Chapter 3
Tessa’s eyes opened as soon as she smelled the ammonia beneath her nose. She was still inside what she had called the bereavement room, but she was on the floor, her upper body leaning against Sam’s chest.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered as she tried to sit up. Embarrassed, she stood, using the seat of the metal folding chair to hold on to for support.
Bethany placed an arm around her, helping her back onto the chair she had just fallen out of. “Here, try this,” she said, handing her a chocolate bar. “Sugar helps everything.”
Tessa took the candy bar, briefly wondering why Bethany carried candy with her.
“I’m diabetic,” Bethany said as though she had read her mind.
“I wondered why,” Tessa said softly. “Thank you. This . . . news comes as quite a shock.”
Sam sat next to her. “Are you okay?”
Was she? Physically, yes. Emotionally, she didn’t know. Not wanting to upset or humiliate herself by not showing her gratitude to these people who’d made it their mission to help her, she said, “Yes. I am. The news is just so unexpected, to say the least. I had no idea. Randall never mentioned anything.”
“That was because I asked him not to,” Lee Whitlow offered. “We didn’t want to get your hopes up until we had your conviction overturned.”
Hope? She had never had any hope, so when one doesn’t have any, there is no chance of losing it. Expect nothing and never be disappointed, a motto she had lived by when she was a young girl, and it had helped her to live her life in prison one day at a time. When she had been accused and convicted of murder, she had picked her earlier self’s motto up again.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m still shocked,” she explained. “I have never heard of this happening in the ten-plus years I have been here.”
Whitlow spoke. “That’s because the law has changed. I suspect you won’t be the last . . . person”—he stumbled over the last word—“to receive a new trial after the Florida Supreme Court’s long-overdue decision.”
Steven Kilhefner cleared his throat. “Ms. Jamison, there is a process we will be going through—”
“Please call me Tessa,” she interrupted him.
He nodded. “Tessa, there is a process we’ll go through. I need to know that you understand this.”
“If you explain, I’m sure I will,” she said.
“We will go before a judge next week, and he will issue the terms of your release. Bail will be set, and I’m sure it will be seven figures if Judge Crider’s past orders are indicative of his future orders. Sam has assured us that funds for the bail won’t be a problem. From there, once the conditions of your release are met, you will be released into Sam’s custody. Of course, if there is someone else you prefer, we will suggest this to the judge. However, I would advise you to stick to the plan as we do not want to give the court any reason to change his mind. And it can happen, despite the fact a new trial has been ordered. It is very rare that someone charged with three counts of first-degree murder gets released. The Supreme Court’s ruling is in our favor. However, we must follow the law to the letter, or any chance of keeping you out of this . . . place will be gone. Are you okay with Sam as your guardian?”
“Guardian?” Tessa didn’t understand.
“It will be in the terms of your release that you have a guardian. If you’re not agreeable to this—”
“It’s fine by me, as long as Sam is agreeable,” Tessa said.
“I suggested this, Tessa. I hope you don’t think I was being too forward,” Sam responded.
She wasn’t sure what she felt about Sam’s offer. Since she was unsure about this entire process, it was going to take time for her to get used to the idea. Tessa had a nagging fear that if she allowed herself to get her hopes up, something horrible would happen.
Taking a deep breath, she said, “I don’t know what to feel. This is all such a shock. I don’t know if I want to chance another trial, another guilty verdict. I have tried to make peace with this”—she motioned to the room around her—“and resigned myself to spending the rest of my life here. What happens if I’m found guilty again?”
The small room was silent, no one offering an answer to her question.
“It’s a risk, but we think it’s one you should consider,” Lee Whitlow explained. “You are correct that the mere fact that we have succeeded in having your conviction overturned is no guarantee that you will be found not guilty in another trial. But if I didn’t think we had a chance at winning you an exoneration, I wouldn’t be here.”
Tessa knew what it would take for her to be found not guilty at a new trial. “You have new evidence? You have managed to locate Liam?” she asked, her heart racing at the thought. Not that she didn’t want him to suffer, she did. But by her own hand.
It was then that an idea began to take form.
“No, we haven’t. I have people working on this. Randall’s lead investigator, well, let’s just say he valued the bottle a bit too much and is out of a job. Has been for three or four years.”
Tessa was surprised at this news. Randall had always assured her his team of investigators were the best in the business. She was sure there had been more than one man. It didn’t matter at this point.
“I didn’t know,” was all she could come up with.
“We do have a possible witness,” Whitlow stated.
“Who?” Tessa asked, her voice firm. “And why now?” She was angry. Ten, almost eleven years of her life, she had been living in hell. If there was someone out there with knowledge of her family’s murders, she wanted to know why that person was just now coming forward.
“Calm down, Tessa,” Sam said. “This is good news for you.”
“So you say. Try spending one damned night in this place, then tell me that’s good news.”
“If you’re not willing to go through another trial, I think our business here is over,” Steven said. He took the files off the desk and returned them to his briefcase.
“Wait a minute. I didn’t say that. I just don’t understand. First, it’s the Florida Supreme Court making a ruling that allows my conviction to be overturned, and now you tell me there is a witness?” Tessa informed him. “What kind of idiot do you think I am? Of course I want out of this place!” It was at that moment that she realized why her thoughts of suicide had been nothing more than thoughts, something that she would have never acted upon.
Because deep down Tessa had always had hope.
And now hope arrived in the form of a Florida Supreme Court decision and a new witness.
Yes. I will take my chances.