Free The Dying Room by Debra Webb

home by someone with criminal intent.”
    “We’re considering all possibilities,” Jess agreed.
    Pratt stood. “I’m afraid that’s all the time I have to share today, Chief. If you have any additional questions, feel free to call my attorney.”
    “Thank you for your time.” Jess managed to get to her feet without grabbing onto Lori who’d already stood.
    As they left the room, Pratt commented, “Dan was wise to pass on the offer to be the city’s next mayor.”
    Jess glanced at him. “He’s quite happy as the chief of police.”
    Pratt nodded. “The more power a man possesses, the more temptation he faces. You remember that, Jess, and Dan will be fine.”
    Neither Jess nor Lori spoke again until they were ensconced in her Mustang, and Pratt’s address was in the rear view mirror. “That was strange,” Lori said.
    “Very.” Jess mulled over Pratt’s final comments for a moment. “How many high-end escort services are operating in Birmingham?”
    Lori considered the question as she navigated traffic. “Three I can think of.” She glanced at Jess. “But only one a man like the judge would patronize.”
    “That’s our next stop,” Jess announced. “Let’s find out if any of Rutledge’s death row alum have friends or family employed by one of the high-end services. Maybe this wasn’t the first weekend the judge had been all tied up.”
    The idea that the judge would break the law by hiring a call girl would have made his killer even angrier. A judge who regularly sentenced defendants to the harshest penalties should have held himself to the same standard.
    Maybe being a hypocrite had carried a higher penalty than the judge had anticipated.

 

Chapter 11
    The Garage Cafe, 10th Terrace South, 2:30 p.m.
    Buddy ordered his usual. Like the song said, it was five o’clock somewhere. He needed a beer. Hell, he probably needed something a whole lot stronger but a beer would have to do.
    He had all sorts of contacts in the world of private investigations. He even had a few a wiser man would avoid. Occasionally, a case required the kind of expertise only someone working outside the law could provide. Finding Sylvia’s daughter required a little bending of the law. Nothing too drastic, just the proper connection in Sacramento. He’d found a guy he thought might come through for him. No worry there.
    It was the other part that bugged the hell out of him.
    Dan Burnett walked in and looked around. He spotted Buddy at the table in the darkest corner farthest from the door and started that way. Dan and Buddy were the same age. They’d been fierce football rivals back in high school. As quarterbacks, Dan had represented the best at his fancy private school, and Buddy had given him hell from the public school on the other side of the tracks. In recent months they had become friends, sort of. They both loved Jess, and they both cared about Sylvia. Though Sylvia was a year older, Dan would have been in high school with her. He’d known her his whole life. Hell, he’d married her younger sister a decade or so ago. One of several failed attempts to forget Jess.
    Dan would surely have some idea who the father of Sylvia’s child was.
    The chief of police took a seat at the table and sent a pointed look first at the beer and then at Buddy. “You having a bad day, Corlew?”
    Buddy motioned for the waitress. “Let’s just say it could be better. What’re you having?”
    Dan grinned. “Maybe I’ll join you.”
    Stella, the waitress, paused at the table. “You want another one of those?” She pointed to Buddy’s Corona?
    He shook his head. “Bring one for my friend.”
    Stella winked. “Anything for Birmingham’s top cop.” She sashayed away.
    “I took the afternoon off,” Dan said. “I have some shopping to do.”
    Buddy grinned. “Spoiling that baby already, are you?” Dan and Jess were going to be incredible parents. The kid was one lucky little urchin.
    “Actually.” Stella arrived with the