Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales Read Online Free PDF Page B

dash to the front door to see if Mommy had come home early. Each of Maddie’s presents was lifted, shaken, and subjected to endless speculation. How the Grinch Stole Christmas held her attention for only fifteen minutes. And so, after exchanging three text messages with Kerri at a few minutes after twelve, Landon broke down and allowed Maddie to open a present.
    “Why don’t you open this one first?” he suggested. It was a small, flat package that didn’t look like it would be a lot of fun. But after waiting all morning, Maddie was not going to argue.
    “Okay,” she said, tearing into it. She pulled out a small card with Kerri’s handwriting on it.
    “What does it say, Daddy?”
    “It wants to know if you’ve been a good girl.”
    The question, a no-brainer in Landon’s mind, seemed to stump Maddie. She scrunched her little face into deep concentration. “I tried,” she offered.
    “Then it says that your best Christmas gift ever is waiting right outside the front door.”
    Maddie looked at Landon and lowered her eyebrows in curiosity. Gifts were supposed to be wrapped and under the tree. She hustled to the front door and cracked it open a few inches. Then, with Landon standing behind her, the video camera on his cell phone rolling, she threw open the door and squealed.
    Kerri was standing there, holding a furry, light-brown puppy that looked like a lion cub.
    Maddie placed both hands over her mouth and let out another whoop. “Can I hold him?” she asked.
    “Let’s let him run around a little first,” Kerri said. She had just picked up the little guy from their neighbors, who had agreed to take care of him on Christmas Eve so they could surprise Maddie. Kerri walked into the condo and gently placed the puppy on the carpet. He stood there for a moment, looking from one human to the next, trying to make sense of his brave new world.
    “Oooh,” Maddie cooed. She knelt down next to him and started petting him. “Does he have a name?”
    “That’s for you to decide,” Kerri said.
    Before they opened another present, the furry little ball had darted around the condo several times, wearing himself out, and been christened with a name: Simba.
    Simba was a showstopper. Maddie lost interest in anything else under the tree. In fact, it wasn’t until almost one thirty, after Simba and his new owners had taken two walks outside (and after one accident on the carpet), that the final gift was opened.
    Kerri had changed into jeans and a sweatshirt, modeling the new furry slippers that Landon and Maddie had given her. “Oh, wait,” she said, “there’s one other gift I almost forgot.”
    She disappeared for a moment and brought a box from the bedroom closet wrapped in Christmas-tree paper they had bought on sale after the holidays the previous year. It was the size of an old computer box,and it had Landon’s curiosity piqued. He would be a little frustrated if Kerri had violated their agreement on the amount of money they were supposed to spend on each other. They had school loans to pay, and painters didn’t make much money.
    Still, Landon smiled as he tore away the wrapping paper and opened the box, only to discover a smaller box inside. One of those routines. There were three boxes total, each separately wrapped, each smaller than the last. Inside the smallest box was a manila envelope, which was also wrapped. Inside that envelope was a smaller business envelope that was wrapped in the same green Christmas-tree paper.
    Landon held it in his hand and looked up at his wife.
    “Open it, Daddy,” Maddie said, squirming with excitement.
    Landon’s left hand started shaking a little. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but what else could it be? And why would Kerri have gone to all this trouble if it wasn’t good news?
    “Is this what I think it is?” he asked.
    His wife shrugged. Always the tease.
    He opened it carefully, slowly. He said a prayer. He unfolded the letter and started to read.
    The