Gabe swooped in this time and picked Cody up. “What’s all this?”
“I want Daddy,” Cody sobbed.
Gabe looked over at me with a questioning gaze. I pulled out my phone and typed in Notes,Trenton State Prison. Armed robbery.I held it up to show him.
Marco read the note and said, “Tino might be able to help you get a special visit. Does he have a lawyer?”
“I don’t think so. He had to use a public defender.”
Marco snorted. “He probably got railroaded too.”
I sighed. “I should probably talk to Tino about guardianship for Cody. I read online that I have to apply to be his legal guardian.”
Marco nodded. “I’ll put in a call to him.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and unlocked the screen. He stopped what he was doing and asked, “Did you tell Tommy what happened?”
My stomach twisted. “No. It never even crossed my mind.”
“You should call him. He’ll want to know.” He hit a number in his contact list. “You also need to contact your CO. You have training scheduled for next weekend.”
“Uncle Zach, what about Daddy?” Cody asked.
I took a moment to steady myself because I was feeling overwhelmed, and I didn’t want to snap at Cody. “We are going to see if we can get you in to see your daddy. You just have to give us time to work on it. Okay?”
He looked like he was going to cry again, but Gabe scooped him up and said, “You have to tell me what toys you want.”
“All of them!” Cody shouted as they made their way down the hallway to his bedroom.
Miguel came over to me with his phone out. “I’m making a list of things that need to be done. I just added contacting Tommy and your commanding officer.”
I kissed the side of his head. “You’re amazing. Thank you.”
Marco returned, still holding his phone. “Tino’s out with his family, but he said he’d call you later tonight.”
“He doesn’t have to mess up his Sunday for me,” I objected. “It can wait until tomorrow.”
Marco shrugged. “He wants to call the prison tomorrow to get the ball rolling.”
“It’s on the list,” Miguel said.
“Zach,” Marissa called from the hallway right outside my sister’s bedroom, “I found something you’ll want to see.”
I grabbed Miguel’s hand and brought him with me. Marissa was standing near the bed where a box sat. There were papers all over the bed, but I focused on the ones in Marissa’s hand. “What is it?” I asked.
“It’s a life insurance policy,” she replied as she handed me the document. “She must have gotten it through work.”
I read it over and my eyes went wide. “It’s for a hundred thousand dollars.” I kept reading. “And Cody is the beneficiary.”
I glanced over at Miguel. “It’s on the list,” he said.
That was a lot of money. I was definitely going to need to talk to people with more experience in this sort of thing. “Let’s put the rest of the papers back in the box, and I’ll take them all home and look through them there.”
“Works for me,” Miguel said.
Marissa helped put the papers back and then just stood there. Her bottom lip trembled, and a tear tracked down her cheek. “I can’t believe she’s just…gone. How is that even possible?” A sob escaped her lips, and she covered her mouth. “Oh god. I miss her so much already.” I drew her into a hug, letting my own tears fall as I held her.
Someone knocked on the doorframe. I looked to see Andrea standing there. “Hey, Zach. We got everything out of Cody’s room and any toys he had out in the living room. He’s looking awfully tired, and the men are grumbling about lunch. Is there anything else we need today?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s all good. I’ll order pizza and beer on the way back.”
