Read Courting Murder Page 49

if you didn’t confess to the murders, he was going to kill Ribs and probably Ollie, too, then tell everyone you . . . I guess the term is . . . uh . . . cheated . . . to get the prizes for both years. Am I right?”

  “Yes. If that got out, I’d never be able to show my face in Bollinger County again. Judge Carew, please don’t tell anyone.”

  “Never in a million years.”

  Now, with Frizz and Purvis standing before him, he didn’t burden them with Candy’s scandalous yet unverifiable story. He’d promised. Instead, Rosswell said, “I killed the murderer.”

  Rosswell needed to have another chat with Father Mike about that.

  That night at Picnic Area 3 of Foggy Top State Park, Rosswell leaned against his black pickup truck under a full moon in a cloudless sky. The temperature had gone down to around 80 degrees but the humidity stayed high.

  He pulled the envelope from his back pocket, opened it, withdrew Tina’s letter, and re-read for—what?—the thousandth time?

  Dear Rosswell, I love you so much. When I wake up in the morning, you’re the first thing I think of. When I go to sleep at night, you’re the last thing I think of. You’re on my mind every hour of every day. I want to know you and love you the rest of our lives. I’ve got something really important to tell you. I’m so happy to tell you. And I want you to be happy, too. I’m pregnant.

  When you finish reading this letter, come to me and hold me and never let me go.

  I love you always,

  Tina

  Rosswell folded the letter, replaced it in the envelope, and slid it into his breast pocket.

  He drove for town, regretting that he’d killed the best mechanic for miles around. Vicky needed repairs. Lots of them and soon. She was fixing to carry him on a journey. He was going to find Tina. Wherever she was. Where was he going to go? He didn’t know.

  When he parked at his house, his phone beeped. MISSED CALL. It was from a payphone in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. How cruel, thought Rosswell, to get a call from the town where their special place was. Tina and Rosswell had spent a weekend in the old French town at the Southern Hotel. His phone beeped again. VOICEMAIL. He clicked on it.

  Tina spoke to him.

  “Rosswell, come get me. I’m—”

  The message stopped.

  Rosswell didn’t take time to pack.

   

  The End

   

  Acknowledgments

  My first readers Sara leNeve McDaniel Snipes (RIP), Candy Harvey, Jill Mabli, and Ruthie Deck Burkman; Guppies (Sisters in Crime group); fellow writers who patiently gave me incredible amounts of their time (especially Hank Phillippi Ryan, Alan Orloff, Leslie Budewitz, Serena Stier, Grace Topping, Jess Lourey, Deborah Sharp, and Allan E. Ansorge); Charles and Marian Hutchings; Lois Jackson of the USDA for permission to use the cover photograph, Patricia B. Smith (editor extraordinaire), Susan Swartwout, and the thousands of people who’ve told me stories since I was a child.

   

  None of this would’ve been possible without my wife, Sharon Woods Hopkins, who is my toughest editor, most honest critic, and who’s one super-excellent writer.

   

  About the Author

  Bill Hopkins is retired after beginning his legal career in 1971 and serving as a private attorney, prosecuting attorney, an administrative law judge, and a trial court judge, all in Missouri.

  His poems, short stories, and non-fiction have appeared in many different publications. He's had several short plays produced.

  Bill is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Dramatists Guild, Horror Writers Association, Missouri Writers Guild, SEMO Writers Guild, Heartland Writers Guild, Romance Writers of America, and Sisters In Crime.

  Bill is also a photographer who has sold work in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

  He and his wife, Sharon (a mortgage banker who is also a published writer), live in Marble Hill, Missouri, with their dog and cat. Besides writing, Bill and Sharon are involved in collecting and restoring Camaros.

  Courting Murder was the first novel of the Judge Rosswell Carew Mystery series. The second novel of the series, River Mourn (2013), won first place in the Missouri Writers' Guild Show-Me Best Book Awards in 2014.

  Sharon and Bill have started a publishing company, Deadly Writes Publishing, LLC, and they welcome submissions. Visit their website for more information.

  www.deadlywritespublishing.com

   

   

  Visit Bill at

   

  Judge Bill Hopkins

   

  Contents

   

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

   

 
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