Page 29 of Fighting for Mallory

Judd prided himself on his intelligence and his ability to solve puzzles, but this case stumped him. Swiveling back around, he decided he’d start at the beginning with the murder of Captain Yeniel Valentin.

Deep into his examination of the murder of Captain Valentin, he didn’t hear Faith enter his office until she declared, “Hi, Judd. Sorry to barge in like this, but your secretary wasn’t at her desk.”

Judd lifted his eyes, and his heart slammed into his chest. Faith wore a pair of white, figure-hugging jeans and pink floral short-sleeved blouse with a scooped neckline. Her hair hung in sleek strands past her shoulders, and her luscious pink lips drew his attention. God, she was incredibly attractive and much too young for him.

The interest on her face disconcerted him, and he averted his eyes as he recovered his equilibrium. “Don’t apologize. I’m glad you’re here. I want to speak to Captain Valentin’s widow. Accompany me?”

“Absolutely. But first, we need to head to the California State Prison and question one of my sources there about the deaths of Mercado and Tino. Someone knows something.”

Since she hadn’t allowed Judd to open doors for her before, Faith surprised him by waiting for him to perform this chivalry. In his car she surprised him again by remarking, “I might be a tough, intrepid investigative reporter and a strong, independent woman, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate good manners in a man.”

Judd couldn’t resist teasing her. “Does that mean you’ll allow me to order for you when I take you out to dinner tonight?”

Her beautiful eyes lit with interest as she appraised him. “No. But I accept your invitation.”

Damn! He’d meant it as a joke, and she’d called his bluff. Having dinner with Faith would be exquisite torture, the kind that would bolster his flailing self-confidence in the romance department.

Judd maneuvered through heavy traffic and followed a ramp onto Interstate 5 that would take them northeast to Lancaster where California State Prison was located. He set the cruise control to an easy sixty-five miles per hour and hoped Faith wouldn’t think he was driving like an old man.

“So, Faith, I have to ask. Do you believe everything Hutch told us about Nehebkau?”

“It’s ancient Egyptian mythology which means I accept it at face value. What I find hard to believe is that there is a revival of those practices in this modern world.”

“I shared your opinion until I checked the autopsy reports on Valentin and Hayes. Their hearts were missing.”

Faith arched a delicate eyebrow. “No kidding! A literal weighing of the heart?”

“Maybe. But here’s the obvious. By all accounts, Valentin was an exceptional man. An honorable, decorated cop above corruption. A devoted husband and father. How do you weigh a heart like his?”

“On a judgment scale? I judge it good and rare.”

“Exactly. Now compare him to Bentley Hayes. Again, by all accounts, Hayes was a man mired in questionable business practices, ruthless, greedy, and ambitious. I saw him on a few occasions with Mallory and wasn’t impressed with either his entitled arrogance or his treatment of his wife.”

“I judge his heart evil and corrupt.”

“Am I crazy to believe this snake cult, or whatever it is, is just a modern-day star chamber?”

“Well, that would make sense if only people likely to escape justice were being judged. No, this is the ancient Egyptian custom of weighing the heart. They believed one’s good and bad deeds were recorded on the heart and therefore needed in the afterlife for judgment.”

“I’m interested to hear your thoughts on why they didn’t kill Mallory when they had the chance, if indeed her heart is being weighed. I have a ton of different questions swirling in my head.”

During the hour-long drive, they tossed ideas between them. Their intellectually stimulating conversation augmented Judd’s attraction to Faith. Not only did she stir his blood physically but mentally, too. After years of stilted, one-sided, uninteresting conversations with his former wife, discussing the case with Faith invigorated him and sharpened his wits.

When they arrived at the sprawling prison site, Judd parked in the visitors’ lot, and they walked into the building side by side. He resisted the temptation to rest his hand on the small of her back. That would be too possessive and too presumptuous of him.

They checked in and a guard escorted them to the visitors’ lounge. Within five minutes, Faith’s source, a huge, burly, ink-covered inmate, plopped down on the hard metal chair across from them. Bald with sharp, intense dark eyes, he gave Judd the impression he wasn’t one to mess with. His nickname, Beast, was enough of a warning to those who thought of challenging him, along with his immense size.

In recognition of Judd, he tossed his head in greeting, but his demeanor softened, if that was even possible, when Beast addressed Faith. “Ms. Stoker. Good of you to visit.”

“Beast. You’re getting everything I’ve been sending, I presume?”

“Yeah, thank you. So, this isn’t a social call. What do you need?”

“Mercado and Tino.” She spoke in a low tone of voice.

Beast frowned and crossed his beefy arms across his massive chest. “Those cop killers? What about them?”

“Who killed them?”

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