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Back Murder Past Due Save as PDF
Chapters (36)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Acknowledgements
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE

“I guess I was just mixed up,” Julia said, but even Justin didn’t believe her. The pain in his eyes as he looked at his mother was heartrending.

“Mr. Priest wanted to take Justin back to California, didn’t he? You were afraid you might lose your son, weren’t you? And you weren’t going to let that happen.”

“No, that’s not right. Godfrey wasn’t going to do that. I talked to him and he promised he wouldn’t, at least not until Justin finished college.” Julia sounded desperate, but at this point I didn’t think anyone believed her.

“Can I ask a question?” Rick Tackett spoke, his voice low and hesitant.

“Yes, Mr. Tackett, what is it?” Kanesha appeared surprised at the interruption, but she nodded encouragement when Rick failed to speak right away.

“Justin, when is your birthday?” Rick watched Justin, his hands on his knees. I saw that his knuckles were white.

“August fourth,” Justin said after clearing his throat. Then he added the year.

“Thank you,” Rick said. “He wasn’t premature, was he, Julia?”

Tears welled in Julia’s eyes. “No, he wasn’t.” We could barely hear her.

Rick nodded. He took a deep breath as he looked straight at Justin.

“He’s not Godfrey’s son,” he said. “He’s mine.”

THIRTY-THREE

THIRTY-THREE

I wasn’t the only one in the room who was stunned. I sneaked a quick look at Kanesha’s face, and I could have laughed at her expression. The English have a term for it: gobsmacked. Translated roughly, it means utterly astounded.

That’s exactly how Kanesha looked.

Rick spoke again. “Son, I’m truly sorry you had to find out this way.”

“Mama, is it true?” Justin put a trembling hand on Julia’s arm.

Julia didn’t answer.

“It has to be,” Rick said, his voice steady. “I suspected it for a long time, and I just let it go, I guess. Julia had dumped me for Godfrey. And then she went and married Ezra. She made it clear she didn’t want me, even though I’d asked her to marry me.” He paused. “I didn’t realize until today that she was claiming Godfrey was the boy’s father. I couldn’t let the lie go on any further.”

“How can you be sure?” Kanesha asked.

Rick shrugged. “The last time I saw Julia back then”—and we all understood that saw was a euphemism—“was in early December. Godfrey didn’t blow into town until mid-January.”

We could all do the math. If Rick was right, Godfrey couldn’t have been Justin’s father.

“Did Mr. Priest know about your relationship with Mr. Tackett?” Kanesha went back on the attack.

“No,” Julia said. “He was only here for about two weeks that time, and I made sure he didn’t hear about it. He never knew.”