Motion for Murder by Kelly Rey Read Free Book Online Page A

this," I said. "If you kill Doug Heath, you'll go to jail. Maybe for life. Now wouldn't that be a waste?"
    "What're you, my mother?" He waved the knife around a little and glowered some. I got the feeling he'd heard about life wasting before. "Why would you want to kill a lawyer, anyway?" I asked. "They sue people for you, they get you money, and they keep you out of jail. They're good people."
    He narrowed his eyes at me. "You ain't too bright, are you?"
    "Dumb as a doorknob," I said.
    "Mr. Heath lost my case. You got any idea what I'm gonna do to Mr. Heath for losing my case?"
    I had some idea. "He loses lots of cases," I said, dangerously close to babbling. "It's a wonder he keeps his license. He's the worst."
    "That ain't what he said on TV," Tiddle said, accusing. "He said he'd get justice. He'd get me all the money I deserve."
    "And you actually believed him?" Oops.
    "Open the door, girlie," he said, pointing with the knife. "So's I can carve him up like a Christmas goose."
    I jabbed at the lock with the key. I wasn't sure it was the right key. Or even the right door. "I never had goose," I said. Jab, jab. "My family always ate turkey for the holidays. Well, spaghetti once, but that didn't go over so good. My father got gas from the sauce, and my sister spilled the meatballs, and"
    "I'm gonna do this," he said, and made a few samurai nunchaku sort of moves with the knife. Then suddenly he stopped. His face went white, and his eyes rolled up in his head, and he crashed to the ground in a dead faint.
    Which, when I saw the bloody slice he'd put in his own finger, is exactly what I did, too. Except I hope I did it with a little more grace.
     
    *  *  *
     
    I was still in a fuzzy fugue state when I heard Paige say, "Is she dead?"
    I opened my eyes. Paige, Donna, Howard, Wally, and Janice hovered over me with varying degrees of concern. A misty rain laced itself around us. My head hurt. And Donna's shoes didn't match her outfit.
    "I guess not," Wally said. He might have sounded disappointed.
    "We should get her inside," Howard said, without making a move to actually do it. "She may be bleeding on the walkway."
    "No, we shouldn't move her," Donna said. "She may be injured."
    "Well, she can't stay here," Howard said. "What will the clients think?"
    Dougie Digits for a partner and he was worried about what the clients would think?
    I rolled my head to the side. Adam Tiddle and his knife were gone, and so, as far as I could tell, was his fingertip. I closed my eyes briefly in relief and vowed to the universe that had saved me that I'd never be the first into work again.
    "Look, she's passing out!" Donna said.
    "Get her some water," Howard said.
    "Here," Janice said, reaching out her hand. I managed a weak smile and reached for it. She took my keys. "I'm moving your car," she said. "You're parked in my spot."

 
CHAPTER NINE
     
    "They think they'll be able to save his fingertip," Missy said a few hours later. I'd been scraped off the pavement and dumped behind my desk, with my transcribing headset somehow strapped to my ears and a new word processing file blinking in anticipation on my computer. Missy was back after chaperoning Adam Tiddle to the hospital on Howard's directive. Howard wanted no lawsuits against the firm. Dead secretaries didn't sue, so he wasn't concerned about me.
    "That's nice," I said, though the fate of Adam Tiddle's finger meant about as much to me as the color of Paige's lipstick. My head hurt, and I was cold and wet. Howard had thoughtfully provided a box of tissues to dry myself off, and I had wet tissue bits clinging to me everywhere. I looked only marginally better than when I'd gotten out of bed that morning. But it could've been worse. At least Missy wasn't gloating over her X-rated night with Braxton Malloy.
    "What a night I had." Missy wrapped her hands around a mug of coffee and smiled. She looked radiant, if not well rested, buoyed by her role in the salvation of Adam Tiddle's finger and other