Finally, what you've all been waiting for...
Monday morning dawned with promise. There were soft, fluffy clouds dotting the bright blue sky, and I took a deep lungful of air from my position on my balcony. I drank my coffee slowly, waiting with the patience of a toddler for the time that the others would arrive. I needed to be in the mountains south of Forks.
With Edward.
Esme assured me that he would be welcome in their home until he could make other arrangements. Her husband, Carlisle, had been stunned to hear that Edward was actually innocent after all they'd been through. Understandably, he wanted to see the documents I was bringing with me. Not so understandably, was the way he'd shunned his son for the past eight years, once he'd been convicted and the first appeals denied. He'd left his wife to carry the burden of their son's incarceration, and I knew that wasn't something I'd be able to easily forgive. I couldn't imagine how Edward and Esme handled it.
There was a knock at my door, and I heard Emmett as he asked who it was. I went inside to stand at the door with him. He checked the doorscope from the side, then opened the door with the chain on, taking a look at the people standing in the hallway.
"Jesus, Em, let them in, they're my law students." I made introductions as Emmett relaxed. He and Liam seemed to like each other, talking about tech shit I didn't understand. Leah and I talked about her driving, since I'd done so much of it lately, and whose vehicle we would use.
There was another knock, and I heard Esme's voice on the other side of the door.
"Let them in," I hissed.
We congregated by my front door, the rag tag lot of us. Emmett finally led us to the parking garage, looking around like a sniper was about to take me out before he let us get in the SUV belonging to Leah's dad that we were all riding in. I said goodbye to my big brother, wondering when he'd be done with his sister's detail.
I alternated between dozing and staring out the car window at the sunny sky. It was perfect for Edward to feel freedom on such a gorgeously sunny day. Glancing in the backseat, I watched Carlisle studying the extra set of paperwork I brought along. I had to bite my tongue, because it wasn't my business. Besides, I was giddy the closer we got, fidgeting more and more in my seat. I smoothed the linen pants I wore, fiddled with the delicate chain around my neck. I caught a glimpse of Esme straightening her pearls and the light sweater she wore. Everyone seemed to start talking at once as we passed through the mountains, realizing how close we were.
I forced the others to stay outside while I took the paperwork in. I wasn't sure if there would be any trouble, but I wasn't taking chances that they could get caught up in it. Liam insisted he accompany me, and I wondered if Emmett had gotten ahold of him. Whatever, he had to learn sometime.
I walked up to the desk, where Ms. Cope sat at her computer, and requested to see the warden. She looked surprised, but got up and disappeared through her door. We waited for fifteen minutes, Liam checking his watch every two. I expected nothing less by now.
Finally, Boss Hogg came through the door, his buttons straining to contain his girth. His dark hair was greasy, slicked back and hanging to his collar. He gave me the creeps.
"What could I possibly owe the honor of your presence to?" he asked in a bored voice.
I smiled wide, smugly pulling the papers from their folder in my bag. "I received these documents this very morning via courier. You'll see they're notarized by the King County clerk of the court, Judge Black has signed and attached his seal, and even the Secretary of Corrections of Jefferson County signed off."
He frowned unhappily he looked down at the paperwork I'd bombarded him with.
"It's a release order," I offered helpfully, since he still hadn't spoken.
"What- what am I supposed to do with this garbage?" he said snidely, but I wasn't convinced of his act this time. He knew what was going on, and he was pissed that I had the upper hand.
"Since I have several sets of notarized copies, you can do whatever you want with them." I leaned forward a bit. "I have several suggestions."
Liam cleared his throat. "It means you have to release inmate 285536 into our custody, with his belongings, for permanent release."
"And I expect him to be in perfect condition, without a scratch on him. Am I clear?" DeLuca glared at me in such a way that made me glad Liam had come in with me.
"Of course," he said tersely.
When he disappeared down the hallway behind the locked door, I let out the breath I'd been holding. I was still nervous that he would try to pull something, but I had so much paperwork from so many officials that he couldn't deny Edward's right to be released.
I sat in a plastic chair up in the front waiting area, trying to watch the news on the miniscule television. It was useless, with all of my thoughts focused on what was going on behind closed doors. Liam sat next to me, playing around on his phone. I bounced my leg up and down, trying to let out the nervous energy building inside me.
Not surprisingly, we waited for forty-five minutes before the buzzing behind me made me jump, and then I launched up. C.O. Lahote was there smiling, holding the door for Edward. He appeared younger, dressed in the pair of crisp jeans and navy polo his mother recently bought him, and for once he looked happy to see me.
I moved forward, Liam shadowing me and taking the large manila envelope with Edward's meager belongings inside. We were subdued, trying our best to hide our feelings while inside the building. I pushed open the door, blinking in the sunshine, my eyes locating the trio waiting for us on a bench beyond the electric gate. We waited for it to buzz and grate open loudly before walking through.
The moment Edward was over the line and on the side of freedom, his mother launched herself off the bench and ran for him. He strode quickly forward, wrapping his long arms around her waist as they met, and I swear he was holding her up, holding her to the earth. She had no bones left, just collapsing into her son's embrace for the first time in ten years. They were both crying, and I realized that so was everyone else. My own tears flowed down my face, trickling down my neck until I wiped them away with the back of my hand.
Carlisle hovered behind his wife, uncertainty and something like shame etched on his face. He was the same height as Edward, and I could see as I watched him how much they looked alike. When Esme pulled away, her hand still on Edward's arm, she looked to her husband and put an arm out to include him in their embrace. Carlisle awkwardly patted his son on the back without making eye contact, and Edward looked very stiff as he stood there.
"Is everyone ready to go?" Leah asked, breaking up the uncomfortable little reunion.
We all piled back into Leah's vehicle, Esme and Edward glued to the hip. I noticed that Carlisle sat in the third row with Liam, allowing the other two to sit alone in the second row. I wondered how long he would remain standoffish.
The two Cullens chatted quietly the whole way to my apartment complex, and I made a point of not listening in. I knew that Edward was going to live in his parents' garage apartment; he was not kidding when he mentioned that to me originally. He had to meet me at the courthouse tomorrow afternoon to sign paperwork with the clerk's office, and I planned on filing for wrongful imprisonment compensation at the same time. It was going to be hard for him to readjust, but I knew his mother would gladly help him every step of the way.
Emmett returned at the same time as we did, and I introduced him to Edward as we piled out of the vehicle to go our separate ways. I wasn't done with the work I would still have to do for Edward, but I felt the biggest sense of relief at not having to worry about him physically anymore. We could work on emotional and mental.
"It's nice to meet you, Edward," Emmett said as he shook his hand.
"You as well," Edward said formally.
"My brother is a cop, he's hanging out with me tonight," I said in an effort to smooth things over.
Edward looked at me then, really stared right through to the parts of me that even I overlooked. I held his gaze, past when I felt uncomfortable, and even still as my face warmed.
"I don't have any words that wouldn't sound trite," he finally said in a voice husky with emotion.
"I understand, Edward, really. Liam, Leah and I are extremely happy to have been able to help you."
He broke from his transfixed stare, glancing at the two of them. He shook hands with each of them, saying a quietly sincere thanks. They got back in Leah's car and pulled out, and Emmett and I stood with the Cullens.
"I'll see you tomorrow at the courthouse, yeah? Clerk of the court's office. Do you have transportation?"
He nodded. "Mom is going to drive me, for now. My license is expired," he grinned, a quick show of a happy boy.
I grinned back. "Of course. I'll see you then."
I stood in the garage with my brother, watching the Cullens pull out and turn the corner out of sight.
"You done good, sis. Real good," Emmett said at my side. I smiled at him, relieved and thrilled to have accomplished my task. Edward was now an exoneree.
Now the focus falls on Edward healing, and Bella proving who the real rapist is, whatever the cost.
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