Intent: Bending Justice Book 2 Read online

  INTENT

  BENDING JUSTICE BOOK 2

  WL KNIGHTLY

  BRIXBAXTER PUBLISHING

  CONTENTS

  Find WL Knightly

  WL Knightly’s Introduction

  Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

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  About the Author

  Copyright

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  DESCRIPTION

  Attorney Kay Havelin takes on the first major solo case of her career, defending a man accused of murdering his wife. But someone is trying to intimidate her, and a string of personal attacks shake up her world. Kay has to figure out who is out to get her before everything she's worked for gets destroyed.

  Police officer Reese Milo suspects Kay Havelin is hiding something sinister. Her name keeps popping up in murder investigations and Milo needs to find out why. But he's been warned to leave the fiery attorney alone, so he'll have to figure out her secrets quickly or risk losing his badge.

  CHAPTER 1

  KAY

  As Kay Havelin settled into her tub, she looked up at the ceiling and tried to let the day’s events fade away. Finch’s outburst hadn’t shaken her so much, but she couldn’t believe his nerve to go ballistic the way he had, considering what he was in for. Hopefully, the guard had made his life hell the rest of the night. And not wanting to dwell on him and his accusations was part of the reason she chose to stay at her own home and distance herself from him.

  With the water steaming around her, she sank down into the tub and closed her eyes.

  It was easy to imagine during those quiet moments at home that Casey was still there in the townhouse with her. She could still pretend that he was playing video games with his headphones on or sleeping off a high the way he had before his problems had done their worst to him.

  Before she could let those feelings fool her, a sudden crash of glass breaking downstairs put her on alert.

  She sat bolt upright in the tub and reached for a towel as she got to her feet. She hurried to get her robe on, tying the waistline tight so it wouldn’t slip. The last thing she wanted to deal with was being naked.

  Things moved quickly after that as she ran to the bedside table for her gun. She’d been keeping it close just after Casey’s murder, in case one of Casey’s old friends decided to show up knowing she was all alone.

  She didn’t trust any of them, and there was no telling who else he’d had in her home that she didn’t know about. The worst thing anyone could do was invite someone like that into your home, where they would know their way around and what you might have that could be of value. Desperate people with addictions would do anything to get their next fix, and she didn’t want to be caught off guard if this was that kind of situation.

  She readied her gun and carefully headed out into the hallway as the footsteps got louder, closer. There were more footsteps and sounds that came from the kitchen. Things were being knocked over and broken as if someone had let a bull loose.

  There wasn’t much in the house worth stealing, but she did have knives and other things in the kitchen that someone might try and use against her. She had to be ready for them.

  With her heartbeat growing louder in her ears and her thoughts drowning out what she could hear, she carefully made her way to the stairs, where she realized she didn’t have a good view of what was going on below. Metal clinking to the tile floor gave her a pretty good idea. Her home was being ransacked.

  As she crept down slowly, only taking a few steps, a shadowy figure moved across the room, and while she tried to get a better look, footsteps came from behind her, taking her by surprise.

  Turning around a moment too late, she saw the figure of a young man who had somehow made it all the way upstairs without her knowing. And as he approached, she attempted to raise her gun, her hands shaking as she realized she was too late.

  He plowed into her, knocking her down. And as he ran over her, his foot landing in the middle of her back as he fled, it stomped the wind out of her.

  “Go! Go!” he said, plodding down the stairs and causing a panic of footsteps from below.

  But Kay wasn’t going to let him get away with it. She caught her breath, raised her hands to aim the gun, and fired toward the front door where the guy kept running.

  The bullet struck the doorframe, just enough to chip a nice little piece of wood off the corner as it embedded into the wood.

  She ran to the door. “Next time, I’ll kill you!” she called out, realizing that the neighbor’s dogs were barking up a storm as security lights lit up along the street.

  The police would be there soon enough, and she didn’t want to deal with that.

  She turned on the lights to the living room and shut and locked the door, hoping they wouldn’t be stupid enough to return. Maybe no one had been able to tell where the gunfire had come from, and she wouldn’t have to answer any questions. In her experience, cops were not her friends, and she didn’t want anything on paper that she had been having trouble with.

  The last thing her career needed was more bad press, and considering most people had heard about her past, she could do without the media camping outside her house.

  Maybe it was time to move into Finch’s old house full time? Not only could she get away from the townhouse, away from memories of her and Casey, but she could start over, brand new.

  “I think I have to,” she said, hearing Casey’s doubtful voice in her ear.

  “Don’t let them chase you out of your home,” he would have said.

  “I’m not. You’re chasing me out! You and the memory of you! You just had to shit where you slept, didn’t you? You invited them in, and now look? This is what I’m left to deal with, thanks to you!” Her whole body shook as emotions overtook her, and she realized her soaking wet hair and the fact that she didn’t have on anything under the robe had made her body temperature drop. That and the shock of having someone plow her down like a wheat stalk.

  She went to look in the mirror in the guest bath. The faint shoeprint was on her fuzzy robe and she checked for a bruise beneath it. It wasn’t as bad as she expected and had been more traumatic emotionally than physically, but there was still a bit of bruising and redness that reminded her of much earlier trauma in her life.

  Her back had taken many blows over the course of her young life. And it triggered a wave of anger in her that she had let fester for too many years.

  “I wish I’d killed him,” she said, thinking of the stranger. She had only gotten a quick glance at him before he ran into her. And with the only light coming from the bedroom door behind him, his face had been shadowed quite a bit. She didn’t recognize him as one of Casey’s friends, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t.

  She went to put on
her usual sleep ensemble, knowing the nosy neighbors might have called the cops. But she still had a mess to clean up downstairs.

  They had scattered her silverware and broken dishes, not to mention the window in the small dining area, which was how they had gotten in.

  Sure enough, moments later, sirens blared up the road, and she let out a sigh as the police pulled up to her neighbor’s house.

  Kay went to the busted front window, careful not to step on any glass as she peeked out. The patrol car stopped at the neighbor’s house.

  The old woman who lived there, who Kay and Casey called Mrs. Crabtree so often that she had forgotten her real name, came running out to talk to him. She pointed at Kay’s house, prompting the police to park in her driveway and come to the door.

  Kay didn’t want the attention. She just wanted things to be quiet and normal. She had a growing business to worry about and didn’t need anything scaring off potential clients. No one wanted someone to defend them who had their own drama going on.

  She waited until the officer knocked on the door and announced himself. “Officer Boyd, New Orleans Police.”

  “Shit,” she said, releasing a breath as she walked over to answer it. Was she in trouble for firing the gun in a residential area? It wasn’t something she could lie about. If they thought it was the intruder’s bullet, all they would have to do was test it.

  She unlocked the door and opened it, working herself up in the process. “Thank God you’re here, officer.” She made sure to seem out of breath, and the tears came naturally with her anger. “I was just about to call you.”

  The officer was around forty, tall, and handsome in a mama’s boy kind of way. The kind of man she usually had no trouble charming. “Yeah, well, your neighbor saved you the trouble. They said they saw someone break in through your window and reported gunfire upon my arrival. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” She knew she would have to try and get the officer to keep it quiet.

  “Did they fire at you?”

  Kay looked away and sighed. “No, sir. I hate to even admit this, but my gun went off.” She gave him a pleading look. “I thought I’d just scare them a little, but then it went off, scaring me half to death. Thankfully, they were gone by then. I hope I’m not in any trouble.”

  “Are you sure you didn’t hit one of them?”

  “The bullet is right there,” she said, pointing to the doorframe. “I would have called sooner, but I freaked out when it happened.”

  The officer stepped into the house. “Well, just take some time to calm down. You have the right to protect yourself, but always be careful when dealing with firearms, especially with such close neighbors. A stray bullet could hit an innocent person.”

  She covered her face with her hand. “I know. I feel so stupid. I just wanted to scare them away. I have kept the gun near my bedside since my boyfriend was murdered. I guess I’m just a bit on edge lately.”

  Officer Boyd nodded as if he could understand that. “I am sorry to hear that. You know, I thought you looked familiar to me.”

  “Kay Havelin.” She offered her hand.

  The man took it and pulled away to snap his fingers. “Havelin. You’re from the Eddleman case, right?”

  “Yeah, which is why I really hope my stupidity doesn’t cause another media circus outside my home. You don’t have to make a big deal out of this, do you?” She did her best to look pathetic and garnish some sympathy from him.

  He looked at the doorframe. “Hey, it’s okay. As long as no one was hurt, I won’t have to include that in the report.” He gave her a kind smile. The kind that said he sympathized with her situation. “You’ve been through enough. Besides, maybe you scared them away for good.”

  “Let’s hope so. I sure don’t want them to come back.”

  “Did you get a look at them? I’ll need to file a report about that in case it happens to someone else.”

  Kay shook her head. “It was dark. I could tell there were at least two. Maybe three, but I only saw the shadows of two, I think.”

  “Well, was anything stolen?”

  “Not that I can tell. I think I scared them off before they could get anything. Honestly, officer, before my boyfriend was murdered, he brought a lot of different people here, and with his drug problems, there’s no telling what they thought they might find to sell. I swear, he put me through hell when he was alive, and somehow, he still manages.”

  “I see. Well, if you ever need anything, just give us a call. And I’ll patrol the area tonight if that will make you feel better.”

  “That would be great. I’d appreciate it.”

  “Just doing my job, Ms. Havelin. Now, if you have a large garbage bag or some plastic, we could tape up that window to keep the bugs out, if you like?”

  Plastic wasn’t going to do anything to make her feel safe. “There are storm boards on my back porch. Maybe one of those would be better. After tonight’s experience, I’d like to keep more than just the bugs out. Do you mind?” Casey had always kept them just off the back patio for hurricane season instead of putting them back in the shed where they belonged.

  Officer Boyd nodded in agreement. “That sounds a bit safer. I’ll get you fixed up.”

  “Thanks. You don’t know what it means to me.” She walked him through the house and showed him to the boards out back, where he found one and carried it through the house as she got him what he needed to hang them.

  As she watched him hang the board, she wondered if Finch had called one of his thugs to come and scare her. But with his little outburst, she doubted he would have had the chance.

  It didn’t take the officer long to get the job done, and soon, he was on his way.

  Kay shut the door and locked it again, staring at the bullet that was still lodged inside the doorframe, where it would probably stay at least until it was time to sell or lease.

  She fixed herself some hot tea to calm her nerves and carried it to the bedroom. All the way up the stairs, she kept thinking of that foot in her back and being pinned to the floor. That split second had felt like a lifetime without breath. She couldn’t let that happen again.

  She had to move away where no one would find her. If people thought that she had sold the townhouse and moved away, they wouldn’t come back. Finch’s place was going to be her new home, and maybe she could take Marnie up on her offer to stay in the townhouse.

  It would give her more time to look for the money and put her in a much better neighborhood. “Sorry, Casey,” she said, bringing the cup to her lips. “Once again, I’m leaving you.”

  CHAPTER 2

  REESE

  The pale, dead face of Lacey Davenport stared back at Reese. Her eyes were set, their blue glaze enough to give anyone the creeps. “Did you finish with the examination of the cranium fractures?” he asked as Sallie filed into the room with him and Dr. Lewis, the local medical examiner.

  “Yeah, blunt force trauma. Just like you expected.”

  “I appreciate you taking a look at this so soon.”

  “Not at all. These cases fascinate me. And especially hers. You see how there is only one wound.”

  “Yeah.” Reese shrugged.

  “Well, that’s not actually true. She was struck a few times.” Lewis’s tone showed his confidence. He was certain of his findings.

  “A few? Are you sure?” Reese had not even found another mark of discoloration on her head.

  “Looks can be deceiving,” Lewis said with a nod.

  “Did it break the skin? Were they overlapped?” Reese asked, glancing at Sallie for his reaction.

  Sallie gave a hard expression that showed Reese two things. One, he was disgusted by what he saw, and two, he was just as curious as Reese.

  Dr. Lewis cleared his throat. “Not only did it break the skin, but it probably dropped her. Whoever struck her hit her again when she was down, right in the same place, almost to the millimeter. That happened at least three times.”

  “Rapid successio
n,” said Sallie. “Passionate.”

  “Right,” said Lewis. “Thankfully, I can see where the blows landed. The internal trauma supports the multiple-strike theory as well.”

  “So, whoever did this wanted to make sure she was dead, that’s for sure. With no regrets at all once it started,” said Sallie. He leaned in closer to get a better look. “Almost too intimate for a stranger, considering where you found her.”

  “Passionate in the brutality, maybe,” said Reese. “But I think it was premeditated, which leads to the husband. No doubt.”

  “How can you be sure?” asked Sallie. He didn’t seem to be asking if it was possible as much as he wanted to see what Reese had come up with.

  “Well, it’s my initial theory, based on the fact that there didn’t seem to be anything missing from the bathroom and there was no forced entry. In which case, I’d have to guess that they brought the weapon with them. If this stemmed from a fight with the husband and happened in a moment of passion, I could see him reaching for something in the room to strike her with. But with there not being anything missing, it tells me whoever came in had premediated the murder and was trying their best to catch her off guard. I’d say that the true passion didn’t start until the bludgeoning occurred.”