“It won’t be forever.”
Folding her arms, she leaned back in her chair and studied Rachel. “Are you sure about that? Because I see someone who now has a mission to save all the downtrodden.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“If you don’t slow up, you will self-destruct. You’ve got to live a little. It wasn’t your fault that Luke died in prison.”
Rachel traced the edges of her computer. If she’d been savvier about the system she’d never had blindly trusted justice. “When the cops came for my brother he looked calm but I could see he was terrified. It was awful. I kept telling him he had truth on his side.” She swallowed. “When they filed charges I was sure we’d work it out. I thought the attorney Mom hired would fix it all right up until the jury read the guilty verdict.” She closed her eyes. “Mom wailed and I had to take her out of the courthouse. And later when the judge was about to read his sentence, I thought Don’t worry, the judge will see. He will release my brother. And then the judge sentenced Luke to twenty years in prison.”
“It wasn’t your fault he went to jail.”
“I could have kept him out of jail.”
Exasperation honed the pitch of her voice. “You would have lied for him?”
She released a breath. “One lie would have saved his life. He had so much in front of him. That experience scared him straight. I’m sure he’d have sobered and gone on to live a good life.”
Colleen’s glare conveyed her unspoken doubts. “Luke didn’t deserve what he got but that doesn’t mean you should be punished.”
Rachel glanced at her cold coffee and rose, moving toward the microwave. She popped it inside and hit one minute. “Like Jeb.”
“They are not one in the same.”
Rachel shook her head. “Aren’t they? I think they are exactly the same.”
“So what happens if you do clear Jeb? What happens next?”
The pleas of countless men and women like Luke and Jeb rattled in her head. At times their cries could be deafening. Still, she managed a smile for Colleen. “One crusade at a time.”
“Don’t forget you.”
The microwave dinged and she removed her steaming coffee as an uneasy laugh rumbled in her chest. “Let’s listen to Jeb’s story.” Grateful to move the topic from herself she hit play.
“I decided to drive by Annie’s house. I know what it sounds like but it’s not what you think. She was the prettiest woman I’d ever seen and seeing her always lifted my spirits. I was tired and dreading going home to a wife who was always angry with me. I thought I’d drive by. I know she’d had a baby. I didn’t like thinking about the baby. I liked thinking of her before the baby. That’s why I’d stayed away while she was expecting.” He leaned forward and studied interwoven hands wrinkled and calloused by a hard life.
“Did you see her?”
“I did. I saw her through the window. And she was as pretty as I remembered. Her long blond hair hung over her shoulders. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt that showed off new curves. I stopped my car across the street, lit up a cigarette and sat there for a time.”
“How long were you there?”
“Twenty minutes.”
“Did you see anyone else at or around the house?” Rachel asked.
“No. There was no other car in the driveway and I didn’t see anyone in the window. Finally, I caught an old neighbor lady watching me and I realized I had to leave before she called the cops. I left.”
“What time was that?”
“About six thirty. I know that because it took me about fifteen minutes to get home. I always noticed the clock when I came in the front door because I was always figuring a lie to tell my wife.”
Rachel shuffled through the pages of her legal pad. “And you never saw Annie again?”
“No. I never saw her again. I swear.”
“Did you stay at home all night?”
“No. I was restless and left about eight. I spent the night drinking and going from bar to bar.”
“Annie’s sister came by her house at about eight thirty. She knocked on the door but realized it was open. She heard the baby crying and then saw the blood. She rushed to the nursery, picked up the baby, and called the cops.”
“I know. I heard the story a million times. The house was doused in blood and there weren’t no sign of Annie’s body. Cops said there was no way she could have survived that kind of blood loss. I felt sick. I’d lost the one person that made me happy. Broke my heart.”
“Cops talk to you at all?”
“Yeah, a few times. That neighbor lady got my tag number. They couldn’t pin the case on me but they kept asking over and over if I killed her. I must have shouted no a thousand times. But they couldn’t pin anything and gave up.”
“Did they search your car?”
“No. Not that time.”
“What did you do when they found her bones in the woods?”
“Made me sick all over to think of someone dumping her in the woods like trash. She deserved better.”
“When did the cops come for you?”
“After they found the body. They showed up at my work and arrested me. I was sure they’d figure out like before that I wasn’t their man. But this time they kept hammering me. They kept asking me what I knew about Annie. Did I have a crush on her? Did I ever sleep with her? Did I kill her?” Jeb shook his head, his mouth flattening into a bitter line. “I kept saying no over and over but they didn’t care. And then they told me about the bloody tire iron found in the trunk of my car.”
“What did you think?”
“That it was all one terrible mistake. I knew I had a tire iron in my trunk, but I knew I’d never have hit Annie with it in a million years. Shit, I was in love with her!”
A long silence followed. “You were in love with her.”
He dropped his head in shame. “I know what it sounds like. I know. But I did love her. Or at least I thought so at the time.”
“If you loved her you’d hate the fact she was married to another man and was raising his baby. You’d have felt left out and angry.” Rachel’s voice had sharpened to a razor’s edge.
Jeb’s head raised and his eyes brightened with anger. “That ain’t true. That ain’t true! I just wanted to see her. It was enough to see her and know that she was happy.”
Rachel shut off the tape. “Annie didn’t write those letters to him.”
Colleen folded her arms. “I agree.”
Out of the file, Rachel tugged a picture of Jeb taken thirty years ago. He possessed a rugged handsomeness but there was no missing the rough edges. “She was pretty. New baby. I see him loving her but not the other way around.”
Rachel leaned back letting her gaze travel between the decades-old images of the two. “So if her lover wasn’t Jeb or her husband, who was it?”
“That’s the million-dollar question.”
“Jealousy is a great motivator.”
Rachel reached for her glasses. “The letters bother me.”
“Why?”
“Read them and tell me what you think.”