I turned into him, kissing the stubble on his cheek. “Me, too.”
He grinned cheekily at me, like we were naughty kids, hatching a plot, even though Rowe had come back in and heard every word. He just shook his head with a smile that said he was up for it, too. “Go get ready. Nobody is having any more babies until we give back the one we currently have, and we get Heath out of jail.”
I practically skipped down the hall to quickly shower and dress, and then we were all piling into Liam’s car, me squished between the two baby seats. “Gonna need a bigger car,” I complained.
“Gonna need a bigger house,” Rowe commented idly.
“I’d sell my place.” Liam spun his hand around the steering wheel. “If we wanted to get something bigger.”
My gaze bounced between them, eyes wide. “We, as in all of us?”
He glanced over his shoulder at me, a puzzled expression on his handsome face. “Yeah, of course.”
I settled back between the baby seats, silently stoked with this revelation.
We dropped the kids off at the house of one of Liam and Rowe’s baseball teammates. I hadn’t met either of them, but I trusted that Liam and Rowe knew them well enough to leave Ripley with them. They had a little girl around his age, and within a minute the two of them had run off out to the backyard where apparently there was a clubhouse.
It was only a short ride from there to the courthouse, and I was fine until I stepped inside the doors and remembered the last time I was here.
I gripped Liam’s hand. “He’s going to get out, right?”
Liam nodded. “I’m confident.”
I stared up at him, but he refused to meet my gaze. Confident wasn’t a definite yes, and that set my fingers trembling. But I planted myself in the front row, the same seats we’d occupied at his last case. Only this time, Liam sat beside me, unable to be Heath’s lawyer when we had pending charges against us as well.
Linda, Liam’s boss, already sat behind the desk in front of us, waiting for Heath to arrive. She sat with her back ramrod straight, not looking left or right, her entire focus centered on the judge’s seat.
Rowe leaned across me and whispered to Liam, “Please tell me we didn’t get the same judge as last time?”
Liam wiped his palms on his pants. “No. We got Judge Cardinal.”
I didn’t like the way he suddenly looked nervous. “Should we be worried?”
“He’s known for being sharp-tongued and direct to the point. I don’t know whether that will work in our favor or not.”
“Fuck.” Rowe slumped back against his seat. “I can’t take this. I feel like I’m going to have a stroke from the anticipation.”
I knew what he meant.
I just wanted this over with.
The door at the back of the courtroom opened, and Heath was led in. He sought us out with his eyes, but if he was happy, sad, or terrified, I had no idea. His expression was completely blank.
I was all three on his behalf. I clutched Rowe’s and Liam’s hands as the judge took his seat and the proceedings began.
Things moved much faster than last time, and it was mostly Linda explaining the case to the court. There were a few witnesses called forward, but the judge never gave anything away. He watched and listened without his attention wandering for a moment, his mouth pulled into a grim line.
By the time he was ready to give his verdict, I’d twisted my hands so badly they were pink and sore.
He banged his gavel and folded his arms across his chest, his attention fixed solely on Heath and no one else. “Mr. Michaelson. It’s clear to me you’ve suffered some terrible injustices at the hands of our police department. On behalf of the entire community, I feel we owe you an apology.”
My heart fluttered, and I gripped Liam and Rowe tighter.
The judge stroked a hand over his graying beard. “Clearly, the murder charges are dropped. All that we’re left with is the fact you managed to escape from a maximum-security prison. That holds a ten-year sentence.”
“I’m aware, Your Honor,” Heath replied respectfully.
He sighed heavily. “Despite the circumstances that led to you being incarcerated in the first place, the fact is, you did commit a crime by breaking out. And for that, I regretfully, find you guilty.”
My stomach sank. “What? No!”
Rowe couldn’t be silenced either. His shout of anger and frustration mingled with mine until the judge closed his eyes and motioned for us to sit down. When we didn’t, he banged his gavel and barked the order more sternly.
Linda glared and hissed at us. “Sit down and shut up!”
But I didn’t listen until Heath turned around. His sad eyes pleaded with us to stop.
They hit me right in the gut. This wasn’t fair. None of it was fair. But because he’d silently asked us to, we sat in unison.
“As I was trying to say…” Judge Cardinal glared at us again. “I find you guilty of the charges brought against you today. And I am ready to pass sentencing on those charges now.”
Rowe dropped his head into his hands.
The vise around my chest was so tight I could barely breathe.
“Heath Michaelson, on the charge of escaping a federal prison, I find you guilty. I sentence you to a term of two months, three weeks, and three days.” He lifted his arm and peered at his watch. “And seven minutes.”
The judge leveled Heath with a look. “If you haven’t already worked it out, or for your cheer squad in the back there, that’s time already served. You’re a free man, Mr. Michaelson.”
Tears appeared and rolled down my face as Heath spun around, staring at us with wide eyes. And then I was running into his arms. The hip-height barrier created a wall between us, but Heath lifted me over it, sweeping me into his arms, his forehead pressed to mine. “I’m free,” he whispered.
I touched my lips to his, my grin so wide it hurt. “I love you.”