Best Kept Secrets(149)

Alex closed her eyes and let go a long, silent breath. Tension

ebbed from her like a wave receding from the shore.

"Judge Wallace, who killed my mother? Who was Angus

protecting when he asked you to hustle Buddy Hicks through

the legal system?"

He faced her. "I don't know. As God is my witness, I

don't. I swear it on my years as a judge."

She believed him and said so. As unobtrusively as possible,

she collected her things. When she reached the door

of his office, he spoke her name in a thin voice.

"Yes?"

"If this ever comes to trial, will it be essential to your case

for all this to come out in court?"

"I'm afraid so. I'm sorry."

"Stacey . . ." He paused to clear his throat. "I wasn't

lying when I said she didn't know about my agreement with

Angus."

Alex repeated, "I'm sorry."

He nodded gravely. She stepped into the anteroom and

closed the door behind her. The secretary shot her a resentful

look, which wasn't entirely undeserved. She had badgered

him into telling the truth. It had been necessary, but she hadn't

enjoyed doing it.

She was waiting for the elevator when she heard the gun





shot. "Oh, God, no." She whispered the words, but wasn't

even aware of saying them as she dropped her briefcase and

raced back toward the end of the corridor. Mrs. Lipscomb

was at the door to his office. Alex shoved her aside and ran

in ahead of her.

What she saw brought her to an abrupt halt. Her scream

froze in her throat, but the secretary's echoed through the

chamber and into the hallways.



Forty-one



A stream of secretaries, bailiffs, and other courthouse employees

had gathered at the door of Judge Wallace's chambers

within sixty seconds of the gunshot.

Reede, the first person to make it upstairs from the basement,

shouldered his way through them, barking orders

to the deputies who had followed him. "Clear everybody

out!"

He instructed one to call an ambulance and another to

cordon off the hallway. He placed a comforting arm around

Mrs. Lipscomb, who was weeping hysterically, and commissioned

Imogene, Pat Chastain's secretary, to take her

away. He then bore down on Alex.

"Go to my office, lock yourself in, and stay there, understand?"

She stared back at him blankly. "Understand?"

he repeated loudly, giving her a shake. Still incapable of

speech, she nodded.

To another deputy, he said, "See that she gets to my office.

Don't let anybody in."

The officer led her away. Before she left the judge's cham-



hers, she saw Reede look toward the grisly sight at the desk.

He ran his hand through his hair and muttered, "Shit."

In his office on the lower level, Alex passed the time by

pacing, weeping, gnashing her teeth, staring into space. She

agonized in her own private hell over Judge Joseph Wallace's

suicide.

Her head was pounding so fiercely, the stitches in her scalp

felt like they would pop. She had failed to bring along her

medication. A frantic search through the sheriffs desk didn't

even produce an aspirin tablet. Was the man totally immune

to pain?

She was light-headed and nauseated and her hands refused

to get warm, though they perspired profusely. The ancient

plaster ceiling conducted every sound from above, but she

couldn't identify them. There was an endless parade of footsteps.

The office provided her refuge from the confusion, but

she was desperate to know what was happening in the rooms

and hallways overhead.

She was chin deep in despair. The facts pointed toward an

inexorable truth that she didn't want to acknowledge. Judge

Wallace's confession to a cover-up further implicated her

chief suspects.

Caught in a bind, Angus would have looked out for himself

without feeling any remorse. By the same token, he would

have bribed the judge in order to protect Junior, and probably

done no less for Reede. But of the three, which had actually

gone into the stable that night and murdered Celina?

When Reede flung open the door, Alex whirled around,

startled. She'd been staring out the window. She didn't know

how long she had waited in the room, but she realized suddenly

that it was getting dark outside when he flipped on the

light switch. She was still ignorant of what was transpiring

upstairs and at the front of the courthouse.

Reede gave her a hard look, but said nothing. He poured

himself a cup of coffee and sipped from it several times.

"Why is it lately that every time something happens in this

town, you're involved?"



Tears instantly formed in her eyes. One moment they

weren't there, the next they were heavily pushing against her