US Attorney Mia Santiago rested her hands against the wooden riser, staring directly into the cameras. She’d carried nothing with her to the stage, which made Patrick think it was going to be a short news conference. His stomach twisted at that implication, but he didn’t give voice to his concerns, not while standing in Henry’s office.
“After reviewing and evaluating new evidence in the case against Patrick Collins and considering the surrounding national security issues, it is the United States government’s decision that it will drop all charges against the defendant,” she announced, getting right to the point.
Patrick didn’t register anything else she said after that, staring at her face on the television and tracking the way her mouth moved, but his ears were full of static. It didn’t seem possible to go from being charged with murder to exonerated in such an incredibly short amount of time when heknewa case like his meant he should still be in prison.
How much godly interference had it required to reverse the government’s decision? Worse, how many gods were secretly pulling the government’s strings?
“Collins,” Henry said, gently touching his shoulder.
He jerked, finally hearing the way his ragged breathing sounded between them. The conference was still happening on the television, but Patrick turned his attention to Danai.
“—listening to me? This is fantastic news, Patrick,” Danai said, her voice warm with relief.
“Yeah, I’m here,” he got out.
“I’ll make a follow-up call to Preston once this news conference is over, but it looks like the decision came from above him.”
“What do you think made them change their mind? Because we both know the government rarely does something like this.”
“Yes, but you forget youalsohad the government defending you. It’s a strange occurrence to be sure, but I think the national security interest, your signed declaration about where you were during the time of the murder, and the lab report on your magical signature were the deciding factors.”
Patrick thought about Maat and her role as his judge, the forensic investigation witch who worshipped her, and decided it might’ve been based on evidence, but the reversal had ultimately been decreed by the gods to keep him out of jail.
“Okay.”
“I’ll call you after I speak with Preston and hopefully get some more information and what the timeline is to have your personal effects returned.” Her voice gentled, coming out quiet. “Go home to your pack when you can. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled about this.”
“I need to be in DC tomorrow for a congressional hearing.”
“Do you want me to come along?”
“No, it’s okay. Setsuna always has her own set of lawyers for these kinds of appearances.”
“Have they reinstated your position as a special agent?”
Patrick grimaced. “No, but that might change.”
He realized he could have his job back if Setsuna was able to offer it again, but his position would always be looked at with suspicion because of his ties to the werecreature community. Even if the SOA ethically walled him off from taking any cases dealing with werecreatures, his bias would always be a problem. It would always be a sticking point in the courts.
“I’ll let you go,” Danai said.
She ended the call, and Patrick let his arm fall down to his side, still clutching his phone. He stared at the television, trying to refocus on the last bit of the press conference but finding he’d missed a good chunk of it. It didn’t matter. He’d rewatch it later online if he had to.
“I’ll call the director and update her on what’s happened,” Henry said.
Patrick’s phone vibrated in his hand from a text, and he glanced at the screen to see a notification from Jono. He unlocked the phone and was glad Henry wasn’t looking his way as he read the text, because he couldn’t stop himself from wincing.
Brigid is demanding a meeting tonight in Central Park.
“Fuck,” Patrick muttered softly under his breath, feeling a headache coming on.
18
“You shouldn’t go,”Jono said as they trudged through Central Park for the entrance to the hawthorn path.
Patrick shot him an exasperated look. Despite it being well after sunset, Jono could see that the circles under his green eyes were a little darker than normal thanks to the witchlights guiding their way. Patrick hadn’t been sleeping well, and Jono half wished he’d take one of Victoria Alvarez’s sleeping draughts to get some rest tonight. At this rate, Jono would have better luck getting Wade to stop snacking than to convince Patrick to slow down.
“Have you ever ignored a congressional request? Because let me tell you, ignoring it only makes it worse. They come back with subpoenas, and if you ignorethose, you get tied up in court for months on end. I’m a little sick of dealing with the courts right now,” Patrick retorted.
