Reasonable Doubt. Tracey V. Bateman

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      Junior took the aspirin and water through the bars and grumbled all the way back to his bunk.

      Keri bit back a snide remark. The guy had been arrested for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness so many times he was a regular fixture at the jail. This time it was different, though. He’d nearly hit those kids. As it was, he’d wrapped his truck around a telephone pole.

      The stunned group of teens milling about the accident scene, with shock-white expressions on their faces, had effectively squelched her last remnant of mercy for the likes of Junior Connor.

      Why didn’t drunk drivers ever kill themselves instead of innocent people?

      She slid the last completed file into place, resisting the urge to slap her hands together to dust them off. Two weeks of solitude awaited her, and she had every intention of using the time to reflect, pray and discover exactly what God was trying to show her by sending discontent into her life. She’d tried to escape its iron jaws, but it gripped her unerringly and Keri was powerless to stop the pain. The melancholy persisted no matter how hard she tried, how long she prayed or how many miles she jogged.

      “Keri?”

      “What?” Keri blinked back to reality at the chief’s gruff call.

      “I asked if anything happened tonight.”

      With a sniff, she sent a dismissive wave toward the cell. “No. Just Junior’s whining. Most of the paperwork is finished.”

      “You still plan on spending your vacation at the cabin?”

      “I sure am,” Keri said, defenses on high alert. “This is our first time at the cabin in years. No phones, no faxes and no radio except in the Jeep, so don’t even think about trying to weasel me out of my vacation this year. I need it, Chief. Dad’s already up there. Even Denni and Raven are coming up to the cabin for Thanksgiving Day.”

      He heaved a heavy sigh and lowered himself to the chair with a grunt. “I know you need it, honey. I just have trouble getting along without you.”

      Keri grabbed her coat from the rack behind the desk. “Better tell that to the town council, because if I don’t get your job when you retire, I’m quitting for good. Besides, Abe will do fine filling in for me.” The part-time deputy was just itching to spend a couple of weeks in her place.

      “Well, you take care out there in those woods.”

      “Thanks. I will.”

      “You going over to the café before you head up there?”

      “Yeah.” Though her stomach rumbled, Keri found it difficult to muster much enthusiasm for the greasy breakfast her future stepmother was undoubtedly preparing at the moment. Just like every other morning.

      Maybe she wouldn’t go after all. Maybe she’d just grab a donut at the Quick Shop on her way out of town. She wanted change, didn’t she? She’d start with breakfast. Then, who knew what else? Maybe she’d dye her hair black and get some fake nails. Nah.

      Still, a change of pace sounded great. A change of pace that included, for instance, a promotion and a nice fat raise in pay. Then maybe next year she could afford a trip to Maui for her two-week vacation. She smiled at the thought.

      “What are you smiling about? I know it can’t be the thought of your stepmother’s eggs.”

      The chief’s words brought Keri back from her daydream. “Ruth’s not my stepmother yet. And if Dad doesn’t stop stalling, she’s likely to get fed up with waiting and head back to Texas.”

      He actually snorted. “I doubt that.”

      “You never know. Some women don’t wait around forever.” Like I have.

      Keri pushed back the melancholy threatening to settle over her once again. She patted the chief’s meaty shoulder and headed for the door. “You have everything you need. Abe’s capable of holding down the fort. Just remind him to check the radio every now and then to make sure it’s switched on.” The three-hundred-pound part-timer was notorious for knocking against the switch and shutting off the radio.

      The chief chuckled. “Will do.”

      Keri stepped into the frigid mid-November morning. The brisk air smelled clean, fresh. She gathered in as much as her lungs would hold, then released the breath with a smile, suddenly wide-awake. She glanced at the sky. Pregnant clouds promised the first snowfall of the year, a little earlier than normal, but not a record by any means. Forecasters called for up to eight inches before evening. From the looks of it, old Tom, the weather guy, might have hit the bull’s-eye this time.

      Wrapping her arms about herself to stop the shivering, she headed toward the café before remembering her decision to eat a donut. She heaved a sigh. She was definitely in a rut.

      Barely noticing the familiar insurance building, the thrift store, the General Dollar, she continued toward Ruth’s Café.

      Her mind whirled, her heart a tumult of emotions as her thoughts returned to Justin. If she were to be perfectly honest with herself, she wasn’t sure what ticked her off more, the possibility of him murdering his wife, or the fact that he’d married someone else in the first place.

      His see-into-her-soul eyes invaded her mind, and Keri could almost feel the featherlight touch of his lips on hers—the sweetest of memories.

      Even after fifteen years, she felt as though she were betraying him for even considering the possibility that he might be guilty. Love, as strong as ever, combined with aching heartbreak at the thought that Justin was somewhere in trouble, and she couldn’t help him. Worse still was the nagging worry that he might have actually committed the murder.

      As much as her heart rejected the thought, the realist in her had to admit that anyone was capable of changing for the worse. The drunk driver who’d killed her mother was proof of that. If a man could fall off the wagon after years of sobriety and slam his car into an innocent mother of three, a clean-cut teenager could grow up to be a killer.

      She’d been following Justin’s case through the papers and regular reports from Raven. Raven was sure he’d be declared innocent any moment, but Keri had to wonder. After all these months, an innocent man surely would have been cleared by now.

      “Hey, Keri, honey, where you going?”

      Keri stopped short and turned at the soft Texas drawl. Her dad’s fiancée, Ruth, stood in the café door looking at Keri as though she’d lost her mind. Heat rose to Keri’s cheeks. “Sorry,” she said, retracing her steps. “I was just spacing, I guess.”

      “Just wait until you’re my age, you’ll be lucky to find your shoes. Get yourself in here and eat your breakfast.”

      Meekly, Keri followed, but her mind drifted back to Justin. Had he been charged with the crime?

      Please, God. Take care of him and see him through this trouble he’s somehow gotten himself into.

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