The air inside the house was heavy and moist, the result of an unseasonably warm day in an Oklahoma winter that was likely to result in a thunderstorm. In the living room of her home, Kitty Linklater wiped her brow with a cool cloth, holding it to her temple and sighing. She’d worked up a sweat after sitting at her computer for almost five hours, writing her latest article for the county newspaper, the Comanche Times. She read the headline aloud: “‘Bethesda Man Challenges His Murder Conviction.’” Hovering her finger over the send button, she hesitated, knowing that the article was controversial, likely to enrage the townsfolk and increase her unpopularity.

But Kitty was no stranger to controversy or unpopularity. For twelve months, she had been investigating the murder of a local teenage girl, found at the side of the road two years previously, her body callously burned to destroy evidence. The small town of Bethesda had reeled from the brutality of it and the residents breathed a collective sigh of relief when a man was arrested, tried and convicted of the crime. Kitty was the only person to feel devastated, because that convicted man was her beloved father, Harry, and she was now utilizing her skills as a freelance investigative journalist to try to prove his innocence. She had initially placed her faith in the justice system, hoping that the truth would win the day, but after the verdict was announced, she knew she had to begin her own investigation.

Her cell phone rang in her pocket, shrill and sharp, causing her black cat, Shadow, to jump from her lap. He ran from the room indignantly, swishing his tail.

She pulled the cell from her jeans. “Hello.”

“Hey, Kitty.” The voice belonged to Sarah Willis, editor of the Comanche Times. “You’re late on your deadline.”

Kitty was given a weekly slot in the paper, trusted by Sarah to fill it with a mix of investigative coverings and opinion pieces on the most interesting and significant stories in the county.

“It’s done,” she said. “I’m about to send it to you now.”

“What is it? Please tell me you’ve moved on from the Bethesda murder.”

“I wrote another piece about my father being wrongfully accused.” She ignored the groan on the other end of the line. “It’s an important story. I have to cover it.”

“No, you don’t, Kitty,” Sarah said strongly. “This is the third time you’ve subbed a piece about your father. It’s not right. You can’t continue to use the paper to push your own agenda.”

“I know it looks bad, but this could be a huge story. I uncovered some new evidence that supports my dad’s claim of innocence.”

“You did?”

“I managed to track down a guy who was in the Starlight Bar on the night of the murder. You remember that’s where my father spent the entire evening when the girl was murdered?”

“And he spent the entire evening there because he’s an alcoholic, right?”

“That’s not relevant,” she retorted. She was sick of people judging her father because of his addiction. “The guy from the bar says he definitely saw my dad there and he’s willing to go on record as a witness.”

“Is this guy also an alcoholic?”

Kitty recalled the man’s ruddy complexion, his shaking hands and his rotting teeth. “Probably, but that doesn’t make him a liar.”

“No, but it makes him an unreliable witness. There were four men besides your dad in the Starlight Bar on that night and none of them could validate his alibi in court, right?”

Kitty had been over this a million times before: aside from her father, there had been three drinkers in the bar, plus the owner and bartender, Harvey Flynn. Of the three drinkers, one had died of liver disease, one—the man she’d found—was an out-of-towner the police couldn’t find, and the third had no memory of the evening due to excess alcohol consumption. Only Harvey Flynn was ruled to be a credible, available witness and he claimed not to have seen Kitty’s father all evening.

“I know what you’re going to say, Sarah,” Kitty said. “A jury convicted my father on the evidence, but this new witness just might be enough to throw the conviction into doubt.”

“Listen to me.” Sarah’s voice was sympathetic, but Kitty knew her boss was exasperated. “After your last piece about your father went out, I received a ton of complaints from people in Bethesda. They don’t want you reminding them of what happened to that poor girl. This is the last time I’ll allow you to submit an article about the murder.”

Kitty pinched the bridge of her nose. Since her father’s incarceration, she’d been spending a huge

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