Free Cover Your Eyes by Mary Burton

difference.”
    “Let’s hope a better job than I did for Luke.”
    “That wasn’t your fault.” Lexis shook the lighter, flicked again and a flame jumped. She lit the edge of her cigarette.
    No take-backs, Rachel! “I could have kept him out of prison.”
    “He had no right to ask you to lie.” She drew in smoke and then blew it out slowly. “You could have landed in jail yourself.”
    A wane smile curved the edges of her lips. “Woulda, shoulda, coulda.”
    “Remember you can’t fix everyone, Rachel. You did a lot for Luke. How many times did you drag him out of bars or out of the gutter?”
    More times than she could remember. “I’ll always feel like I failed him.”
    “You changed your life for him. Not many go the distance like that, Rachel. I admire that in you.”
    An unexpected tear slid down her cheek and she swiped it away, embarrassed. “I didn’t intend for this to be a therapy session.”
    Lexis smiled and inhaled. “I like to think I’m a jack of many trades.”
    Rachel laughed. “And does handwriting analysis still fall in your wheelhouse?”
    “It does, as a matter of fact. Verifying signatures is a growing trend in the last year. No one trusts anyone.”
    “Makes good business for us both.”
    “I won’t get rich on an adjunct’s salary.” She stabbed the cigarette into the ashtray.
    Rachel looked around the room. “Kids treating you well?”
    “I’ve a graduate class that is tolerable but the eight o’clock undergraduate class rarely is awake long enough to learn. Bit like talking to potted plants. Tell me about these letters.”
    Rachel recapped their early morning delivery and the content. “I wore gloves when I handled all but the first letter. I read them and photographed them.”
    “Thinking like a true conspiracy theorist.” Lexis accepted the shoe box. “Who delivered them?”
    “Standard courier. He’s delivered to me before. And I called his dispatcher. The package was dropped at the courier’s office early this morning. Paid in cash.”
    Lexis adjusted her glasses and studied the box of letters. “I did a little reading up on Annie Rivers Dawson after your television debut. She’d been married less than seven months at the time of her death. Her newborn was five days old. I don’t know much about her husband.”
    “I’ve done a little digging too and have a list of people I need to talk to. Annie’s husband, Bill Dawson, is top of the list.”
    “Do you really think someone out there is trying to help you?”
    “I don’t know. But I’ve touched a nerve.”
    Lexis removed the lid but did not touch the letters. “Be careful, Rachel. When secrets have been buried a long time there are people that don’t want them dug up.”
    “I hear you,” Rachel said. “And I’ll be careful. When do you think you can get to the letters?”
    “Later today. As soon as my office hours are over I’ll head to my home office where I have all my equipment.”
    “What about a baseline for Annie’s handwriting?”
    “I’ll find one.”
    Caution crept up her nerves like an early warning system. “I might need to defend the source in court.”
    “Won’t be a problem.” Lexis reached for another cigarette. “What do you think you’ll find?”
    “The real killer’s name would be nice.”
    Lexis laughed. “You think you could be that lucky?”
    “I’m due for some luck.”
    “Aren’t we all?”

October 28
     
    Sugar,
    My heart just about jumped out of my chest . . . Pow, Zap, Zing! You said the L-word while you were cuddled up to me last night. I pretended to be asleep, but I heard that soft sweet voice in my ear. “I love you, Annie.”
    Well, I love you too, Sugar. And no matter what, you and I are gonna be stuck together like glue. You never got to worry about me leaving you.
     
    A.
     

    Chapter Four
     
    Friday, October 14, 1 PM
     
    The heat of his boss’s glare scraped against Deke’s skin. When he worked the streets, survival often relied on a