Deadline (Sandra Brown)

the front door.”
    “Was it locked?”
    “Yes, but I was afraid that he would open it, and there my sons would be. Or I thought that he might fire the shotgun through the door.”
    “What did you do?”
    “I dug in my heels and tried to bar his way.”
    “You placed yourself between him and the front door.”
    She nodded. “I didn’t think about it, or plan it, I just reacted.”
    “You reacted to what you perceived to be mortal danger for your children.”
    Again, she swallowed drily. “Yes. I begged for their lives. By now I was on the verge of hysteria. Frantic. I asked him what he was going to do. He shoved me away from him with enough force to knock me to the floor. I was terrified that he would blast the front door.” She looked over at the glowering defendant and said quietly, “But he didn’t.”
    She hoped that in spite of Willard Strong’s ferocity and the enmity with which he was glaring at her, he knew how grateful she was to him for sparing the lives of her children.
    “What did he do, Ms. Nolan?”
    She brought her gaze back to Jackson. “He stepped past me, went through the kitchen, and out the back door, the same way he’d come in.”
    “When you frantically asked him, ‘What are you going to do?’ did he offer a reply?”
    She dampened her dry lips and looked toward the twelve people who would decide Willard Strong’s guilt or innocence. “He said, ‘I’m going to find them, and when I do, I’m going to kill them.’”
    *  *  *
     
    Lemuel Jackson was seasoned enough to know to quit when he was ahead. He told the judge that he had no further questions for Ms. Nolan.
    The judge consulted both attorneys. Cross-examination was likely to take a while. Considering how late in the day it was, and the approach of the holiday weekend, they agreed that court should be adjourned until after Labor Day. The judge told Ms. Nolan that she could step down. A bailiff escorted her out through a side door.
    The judge said, “Defense counsel will be ready to cross-examine Ms. Nolan when we reconvene at nine o’clock next Tuesday morning. Enjoy your holiday.”
    She banged the gavel. Dawson was the first one out of the courtroom.
    A few minutes earlier, his phone had vibrated, signaling a text message. He claimed a relatively private place in the corridor and accessed the text. It was from Glenda, the researcher, asking him to call her. He wasted no time punching in her number, wanting to take advantage of her help while she was in a generous mood.
    As soon as she answered, he said, “Have you finally decided to marry me? Please say you’re calling to accept my many proposals.”
    Crossly she said, “Kiss my skinny ass, Dawson.”
    “You name the time and place.”
    She snorted, but he could sense that one of her rare smiles was behind it. “You ready?”
    “Lay it on me.”
    “Amelia Wesson née Nolan is the daughter of the late US Congressman Beekman Davis Nolan—he went by Davis—who represented his district for thirty-two years.”
    “Huh.”
    “If you’d’ve been paying attention, you would’ve heard of him. He served on too many committees and advisory boards to list, presided over one congressional hearing in 1994 and another in ’98. A public safety bill that was voted into law bears his name, because he wrote it and introduced it. He was well liked and admired on both sides of the aisle.”
    “Which side was he on?”
    “He hailed from a state that usually goes red, but he didn’t always toe the party line. He was a flag waver, for sure, but he was often outspoken against diehard conservatives, especially when it came to personal-liberty issues. Abortion. Gay marriage. Like that.”
    “Made enemies?”
    “He had his critics. But his more liberal outlook also won him admirers on the other side. Basically, he was that rare bird that’s almost extinct in politics—a man of integrity. Even the people who disagreed with him admired him. Couldn’t be influenced by lobbyists, never backed down from what he believed in. His hero was Jefferson, and he quoted him a lot. By the way, do you want Harriet the Harridan in on any of this?”
    “Not yet.”
    “I didn’t think so. She’s cussing you over something.”
    “Must have been that crack about her extra ten pounds.”
    Glenda cackled. “Watch yourself. I’ve heard rumors that she’s into voodoo. Know what she did today? The portrait of her predecessor that hung in the lobby? She had it taken down. Said he