“Can I ask, Mr. Ramirez, why Mr. Kelley isn’t the one making the call to me?”
Oh shit. I didn’t even consider that might be an issue. “I told him I’d do it,” I hurried to say. “He’s so overwhelmed with the funeral, taking care of Cody, and everything else. I thought I could take this one thing off his plate. And also, he has to work on Monday, but it’s my day off. I just wanted to help,” I finished lamely.
There was a hint of laughter in her voice when she replied, “It’s fine, Mr. Ramirez. It’s nice to know Mr. Kelley has a supportive partner.”
“Thank you,” I said. “And thank you so much for agreeing to see Cody on such short notice.”
“You’re welcome,” she answered. “If you give me an email address, I’ll send over the documents Mr. Kelley has to fill out before I see Cody.” After I rattled off my email address, she asked, “My office is in Freehold. Do you have the address?”
I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. “It’s on the business card Tino, I mean, Mr. D’Angelo gave me.”
“All right then. I’ll see you on Monday.”
I ended the call and let out an explosive breath. We were one step closer to getting back to something resembling normal.
CHAPTERFORTY-SEVEN
ZACH
It was really hard to sit in the judge’s chambers and listen to Nico’s parents talk shit about my sister. Miguel, Tino, and I were sitting on one side of the room while Nico’s parents were on the other side. Cody was with a court guardian, likely because they didn’t want him to hear all the shit-talk from Nico’s parents.
Tino had advised us to let them go first because it put us in a stronger position. But man, I wanted to punch his father in the mouth. First, they accused Allie of keeping Cody from them. Then they implied that Allie slept around, and it was her reckless behavior that got her killed. “She would be alive now if she wasn’t such a whore,” Mr. Galinas spat, glaring at me.
I nearly leaped out of my seat. It was only Tino’s hand on my shoulder that stopped me. Luckily, Cody wasn’t in the room because I wasn’t sure even Tino could have stopped me from pile-driving the guy into the ground at that point.
The judge rapped on his desk. “That’s enough, Mr. Galinas.” He glanced up at their lawyer. “Mr. Warner, I’d advise you to counsel your client to be respectful of the child’s mother, especially as the child is going to be present soon.” He then turned to Tino. “Mr. D’Angelo, please present your client’s case.”
“Certainly, your honor,” he said. He handed a file folder to the clerk in attendance. “I’ve included the relevant documents, including Allison Kelley’s will, the evaluation from Dr. Jansen, and character references from Zachary Kelley’s employers and his former commanding officer in the Army National Guard.” He pulled another sheet of paper out of his briefcase. “In regard to the accusation that Allison Kelley refused to allow Mr. and Mrs. Galinas to see their grandson, I have a printed screenshot of the text conversation between Ms. Kelley and Mrs. Galinas in which Ms. Kelley asked for support after Nicolas went to prison. Mrs. Galinas wrote back, and I quote, ‘I want nothing to do with your half-breed spawn.’” He then handed the sheet of paper to the judge.
The judge nodded. “Yes, I’ve already read the evaluation from Dr. Jansen.” He looked over the other documents, including the damning text screenshots.
“That’s a lie,” Mrs. Galinas objected. “Those are fake. Made up to make us look bad.”
Tino went back into his briefcase, producing Allie’s phone. “Here’s Ms. Kelley’s cell phone, your honor. The text messages are still there from four years ago.”
I silently thanked the entire D’Angelo family for being such wonderful people. If Michael hadn’t fixed Allie’s phone, Nico’s parents might have been able to convince the judge that she had stopped them from seeing Cody.
Another clerk came in and spoke to the judge. He nodded and said, “Please bring Cody in.”
The clerk left and came back a few minutes later, holding Cody’s hand. As soon as he saw me, he broke away and ran to me. “Uncle Zach, I got to play with lots of toys. But they didn’t have any movies,” he added sadly.
I let him climb into my lap. “That’s okay,” I said. “We can watch movies when we get home.”
The judge directed our attention to a TV screen with a webcam attached to it on the other side of the room. A video window appeared, and a moment later, Nico moved into view. Cody jumped off my lap and ran toward the television. “Daddy!”
Nico smiled at his son. “Hey, buddy. It’s good to see you again.”
“Daddy, why are you on TV?”
Miguel, Tino, and I chuckled. Nico’s parents scowled. “I’m just here to answer a few questions, so I’ll only be on for a few minutes. Okay?”
“Okay,” Cody said glumly. “But can I come visit you again?”
“You sure can, buddy.”
The judge cleared his throat. “Mr. Galinas, thank you for joining us. I just have a few questions for you.”
“Sure, your honor,” Nico replied.
