30
Judge Reid was in her chambers when Judge Price walked in.
“Did you hear about Eli?” Thomas said almost frantic.
“No.” She never looked up from the brief she was reading.
“He’s dead.” His voice shivered as he spoke.
Her head snapped up. “What?”
“Eli is dead. They found him in his bed this morning.”
“How did he die?”
“They’re not saying.”
Paula frowned. “Was he shot, stabbed, strangled… what?”
“None of those. One officer indicated it looked like natural causes.” Thomas’ fear lodged clearly in his words.
“Hell, Thomas, we all have to go sometime.” Paula went back to reading her brief.
Thomas grabbed the document then angrily threw it aside. “You cannot be that insensitive or naive, Paula. This is not a coincidence. They killed him and if we let this stand we are complicit with their actions.” he huffed.
Staring at the man, Paula shook her head. “You just stated that it was natural causes. We can do a lot of things, Thomas, but we cannot predict when the Lord is going to call us home.”
Thomas stared at her for a long silent moment. He shook his head then spoke calmly. “We’ve been around a long time, Paula. You, the same as I, have heard of ways to take a life to make it look like natural causes. In some cases, it could take weeks or months before the evidence can be found. But we both know it can be done.” He exhaled as he paced, then turned to her. “We have been judged and found guilty by the highest authority. Our punishment is to die without anyone ever knowing we were murdered. How ironic is that.”
Paula watched as Thomas walked out. She didn’t want to believe his fears, but she knew him well enough to know he had thought this through. Of the three of them, Thomas was logical. He could see the score at the end of the game by the time they reached the half way point. He was able to read the writing on the wall. They were coming after them. But he was wrong about one thing. If anything happened to them, people would know. She’d made sure of it. In the event of her untimely death, a recording of every meeting she’d had with Vaughan or Chambers would be sent to the Chief of Police. All those times they thought she was on her phone ignoring them, she was recording everything that was being said. With those recordings and her journal, the police should know where to look. For now, she closed her eyes, and said a prayer for Eli. He was trying to make the world right again. Have mercy on his soul.