Free I Swear by Lane Davis

recording the service on a Flip Video?”
    Macie stared daggers at Katherine. They’d had moments like this in private before. I knew that much from Jills. But I’dnever heard of anybody challenging Macie like this in public.
    “Katherine, I’m not sure you noticed the two news crews outside? I was talking to the local anchors, who were most certainly not using Flip Videos. They had cameras. They were filming broadcast segments. Maybe you missed that while you were talking to the funeral bloggers?”
    Katherine flipped her hair over her shoulder and smiled. “Not bloggers, Macie. Lawyers. Friends of my father’s. They work at Latham, Dirkson, and Soloway. Maybe you’re wondering what lawyers who didn’t know the Gatlins were doing at Leslie’s memorial? My father was puzzled by that, too, so he asked.”
    The waiter rounded the corner with a busboy trailing him. Two giant trays of food arrived. They passed out the plates and asked if there was anything else. Brad managed to mumble, “No thanks; we’re good.”
    No one lifted a fork, or a fry. All eyes were glued on Katherine. Even Macie was paying attention. “What did they tell your dad?” she asked quietly.
    “They were hired by the Gatlins,” Katherine said slowly. The smile and the iciness of her voice had fallen away. She was just giving us the facts now. “The Gatlins are claiming that Leslie killed herself because of unrelenting bullying. They are gathering evidence to file a civil suit for wrongful death. And they are discussing criminal charges with the district attorney.”
    The words dropped from Katherine’s lips and gently settledover the table like a thick layer of soot. Everyone else was looking at Katherine. I was looking at Macie.
    For the first time since I’d known her, Macie Merrick cracked for just an instant. It was brief, and if I hadn’t glanced over at just the right time, I would have missed it—the tiny jump in her lip, the quiver at the edge of her eyelash. The way her lips parted and how she just barely stopped her jaw from dropping.
    I had never seen this look on Macie’s face before. I’d seen her excited. I’d seen her angry. This was Macie Merrick scared.
    It lasted for exactly half a second.
    Krista turned to her and said, “What does that mean?” and before she’d gotten the “wh” of “what” out of her mouth, Macie’s mask was back in place.
    “It means,” Macie said, slowly, glaring at Katherine, “that the guilty party is trying to shift the blame.”
    “The guilty party?” I asked.
    “Oh, please, Jake,” Macie said with a sneer. “We all know that Mrs. Gatlin is a lush. And who knows what her crazy-ass dad put them through? One of the hallmarks of child molesters is that they like to move around a lot. That man flips a house every year. I don’t think they’ve lived at the same address for more than twelve months in the past decade.”
    I was on my feet before I could stop myself. The table rocked as I stood up in the booth, and Beth and Jillian leaped to grab their drinks.
    “Shut up,” I bellowed at Macie. “Just shut up.”
    Brad and Jillian were on each arm, talking at the same time.
    “It’s okay, bud,” Brad said softly.
    “Jake, please,” whispered Jillian.
    “Please, what?” I looked at Jillian like she’d lost her mind. “Sit here and listen to this bullshit? Did anybody see the Gatlins this morning? Sitting there sobbing in the front row? While . . .  you ,” I spat at Macie, “ you of all people gave a eulogy for their daughter?”
    Macie laughed bitterly. “Of course they were crying, you moron. Crying because they know that they’re the ones to blame. Who raises a kid to be that selfish? It has to be somebody else’s fault. It couldn’t possibly be theirs. They need somebody to blame, because the truth that it’s their fault is just too horrible to believe.”
    “Shut up!” I yelled again. I wanted to grab the table and throw it upward toward Macie. I wanted