The Judge
by
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McNeil was so preoccupied with the shocking news about his daughter Daphne and her involvement with Boss—a criminal—that he nearly forgot Boss had put him in the corner of a busy street, expecting him to sell drugs. He felt relieved that Daphne had not told the truth to his kidnapper—about the real reason she had run away from home. Now he knew why she had left Madison only after a few months—she didn’t want her aunt to know she was pregnant. He wondered how his kidnapper knew Daphne and where he had kept her captive. Could she possibly be in the same house they keep me? The same city? Or does he have her in a different location? He now felt he was being punished for the crime he had committed some years ago. Only Daphne knew about his crime, and now she was paying for her father’s sin. McNeil suddenly felt cold and started shivering. The severe cramping in his stomach was getting worse. The shaking and trembling he was experiencing were signs of withdrawal; he panicked. The area around him looked more like a downtown, with a busy traffic and people in business suits. While his eyes scanned his surroundings in a frightened way, a young man in blue jeans and a plaid shirt approached him. “What’s up?” he asked. “I think I’m about to throw up. I’m really sick.” “What you got?” “Some cocaine and heroin.” “Give me some coke.” McNeil recognized the man was an undercover. He wanted to get arrested, but he wasn’t going to sell anything and be charged with a felony distribution. He could not see his kidnapper, but he knew that he was watching him from somewhere. He took a few Ziploc bags of cocaine from his pockets, showed them to the man and said, “I’m not selling; these are for my personal use.” He was correct in his suspicion—the man pretending to be a drug addict turned out to be an undercover agent. In a quick move, he jumped behind the judge, brought the judge’s hands together, and put him in handcuffs. The cop then read him his Miranda rights: “You’re under arrest for possession of narcotics. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.” McNeil looked across the street to see whether Boss had witnessed his arrest, but all he saw was a police cruiser and two police officers jumping out of it.
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About the Book
“Powell opens her novel with a bang, depicting the abduction almost as soon as the narrative begins. The story is impressive in the way it shifts readers’ sympathies…a gem of a legal thriller, full of plot twists and juicy secrets.” Kirkus Reviews The Judge by Farin Powell expertly weaves a thrilling kidnapping plot, a love story, and courtroom drama into a page turning tale. Powell keeps the excitement in tune with a pitch-perfect delivery of realistically motivated characters and a nonstop series of powerfully tense situations. Clarion Review “Powell’s legal thriller reveals the complexities and tragedies of our criminal justice system. The story in this fast-paced novel will stay with the reader forever.” Focus On Women Magazine Powell puts her legal knowledge as a practicing D.C. lawyer to good use…” Publishers Weekly As Judge Walter McNeil heads home from Washington, DC’s Superior Court, he is preoccupied with the triple-murder case assigned to him. But everything changes when a car pulls up next to him and a man asks for directions. Seconds later, McNeil is pushed into the backseat of the car, knocked unconscious, and whisked away into uncertainty. McNeil’s kidnappers are three ex-convicts whose lives have been ruined by the judge’s harsh sentences. Out for revenge, they feed the judge drugs, repeatedly threaten his life, and then imply they have his teenage daughter, Daphne, who disappeared four years earlier. After they tell him at gunpoint that he must rule favorably on a defense attorney’s motions in the triple-murder case, McNeil has no idea his ordeal is just beginning. Before it is over, the judge’s life will be turned upside down. In this legal thriller, a judge is kidnapped and thrust into the midst of a twisted web that intertwines him with the lives of three ex-convicts and the mystery surrounding his missing daughter.
About the Author
Farin Powell practices law in Washington, DC. In addition to many legal publications, she has published short stories and poems in various literary magazines and poetry anthologies. Farin is the author of A Piece of Heaven, a book of poetry, and two novels, Two Weddings and Roxana’s Revolution. Visit her at farinpowell.com and on Twitter @farinpowell.