****HEY! HI! HELLO!**** In case you normally skip these pesky author notes, this one is worth reading. This story is full of suspense, and as you know by now, not every chapter is happy. This is one of those times when you're going to be anxious at the end.
I tried to live my life during the week. I had drinks with my friends, went to dinner with my dad. I shopped at the grocery store, made dinner that didn't involve the microwave. I was busy at work, I was always busy at work.
Edward stayed at the back of my mind. It was always this way with these cases, trying to understand the cruel fate these people had been dealt. Trying to help them understand that we were there to help them, that it was okay to have hope.
This, though, was different. He'd gone from acting like a hardened criminal to crying over his mother right in front of me. He'd let me go on about the evidence, he'd responded to my questions and not shut me out. Esme had been right about one thing.
Edward deserved a chance at his freedom. Despite our shaky first meeting, he did deserve our help.
Saturday was spent with my team again, working on the case file. I was sure there was something else we could use, something other than debunking the circumstantial evidence. In my opinion, the burden of proof had not been met, but the original jury and appellate judges felt that it had. He had not received an appellate trial de novo, and that angered me. That was the entire reason he was stuck in that place, because nobody had cared one way or the other what happened to him. If all the same evidence was trotted out as inculpatory, the appellate judges would assume the original case was accurately handled, and deny his appeals.
I massaged my temples as Leah debated with Liam the pros and cons of retesting the DNA. It had been a poor match, and he was positive another go around would yield a lower percentage, allowing us to ask for a remand. Leah was afraid the results would show a higher percentage, and then we would be out of options.
I had to tune them out. I knew that we were filing for a reversal on the DNA. It should never have been admissible after the terrible handling of the detectives working the scene.
"Leah," I interrupted their debate. "Look into the detectives that worked the original case. Do background checks, pull financial records, whatever you can do. Ask for it all from Judge Black, he likes us. He might give you enough to work with."
I dismissed them from my apartment. I'd had enough for the day, and the long drive tomorrow wasn't going to be any fun.
I needed to get Edward Cullen out of my head, but I couldn't seem to force my brain to cooperate. I tried crap television, but I just wandered back to that face time and again. Weary, overwhelmed, hardened. A 30 year old that looked 40. A young man that had a bright future once upon a time, but instead spent a full ten years in federal prison.
After another sleepless night, I made the long drive to the OCC. Absolutely everything about the process was tedious, but it was something I would willingly do every weekend until Edward could walk out of the prison by my side.
'By my side' had a ring to it, and a crazy idea planted itself in my already crowded brain. The ridiculous fantasy that Edward would be so grateful for my assistance that he would sweep me off my feet a la Prince Charming needed to stop.
When I made it through the process of getting inside and the door to the interview room opened, I was a little surprised to see him sitting there already. The door behind me closed, and I walked toward the table.
"I was… eager to see you today," Edward said. I could easily imagine he was a panty-dropper back in his day.
I smiled warmly as I sat down. "Why is that?"
He shifted, the handcuffs clanking together. "I want to get started on whatever it is that you think will get me out of here. Nothing would please my mother more."
"And you?"
"And me, what?"
"Wouldn't it please you to be out of here?"
He took a deep breath, the air filling his lungs and making his chest expand. He closed his eyes, then let out the breath and spoke without opening his eyes. "I don't know what it feels like, not to be in here. There's a certain fear at first, I mean, you're scared to death." He opened his eyes, and I saw the years of pain etched into his features. "Everyone wants to do a hoe check on a fish, and there's nothing you can do but take it. You don't want to be the snitch, cuz they'll make Hell itself look like a kiddie ride. You have to stand up for yourself at least some, or you'll wind up a June bug, and you don't want that either. So I keep to myself, and they call me a programmer, but at least no one's looking to stick their dick in my pocket."
He looked a little chagrined by the time he stopped talking, and I struggled to keep up with his slang. I knew some, it was hard not to when you were around inmates so much.
"So, they used to gang up and beat you, but they don't anymore because you didn't name names or take the beatings lying down. You didn't get stuck being someone's favorite, which meant being a do-boy, and you like to read and study online?"
He was nodding his head. "I try to stay away from the terms, but it's hard not to use them, you know? I want to sound educated, because I am. I may not have completed med school while I was in here, but I earned a bachelor's."
"That's wonderful, really, Edward. Are your parents proud of you?"
I could see that it was the wrong thing to ask as his green eyes darkened, his face turning into a scowl. "My mother is."
I left his curt statement alone, since we'd already spoken of his issues with his father.
"But I wouldn't know what to do on the outside. I'll have to register as a sex offender, and I'll wind up living in my parents' garage apartment, a drain on society."
"When I get your conviction reversal, you won't have to register."
"Mmm," was his only response.
"Should we get to work?"
We worked on his case file for hours. Time seemed to escape me when I was in that box of a room with Edward.
"See, my theory is that the real rapist is not only out there somewhere, but that he set me up. I don't know if it was a random pick, or if I was a target." He raised his voice in his ire. "To know that bastard is living his life free, no bars, no concrete walls, makes me so fucking mad!" By the end of his sentence, he was standing, the cuffs forcing him to hunch over the table awkwardly.
The doors opened simultaneously, the C.O. on Edward's side grabbing him roughly at the neck and shoving his face into the table.
I was standing, too, screaming at them to stop. "Let him go! We were just talking! Let him go!" The C.O. behind me grabbed my arms as I tried to round the table.
"You can't go over there, Ms. Swan!" he barked at me. I struggled still, watching as they swarmed in the other door, throwing Edward around as he met my eyes, the grief and shame evident on his face.
"You are violating the rights of inmate 285536! Do you want me to sue you individually and as an institution for contravention of rights?!"
Edward was led away like a truly violent criminal that had threatened my life, or managed to put his hands on me. I couldn't help the tears that coursed down my face, regardless of how unprofessional I was acting. I pushed my way out the door, demanding to speak with the warden. He refused to meet
with me, claiming that the inmate needed to be subdued before he could get statements from everyone involved. Then, and only then, would he speak with me regarding the actions his corrections officers had taken to protect me and themselves.
I sat outside the prison in my car, crying. I was a grown woman, I was not prone to outbursts or tears. Yet here I was, haunted by the look on Edward's face as they led him away.
He looked defeated.
So. The next few chapters might be hard to deal with.
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