Jake Chandler is a struggling small-town Florida lawyer, and his life is falling apart. His ex-wife makes seeing his daughter difficult, his boyfriend Noah may be cheating on him, and his money woes are growing. Jake hopes that a new murder defense case will help with his money woes, but his ex-wife Elena is the prosecutor. It’s bad enough she has to fight with him over custody of their daughter. Now she wants nothing more than to beat him in the courtroom, too.<br><br>And then people around him start dying.<br><br>First, an ex-lover gets his brains blown out while he and Jake have coffee. The danger comes even closer. Then Jake meets handsome FBI agent Xavier, who is investigating the crimes surrounding him. Can Jake trust this new man in his life? Is Xavier who he says he is? Or does his involvement put Jake and those he loves in even more danger?

Love and Murder

After Elena sat down, Judge Garner pored over the motion, and his notes. He took his reading glasses off, and twirled them in his hand, and then addressed Frank and me.


“You have a very good attorney, Mr. Peoples.” He smiled at us. “But, the State is right, even though there’s DNA to suggest a third person could have committed the murder of Hannah King, I don’t believe that the standard addressed in this case applies. I’m denying the motion.” He leaned forward, and gathered the motion to put in the file. “We’ll have to let the jury decide.”


I stood up and took the next step Frank and I talked about. “Judge, would the court consider releasing my client on his own recognizance considering there’s been change of circumstances in the State’s prosecution?”


Without hesitation, Elena objected. “Judge there’s been no rehearing set on his bond, or status scheduled before the court.”


Chapter 36