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Authors: Sherryl Woods
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suggesting—” Ford began.
“Whatever,” Ryan said, waving off what was obviously the beginning of an insincere apology. “It’s going to take a while to talk to Sue Ellen and to the neighbors about what they saw and heard. In the meantime, why don’t you go get yourself a cup of coffee?”
Ford frowned. “At this hour? Where?”
“Stella will be in now,” Ryan told him. “Whenever there’s a crisis, she hears about it and opens early.”
Emma’s gaze slid past the journalist, searching the room until she spotted Sue Ellen over by the window, still in her bathrobe, her bruised and battered face streaked with dried tears and blood. Her expression, reflected in the glass, was blank.
“Let me talk to Mrs. Carter,” Ford said to Ryan. “Just a couple of questions.”
“No way,” Emma said so fiercely that both men’s heads snapped around to face her.
“Emma,” Ryan said, his smile not quite reachinghis eyes. He looked exhausted and sad. “I didn’t expect you to show up here.”
“Lauren called. She told me what happened.”
“I’m glad,” he said, casting a worried look at the woman huddled in a chair across the room. “Sue Ellen’s going to need all the legal help she can get.”
Ford scowled at them. “If you two are finished, do you suppose we could get back to business?” Ford asked. “I’d like to speak to Mrs. Carter, so I can get a couple of paragraphs into this week’s edition. Then I’ll get out of your hair.”
“And I told you to forget about it,” Emma said. “She’s not talking to anybody, you or the sheriff, until I’ve had a chance to talk to her. How did you get here so fast, anyway? Do you have a police scanner in your bedroom?”
“I’ve been up all night,” he said, looking her straight in the eye. “Not that it’s any of your business, but Ryan was with me at the paper. I was getting it ready to go to the printer this morning. The call came in about an hour ago.”
“Lucky for you, wasn’t it?” she said with biting sarcasm.
His gaze never wavered. “Are you going to represent her?”
“For the moment. We’ll have to see what Sue Ellen wants.”
“She’s going to need the best,” Ryan said. “As much as I hate to say it, it’s an open-and-shut case.”
Though she had a lot of respect for Ryan—partly because he’d let her play on his ball team years ago despite the ribbing he’d taken from his buddies—she wasn’t impressed with his lack of enlightenment on this particular issue. “We’ll see,” she said neutrally.
She noticed that Ford’s piercing blue eyes narrowed just a little. What little mellowing she’d done where he was concerned vanished. He was just like all the other journalists she’d run across, after all. He was obviously more interested in a juicy story than in getting to the truth. There wasn’t a trace of compassion on his face.
“You’re going to try to get her off on a cold-blooded murder charge?” he demanded.
“It’s too soon to answer a question like that. Surely you know that she hasn’t even been arraigned on a specific charge yet. There were mitigating circumstances. You saw that for yourself. In fact, you’re just one of a great many people who witnessed the way Donny was treating her at the reunion dance a couple of weeks ago. I’ll be sure to include you on my witness list,” she said. Then she added with biting sarcasm, “After all, surely a journalist can be counted on to tell the truth, right?”
“What I saw or heard that night has nothing to do with this. Nothing entitles her to shoot him,” Ford said emphatically.
“Okay, okay,” Ryan said, intervening. “Let’s all cool down. We’re getting ahead of ourselves. Emma, go on over and talk to Sue Ellen. I’ll take Ford here out for a cup of coffee and explain a few facts of life to him.”
Emma scowled at the reporter. “Just be sure Mr. Hamilton understands that what you’re saying is off the record, Ryan. In fact, you
“Whatever,” Ryan said, waving off what was obviously the beginning of an insincere apology. “It’s going to take a while to talk to Sue Ellen and to the neighbors about what they saw and heard. In the meantime, why don’t you go get yourself a cup of coffee?”
Ford frowned. “At this hour? Where?”
“Stella will be in now,” Ryan told him. “Whenever there’s a crisis, she hears about it and opens early.”
Emma’s gaze slid past the journalist, searching the room until she spotted Sue Ellen over by the window, still in her bathrobe, her bruised and battered face streaked with dried tears and blood. Her expression, reflected in the glass, was blank.
“Let me talk to Mrs. Carter,” Ford said to Ryan. “Just a couple of questions.”
“No way,” Emma said so fiercely that both men’s heads snapped around to face her.
“Emma,” Ryan said, his smile not quite reachinghis eyes. He looked exhausted and sad. “I didn’t expect you to show up here.”
“Lauren called. She told me what happened.”
“I’m glad,” he said, casting a worried look at the woman huddled in a chair across the room. “Sue Ellen’s going to need all the legal help she can get.”
Ford scowled at them. “If you two are finished, do you suppose we could get back to business?” Ford asked. “I’d like to speak to Mrs. Carter, so I can get a couple of paragraphs into this week’s edition. Then I’ll get out of your hair.”
“And I told you to forget about it,” Emma said. “She’s not talking to anybody, you or the sheriff, until I’ve had a chance to talk to her. How did you get here so fast, anyway? Do you have a police scanner in your bedroom?”
“I’ve been up all night,” he said, looking her straight in the eye. “Not that it’s any of your business, but Ryan was with me at the paper. I was getting it ready to go to the printer this morning. The call came in about an hour ago.”
“Lucky for you, wasn’t it?” she said with biting sarcasm.
His gaze never wavered. “Are you going to represent her?”
“For the moment. We’ll have to see what Sue Ellen wants.”
“She’s going to need the best,” Ryan said. “As much as I hate to say it, it’s an open-and-shut case.”
Though she had a lot of respect for Ryan—partly because he’d let her play on his ball team years ago despite the ribbing he’d taken from his buddies—she wasn’t impressed with his lack of enlightenment on this particular issue. “We’ll see,” she said neutrally.
She noticed that Ford’s piercing blue eyes narrowed just a little. What little mellowing she’d done where he was concerned vanished. He was just like all the other journalists she’d run across, after all. He was obviously more interested in a juicy story than in getting to the truth. There wasn’t a trace of compassion on his face.
“You’re going to try to get her off on a cold-blooded murder charge?” he demanded.
“It’s too soon to answer a question like that. Surely you know that she hasn’t even been arraigned on a specific charge yet. There were mitigating circumstances. You saw that for yourself. In fact, you’re just one of a great many people who witnessed the way Donny was treating her at the reunion dance a couple of weeks ago. I’ll be sure to include you on my witness list,” she said. Then she added with biting sarcasm, “After all, surely a journalist can be counted on to tell the truth, right?”
“What I saw or heard that night has nothing to do with this. Nothing entitles her to shoot him,” Ford said emphatically.
“Okay, okay,” Ryan said, intervening. “Let’s all cool down. We’re getting ahead of ourselves. Emma, go on over and talk to Sue Ellen. I’ll take Ford here out for a cup of coffee and explain a few facts of life to him.”
Emma scowled at the reporter. “Just be sure Mr. Hamilton understands that what you’re saying is off the record, Ryan. In fact, you
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