an episode of Starsky and Hutch .”
    “Really?” Her eyes lit up. “Was I Starsky or Hutch?”
    “Neither. You were the useless female who was only around to scream and be rescued.”
    “Then I’m glad you got rid of him.” She frowned. “If I couldn’t be smart, I hope he at least made me pretty. Did he say I was pretty?”
    Ben covered his smile. “Radiant.”
    She plopped back down on the sofa. “Well, this is better, anyway. They’re your cases. No one knows them better than you. You should be the one who tells them. Have you sent the manuscript to any publishers or agents?”
    “Dozens.”
    “What do they say?”
    “ ‘Get lost.’ But nicely.”
    “Well, don’t stop trying. You’ll get