Reasonable Doubt. Tracey V. Bateman

she would be a good replacement for Chief Manning when he retired at the end of the year.

      She balled her fist, ready to pound the desk at the unfairness of generations of chauvinism, but then she thought better of it as Junior’s loud snoring sawed through the air. No sense taking a chance on waking him up—not if she intended to get through months of neglected paperwork.

      Just why the town couldn’t dig up the money for a new jail with an up-to-date computer system when they had recently spent ten thousand dollars on park beautification, she couldn’t fathom. Instead the good folks of Briarwood were stuck with an Andy Griffith jail, and she and Chief Manning were the Andy and Barney jokes of the town.

      Keri sipped a frothy taste of her pumpkin cappuccino. She sighed as the sweet spices licked her taste buds and tempted her memory with pictures of holiday mealtimes at the Mahoney house. She could picture them all sitting around the cherrywood dining table: her two sisters, Dad and Mom.

      Holidays never were quite the same after Mom died. Nothing was the same. Keri was finishing up high school, but her older sisters Raven and Denni were already in college by then. She was alone. If only Justin hadn’t moved away, he’d have been there for her during that time, and who knew where her life might have ended up?

      Impatiently, Keri dropped the drink cup into the wastebasket, as if to toss away the memories, but they persisted. And at the thought of her childhood sweetheart, the memory of Raven’s wretched phone call floated through her mind.

      Keri’s gut tightened. Was Justin a murderer?

      The heater fan roared to life, bringing her back to the present and to Junior’s whining.

      “That thing woke me up. If I don’t get enough sleep I’ll get a headache.”

      “Tough. This isn’t a hotel.”

      “I could sue you for violation of my civil rights. And don’t think I ain’t got a good lawyer.”

      “Yeah, a real good lawyer who couldn’t get you out of jail and won’t return your calls,” Keri muttered.

      He didn’t respond right away, and Keri found herself alone with her memories once again. The thought of her Justin harming anyone, let alone committing murder was almost impossible for Keri to fathom, despite her years as a police officer.

      “I need an aspirin. My head’s killing me.”

      “Be quiet, Junior,” she said without looking up. “I’m busy.”

      There had to be a reasonable explanation. Justin wouldn’t kill anyone. Not her Justin. Someone was making a terrible mistake.

      At least that’s what Keri hoped. A desperate hope. She needed to believe him innocent. If the same gentle Justin who had saved her from bullies and brought her flowers and shared her one and only kiss was a wife murderer, she might as well let Junior out of his cell, hand him a bottle of booze and throw him the keys to his truck. Better yet, maybe she should just join him on his next binge. Belly up to the bar, boys. Here’s to the end of all my dreams….

      Tears pushed at her eyes, but she blinked them away, and forced herself to focus on her paperwork. She made it through the end of the stack before Chief Manning walked through the door at 7:00 a.m.

      “Morning, Deputy.”

      “Morning.”

      “I’m sure glad you’re here, Sam,” Junior called from his cell. “That girl ain’t got no heart. I been askin’ for an aspirin for the last hour, and she’s been ignorin’ me. Now I got me a headache the size of the Grand Canyon. I got half a mind to sue you both for prisoner abuse.”

      Chief Manning took the medicine kit down from the wall and chuckled. “Junior, if you sued us for all the things you threaten, you’d be a millionaire.” He grabbed a paper cup, filled it with water from the bathroom faucet, and crossed the room. “Here. Take this and be quiet for a while before you give me a headache.”

      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