Free One Chance: A Thrilling Christian Fiction Mystery Romance by Daniel Patterson Page B

watching her, an odd look on his face, Trevor asleep again in his arms. How did you tell your best friend that his wife was dead? How did you tell him she was murdered? Worse, how did you tell his little boy?
    "Doug," she started, figuring God would give her the words as she went along. "I, uh, have something to tell you. It's about Camille—"
    "I know, Penny," Doug interrupted her. "She's dead."
    Well, Penelope thought to herself. She wouldn't have to figure out how to tell Doug after all.
    And that explained why she had gotten the feeling Doug had been lying to her.
    Because he had been.



CHAPTER 16
    Why did God allow bad things to happen to good people?
    Penelope pondered that question a lot Sunday afternoon as she sat in the Sheriff's Office, back in her uniform once again, with her best friend sitting on the opposite side of a two-way mirror, waiting to be questioned like a criminal.
    Might as well ask Him why He put mosquitoes on Earth, Penelope finally decided. Both of those questions had just about the same answer. Because He has a plan that the human mind can't begin to comprehend.
    "The Sheriff's on his way?" Penelope asked Jim, again.
    Jim nodded, running a knuckle over his handle-bar mustache. "Said he's on his way. Be here in an hour or so." Jim's thick southern accent had always kind of amused Penelope.
    Not today. Nothing was funny today.
    "You sure you wanna take this one, Penelope?" Jim asked her.
    "Sheriff asked me to handle this case. Even if Doug is my friend." She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and sighed. "Okay. I'm going to start. Make sure the recorder's on for me, all right?"
    After Jim nodded, Penelope stepped through the metal door and into the interview room. She had a notepad and pen in hand as she sat down across from Doug. The two friends looked at each other silently for a long moment.
    "I didn't kill my wife, Penny," Doug said finally.
    "Ex-wife," Penelope corrected him.
    Her friend shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see how that matters now. Do you?"
    "Everything matters in a murder investigation, Doug." Penelope clicked the nib of the pen out and started writing.
    "Where's Trevor?" Doug asked.
    "He's with Jacob," Penelope assured him. "Don't worry about him. He'll be fine. We haven't told him what's going on, but I kind of got the impression from some things that he said to me that he already knows. At least parts of it. Does he already know, Doug?"
    Doug looked down at his hands resting on top of the metal interview table and didn't answer.
    The anger that Penelope had felt after finding out her best friend had been lying to her rose up again. Doug had been just like a brother to her since they were both just kids. Penelope had gone out of her way for Doug in this, put her personal reputation out on a limb, even putting her own career in jeopardy to stick up for Doug. And Doug had repaid her by lying to her.
    Those were some bitter ashes to swallow.
    "Okay, Doug," Penelope said. "You and I are going to talk to each other now. We're going to talk, and I'm going to talk to you like a police officer."
    "Penny—"
    "Don't even start with me, Doug. You don't want to be treated like a criminal, then don't act like one. I asked you a question. Does Trevor already know about his mom?"
    Doug opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again.
    "Fine, Doug. Fine. You have the right to talk to a lawyer before answering any of my questions."
    "Penny, come on."
    Penelope had read the Miranda Warnings so often she could recite them by heart. "If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer—"
    "Penny, seriously—"
    "—one will be appointed to you—"
    "—you don't need to do this!"
    "—without cost to you—"
    "Penny!"
    "—without cost and before—"
    "Penny! Stop it! Okay, okay. No, Trevor doesn't know. She, I mean Camille, she dropped Trevor off to me at your place Saturday morning. Yesterday. She talked to me for just a few minutes, told me about her boyfriend, told me I had to keep Trevor because