Blind Justice Read Online Free PDF

were you last night, anyway?”
    “Don ’ t change the subject,” he said, wagging a meaty finger in her direction. “You had better be messing around. I need a woman like I need a third armpit.”
    She rolled her eyes and held up her hands in surrender. “Fine. No dating sites. I just wish you would be honest with me.”
    “I ’ ve never lied to you.”
    “Technically, you just did. I specifically remember you talking to me about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny coming to visit when I was younger.”
    “That ’ s different.”
    “Not really. Besides, not telling me the whole story is basically the same thing. You feel responsible for my father. For the way he is.”
    “He ’ s my oldest friend. He got me this job. Hell, cheating off him is what got me through high school. But don ’ t tell him I said that.”
    “There ’ s more to it than that, and you know it. If you ’ re going to tell me otherwise, I ’ ll need you to take back that previous statement about never lying to me.”
    Gerald shook his head and popped his knuckles. “You ’ re just as hardheaded as your father. Arguing with the two of you is like going five rounds with Mike Tyson.”
    She raised her fists playfully into a boxing stance.
    He laughed and said, “ I surrender. ” He pushed out a chair, and she dropped down beside him. He said, “The truth is that I was supposed to be there that day.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “The suspect your father was questioning when it happened. I was supposed to talk to him as your father reviewed the files with our informant. But I wasn ’ t there, and your dad went to speak with him instead.”
    “Where were you?” she prodded.
    He looked away and spread his massive hands across the table ’ s wooden surface. The table was made up of rustic planks, and her mother had always complained about crumbs falling between the cracks in the boards. Gerald picked at one of the cracks for a moment, and she knew better than to push any harder.
    “I wouldn ’ t quite say that I was an alcoholic, but I definitely drank a lot back then. And that morning, I was hungover. I called in sick. If I hadn ’ t, I would have been the one who was hurt, not your dad.”
    Mak placed a hand over Gerald ’ s. “We all make mistakes. You can ’ t blame yourself. You didn ’ t cause the attack that day.”
    “ I don’ t blame myself, kid. It was a twist of fate. But you still have to take responsibility for your mistakes. I contributed to an event that changed my best friend ’ s life forever. The least I could do was make sure I always had his back after that.”
    She wrapped her arms around Gerald ’ s trunk-like neck and whispered in his ear, “And you always have.” She pulled away after adding a kiss to his cheek.
    He showed her his perfect white smile again and said, “You ’ re growing up too fast, kid.”
    “Not fast enough, I say.”
    “Don ’ t rush it. Life ’ s short.”
    “You didn ’ t answer my other question. Where were you last night?”
    “I had to deliver something to Joey last night. It ’ s a tech thing from a case we need help on. Deac and I are heading back over there this morning to hear what Joey found.”
    “So it had nothing to do with Annabelle?”
    “I thought Annabelle was having dinner with the three of you?”
    “That ’ s what I mean. It almost seems like lately you ’ ve been trying to get my dad and your sister alone together as much as you can.” She crossed her arms and shot him a playful accusatory look.
    Gerald raised his bushy black eyebrows. “I suppose Deacon ’ s not the only detective in the family. Keep it to yourself, and let me handle the matchmaking. The old-fashioned way.” He smiled and gestured toward the backdoor. “You better get going on your run. Basketball season will be here before you know it.”
    “How did you know that I was running? Or trying out for basketball?”
    He winked and said, “Your father ’ s back isn ’ t the only