Courthouse Steps. Ginger Chambers

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СКАЧАТЬ of the Ingallses’ big house on Elm Street. From the collection of cars, she could see that Jeff was home, which meant Cece might be there, too, and that Liza was visiting, undoubtedly with Cliff and baby Maggie.

      The elation Amanda had felt on the drive back to Tyler suddenly deserted her. Even with Professor Williams—Peter—offering advice, it would still be she who would have to face Ethan Trask. She might still make all kinds of mistakes, ask the wrong questions, let important points slip by.

      She looked at the huge Victorian house, whose lights were striving to hold the night at bay. The family had been through so much this past year. From the moment the body was found, rumors had started to fly. Then rumor had turned to fact, when the remains had been identified as Margaret’s. From that point on, their lives had been one long nightmare. Sometimes it was hard to tell friend from foe. A few people wanted to see the Ingallses receive their comeuppance. Others remained steadfastly loyal, while still others swayed in the breeze of whatever public sentiment seemed dominant that day.

      Instead of being torn apart, though, the family had grown closer—even Liza, who had once been estranged from them. They were united by the common belief that Judson Ingalls was innocent of the accusation made against him. And they looked to her to prove it.

      Amanda shivered slightly in the freshening breeze, reacting to the awesome responsibility. But she soon set her shoulders, restored her confident smile and made her way into the great house that had sheltered members of her family for well over a hundred years.

      Voices from the living room drew her to that section of the house. No one noticed her at first, so she had a moment to survey the scene. Her sister, Liza, sat on the floor, her long, lanky frame leaning back against her husband, Cliff Forrester. Cliff, relaxed in a wing chair, quietly combed a lock of Liza’s rebellious blond hair with his fingers and listened intently as she spoke. The girls’ older brother, Jeff, and his fiancée, Cece Scanlon, sat on the couch. Both looked rather exhausted from their respective work shifts at the hospital and the nursing care facility at Worthington House, not to mention the additional time each spent at the free clinic Jeff had set up in one of the empty office suites at Ingalls Farm and Machinery. For them to be off duty at the same time was unusual, as was the fact that they had chosen to spend their spare time with the family instead of away somewhere on their own. Alyssa, the Baron siblings’ mother, sat in another wing chair holding little Maggie. The worried strain that had become so much a part of her beautiful features was softened by the love she felt for her first grandchild. With strands of her fine golden hair falling gracefully over her cheeks, she played with the newborn infant’s tiny hand. Judson, the white-haired patriarch of the family, stood with his back to the bay window, his posture ramrod straight. He was the first to acknowledge Amanda’s presence.

      “Amanda,” he said when Liza, too, noticed her and abruptly stopped talking. “I saw you drive up, but it took awhile for you to come inside. Are you having more trouble with your car?”

      Amanda’s car was the joke of the family. As it grew older, it seemed to break down almost as frequently as it ran. Still, she loved it. It had been a sixteenth-birthday present from her father, and that above all made it special to her. She smiled. “Amazingly, it’s running beautifully.”

      “You must have placed Carl on a retainer fee,” Liza teased. “I heard he closed his garage for two weeks this summer and went to Hawaii. Did you single-handedly subsidize his vacation?”

      “No,” Amanda retorted. “Actually, we barter. I’m going to handle his divorce, and he’s going to rebuild my engine.”

      “Better watch out about letting him get too close to your carburetor,” Jeff goaded. “I’ve heard he’s become quite the ladies’ man since he separated from his wife.”

      “Jeffrey,” Alyssa admonished, pretending to frown while at the same time fighting a smile. “Leave your sister alone.”

      “Yes, Jeffrey,” Amanda taunted, while Liza and Cece giggled.

      Even Judson managed to find a grin. The family so seldom had occasion to laugh these days, any opportunity was appreciated.

      Amanda placed her purse on a small side table and claimed a section of couch nearest her mother’s chair. She leaned toward the baby, smoothing a tiny tuft of fine blond hair. “And how is Miss Margaret Alyssa today? Learn any new words? Can we count past ten yet? Hmm?”

      The weeks-old infant opened her eyes and blinked at her aunt, causing Amanda to feel the weight of responsibility expand to a new generation. Liza and Cliff had been through so much in their individual lives—Cliff having to learn to deal with the aftereffects of his time spent in Cambodia, and Liza at last coming to terms with one of the major tragedies of the Baron family, their father’s suicide. Now the two planned to make Tyler their permanent home, and as a result, young Maggie would have to live with the outcome of the trial. She would grow to maturity among people who would look upon her great-grandfather either as an upstanding member of the community, as he’d always been, or as a convicted murderer.

      Amanda shook away the thought. She couldn’t deal with it at present. “What did I interrupt when I came in?” she asked.

      All the smiles disappeared.

      “We were talking about the trial,” Liza volunteered. “About Ethan Trask. Jeff heard someone at the hospital say he arrived in Sugar Creek today.”

      Amanda felt her insides tighten. “He did,” she confirmed.

      “What does that mean?” Alyssa asked.

      “It means that he’s getting ready to try the case. He’ll set up his office, then start talking to people.”

      Jeff frowned. “But I thought the district attorney had already investigated the case. The police...Karen, Brick. Why do they have to do more?”

      “Ethan Trask will want to talk with everyone himself. He’s coming into this new, remember? The attorney general just appointed him.”

      Liza’s frown was fierce. “I still don’t see why Mr. Burns had to ask for a special prosecutor. It’s not as if he and Granddad are best buddies. They barely know each other outside of a couple of charity events. Isn’t that right, Granddad?”

      Judson nodded.

      “I know,” Amanda agreed. “It’s hard to understand, but the district attorney had to disqualify himself because of the way the situation could be interpreted. If Granddad is found not guilty, it might be thought that the D.A. didn’t push hard enough. Mr. Burns and Granddad aren’t best friends, but they do know each other.”

      Liza grunted. “Mr. Burns is watching out for Mr. Burns. He doesn’t want to do anything to foul up his chances of reelection.”

      “That’s probably true, too,” Amanda conceded. “But it doesn’t change the original fact. He had no choice except to take himself off the case.”

      “So he made sure we got Ethan Trask,” Liza complained.

      “He had no say in the matter. That choice belonged to the state attorney general.”

      “Remind me not to vote for him, either,” Cliff said quietly, gaining a quick smile of approval from his wife.

      “Me, too,” Cece agreed. Jeff squeezed her hand.

      Amanda decided that the time was right. She had planned to tell her grandfather СКАЧАТЬ