“Check again.”
He grumbled, but he did it, clicking at something with his mouse. One eyebrow crept up. “Apparently Michaelson is now eligible for visitors.”
I gave the man a wink. “Thought so.”
I gave Rowe the thumbs-up, and the look on his face was priceless. I mulled it over for a moment as we walked toward the visiting room, then elbowed him. “You love him.”
I’d said it in a teasing, singsong way, expecting Rowe to shove me back and tell me to shut up. But he didn’t. He went quiet instead.
I widened my eyes but didn’t say anything.
The guard on duty in the visiting room was one Rowe knew, and the two of them talked while I got the boys settled at a table.
“Li-yam?”
“Yeah, buddy?”
“What is this place?”
I debated over how to answer that. And then decided that truth was the best solution. “A prison.”
Ripley’s mouth made a little O. “Isn’t prison for bad people?”
I nodded. “Yes. But sometimes good people get put in here by mistake. That’s what happened to Heath.”
Ripley’s bottom lip stuck out. “I want him to come home.”
“We do, too. And he will, we just have to be patient.” There was something else I needed to warn him about, but goddamn, this was so much harder with a kid. I didn’t want to disappoint him. “You know how at daycare you have rules? There’s some here, too.”
“No running on the concrete?”
I smiled. “Actually, you are allowed to run on the concrete. But here, the rule is, no hugging.”
His blond eyebrows drew together. “Why not?”
I sighed. “The guards said no.”
“Oh.” His little face was so crestfallen it broke my heart.
The doors at the end of the room buzzed, and we all turned in that direction, Rowe pausing his conversation with the other guard.
The doors opened, and Heath walked out.
Rowe stepped forward, staring at him. He took another step and then another until his steps became a half jog. They collided, and Rowe hugged him tight.
I glanced over at the guard, expecting a reprimand. He turned the other way.
Heath hugged him back, and then Ripley took off up the aisle, throwing himself into Heath’s arms. Heath hoisted him up and high-fived him. His expression was a mixture of overwhelmed and bewilderment when he nodded at me. “What’s going on? How did you swing this?”
I grinned. “You’re getting out. Will confessed to Jayela’s murder.”
Heath looked as if Rowe had punched him in the gut. “Will? Tori’s Will?”
“One and only.”
“Holy shit.” Then he cringed, glancing at Ripley. “Holy stuff, I mean. Not shit. Don’t say shit.”
I snorted and motioned them over. Heath gazed down at Isaac asleep in my arms as he came to sit at the table with me. “Why are you carrying a baby like it’s a purse? And where’s Mae?”
Rowe settled down on the picnic bench next to Heath, across from me. “With the baby’s mother. Tori was…hurt earlier.”
None of us wanted to say anything more in front of Ripley. Heath immediately understood. “Is it bad?”
I gazed down at Isaac. “Could be. Hoping it’s not. Still waiting to hear.”
Heath nodded gravely. “Will, though…”
“Yeah.”
“Damn.”
There was a moment of silence where we all reflected on exactly how messed up the whole thing was.
“But he really confessed?”
I blew out a relieved breath. “In front of all of us. I just called my boss, and she got confirmation he confessed to the police as well. They’ve arrested him.”
Heath leaned heavily on the table like he wasn’t entirely sure he was going to be able to remain conscious. “So it’s over? I can leave?”
Rowe leaned into him. “Liam said not right away, but in a day or two, you’ll be a free man.”
I bit my lip. “Uh, about that…I might have been a bit hasty.”
They both stared at me.
“Are you serious?” Rowe spat out. “Will confessed!”
“And Heath broke out of prison. That in itself is a chargeable arrest.”
Heath gaped at me. “They had me on death row for a crime I didn’t commit!”
I held my one free hand up and waved at them. “Keep it down. Sleeping baby. I know all that. I don’t want you to worry. Linda is the head partner at the firm. She’s already agreed to represent you.”
“Is she good?”
“She taught me everything I know.”
Rowe groaned dramatically, but it was around a grin. “Great, so we’re doomed.”
I flipped him the bird and then cringed at Ripley. “Also don’t do that.”
I turned back to Heath. “Seriously. I don’t want you stressing about it. Go back to your cell, chill out, read a book, bide your time. We’ll see you in court.”
Heath seemed anything but assured. “We’ve done this before…”
“Not with a fair judge, we haven’t. And after this freaking debacle, you’d better believe they’re going to put their best people on the case.”
Heath nodded slowly.
I grinned at him. “Trust me?”
Heath snorted. “Barely. You got me death row.”
Well, that was insulting. “Hey. That judge got you death row. I was right. Wasn’t it me who accused Will at the trial?”
“You had his motives all wrong, and the jury didn’t believe you, but yeah, sure, if you want to claim that as a win, go ahead.” Rowe’s laughter echoed around the empty room. It was a giddy sound, one that we were all feeling.
I grinned back.
They could rib me all they wanted.
Heath was coming home.
And I had a family.
33
Mae
I didn’t leave the hospital for two days. Tori’s surgery lasted hours, while I sat in a sterile room, waiting for a doctor to come and tell me whether she’d lived or died.