Vendetta. Meredith Fletcher

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СКАЧАТЬ out of bed. She grabbed a suit from the closet on her way to the apartment’s tiny bathroom.

      It was her first murder case. And she’d take a slam-dunk any day. Court cases were all about the win.

      Thirty-seven minutes later, freshly showered and feeling more awake, Marion pulled her 1965 Mustang Fastback off the highway and into the Kellogg Motel parking lot. The pavement glistened like black ice from a recent light rain.

      The motel was laid out in a large U so that the two legs encompassed the parking area. The manager’s office was in the right leg at the front. Red neon tubing marked the office and gleamed from the front of the Pepsi machine.

      A tall deputy in a yellow slicker waved her down with a flashlight.

      Marion pulled up next to him and rolled down her window. She hated letting the rain into the car. Although it wasn’t new, it was new to her. The old Rambler her dad had helped her buy and repair had finally given out a week after she’d gotten the job in the D.A.’s office. The payments came dearly and she still occasionally winced over the doubt she’d seen in her dad’s eyes. Both her parents were schoolteachers. Money had never been plentiful in their household.

      “I’m sorry, ma’am,” the grizzled deputy said. “I’m afraid you’re gonna have to move along. This here motel is closed.”

      “I’m with the district attorney’s office.” Marion switched on her interior light and showed him her identification.

      The man read the identification, then scrunched down and took a better look at her. “But…you’re a woman.”

      I am, Marion thought fiercely. And you’d better get used to it. There’s a new world coming.

      “Gee,” Marion said, “you stay sharp like that and I’ll bet you make detective someday.” The words were out of her mouth before she knew it. She regretted them at once. Creating ill will with the sheriff’s office wouldn’t endear her to anyone. A fast-talking, sarcastic woman definitely wouldn’t be appreciated.

      But she hated the condescending attitude men had toward women. She’d faced it the whole time she’d put herself through law school. Most of the men there had waited for her to fail out or break down from all the pressure. Instead she’d graduated near the top of her class.

      But the deputy wasn’t angry; he grinned. “Well I’ll be. A woman. And you’re young, too. This should be interesting.” He stood up and backed away. “You go on ahead, ma’am. Sheriff Keller will meet you at the room.”

      “Thank you.” Marion put her identification back into her purse. “Which room?”

      “I expect it’ll be the one with the dead body in it, ma’am.”

      Okay, you had that one coming, Marion thought sourly. She gazed through the rain-dappled windshield at the motel rooms.

      Sheriff’s cars and an ambulance sat in front of only one of them. The red and white lights cut swaths through the neon-spattered darkness. The mercury vapor lights made the blue cars look purple.

      Marion eased ahead and parked well short of the traffic congestion. She didn’t want to chance any door dings. She got out of the Mustang, slung her purse over her shoulder, skidded for a moment on her pumps and crossed to the motel room.

      Sheriff Fred Keller of Maricopa County was a no-nonsense kind of guy. Even though Marion knew Turnbull had told Keller she was coming, it was obvious that the sheriff didn’t approve of her presence.

      She tried to ignore that, but it was a fierce struggle. He was the kind of aloof male that drew fire with just a glance.

      He stood almost six feet tall and was solid and muscular. From the look of his craggy face and iron-gray hair, Marion guessed he was in his late fifties. His dark skin offered mute testimony that he spent a lot of the day under the hot Arizona sun. The pistol on his hip looked massive.

      “You mind if I smoke, ma’am?” Keller asked. Before Marion even had time to reply, he reached into his shirt pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes. He lipped one and lit up with a Zippo lighter. The wavering flame drew his features briefly out of the shadows. He blew a plume of gray smoke out into the rainy night.

      Marion knew she could be no-nonsense herself and decided to show the man. She stepped under the eave out of the rain and opened her notebook.

      “What happened?” Marion asked.

      Keller looked at her over the hot orange coal of his cigarette and then lowered his hand. “An unidentified woman came to this motel room—” he pointed with his cigarette to indicate the unit Marion stood next to “—that would be unit thirty-seven—and used a .357 Magnum to nearly blow off Colonel Tom Marker’s head, ma’am. That’s what happened.”

      Marion took quick notes in shorthand. She’d learned that while still in high school when her parents thought she was going to be a teacher like them. At the time, she hadn’t known how helpful it would be in her job as an attorney.

      “Were there any witnesses?” Marion asked.

      “Yes, ma’am. The night manager’s name is Bud Overton. I’ve got a man down to his office who’s taking a statement.”

      “I’ll want to talk to Mr. Overton.”

      “We’re getting a statement. You can just read what he tells us. I’ll have the report right out to you.”

      Marion met the man’s eyes. “Will you be putting Mr. Overton on the stand and questioning him about what he saw tonight during the murder trial, Sheriff Keller?”

      Keller took a hit off his cigarette. “No, ma’am.”

      “Well, I will be.” If this turns out right, Marion told herself. “I’ll need to speak to Mr. Overton tonight.”

      “Yes, ma’am.” Keller frowned in distaste and rubbed his stubbled jaw. “I think it would have been better if Turnbull had sent someone else down here.”

      “If D.A. Turnbull had felt that way,” Marion said evenly, “I expect he would have done just that. Don’t you?”

      Keller grimaced. “Yes, ma’am.”

      “Walk me through the murder.”

      Marion took notes as Keller talked. She was attentive and spoke only when she needed clarification. Evidently that impressed him because some of his surliness went away. But maybe that was because he was a total professional when it came to his job. His pride and thoroughness were evident.

      According to Overton’s story, the woman had walked into the motel parking lot wearing a thigh-length jacket. Overton had noticed her because she was “a good-lookin’ woman” and he didn’t see many of those at the motel. Except for the ones who were trying to drum up a little business.

      Keller said that before he thought about it. He paused, colored briefly and apologized. Marion quietly accepted the apology, not because she’d been embarrassed—because she wasn’t—but because she knew that the discomfort Keller felt gave her a slight edge over the man.

      The woman had gone to the unit and—

      “She СКАЧАТЬ