FATAL INNOCENCE
"A fun and enjoyable read. Well-drawn characters. One wonders if things will ever go right for Mike."
Dedication
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jeremiah 17:9
Preface
My friend Casey, like me, did not set
out to be a criminal.
We had graduated from fine law schools
with the best of
intentions, but, like me, he had slipped
into dangerous
habits under the slow pressure of
circumstance.
“I don’t like the implied threats,
Michael,” she said,
gulping down the last bite of spinach
before proceeding to
slice her steak into bite-sized, identical
squares. I couldn’t
help thinking that the steak had it far
easier than I soon
would. “And don’t try to deny it. You
become frantic when
I don’t return your phone calls right
away. You’re always
checking up on me in that sneaky way of
yours. I don’t
enjoy being under such pressure. I’m a
flirt, Michael. You
know that. If you were more secure, you
could handle me.
We might even be able to make something
of our
relationship, but you are who you are.
Men like you don’t
change, or at least not without turmoil,
and at this stage of
my life I don’t need the drama. I'm
sorry to have to be so
hard on you Michael, but you deserve it.
You know you
deserve it. I will always pay you the
respect of honesty,
Michael. I don't do that with every guy,
you know. I've cut
you a lot more slack than I ever have
with any other guy.”
I had no idea what she was talking
about. I couldn’t
remember ever becoming frantic with her,
even when she
didn’t call me back for days, and I had
never checked up on
her either. I thought I had always
played it rather cool and
restrained in her presence. A lot of the
time I felt as if I
were on pins and needles around her,
always afraid to
offend her, to slip up, to give the
impression I was a hick
with a law degree who somehow had
stumbled into a great
career. She was probably right about me
though. Madison
was always right about guys like me.
Despite my inner
turmoil, I remembered my dictum to be
ever contrite. There
was still some hope for me. Hadn't she
said that she had
made more allowances for me than she
typically did with
guys? It was the greatest compliment she
had ever paid me.
“I’m sorry for being such a jerk,” I
muttered weakly
as I chewed. “I’ll do better. I
promise.”
Mike Talbert, an ethically challenged and ruthlessly
ambitious lawyer, decides to put his love life temporarily on hold when his
crooked boss enlists his aid in defending a prominent politician against
corruption charges, but Mike is dismayed to learn that his girlfriends have
other ideas.
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https://solsticepublishingbooks.blogspot.com/2020/10/newrelease-fatal-innocence.html
https://www.amazon.com/author/tlpetersbooks
