Jane’s head ached, and she was bone weary after checking on residents and picking up debris in the affected shops for the past two hours. It could have been worse. She spotted Reid working too. He had mud on his face and arms from tossing out splintered boards and mud-covered merchandise. Mayor Lisa Chapman too.
She glanced at her watch. She had fifteen minutes before they needed to leave for Bay Minette. It would take nearly fifty minutes to get there without heavy traffic, but if she needed to, she could flip on her lights and siren to get there in time to see Will.
She turned when Reid called her name. He cradled a little redhead in his arms who looked to be about five. The little guy had a gash on his head, and he was staring up at Reid with something akin to hero worship.
“Parents?”
“Can’t find them. I think his cut might need stitches.”
The boy reached for her, and she took him. “Let’s get him to a nurse.”
His sturdy frame in her arms made her remember again all she’d missed of Will’s childhood. She’d shied away from too much contact with children over the years. Being around them was such a painful reminder of what she’d lost. She kept all that walled in, along with her desire to never hurt that much again.
She glanced at Reid walking beside her. She’d kept herself from him too. Too much even now. She needed to talk to him about it. Explain herself.
She handed over the little boy to one of the nurses running triage, and a frantic redhead came running up. “My son!”
“He’s going to be okay. Might need stitches, but that’s all.”
“The wind snatched him right out of my arms.” The mother put her hands to her face and sobbed. “I thought he was dead.”
Reid put a comforting hand on her back and guided her forward. “In there.”
“We need to go,” Jane said.
“I know. I’ve been watching the clock. Want me to drive?”
“I can do it. It’s my vehicle. I don’t want residents to see me looking weak and ineffective. They’ll need reassurance that we’re going to get things fixed.”
His indulgent smile reached his eyes and turned her insides to mush. She wasn’t always the easiest person to love. She took her duties very seriously, and she was always a little prickly about people judging her because she was small. People had accused her of being a porcupine, and maybe she wielded a few quills for protection.
They reached her SUV, and it took several minutes to drive carefully around the debris and people. It would be a miracle if she didn’t have nails in her tires. On the outskirts of town, she was able to increase the speed.
“Other than a few downed limbs, it doesn’t look like a tornado hit anything out here,” Reid said.
“I got a text from Dad. His house is okay, but I saw Olivia’s and it wasn’t as lucky. I hate to have to tell her the roof is off.”
He winced. “I hadn’t seen that.”
“I thought I’d tell her in person. At least we have no fatalities that I’m aware of.”
“If not for Fiona’s storm closet, we might have died.”
“God was looking out for us.”
Reid smiled. “He always is.” He glanced down at his grimy hands. “We’re kind of a mess. I hope we have time to wash up before we see Will.”
She checked the clock on the dash. “We should have about ten minutes.”
He stared at her. “You’re smiling funny. What are you thinking?”
“About carrying that little boy. I haven’t held a kid that age. When his arms went around my neck, I imagined it was Will at that age.” She shot a glance over at Reid in time to see his expression of pain. “I’m getting past that though, Reid. That’s what I wanted to tell you. Holding that cute little guy, I realized I’d missed out on so much because I was too afraid to risk being hurt.”
“I knew that.”
“I am officially taking down the wall. If I get hurt, it’s part of life, right? Pain and joy—they’re part and parcel of a full life. You’d never know real joy without the sorrow to compare it to. God told me it was time almost audibly as I was holding that little guy. I have to do it.”
His smile warmed his brown eyes. “I’ve never heard it quite put like that but you’re right. I’m glad you’re going to try, but it’s not always easy to lay down the quills.”
She laughed. “I was thinking earlier about how much like a porcupine I can be. You sure you weren’t reading my mind?”
“I often wish I could. You’re so smart and quick-witted. I can see a thousand thoughts darting through your head and wish I could catch hold of just one of them.”
She wasn’t sure she could make him see how she felt the minute she stepped out into the damage left by the storm.
“Hiding in that storm closet made me realize every day is a gift. I didn’t have you and Will for fifteen years, but I have you both now. And that’s good enough. God willing, I’ll have a lifetime of years ahead with you. I’m going to savor every one of them. We’ll get Will out. I know we will. And one day we’ll look back and see how this made us stronger, just like you said.”
He reached over and squeezed her right hand lying on her leg. “Preach it, girl.”
Now to try to lift Will’s spirits as much as they could without losing sight of what she’d just learned.
* * *
After relinquishing all personal belongings, Reid followed Jane’s lead as the guard directed them to the visitation area where Will waited. Reid’s heart pounded at the thought of seeing Will, and he knew Jane felt the same way. It would be so hard to leave him behind after this fifteen-minute visit.
Fifteen minutes wasn’t nearly long enough.
Jane’s epiphany still warmed his heart, and he saw a new determination and hope in her eyes. They had to convey that hope to their boy today too. They’d get through this.
They were led to a private room where Will waited. When he spotted them, a relieved grin replaced the fear on his face. He rose to greet them with a hug.
Reid kept his right arm around him in a tight embrace and pulled Jane in with his left.
“Hey, son.” He squeezed as much reassurance as he could before he finally released them.
Every part of him wanted to grab his boy and get out of there, away from this place reeking of sadness and pain. Will didn’t belong there—he didn’t. Reid had to force himself to stay seated and smile when he heard kids crying all around the room.
Jane brushed Will’s cheek with her lips. “It’s so good to see you, Will. Have you had any problems?” She sat on his other side and grabbed his hand.
“I’m okay. I’m in a cell by myself, and the guards have been nice. Some of them know you, Mom. One of them told me I’m getting a bail hearing on Wednesday. Am I getting out?”
Reid looked away from his son’s hopeful gaze in time to see Jane wince. “We hope so, Will,” he said. “We’re working on it. There’s a lot going on with the case, and we’re hoping to do more than get you out on bail—we’re working to get you exonerated.”
Will exhaled. “By Wednesday?” He ducked his head. “It’s not likely, is it?”
A hard question to answer. “We’re doing the best we can, but there are no guarantees. Stay strong, son. We’re going to get through this. And your grandpa is helping us with the bail money—we’ll be all ready to pay up and get you home in your own bed.”
“I don’t get it, Dad.” Will twisted his hands together. “Why would anyone try to make it look like I killed Lauren? And in cold blood. It’s crazy.”
“We don’t know yet, but we think it might be coming from someone who hates me or your mom.”
Will shook his head. “Like revenge. That’s messed up.”
“It is. You’re just a kid, but what hurts you hurts us more than you can know.”
Jane cleared her throat. “Um, Will, the DA has offered a plea bargain.”
“Plea bargain. What’s that?”
“She’s offering a reduced charge of manslaughter if you plead guilty. Two years in jail.”
Will’s mouth gaped. “You want me to say I did it?”
Jane grabbed his hand again. “No! We know you didn’t do it. But you’re being treated as an adult, and you should have some say in this. If you’re found guilty, you could get the death penalty.”
Reid winced and wished she’d sugarcoated that one. “I don’t think that would happen.”
“I don’t either, but it could. So you need to tell us what you want. Your dad and I initially said no, but we are duty bound to at least mention it.”
His eyes went wide. “No! I didn’t do it, and I’m not going to say I did. You’ll figure this out, Mom. I know you will. I’ll be patient. Don’t make me say I did it.”
Tears glistened in Jane’s eyes. “We’d never make you say that. I’ll find the truth.”
Will sniffled and nodded. “For a minute, I thought . . .”
“No, never,” Reid said in a low, fierce voice. “I know your heart, Will. You could never do this.”
“Thanks, Dad.” He swiped his eyes. “How’s Megan? I thought maybe she’d come too.”
Jane inhaled and visibly pulled herself together. Her eyes twinkled. “Oh, so we’re chopped liver? You’d rather see her?”
Red flared in Will’s cheeks. “What? No, I didn’t mean that. I-I just thought . . .”
“Relax, she isn’t dumping you,” Reid said. “She wanted to come, but only parents are allowed. She and her mom have moved into our house though.”
Will smiled. “Wow, when did that happen?”
“Yesterday.”
Will’s grin went to nuclear wattage. “I’ll help out whenever I get out of here.”
The guard stepped to their room. “Time’s up, Chief. Sorry.”
Already? Reid wanted to protest, but he rose as Will got to his feet. He embraced their son, then Jane hugged him too, her nose red and her eyes moist.
“We’ll see you Wednesday, honey,” she said. “Love you.”
He clung to her, then turned to Reid again. “Love you guys. Can you leave me some money at the front? If we want any snacks and stuff like that, we have to have money in our account.”
“I’m on it.” Reid clapped Will on the shoulder and tried to keep a smile on his face, but his insides were shredded like shattered glass.
How could his boy be going through this? It wasn’t right.
His eyes burned as he and Jane made their way back to the front where Reid used his debit card to load Will’s account with as much money as was allowed.
Back out in the late-afternoon heat, he and Jane were silent as they went to her SUV. Nothing they could say would change what they’d just seen—their young son, scared and alone. Their helplessness to alter the situation right now was a hard pill to swallow.
Even Jane’s optimistic words from earlier seemed hollow, though he knew he’d cling to them when this shock had passed.
Jane flung herself under the steering wheel and leaned her head forward as she sobbed. “He’s counting on me, Reid. And I feel like I’m failing.”
From his seat on the passenger side, Reid leaned over and embraced her across the console. Though he wanted to weep himself, he had to be strong for her. “You’re not failing. It’s early days, Jane. We’re going to find the killer. I know we will.”
She lifted streaming eyes. “We’ve got to get him out, Reid. We just have to. I don’t care what it takes. I’ll break him out and flee to another country. I’m not letting him stay in there. How can the law perpetrate such a miscarriage of justice?”
“I know, honey. We’ll get to the bottom of it.”
“We keep saying that, but it’s not happening. There’s nothing I can produce in that courtroom in three days that will convince the judge to release him. I have to find it!” She banged her head on the steering wheel. “If I could only remember those three missing days.”
“Maybe it will come to you. Let’s get home and check on Olivia. The aide will be leaving in a while.”
As they pulled away, Reid stared back at the correctional facility. If only he could break in and rescue his boy. Instead, they had to drive off and accept this despair.