Page 84 of All the Little Truths

He walked away.

Bart clutched at the table next to his grill to keep himself upright. Never in his life had he ever wished anyone harm. But he wished Ray Johnson would die a slow, agonizing death.

“Dad?” Finley appeared next to him. “You okay?”

Bart produced a smile. Nodded. “Steaks are ready.” He grabbed for the tray.

“Mom’s on her way. She just called to say she had a surprise for us.” Finley laughed. “She has no idea we already know.”

Bart feigned a laugh of his own and walked back into the house with his daughter.

Silently, he prayed for Louise Cagle. It took tremendous courage and strength to do what she had done. Despite that bastard Johnson’s unexpected visit, Bart was thankful he had been able to play a small part.

As long as they both avoided Ray Johnson, they might just survive this.

24

Now

Friday, December 8

The Finnegan Firm

Tenth Avenue, Nashville, 8:30 a.m.

“Good morning,” Finley said to Nita as she strolled into the lobby.

Nita glanced up from her work. “Good morning. You look chipper today. You must have had a nice evening.”

“Very nice.” Finley wouldn’t go into details, but last night with Matt had been awesome. They’d had an encore this morning. The sweet way he had touched her almost made her forget about Briggs’s new campaign to make her look bad. But she had a plan for that now.

Good sex could clear one’s brain of useless static.

The worries about her father still lingered, but a scenario was coming together, and she felt confident she would get to the bottom of his involvement very soon.

“I like what you did with your hair,” Nita said. “Looks very nice.”

For the first time in ages, Finley had styled her hair, sort of. It hung around her shoulders instead of being twisted into a clip or ponytail.She’d even worn one of her nicer suits. The soft caramel-colored one rather than a navy or black.

“Thanks.”

She left her bag in her office, went to the tiny kitchen–break room and grabbed a coffee, then headed to Jack’s office. He was just ending a call.

“Morning, kid.” He removed his reading glasses. “You look rested this morning.”

She smiled, settled into a chair in front of his desk. “How about you?” She sipped her coffee.

“I had a very nice evening. Miriam Grant and I went to dinner.”

Finley set her mug aside to prevent sloshing coffee on the soft beige cashmere sweater she had chosen to go with the suit. “You had dinner with relationship material?”

She hated to sound so surprised, but Jack usually stuck with the ladies who weren’t interested in long term, no offense to him. He had never shown interest in long term. Of course, she knew why now. He’d been in love with the Judge for most of his adult life. He’d only recently admitted this burden and, apparently, decided to move on. Good for him.

“Don’t go making something from nothing,” he warned as he reached for his own coffee. He glanced into the mug and frowned.

As if the mug had a button that summoned her, Nita appeared, poured him a refill. “She lost her husband a couple of years ago. Her daughters are married, one in Florida, the other in Wyoming.”

Finley grinned at the idea that Nita had been listening to their conversation. The woman made it a point to stay informed. “She sounds perfect. No baggage lying around.”

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