Free Nothing But the Truth by Kara Lennox Page A

his death, she had spent hours writing down as much as she could remember, wanting to hold on to every single piece of their lives together. Now she knew that was impossible. She hadn’t imagined she could tune him out so completely, as she had while kissing Griffin.
    She hugged the photo to her chest. “Oh, Jason. I’m sorry. If you’re out there watching me, you’re probably shaking your head at how silly I am, trying to hold on to a marriage that ceased to exist more than six years ago.”
    She didn’t know what else to do. Her professional life was satisfying, but as for her personal life, she had this. She didn’t want another relationship, because it could only be a pale imitation of the happiness she had shared with Jason. Better to cherish her memories.
    Memories won’t keep you warm on a cold winter night.
    She had no idea whose voice that was—Jason’s, her mother’s, maybe her own. Or Griffin’s. But she wasn’t going to listen. Houston rarely saw cold weather, and she had an electric blanket, just in case.

    B Y THE TIME she arrived at the weekly staff meeting the next morning, Raleigh felt she had put things into perspective. She had lapsed, true; she’d acted impulsively and unwisely. But no one was perfect. People had told her many times that she put too much pressure on herself. She expected the best of everyone around her, but she applied the very highest of standards to herself.
    Jason had told her often enough that no human being could measure up to the bar she’d set for herself. Failing every once in a while was inevitable.
    The important thing was what she did now, and she’d already plotted a course of action. She’d finally talked to Daniel late last night and told him about her mysterious enemy. He had reassured her that he would handle the situation—and it wouldn’t involve contacting the police. His personal bodyguard, Randall, now shadowed her everywhere she went, and Daniel had assigned Ford Hyatt, the best investigator on staff in her opinion, to make Raleigh’s stalker his priority. He would start with everyone connected to Anthony Simonetti and work outward; she had a strong feeling her enemy was somehow connected to that case.
    She didn’t like spending the foundation’s valuable resources on a personal problem, but Daniel had insisted.
    At least she didn’t have to worry about Griffin anymore. She would probably never see him again. No more cozy chats. No more shared glasses of wine. And certainly no more kisses. She couldn’t stop him from writing about the plot to ruin her, but she’d known going in that he might choose to write a story that didn’t flatter her or Project Justice. Daniel had said not to worry about things beyond her control.
    “Raleigh,” Daniel said, snapping her back to the present. The entire Project Justice senior staff was assembled in the conference room; Daniel appeared on a TV screen via video conferencing. She had met the man only a few times in person, as he rarely left his estate. But somehow he managed to stay closely involved in every case the foundation handled.
    “Yes, Daniel?”
    “You’ve been awfully quiet today. What’s the status of the Simonetti case?”
    “I’m waiting on lab results for the gun. Once we prove it’s the murder weapon, I’m hoping we can trace it to the real murderer. I should hear something any day.”
    “Excellent.”
    Raleigh quickly went over two other cases she was working on, neither as high profile or complex as the Simonetti case. She thought the meeting was about to adjourn, but Daniel summoned the group’s attention once again.
    “I want everyone to be on their guard. Someone is out to undermine our efforts. They started by attempting to engineer some slander against Raleigh, then escalated to personal threats.”
    All eyes turned to Raleigh. Among her coworkers she saw shock and concern.
    “I know all of you are committed to urgent cases,” Daniel continued, “but Raleigh is one of