Read Online Cold Justice: A Judge Willa Carson Mystery (The Hunt for Justice) by Diane Capri - Free Book Online Page B

the crime. Maybe he didn’t mean to kill Leo, but he intended to threaten him, at the very least.” I gathered my coat and pulled my gloves out of the deep pocket. “If you think I’m going to let David get away with murder, you have another think coming,” I told him as I turned, once again, toward the door.
    Trevor put both hands into his pockets and walked around me. He opened the door so that I could walk out. Loud enough for Sue and Kemp to hear, he said “Thank you for coming, Judge Carson.” In slightly sinister tones, or at least that’s how it sounded to me, he said, “I won’t forget this.”
    I raised my voice slightly to be sure everyone within earshot could hear. “Neither will I. I’ve been home-towned by better men than you, Randy. Check it out if you doubt my word. Don’t get in my way.”
    We glared at each other half a moment more before I stalked out.
    Kemp followed close behind me as I strode through Judge Trevor’s outer office and began the trek across the parking lot. Outside, snow continued to fall in heavy, wet flakes. At least another inch of the white barricade had accumulated since he’d parked the cruiser. Could I walk three miles back to the cottage without freezing to death? Maybe not. But I would damn sure try.
    I kicked at the snow and watched it pile up on my boots. The snow was my enemy now, keeping me captive here in this silently hostile world, away from George, away from my beloved Florida sunshine.
    Neither Kemp nor I said anything more until we reached the cruiser. As I marched past the door, he laid a restraining hand on my shoulder and I shook it off.
    “Don’t be so stubborn for once. You’ll freeze out here and you won’t find a ride in this weather. I can take you back to your cottage, but you know you’ll be stuck there until this weather clears. You can’t drive anywhere.” I kept moving, even as I knew he was right. He grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. “You’ll never get there. Let me drive you. I brought you here. I feel responsible for you.”
    I said nothing. Was Kemp under Judge Trevor’s control now? I’d be a fool to assume otherwise.
    “I’ve lived here all my life, Willa. I know these roads. The county tries, but the plows can’t keep up with this much snowfall.” He released my arm and opened the passenger door.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

    I wanted to keep walking, to ignore him, to make it back under my own steam. But I knew he was right. I was more likely to die trying. So I said nothing and struggled into the front seat. He closed me inside and walked around the back of the cruiser.
    He settled into the driver’s seat, put the key into the ignition and turned it. The cruiser roared to life. He flipped on the windshield wipers, throwing heavy snow onto the ground. Next, he turned up the fan, full blast, and we watched as the cold air fogged the windshield from the inside.
    It was the last straw.
    The events of the day finally broke through my forced composure.
    “Shit!” I said, slamming my hand down on the dash. “How can anybody live in this godforsaken place?”
    To my astonishment, Kemp threw back his head and roared with laughter. I stared at him as if he had declared himself a lunatic.
    “What’s so damn funny?”
    He collected himself, but his eyes teared with the effort of contained laughter. “I’m sorry. It’s just that—”
    “What?” I snapped at him. I grabbed for the door handle to stalk out, or as close to stalking as possible in thigh deep snow, but he didn’t move.
    “Well, look around you,” he gestured a wide arc with his arm. “It’s beautiful here. The snow makes everything look like a storybook village.”
    “Not to me, it doesn’t,” I told him in a stern tone that sobered his humor quickly. “I see a place where people get killed in their cars. And their killers get away with it.”
    I bit back my words and didn’t say and threatened by judges because I wasn’t ready to share that with