Truth-Stained Lies Read Free Page B

to the woman getting into her car, and he said a quiet prayer for her marriage. But there were times when it seemed that God had his hands over his ears. He hoped this wasn’t one of those times.
    His phone chimed. He picked it up from his cluttered desk and saw the text from Cathy.
    Just found a note stuck on my windshield by some unsatisfied reader. Sort of a threat. Never dull.
    Sort of a threat? What did that mean? Quickly, he pressed speed dial to call her. He heard the wind as the call went live. She must be in her car with the top down. “Hey, Michael. I shoulda known you’d call.”
    “What are you talking about … a threat?”
    “Somebody left a note saying they were gonna show me what it feels like to be judged … or something to that effect.”
    That wasn’t so bad, Michael thought. “So … they didn’t say what they were going to do?”
    “No. But it ended with, ‘Enjoy the ride, if you survive it.’ Oh, and the person mentioned Leonard Miller.”
    Michael’s lower lip stiffened. “What did he say?”
    “Seemed miffed that I wasn’t killed with Joe.”
    Some unseen vice clamped across Michael’s rib cage. “Okay, you’ve got to call the police.”
    “No, I don’t have time. I just got out of court and I have to get my blog written. Then I have to go to the TV station, because FOX News wants to interview me about the trial.”
    “Cathy, call the police. If you don’t, I will.”
    “But it’s just some whacko trying to scare me.”
    “Fine. Maybe it is. But the police need to be aware.”
    He heard a long, exaggerated groan. “All right. I’ll call them as soon as I get a minute.”
    Sometimes she made him crazy. “No, now. I’m coming over, Cathy. I’ll meet you at your house.”
    Again, that long, protracted groan. “All right, Michael. I’ll call them.” She paused. “Juliet’s calling. Why did I ever tell you guys? I gotta go.”
    “See you in a few.”
    “Right.”
    She cut off the call, and he sat holding his phone, staring at it as if he could see the person who’d put that threat on Cathy’s car. He didn’t like it, and even if it was just another blowhard trying to incite fear, he would get to the bottom of it.
    His subject would shoot hoops again tomorrow. This was more important right now.

C HAPTER 4
    C athy’s older sister sounded overly concerned, as usual. Cathy rolled her eyes and went back over the note.
    “Do you want me to come over?” Juliet asked.
    “No! Michael is coming. If you want to talk to him after the police leave to make sure I’m toeing the line and not flinging myself into the gunfire of a killer, call him. But honestly, if the police take too long, I don’t know what I’ll do. I have to get my blog out. People are waiting.”
    “It’s not like their lives depend on reading your blog.”
    “Thanks. I appreciate your support.”
    “I’m just saying. That blog might get you killed. You’re talking about killers. They don’t like it.”
    Juliet was only two years older — just thirty-four — but she acted like Cathy’s mother rather than her sister.
    “Cathy, give the police a list of all the cases you’ve talkedabout lately. All the people you’ve tried and convicted in your blog.”
    “I haven’t tried and convicted anybody, Juliet. I’ve just exposed things I’ve learned about their cases. We still have freedom of speech in this country.”
    “Tell that to the guy who’s promised you a bumpy ride.” Cathy heard her nephew talking to her sister, Juliet answering. Then her sister was back. “Hey, have you talked to Jay?”
    “No, I’ve been in court all day. I’m sure I’ll hear from him and Holly when they get my text.”
    “I’m worried about him. He’s been so depressed.”
    “Yeah, custody battles are brutal.”
    “What if he doesn’t win?”
    “It’ll kill him.” Cathy changed lanes and headed onto the exit ramp to her small house across the street from the beach.
    “We just have to keep praying.