Free Walk Through the Valley (Psalm 23 Mysteries) by Debbie Viguié Page B

floor.
    “You’re welcome.”
    She made it back into the room and realized that her parents were both already in bed asleep. She quickly got ready for bed, turned off the lights, and slid underneath the covers. The moment she closed her eyes she, too, was asleep.
     
     
     
    Jeremiah was on the computer looking up everything he could about Henry White. After half an hour he concluded that the man was either a sincere visionary or an incredibly skillful manipulator. The whole premise of the man’s campaign was that California was in deep trouble and the problems that people had been skirting for years needed to be faced head-on if the state was going to recover and once again thrive. He further contended that no one could truly understand the problems of the people of the state without first having walked in their shoes.
    White’s subsequent walk across the state had garnered a ton of supporters and quite a few detractors who threw around the words “cheap stunt” as if by saying it often enough it would make it true.
    He had to give the man credit, though. He truly was walking the length of the entire state. He wasn’t even going in a perfectly straight line. There was some zigzagging so that he stepped foot in every county in the state. Most of his campaign team, including his wife, were driving between the speaking engagements and setting up before he got there and tearing down after he left. There were only a couple of staffers who were walking the entire way with him and they were documenting every mile with photos that had been blasted all over social media.
    Some of his supporters were walking with him, too. Most of them were just walking a few miles or a few days. There were many who would walk with him across their own county, and some events had turned into half-parade half-political march.
    The willingness to walk all those hundreds of miles took a dedication, focus and a purpose that seemed incompatible with the thought of him killing someone, particularly in so sloppy a way. A man like this was thoughtful, a planner who saw the big picture. Someone like that didn’t throw months of work away. It didn’t make sense.
    Add to that Cindy’s belief that the man was innocent and Jeremiah was starting to buy into that theory as well. Killing a girl in a woman’s room at a campaign stop and getting caught was sloppy and just didn’t fit with the picture he was beginning to get of the man.
    As much as he didn’t want to do it, he finally called Christopher.
    “Hello?” the other man answered, tension in his voice.
    “This is Jeremiah. You were at my house earlier.”
    “Yes, I know who you are.”
    No, you really don’t , he thought to himself.
    “Look, I believe that Henry White is innocent, and I’ll try to help you prove that under one condition.”
    “Anything,” Christopher said eagerly.
    “My involvement remains our little secret. I don’t want any dealings with the press.”
    “You have my word,” Christopher said.
    Jeremiah wasn’t sure how much value to give that, but at least it was a start.
    “Okay, I’ll be in touch,” he said before hanging up.
    Next he called Liam. The detective sounded tired when he answered.
    “Rough day?” Jeremiah asked sympathetically. He had a feeling it was Liam’s first time working on a case that was getting what was likely national attention at this point.
    “The worst.”
    “I’m about to make it either better or worse depending on your point of view.”
    “I can’t wait,” Liam said.
    Jeremiah was pretty sure the man had been going for sarcastic, but instead he just sounded exhausted.
    “Christopher has asked for me to help look into this whole mess. Both Cindy and I believe that Henry is innocent.”
    Liam sighed audibly. “Look, you can’t get involved.”
    “We’re already involved, remember? Besides, you’ll be needing to talk things over with someone since Mark is out of town. That reminds me, Cindy had to leave as well. Her