Page 76 of Our Daughter's Bones

“Do you think it was the judge? Think there was bias there?”

“No, no. Eddy had great lawyers.”

“What?How?”

“No clue.” He jutted out his lower lip. “Both times, it was lawyers from Cromwell and Haskin. They claimed it was pro bono.”

Mackenzie’s mind surged at full speed. Cromwell and Haskin was the top law firm in Washington state. Every firm had a pro bono quota to fulfill, but why did they choose to represent Eddytwice?

“A storm is coming. You should go before it gets bad.” Isaac picked up his briefcase and slid into the Camaro. “Eddycouldbe your guy. He’s one lucky bastard.”

The wind hoisted her hair and glided its way inside her clothes. Wind swept the dirty pavement, sending litter and stray cats scurrying into corners. An old newspaper plodded in her path, under her heel. Her throat closed when she saw the name “Robert” on it. Gasping, she lifted her heel, and the paper drifted away, directionless. But it left her with jangled nerves.

Thirty-Nine

Dear diary

I want to change my life. I’m so tired. I’m tired of trying to make it in the world I was born in, to play the cards I was dealt. But I want to leave the game. Some days things end up spinning out of control. Things are good with Erica, but she is different. She is sad all the time. She misses Quinn. I think she needs time to get better. But what if it’s always like this? What if she never gets over him? What if everything I worked for falls apart?

“What do you keep reading?” Troy wheeled next to her.

“Abby’s private journal.”

He peeked. “Are some pages missing?”

“Yep. I don’t know where they are.”

Troy gnawed the end of his pencil. Mackenzie controlled the urge to gag. She looked over to his desk. All his pens and pencils had chewed ends. “Are random entries missing?”

“Kind of. All the missing entries are after Erica went missing. She barely wrote after that, but most of it is gone.”

“Any pattern? Every second day’s entry missing, for example?”

Mackenzie spun on her chair and flashed him a sardonic smile. “Are you bored, Troy?”

“How’d you figure?”

“You’re asking me silly questions. Of course, I’ve checked.”

“I had an awkward dinner with Ella’s parents last night, and I lost my black widow case.” He groaned and pressed his chin into the back of his chair.

“What happened?”

“She flew to Canada. I can’t do anything for now. The Mounties are looking for her. Don’t you want to ask about my dinner?”

She opened the journal again and pretended to look engrossed. “Absolutely not.”

“Why did you get married, Mack? Is Sterling as mad as you?”

“Please go talk to someone else.”

“What if Ella becomes like her mother? What will I do then?”

Her cheeks twitched. “Why don’t we do that thing where you vent, and I put my headphones on and listen to music?”

“Good idea. I feel like you’re one of those who’ll tell me to break it off at the first sign of trouble, considering your lack of patience for nonsense.” He handed her the headphones.

His words felt like a slap to her face.