Justice At Morgan Mesa. Jenna Night

and violence. He moved them out of town, isolated them. Sadly, Claire had to call the cops out to the house a couple of times when he lost his temper and got physical with her. Each time, the same officer responded.

      “I don’t know what exactly happened. Maybe the stepfather hit the mom and she hit him back. Maybe the stepfather was an excellent liar, or a personal friend of the officer’s. In any event, the cop was not correctly trained for domestic violence calls. He told Claire if she pressed charges against her husband, she could be locked up alongside him and possibly lose custody of her daughter. I imagine she didn’t know who to turn to for help.

      “One night in a drunken rage, Jason fired his gun and nearly hit Vanessa. Her mom grabbed her and ran. She went to the police despite her fears of going to jail and losing her daughter.” The chief sighed. “Jason served time. The police officer eventually took a job in another town.”

      That helped answer a question Levi had been turning over in his mind. Why would a woman whose father had been murdered become a defense attorney rather than working for a prosecutor? Maybe it was because her mother could have gotten out of a dangerous situation sooner if she’d gotten some good legal advice.

      Life had given Vanessa Ford some hard knocks. But she’d survived them and she was strong. Levi had already seen evidence of that. Still, it wouldn’t hurt if she had someone by her side, helping her for a little while. And Levi would like to do exactly that.

      “Just don’t get tunnel vision,” the chief said and he balled up the paper wrapper from his sandwich and tossed it in the trash. “We’ve got a modern-day crime to solve with the attack on the mesa last night. The perp you’re looking for might try to attack Vanessa again. That case is your priority. We don’t know for certain if the murder twenty years ago has anything to do with it.”

      “Yes, sir.” Levi’s heart ached at the thought of everything Vanessa had already suffered. And there was likely more trouble still to come.

       Please, Lord, help me keep her safe.