"Terror a court judge and her daughter and ends in love for both."
Reviewed by Kay Quintin
Posted March 21, 2014
Romance Suspense
Madelyn "Maddie" Cooper,is now a judge, living in
Montgomery County, Oklahoma with her 13 year old daughter,
Brandy. As a pregnant unwed teen, Maddie left Greendale,
Texas and the
love of her life, Rand McCade, following the death of his
parents. Maddie believes that Rand hates her because her
father is accused of murdering his parents.
Maddie's best friend is found
dead, hanging, with her tongue cut out. Someone is now
terrorizing Maddie and her daughter, and she suspects one of
many
criminals she is responsible for incarcerating. As the
danger surrounding Maddie and her daughter escalates she is
forced to seek Rand's help in order to keep her daughter
safe. She knows that now is the time to reveal her
daughter's paternity.
Awkwardness stretches between Rand and Maddie when her
surprise appearance in town becomes obvious to the
residents who firmly believe her father was guilty and have
held Maddie in contempt as well. Maddie is finally able to
tell Rand he is Brandy's father and why she is there. As
they conspire about how to protect their
daughter, other pieces of information begin to implicate
the local doctor and his involvement in what might lead to
the perpetrator.
Brandy is tricked into revealing
information for their whereabouts through her internet
friendship with a boy online. The chilling fact of her
innocent participation in their horror is late in being
discovered. Through the constant investigation to uncover
the suspect and deaths of 11 other women related to this
case, Maddie and Rand are having a hard time convincing
themselves their attraction is no longer there. The killer
abducts both Maddie and Brandy in spite of Rand's
supervision, and all stops are pulled out in his
determination to end this horror.
This is one read that kept me glued to my seat and my
heart pounding. The chilling terror of an exceptionally
smart loose cannon intent on murder will keep you on your
toes. If excitement and suspense is what you want, LONE
STAR JUSTICE is
the book for you. This is the first novel I have had the
pleasure of reading by Tori Scott, but a definite pleasure
it was! I was so caught up in the tangled web, that the
outcome was a big surprise. This is part of the Lone Star
Cowboys Series and well worth the reading. I will
absolutely have to read the rest of this series.
SUMMARY
A home-grown killer blows a small town's secrets wide
open...
Judge Madelyn Cooper never shows signs of weakness, but when
a killer threatens her daughter's life, Maddie does what any
mother would do. She runs to the one place where her
daughter will be safe. That place is her home town of
Greendale, Texas, where everyone knows their neighbors. But
do they, really? Rand McCade is determined to keep Greendale safe. As
sheriff, he promised there would be no repeats of the
horrible day when his parents were murdered. Now Maddie is
back, bringing trouble with her once again. And this time,
she has a daughter. His daughter. As a psychopath sets his sights on Maddie, Rand and Maddie
must figure out who is after her, and why, before someone
else ends up dead.
ExcerptGreendale, Texas 1997Madelyn Cooper shivered in the air conditioned doctor's
office, wearing only a cloth gown
as a shield against the cold. But it was more than the
temperature making her shaky. Being not
quite eighteen, pregnant, and the daughter of a murderer
seemed to have the same effect. The examining room door opened and Doc Myers walked into the
room, a frown on his
face. "Maddie," he said with a quick nod. She tried to smile, but just didn't have the energy. "I see you're complaining of exhaustion. Have you been
taking your prenatal vitamins?" "Yes, every day." She hated them. They made her nauseous,
but so did everything these
days. Her whole damn life made her sick. Doc wrote on her chart, then set it aside to check her blood
pressure. As he squeezed the
bulb and cut off her circulation, he asked, "Have you given
any more thought to what we talked
about last time?" What a round about way to refer to abortion. And her answer
had not changed, even though her circumstances had. "I'm not
getting rid of my baby, Doc. No way." Doc sighed and removed the blood pressure cuff. "Maddie,
surely you aren't planning to
have this baby after what's happened? Rand will never
forgive you, so any idea you had about
marrying him is gone. Hell, the whole town is against you
right now. What kind of life will
that be for a child? You have no one left, your father is in
jail, and you can't even take care of
yourself, much less a baby. Being a single mother is hard
enough when you have a support
system." Maddie lifted her chin, defiant. "I don't care, Doc. We'll
be fine." He shook his head. "No, Maddie, you won't. You won't be able
to find a job. There isn't a
single person in the entire county who would hire you right
now. And you need to worry about
reprisals. I don't think you understand how angry everyone
is about what your father did." He
listened to her heart and lungs, then hung the stethoscope
around his neck. "Look, I feel bad
about what's happened. You've had a rough time of it since
your mom died. I'm going to give
you some money, enough to help you get out of town and make
a new start somewhere else." Maddie shook her head. "I don't want your money, Doc. I'm
leaving for a while anyway.
My aunt is coming to take me home with her until the baby's
born. All I need is a refill on my
vitamins to hold me until I find a new doctor." Doc seemed to relax a bit. He patted her knee like he had
since she was a toddler. "Well,
I think that's a great idea, Maddie. Your aunt lives in
Dallas, right? Far enough away and big
enough for you to blend in, hide out. But I still think you
should consider terminating this
pregnancy. The last thing Rand needs is for you to spring
something like this on him. Poor boy is
devastated. He hates you now, you know." That broke Maddie's heart. She didn't kill Rand's parents,
though she might as well have. They were dead and he refused to speak to her. And now her
baby would never know its father. "So," Doc said, heading for the door, "when do you leave?" Was it her imagination, or did he seem especially anxious
for her to go? He'd been good
friends with the McCades for many years, so he probably
hated her, too. "I'll be gone by this
afternoon, Doc." "Good. He nodded and started to leave, turning back for one
final shot. "And Maddie? Don't
ever come back." CHAPTER ONE Montgomery County, Oklahoma 2011 Madelyn Cooper glanced at her watch for the fifth time in as
many minutes. "Where the hell
is Pioretti?" she demanded of no one in particular. No one
dared reply. They knew she tolerated
no tardiness in her courtroom, not even from her best
friend. Maddie did everything by the book,
and no one was immune to being held in contempt. Jerry March, the bailiff, only shrugged in reply. The
defense counsel scowled and glanced at
his watch as he drummed his fingers on the tabletop. Maddie
couldn't help but wonder if he was
more concerned about missing his dinner than he was about
the missing prosecutor. She watched the double oak doors as though Anne would appear
if she wished hard enough,
but they stayed stubbornly closed. Maddie had no patience
left after a full day of dealing with
defense lawyers and two-bit crooks hoping for nothing more
than a slap on the wrist, and all she
wanted to do was get the pre-trial motions out of the way in
the Delgado case, the last on today's
docket. Then she could go home to her daughter. It wasn't like Anne to miss something this important. When
she still hadn't arrived by five
o'clock and no one had appeared to take her place, Maddie
continued the case until the next week
and left the courtroom. More worried now than angry, she
hung her robe on the coat rack in her
office and went to her desk to call Anne's office. No answer. A frown creased her forehead as she cut the connection, then
dialed her home number. Brandy should be home, safely ensconced in front of the
television, but her daughter would fret
if Maddie was late getting home. Brandy answered on the first ring and Maddie breathed a sigh
of relief. "Hi, honey. How
was school?" She smiled as Brandy rattled on about the
latest happenings at Wadsworth Junior
High. At thirteen, her daughter was still young enough to
enjoy the social life at school without
all the teenage angst that would be inevitable in another
year or two. "Sounds like you had a good day. Listen, I'm going to be a
little late getting home. I need to
stop by Anne's house on the way. You keep the doors locked
and don't open them for anyone,
okay?" Brandy huffed as only a teenage girl can when she thinks
she's grown but is being treated
like a child. "Sure, Mom. I know the rules. Can you pick up
a pizza on your way home? Oh, and
see if Anne got that Brad Paisley CD yet. She said I could
borrow it." "Pizza? Again?" Brandy would eat pizza for breakfast, lunch,
and dinner if she'd let her. "I'll
ask her about the CD, but you are not going to copy it,
understand? That's illegal." "Geez, I know that. I just want to see if I like it enough
to buy my own copy." "Okay. Now remember, keep the door locked and don't open it
for anyone. And stay off the
computer until I get home." "Mo-om. There's nothing else to do." "Just do as you're told, Brandy. I'll be home as soon as I
can." Maddie checked her messages to see if Anne had called. Sure
enough, she had. As she
listened, she jotted notes on a legal pad. The message was
disjointed and didn't make a lot of
sense. Something about weird things going on and someone
following her, to be careful. Maddie
had never heard her sound so rattled before. She was
definitely going by her house now. Maybe
Anne would make more sense in person. By the time she locked the door behind her, the building was
nearly vacant and the staccato
sound of her sandals against the linoleum floor echoed down
the hallway. She rounded a corner and nearly jumped out of her skin when
she found herself face to face
with Jerry. "What are you doing still here? I thought
everyone had gone home." Jerry looked embarrassed, but managed to stutter, "I wanted
to walk you to your car. I don't
think you should go into that parking garage alone." "But I do it all the time, Jerry. It's no big deal." He gave a jerky nod and fell into step behind her as she
marched to the elevator. "I know,
Your Honor. But, you being a woman and all, someone should
go with you to make sure you're
safe." Maddie punched the down button. "Okay, what's up, Jerry?" The elevator door opened and the bailiff shuffled in behind
her before he answered. "Max
Lucas got out of jail yesterday." Maddie swallowed hard and willed her voice to be strong and
steady. "They let that scum
out on the streets? I thought the parole board was going to
keep him in?" "Guess not. Anyway, you need to be careful, Your Honor. You
know what he said." "He was just spouting idle talk. I don't think he'd risk
another term to get back at me. But I
appreciate your concern, Jerry. I'll watch my back." The bailiff stayed with her until she'd reached her SUV,
then checked inside and under the
vehicle before he let her climb in. It annoyed her that
she'd let him make her nervous about Max. She never let the threats get to her. If she did, she'd have
to give up her job, and she'd worked too
hard to get where she was to quit now. As she drove to Anne's house, she wondered if her friend's
strange message and failure to
show in court had anything to do with Max's release. His
threats had been aimed more toward
her than Maddie. But Anne wasn't easily frightened, either,
and Maddie couldn't picture her
hiding at home. She could more easily see Anne stalking Max
and taking him out when no one
was looking. Anne was as tough a prosecutor as Maddie had ever seen. She
made grown men tremble
under cross-examination. On one memorable occasion she'd
even made one wet his pants
while on the stand. When Max made his threats in court, Anne
looked him right in the eye and
threatened to make sure the entire cell block knew he
favored little boys. So what had happened to make Anne so afraid? Maddie turned onto Anne's tree-lined street. The sun was
little more than a speck on the
horizon. Shadows covered the street and yards, and a shiver
of nerves chased up her spine. Did
she really want to risk running into Max in the dark? What
if he was lurking in the dark shadows
cast by the street light's vain attempt to shine through the
trees? And who would take care of
Brandy if anything happened to her? No one, that's who. Anne was Brandy's designated legal
guardian if anything happened to
Maddie. She'd never thought to name an alternate if the
unthinkable happened and both she and
Anne were killed. She made a mental note to correct that
oversight as soon as possible and pulled
into Anne's driveway, looking around before she opened the
car door. All was eerily quiet and still. She tried to shake off the
foreboding that stole over her. You're
being silly. Nothing is wrong. Anne just forgot her court
date or something. She wouldn't have
left town without letting you know where she was going, no
matter how scared she was. The house looked empty. Anne's car wasn't in the driveway,
but she might have parked it in
the garage if she was spooked. Maddie grabbed a flashlight
from the glove box and stepped out
of the car, slamming the door hard enough to announce her
presence. No one came outside to see
who had come to visit. No one peeked through the curtains.
No dogs barked a warning. She stepped onto the wide front porch and cupped her hands
around her eyes, trying in vain
to see through the sheer curtains covering the bay window.
There was no sound of a television or
radio, no footsteps echoing from within the house. No sign
of life. Maddie opened the screen and knocked on the door, hard
enough to bruise her knuckles. She
waited, and waited. No one answered. She knocked again, then
a third time. Feeling like a too-
stupid-to-live character in a B movie, she tried the
doorknob--and breathed a sigh of relief when
she discovered it was locked. So that was that. Anne wasn't home. All she could do was
wait until she called again. As Maddie rounded the front of her vehicle, she glanced
toward the backyard. A flash of
white in the trees drew her closer. She really didn't want
to go back there. But what if Anne was
in trouble? She couldn't just walk away and leave her friend. At least call for backup. Oh, great. She definitely needed
to lay off the cop shows. Her
imagination had always been her downfall. Maybe she should
have been a novelist instead of
a judge. She wasn't planning to chase any bad guys down the
street. All she needed to do was
make sure the back yard was empty, that the flash of white
was nothing more than a grocery bag
caught on a branch, and then she'd head straight home and
call everyone she knew who might
know where Anne had gone. If that didn't bring any results,
she'd call the police and turn in a
missing persons report. Shining the light into the trees, she saw what looked like a
dress hung out to dry. That made no sense. Anne wouldn't hang her dress in the
trees. Maddie wished she'd called
the cops before coming back here alone, but what would she
tell them anyway? She had to deal
with them every day, and she didn't want them to think she
was weak or scared. But right now
she'd give almost anything to have one of them at her side. She took a deep breath and opened the gate, stepping into
the dimly lit yard. She used the
flashlight to make sure no one was hiding nearby, then moved
closer to the trees. What she saw stopped her in her tracks. Then she lost her
lunch all over her brand new
Gucci sandals.
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