Page 100 of Girl, Forgotten (Andrea Oliver 2)

He said, “Keep going.”

Andrea paged to the next scan—

YOU SACRIFICED YOUR CHILD FOR YOUR CAREER! YOU DESERVE YOUR CANCEROUS DEATH SENTENCE!

Again, Andrea looked at Bible. “Are these the threats that were mailed to the judge?”

“Yep.”

She felt her eyes narrow. “Then the first one claimed that Franklin Vaughn abused his wife and kid.”

“It did,” Bible confirmed. “Keep going.”

She paged again—

YOU’RE DYING OF CANCER AND YOUR HUSBAND IS A VEGETABLE, BUT ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS YOUR SO-CALLED LEGACY!

Andrea remembered Bible telling her there were particular details about the judge’s private life that had made the death threats credible. She told him, “Ricky said the judge’s cancer is an open secret. Everyone knows it’s terminal.”

“Keep reading.”

Andrea loaded the next scan—

YOU ARE GOING TO DIE, YOU ARROGANT, NEEDY, AND WORTHLESS BITCH! EVERYONE WILL KNOW WHAT A FRAUD YOU ARE. I WILL MAKE SURE YOU SUFFER!

Then the next—

YOU DESERVE TO DIE A SLOW, PAINFUL, AND TERRIFYING DEATH FOR WHAT YOU DID! NO ONE WILL CARE WHEN YOU ARE A ROTTING CORPSE IN YOUR GRAVE! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU SOON. WATCH YOUR BACK!

Bible provided, “Judicial Security screens every piece of mail that every judge receives at the courthouse. That first one didn’t seem like anything, so it got filed. Then the second one came the next day, and it flagged the judge’s cancer, so they talked to her about it, offered her security, and she said it was no big deal. Then number three and four came in on day three and four, and the judge waved them off, too. Which is her prerogative. We can’t force her to take security. But then the rat got mailed to her personal residence in Baltimore along with letter number five, and that’s when I came in.”

“That sounds like manic behavior,” Andrea said. “Sending them so close together.”

“It does.”

“Did Esther ask for you?”

“She didn’t have to,” Bible said. “The Boss, she kept me in the loop about the letters from the get-go. And my wife, Cussy, she keeps an eye on Esther because she’s grateful for what she did for me a few years back.”

Andrea was finally figuring out the code. “And both your boss and your wife agreed that you should work security until the threat was investigated and neutralized?”

“See, I told you you’re smart.”

Andrea didn’t want a participation trophy. “Did the judge admit that she and Emily were abused by her husband?”

“The judge don’t answer questions she don’t want to answer.”

That sounded like Esther Vaughn, but it was hard to say whether her silence was a confirmation of the abuse or a denial.

That’s what being imperious got you.

Andrea paged through the scans, reading all five letters again. As death threats went, they were fairly tame. Andrea had faced more vitriol when she’d casually weighed in on the Philip Guston discussion on the SCAD Facebook page. She didn’t know of any woman on the internet who hadn’t been subjected to at least one violent rape threat for simply expressing her opinion.

The phone vibrated. Bible had gotten an email.

Andrea couldn’t help but read the notification. “Leeta responded to your query about Ricky’s restraining order.”

“Take a look.”