Cold Case in Cherokee Crossing Read Online Free Page B

woman. A woman in need.
    A woman with a troubled past who might be lying just to save her brother.
    He’d fallen into that trap before and almost gotten killed because of it. He’d vowed never to make that mistake again.
    But the facts about the case bugged him. Considering the circumstances, the kid should have been given some leniency. Offered parole. He’d been fourteen. A kid trying to protect his sister.
    Unless those circumstances hadn’t been presented to the jury.
    But why hadn’t they?
    His boss would know. But hell, Landers wanted Hank Tierney to be executed.
    Because he believed Hank was a cold-blooded killer?
    Or because he’d made a mistake and didn’t want it exposed?

Chapter Three
    Jaxon tried to reserve judgment on Hank Tierney as a guard escorted the inmate into the visitors’ room, shackled and chained. Hank’s shaved head, the scars on his arms and the angry glint in his eyes reeked of life on the inside.
    A question flashed in Tierney’s eyes when he spotted Jaxon seated at the table.
    “Hello, Mr. Tierney, my name is Sergeant Jaxon Ward.”
    The man’s thick eyebrows climbed. “What do you want?”
    “To talk to you, Hank. I can call you Hank, can’t I?”
    The man hesitated, then seemed to think better of it and nodded. For a brief second, Jaxon glimpsed the vulnerability behind the tough exterior. But resignation, acceptance and defeat seemed to weigh down his body.
    “I just talked to your sister, Avery.” Jaxon watched for the man’s reaction and noted surprise, then a small flicker of hope that made Tierney look younger than his thirty-four years. Maybe like the boy he’d been before he was beaten by Mulligan and he was locked away for life.
    “I can’t believe she called you. I just saw her.” Emotions thickened his voice, a sign that he hadn’t expected anything to come of their conversation.
    That he hadn’t expected anything out of life for a long time.
    “She didn’t,” Jaxon said, knowing he couldn’t offer Hank Tierney false hope. In fact, all he really knew was that a jury had convicted him.
    And that he and his sister might have concocted this story to convince a judge to order a stay of execution.
    “I came at the request of my director. But your sister showed up at the warden’s office while we were talking.”
    Cold acceptance resonated from Hank at that revelation. “So you came to make sure they stick the needle in me?”
    He was world-weary.
    Jaxon folded his arms and sat back, his professional mask in place. “I came for the truth. Your sister insists you’re innocent.”
    Hank’s chains rattled as he leaned forward. He ran his hand over his shaved head, more scars on his fingers evident beneath the harsh lights. When he finally looked back up at Jaxon, emotions glittered in the inmate’s cold eyes. “You believe her?”
    Jaxon scrutinized every nuance of Hank’s expression and mannerisms. According to his files, he’d been an angry kid. And according to Avery, he’d been abused.
    Twenty years in a cell had only hardened him more. The scars on his body and the harsh reality of prison conditions attested to the fact that he’d suffered more abuse inside. But judging from the size of his arms and hands, he’d learned to fight back.
    “I don’t know,” Jaxon said. “I read the file. You confessed. You were convicted.”
    Hank shot up, rage oozing from his pores. “Then why did you come here?”
    Because your sister has the neediest eyes I’ve ever seen.
    He bit back the words, though. Avery Tierney had survived without him, and if she were the victim she professed to be, she might be lying now.
    Worse, his boss wanted him to make sure the conviction wasn’t overturned. Wouldn’t look good on Director Landers if one of the cases that had made his career blew up and it was exposed that he’d sent an innocent man to prison on death row.
    But something about the case aroused Jaxon’s interest.
    Because Avery had created doubt in his mind.