Page 31 of Lone Star Country Protector
“Name doesn’t ring a bell,” Dalton responded as he watched Blakely scroll through case files. Was this what she had been like in law school? Quiet? Studious? Had she been the nose-always-in-a-book type?
“You might want to ask the judge if she knows it,” Harvey continued. “Because there was a paperwork error that led to him being released by mistake.”
Dalton lowered the receiver away from his mouth. “Do you know anyone by the name of Johnny Spear?”
Her lips compressed, and she brought her gaze up and to the right. “Sounds familiar. But recent.” Her fingers danced across the keyboard. Then, she dropped her gaze to the screen. “Oh, wait. Yes. I do remember him. He is recent. I gave him the maximum sentence for murdering his family. He claimed self-defense against his seventy-year-oldfather.” She looked at Dalton and seemed to realize he still had someone on the line. “Why?”
He held up a finger, telling her to wait.
Had they found their perp?
* * *
“Her Honor knowsthe individual in question,” Dalton supplied as Blakely waited with bated breath. She distinctly remembered the threat he’d made as he was being handcuffed and then taken out of the courtroom by the bailiff. He’d dropped the f-bomb on her, made certain she could see that he was flipping her off despite the restraints and had warned her to watch her back from now on.
She’d taken this as another idle threat. Hardened individuals weren’t all that happy with her when she handed down maximum sentences, which she only did when the situation warranted. Keeping honest people safe was the only legitimate reason to take away another person’s rights. She didn’t take the responsibility lightly. Still. If she had a nickel for every idle threat she received, she would someday be a very wealthy woman.
“I see,” Dalton said into the phone. “Okay.” He paused a couple of beats. “I’ll let the judge know.” More silence. “I appreciate the information, Detective.”
Blakely had a bad feeling about this.
The second Dalton ended the call, she asked, “What has Johnny Spear done?”
The look on Dalton’s face sent her blood pressure rising. “Turns out, he didn’t show up for his parole appointment.”
“I just sentenced him last month,” she said with an arched brow. “He shouldn’t be eligible for parole.”
“I’m afraid there was a paperwork error,” he explained. “Johnny Spear was released last Tuesday.”
“He didn’t waste a lot of time coming after me,” shesaid, hearing the shock in her own voice. This wasn’t good. Johnny had been clear with his intentions. “Do they have an address on him?”
“I’m afraid he’s disappeared,” Dalton said. “A BOLO is being issued right now as we speak.”
Before she could respond, her cell buzzed. “Hold that thought.” She grabbed her cell from her handbag and then checked the screen. “This is the nurse I spoke to earlier. I better take this.
“Is everything okay with Bethany?”
“Yes, sorry to scare you,” Nurse Lena said. “There’s a man here with flowers who says he’s a friend of the family. Since your sister isn’t allowed visitors that aren’t blood relatives, I denied access to the room.”
“Did he give a name?” Blakely asked, thinking this didn’t sound so good.
“Dr. Canon,” Lena supplied.What the hell was he doing there?“I can’t let him into my patient’s room.”
“You did the right thing,” Blakely stated, wondering if she should have ignored her former law professor’s text this morning.
The nurse’s voice dropped to a whisper. “He’s standing here right now asking to speak to you. Should I hand him the phone?”
“Absolutely,” Blakely stated.
Static came through the line.
“You’ve been difficult to reach lately, Miss Adamson,” Dr. Ellery Canon’s familiar voice sounded.
“What are you doing at the hospital?” she asked, ignoring his comment.
“I was worried about you since you haven’t returned any of my calls or texts,” he said like that should be plain asthe nose on her face. “Then, your address came up, and I thought something might have happened to you.”
“Oh, right, your scanners,” she said, remembering how often he used to mention that scanners could be useful tools for a lawyer. The fact he recognized her address when it came up was just creepy. Blakely remembered overhearing a conversation once between a pair of female students about Dr. Canon. Midterm test results had come back. The front-row students had commented about their A’s, saying the rumor was true. All a female student had to do in order to get an A in his criminal law class was to sit in the front row, wear a low-cut blouse and use cleavage to their advantage. They’d said he was harmless enough, and they didn’t mind giving the old man a thrill. Even if Blakely wasn’t a 34B, she would never have stooped so low to get a grade. For better or worse, she’d earned every single alphabet letter on her grade reports and was proud of the fact.
