Page 32 of A Burning Rage

“I saw a light on in here and thought I’d check on Princess.”

“You doin’ okay, sugar?” Cooper asks me.

I nod. “As well as can be expected, I guess. Welcome to our new reality.”

Chapter 12 – Shane

It’s been three days since Andrew was released, and thank God nothing has happened. Philip and his team are keeping an eye on the Morton house, but so far, Andrew hasn’t stepped a foot outside.

Beth has stayed home from work all week, also a huge plus in my book.

Thursday afternoon, I receive an unexpected text message from my brother-in-law.

Tyler – I need to see you. Are you in the office?

Me – Yes. Come on over.

Tyler – I’ll be there in ten.

True to his word, Tyler arrives about ten minutes later. As he walks into my office, he says, “Well, I think I’ve solved the mystery of why the good doctor advocated so fiercely for Andrew’s release.”

That sure gets my attention. “Tell me.”

Tyler holds out his phone and shows me a close-up image of Richard Morton, Andrew’s father, standing in a parking lot, between two cars, with Rhona Masterson.

“What am I looking at?” I ask, studying the image as I try to take in all the details and ferret out the relevant parts.

Tyler flips to another image, a wider shot that reveals the pair is standing in a parking lot. A hotel parking lot.

“I don’t recognize the hotel,” I say.

“That’s because it’s not in Chicago. It’s in Naperville, forty minutes away. That’s Richard’s Porsche on the left, and the psychiatrist’s Mercedes is on the right.”

I frown. “They’re meeting at a hotel in Naperville? Why?”

Tyler rolls his eyes. “Do I have to draw you a picture, Shane? Why would a man and a woman, who are married to other people, but not to each other, meet at a hotel out of town?”

“You can’t be serious.”

Tyler nods. “They arrived at the same time, walked in together, and came out about an hour later. Together.” He flips back to the first image. “Look closely. This image was taken after they came out. Her make-up is smudged, and her red lipstick is suddenly nonexistent.”

“Richard Morton and Dr. Masterson are what—having an affair?”

“Looks like it. Although my money is on Richard manipulating the good doctor to get her to advocate for Andrew’s release.”

Tyler brings up a third image that shows Richard and the good doctor embracing. In a fourth image, they’re kissing.

“That’s son of a bitch!” I pick up my desk phone. “I’m calling Troy. In the meanwhile, send me those images, and I’ll forward them to him.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to demand a new hearing with the parole board. In light of this revelation, I’m going to insist Andrew’s release be revoked immediately. Problem solved.”

* * *

Everything moves quickly after that. I forward the images of Richard Morton and Rhona Masterson to Troy, and he calls me immediately.

“This changes everything,” Troy says. “There’s enough evidence here to prove a conflict of interest on the part of Dr. Masterson. She just ended her career in medicine.”