Cold Case in Cherokee Crossing Read Online Free PDF Page B

I’d like to speak to Ms. Ellis.”
    “Hold please.”
    Avery tapped her shoe on the floor as she waited. Through the window in the office, she could see the open yard outside where the inmates gathered. Only a handful of prisoners were outside, four of them appearing to be engaged in some kind of altercation.
    One threw a punch; another produced a shank made from something sharp and jabbed the other one in the neck. All hell broke loose as the others jumped in to fight, and guards raced out to pull them apart.
    She shuddered, thinking about Hank being a target. How had he survived in here? He must have felt so alone, especially when his own sister hadn’t bothered to come and visit him.
    How could he not hate her?
    “This is Lisa Ellis.”
    The woman’s soft voice dragged Avery back to the present. She sounded young, enthusiastic. “This is Avery Tierney, Hank Tierney’s sister. Hank told me that you came to see him and are interested in his case.”
    “Yes,” Ms. Ellis said. “I’ve looked into it, but unfortunately I haven’t found any evidence to overturn the conviction. And your brother wasn’t very cooperative. In fact, he told me to let it go.”
    Avery traced a finger along the edge of the windowsill as she watched the guard hauling the injured inmate toward a side door. Blood gushed from his throat, reminding her of the blood on Hank’s hands and Wade Mulligan’s body.
    “Miss Tierney?”
    “Yes.” She banished the images. “I just talked to Hank. We have to help him. He’s innocent.”
    A heartbeat of silence. “Do you have proof?”
    Avery’s heart pounded. “No, but I spoke with a Texas Ranger named Jaxon Ward and he’s going to look into it.” At least she prayed he would.
    “I read the files. You were the prime witness against your brother.”
    “I know, but that was a mistake,” Avery said. “A horrible mistake. I was traumatized at the time and blocked out the details of that night.”
    “Now you’ve suddenly remembered something after all these years?” Her tone sounded skeptical. “Considering the timing, it seems a little too coincidental.”
    Frustration gnawed at Avery. The lawyer was right. Everyone would think she was lying to save her brother.
    “I didn’t exactly remember anything new,” Avery said, although she desperately wished she did. “But I just spoke with Hank, and we had a long talk about that night. It turns out that he confessed to the murder because he thought I killed Wade.”
    Another tense silence. “Did you?”
    Avery’s breath caught. That was a fair question. Others would no doubt ask it.
    And if she had killed Wade... Well, it was time she faced up to it.
    “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I don’t think so. But Hank said when he came into my bedroom, Wade was already lying on the floor with a knife wound in his chest. He saw me crouched on the bed, crying, and he thought I killed Wade in self-defense, so when the police came, he confessed to cover for me.”
    “That’s some story,” Ms. Ellis said. “Unfortunately without proof, it’ll be impossible to convince a judge to stop the execution and reopen the case.”
    Despair threatened to overwhelm Avery. She understood the lawyer’s point, but she had to do something.
    “Can’t you argue that someone else came in, killed Wade Mulligan and left?”
    “With you in the room?”
    Avery closed her eyes, panic flaring. If only she could remember everything that had happened that night...
    “The social worker and doctor who examined me afterward can testify that I was traumatized, but that it was possible.”
    “I’m sorry, Miss Tierney, I want to help. But I need more.”
    Determination rallied inside her. Then she’d get more.
    Footsteps pounded the floor, and she looked up and saw the handsome-as-sin Texas Ranger appear in the doorway. His square jaw was solid, strong, set. Grim.
    His eyes were dark with emotions she couldn’t define.
    He didn’t believe Hank. He wasn’t