Yesterday's Lies Read Online Free Page B

financial trouble for some time.”
    The district attorney seemed satisfied and rubbed his fleshy fingers together over his protruding stomach. Tory felt as if she were dying inside. The inquisition continued and Trask recounted the events of the summer. How he had seen Judge Linn Benton with Calvin Wilson on various occasions; how his brother, Jason, had almost concluded his investigation of the swindle; and how Calvin Wilson’s name became linked to the other two men by his damning ownership of the property.
    “You mean to tell me that your brother, Jason, told you that Calvin Wilson was involved?”
    “Jason said he thought there might be a connection because of the land where the horses were kept.”
    “A connection?” the district attorney repeated, patting his stomach and looking incredulously at the jury. “I’d say that was more than ‘a connection.’ Wouldn’t you?”
    “I don’t know.” Trask shifted uneasily in his chair and his blue eyes narrowed on the D.A. “There is a chance that Calvin Wilson didn’t know exactly what was happening on the land as it is several miles from the Lazy W.”
    “But what about the mare that was switched?” the D.A. prodded. “Wasn’t she registered?”
    “Yes.”
    “And the owner?”
    “Calvin Wilson.”
    “So your brother, Jason McFadden, the insurance investigator for Edward’s Life, thought that there might be a connection?” the D.A. concluded smugly.
    “Jason was still working on it when the accident occurred.” Trask’s eyes hardened at the injustice of his brother’s death. It was just the reaction the district attorney had been counting on.
    “The accident which took his life. Right?”
    “Yes.”
    “The accident that was caused by someone deliberately tampering with the gas line of the car,” the D.A. persisted.
    “Objection!”
    “Your honor, it’s been proven that the engine of Jason McFadden’s car had been rigged with an explosive device that detonated at a certain speed, causing sparks to fly into the gas line and explode in the gas tank. What I’m attempting to prove is how that happened and who was to blame.”
    The gray-haired judge scowled, settled back in his chair and stared at the defense attorney with eyes filled with the cynicism of too many years on the bench. “Overruled.”
    The D.A. turned to face Trask.
    “Let’s go back to the night that Victoria Wilson saw her father leave the ranch. On that night, the night of July 7th, what did you do?”
    Trask wiped a tired hand around his neck. “After I left Tory, I waited until Calvin had returned and then I confronted him with what Jason had figured out about the horse swapping scam and what I suspected about his involvement in it.”
    “But why did you do that? It might have backfired in your face and ruined your brother’s reputation as an insurance investigator.”
    Trask paused for a minute. The courtroom was absolutely silent except for the soft hum of the motor of the paddle fan. “I was afraid.”
    “Of what?”
    Trask’s fingers tightened imperceptibly on the polished railing. “I was afraid for Jason’s life. I thought he was in over his head.”
    “Why?”
    “Jason had already received an anonymous phone call threatening him, as well as his family.” Trask’s eyes grew dark with indignation and fury and his jaw thrust forward menacingly. “But he wouldn’t go to the police. It was important to him to handle it himself.”
    “And so you went to see Calvin Wilson, hoping that he might help you save your brother’s life.”
    “Yes.” Trask glared at the table behind which Tory’s father was sitting.
    “And what did Calvin Wilson say when you confronted him?”
    Hatred flared in Trask’s eyes. “That all the problems were solved.”
    At that point Neva McFadden, Jason’s widow, broke down. Her small shoulders began to shake with the hysterical sobs racking her body and she buried her face in her hands, as if in so doing she could hide from the