Justice Healed Read Online Free Page A

not your fault."
    "It is.  They say alcoholism is hereditary.  Besides, I spent half of his childhood drinking."
    "And the other half making up for it.  You never did the stupid-ass shit he's doing, either.  If it's your fault he's an alcoholic, who is to blame for you?  Your dad?  Your mom?  Who's the lousy asshole you can blame?"
    Tanner's parents were church-going people who only drank on Saturday night.  They might have imbibed a lot, but it was only one night of the week.  "My parents don't have anything to do with this."
    "And Chris's issues don't have a damn thing to do with you.  As long as you let him blame you, he gets to do whatever the fuck he wants."
    "Abby blames me."
    "Abby and Chris are two peas in a pod.  They both blame everybody else for their piss-poor decisions.  It sounds like this Fenton guy is another sign of Abby's bad judgment."
    Tanner sighed, tightening his collar around his neck.  It was fucking cold out here.  "According to her, her first bad decision was marrying me.  Things went downhill from there.  Luckily, we manage to be friendly most of the time now.  She's a good person."
    Tanner wasn't sure why he was defending Abby.  She was more than capable of defending herself.  Perhaps it was because Abby's personality and behavior didn't reflect well on Tanner's judgment.  He'd married and had two children with her after all.
    "As long as you don't need anything from Abby, she's great."
    Tanner exhaled, his breath turning to steam.  "I just want Abby to be happy.  If Fenton Jacks can do that, well, more power to him."
    "Have you checked him out?"
    "Not really."  Tanner had been wrestling with this.  He wanted to dive into Fenton Jacks's past and see what he found.  If not for Abby's sake, then for his two children.  But if he found something, Abby was going to hit the roof that he checked on her fiancé.  It was a case of damned if he did, and damned if he didn't.  Abby mad was something Tanner had learned to avoid like the plague when she controlled how often he could see his own damn kids.  Now they were older and she didn't have the same power, but old habits died hard.
    "You waiting for a sign or something?" Logan asked.  "If you don't do it, I will, for fuck's sake."
    Now there was an idea.
    Tanner smiled.  "That's true.  If you decided to check up on him, I couldn't stop you."
    Logan was grinning again.  "Damn straight."  He slapped Tanner on the back.  "Looks like I have an assignment.  Purely because I want to do it, not because you want it done."  Logan turned on his heel and headed to his truck.
    Tanner waved.  "Let me know what you find."
    Logan climbed up in the cab of his truck.  "You'll be the first person I call.  Drive careful, man."
    Tanner hopped into his own SUV, firing up the engine and turning the heat on full blast.  It had been a cold winter already and there was still more to go.  He pulled out onto the road, glad to see the plows had been through while he'd been inside.  He pointed the truck toward Springwood, his stomach rumbling with hunger.  It looked like he would be making a stop somewhere for a late lunch.
    * * * *
    Madison shrugged off her heavy winter coat and slid into the booth.  "Why are we here again?  I thought we were going to head to the mall."
    Sherry sat across from her and handed Madison a menu.  "The roads are too snowy to drive into the city.  We can get some lunch and chat."
    Madison looked around the dimly lit sports bar.  The walls were covered with over a dozen flat screen televisions, and most of the diners were men.  Even the menu seemed to cater to the male appetite with several flavors of chicken wings and an entire page of artery clogging meals including chili cheese fries and a steak the size of a pot roast.
    "I'm going to need to check our cholesterol after this meal.  It's not good to eat too much red meat or cheese."
    Sherry gave a long-suffering sigh.  "You're eating unhealthy today.  No