Presumed Guilty (32 page)

JAMES SCOTT BELL is the bestselling author of
Breach of Promise
,
Sins of the Fathers
,
Deadlock
, and several other thrillers. He is a winner of the Christy Award for Excellence, a fiction columnist for
Writer’s Digest
magazine, and an adjunct professor of writing at Pepperdine University. He lives with his wife, Cindy, in Los Angeles.

She is a Supreme Court Justice. She is an atheist. And she is about to encounter the God of the truth and justice she has sworn to uphold.

For years, Millicent Hollander has been the consistent swing vote on abortion and other hot-button issues. Now she’s poised to make history as the first female Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. But something is about to happen that no one has counted on, least of all Hollander: a near-death experience that will thrust her on a journey toward God.

Skeptically, fighting every inch of the way, Hollander finds herself dragged toward belief in something she has never believed in—while others in Washington are watching her every step. Too much is at stake to let a Christian occupy the country’s highest judicial office. Even as Hollander grapples with the interplay between faith and the demands of her position, and as she finds answers through her growing friendship with Pastor Jack Holden, a hidden web of lies, manipulation, and underworld connections is being woven around her. It could control her. It could destroy her reputation. Unless God intervenes, it could take her out of the picture permanently.

How far will a father go to get back his
only daughter? And how will he survive
in a legal system that crushes those who
can’t afford to fight back?

Mark Gillen has the storybook life
other men dream of, complete with a

beautiful wife and an adoring five-year
old daughter.

Then his wife announces she’s leaving him. And taking their daughter with her.
The other man is a famous film director with unlimited funds and the keys to stardom and wealth for Paula. How can Mark begin to compete? But the most bitter blow comes when he is kept from seeing his daughter because of false charges . . . and a legal system ill-suited for finding the truth.
Forged in the darkest valley Mark has ever walked through, his faith in God may ultimately cost him everything in the eyes of the family law system. But it is the one thing that can keep him sane—and give him the strength to fight against all odds for what matters most.

A parent’s worst nightmare. A lawyer’s biggest challenge. A young boy’s life on the line.

The unimaginable has happened. A thirteen-year-old boy has fired a rifle into a baseball game, killing several of the kids on the field. Parents are devastated. The townspeople are horrified.

When public opinion swells to an enraged cry for justice, an ambitious deputy district attorney sees his opportunity—a sensational trial that will catapult him into the D.A.’s office in the upcoming election. There’s just one obstacle: the boy’s defense attorney, Lindy Field.

To all appearances, the case is a slam-dunk. Convict the killer, make him pay. But it’s not that simple. Lindy’s young client is unwilling—or unable—to help Lindy defend him. And as the case progresses, it becomes clear that someone doesn’t want the truth revealed.

As Lindy delves into the haunted world of her client’s torment, she finds a spiritual darkness that dredges up her own troubled past. And when dangerous forces close in around her, Lindy must fight for answers not only in the justice system, but in the very depths of her soul.

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