“That’s how you take it, right?”
“Perfect,” he said. “And I’m guessing you want a blueberry muffin.”
She laughed through tears. “You know it. My childhood fave.”
“I know what you like. It’s up here,” he said, tapping his temple as he carefully selected a muffin for her.
His sunken cheeks and shadowed eyes revealed a man who’d been through hell, physically and mentally. How close had he come to dying? What scars would he carry for the rest of his life? If she’d done more, sooner, this wouldn’t’ve happened to him.
“I feel sick thinking about what you’ve been through,” she said, a rush of words spilling out. “You told the truth about everything. I should never have doubted you. I should have done more, tried harder to get you out. I should have—”
He squeezed her hands. “Stop it. What could you’ve done? It happened so fast. A week after I was arrested, Logue pled my case out. And that judge let him. None of it was normal. You said yourself, it’s not how the system is supposed to work. You couldn’t’ve predicted.”
“But I should’ve known better. So much happened just in the past few days that made me out to be a fool. And na?ve. I couldn’t believe you until I went through the same thing myself. I’m so sorry.”
Her tears started up again.
“Hey, hey, come on. Eat something, okay? You’ll feel better. I forgive you for whatever you think you did. For every imaginary sin. Hear me? Let’s not waste our time with regrets. One thing I learned from this experience, life is too short. Family is what matters.”
There was a noise outside the door. They snapped around, staring at it, faces going grim.
“We should talk before they come back in,” he said.
“Yes. Tell me what happened. I’m so behind. When did they move you? Where have you been, and what’s going on with your case? Catch me up, so we can figure out what to do.”
“Right. So, you remember when you and Mom came to visit, and I was beat up?”
“Are you kidding? I’ll never forget. That took a decade off my life, not to mention Mom’s.”
He shook his head, his eyes misting over. “Damn. Mom. I can’t even—”
She put her hand on his.
“Danny, she’s okay. I talked to her right before I got on the plane to come here and persuaded her to go to Aunt Nilda’s as a precaution. She’s leaving today.”
“Thank God. Because those people know where she lives, and they don’t play.”
“I know.”
“Okay, so what happened is, after I got beat up that time, one of the COs starts looking out for me. He’s Puerto Rican, from our neighborhood, and I knew his nephew in school. So it made sense why. But still, I didn’t trust him at first. I didn’t trust anyone. One night, he comes to me and says, ‘Son, I heard there’s a target on your back. They put out a hit on you, so we got to move you right away.’ He had me transferred to Ad Seg that night. The whole time, honest to God, I was shitting my pants. I didn’t know if he was for real, if he was in on it, or what. Because Ad Seg, it’s solitary, right? You’re all alone. If that CO was dirty, that’s the worst place I could be. I didn’t close my eyes that night. At first bell, the cell door opens, and it’s him. He goes, ‘You’re going to court.’ And I’m convinced this is the end. Because I know my sentencing’s not for months, so it has to be a lie, right? The next few hours while they transported me, I died a thousand times. Every new person. Every sudden move. I thought I was done. But then they took me to court for real. Not to your judge. Some guy I never saw before. And he says this is a—what do you call it, ex something?”
“Ex parte?”
“Yeah, an emergency hearing, just me and the judge. And he says, I heard you’re being threatened. Is that true? Long story short, he gave me a new lawyer, who hooked me up with Ms. Lee and Mr. Martin. I went in for an interview. They asked what I knew about Wallace, and Logue, and your judge. I told them everything, but it wasn’t enough. Truth is, I don’t know shit about the big shots. I could tell them if Adrian smokes weed, or if he sells bundles for Ricky Pe?a. That’s small-time stuff. The feds want the big fish. The judge, the lawyers. That’s when I told ’em, my sister goes to Harvard Law. Judge Conroy is her teacher. I said, you know her. Mom had told me that, so I told them.”
Remembering the shock and recognition on Andrew Martin’s face when she approached him at the reception, she realized Danny must have told him about her.