Falling to Pieces Read Online Free Page A

the seat in front of his desk while my mother sank into the chair next to me.
    “If you think you have something to put her in jail, you’re either deluded or you’ve fabricated evidence.” I swallowed the bile rising in my throat. “I’m going with the latter.”
    My father leaned back in his seat. “Monroe Peterman called about ten minutes ago with something that could be an issue.”
    “I don’t give a damn what Monroe Peterman had to say. I want to know what you have on Rose.”
    He shook his head in disgust. “You should be worried about what Monroe Peterman had to say instead of that girl. You have a challenger in the senate race.”
    I paused. Maybe I could still get out of this. “You said I would be unopposed.”
    “And you were supposed to be, but I just got word that Delany’s going to announce his candidacy tomorrow morning.”
    “So I don’t need to run now.”
    Dad banged his fist on the desk. “Of course you’re going to run! But it means we have to put a hell of a lot more effort into this than we originally planned.”
    “Delany’s a big family man,” Mom mumbled, her nails clicking on the arm of her chair. “He plays that to the hilt. He’ll take advantage of his kids in soccer and Boy Scouts. It could be an issue that Joe’s not married.”
    “I’m not running!” I shouted.
    My father’s face reddened. “Like hell you won’t. This is what we’ve been preparing you to do since the doctor slapped your behind in the delivery room. This is the perfect opportunity to jump in. So what if Delany’s a family man? He’s bound to turn off some of the voters with his ultraconservative Christian fundamentalism.”
    “I’m not so sure, J.R.,” Mom said. “Joe’s being single could be a bigger issue than you think.”
    I fought to maintain what little control I had left. “I’m not running.”
    My father turned his gaze on me. “Do you really want to see that little piece of fluff in jail? I’m not so sure how long she’d last in there.”
    “You keep saying that, but so far, you’ve produced nothing. You’re bluffing.” I wanted to tell him that she was stronger than he gave her credit for, but I couldn’t see how that would help my case.
    Dad opened a desk drawer and pulled out a small stack of papers, slapping them on the desk and sliding them toward me. “Bluffing, huh? You check those out and tell me if we should continue this discussion.”
    I picked up the stack, a cold sweat beading on the back of my neck. He had papers that suggested Violet’s husband Mike had bribed county officials to support his construction company. Next he had photos of Violet sneaking out of a hotel with the new mayor of Henryetta. I studied the photos, wondering how he’d gotten those staged. If they were Photoshopped, whoever had done it did a damn good job. But the last sent ice through my veins. I held a bank account statement in Rose’s name with a wire transfer into an account with Daniel Crocker’s name. Fifty thousand dollars dated a week before her mother’s murder.
    I looked up at him, trying to contain my fear. “This will never hold up. You and I both know that.”
    “Are you willing to bet her life on it? From what I hear, she doesn’t have that great of reputation in that town. I suspect they’ll believe this hook, line, and sinker. They had no qualms believing she killed her mother during their initial investigation.”
    My hand shook, giving away my fear. “Not Mason. He’ll never buy it.”
    “Mason Deveraux?” My father laughed. “I put him in that hell hole, and I can pull him out of it. And all behind the scenes, so that he never even knows. The DA and that Judge McClary will do what I want.”
    I shoved the papers onto his desk. “Don’t take Mason Deveraux for a fool. He’ll never stand back and let you do this.”
    “No one lets me do anything, least of all a lowly assistant DA who has a job because I deemed fit to make sure he had one. Don’t delude