title: In My Defense: An Unlikely Romance, a Deadly Gunshot, and a Young Widow's Road to Redemption
author: Leigh Ann Bryant
description: Leigh Ann Bryant, an award-winning writer, survived her marriage to an abusive man, whom she ultimately killed in self-defense. She was jailed and stood trial for capital murder. Leigh Ann has worked as a registered nurse in several areas of specialty, and currently works as an acute-care dialysis nurse. She speaks at prisons throughout the US telling her riveting story, and lives with her husband and son in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.<br /> <br />
zlib_text: **Table of Contents**
  
  Title Page
  
  Prologue
  
  Chapter One
  
  Chapter Two
  
  Chapter Three
  
  Chapter Four
  
  Chapter Five
  
  Chapter Six
  
  Chapter Seven
  
  Chapter Eight
  
  Chapter Nine
  
  Chapter Ten
  
  Thanks
  
  First Do No Evil: Excerpt
  
  Other Books by Carey Baldwin
  
  Author’s Note
  
  Acknowledgments
  
  Copyright
  
   **Hush**
  
   _A Tangleheart Thriller_
  
  by Carey Baldwin
  
   _For my mother and father._
  
   _I love you._
  
   **Prologue**
  
   _Six Years Ago_
  
   _Near Tangleheart, Texas: Saturday, 6:00_ _P.M._
  
  CHARLIE DREXLER NEVER hit a woman in his life—never had, never would. But he’d
  hurt Megan O’Neal just the same as if he’d blacked her eye. His throat closed
  up, and his hands balled into fists when he recalled Megan’s tears. The
  thought of a woman crying couldn’t help but trigger gut-wrenching memories of
  Mom, crouched in the corner, hands covering her face…and Dad, standing over
  her saying words like _sorry_ and _never again_ and _you’re my world_.
  
  Shadowboxing the wind, Charlie threw a right hook that connected wi