“I’ve still got the apartment the Silver Angels helped me find,” she said. “But when this is over, I’m not staying in Waynetown. A friend of mine from high school moved to Pasadena a year ago. She’s offered to let me come stay with her for a while.”
“Oh honey,” George said. “That’s so far away.”
“That’s the point,” Hayden said, her tone flat.
“Is there anything I can do for either one of you?” I asked.
Hayden shook her head. “No. You’ve done enough. Will you let me know the minute you hear anything from the judge?”
“Of course. That goes for you too, Mr. Luke. All of it.”
He nodded. But he looked so broken. It had to feel to him like he’d lost everything. Both of his daughters. His wife. Now Hayden’s news that might have seemed like abandonment to him. But they were right. There was really nothing else I could do for this family. As long as Jamie Simmons still had a hold on them, things would never be all right for them.
I went to my car and watched the two of them go their separate ways. I couldn’t stop myself from wondering how many more victims Jamie Simmons would claim. No matter what the jury decided.
35
After four hours of deliberation, the jury hadn’t reached a verdict by the end of business that Friday. They asked the judge for permission to deliberate over the weekend. By Saturday dinner, I’d still heard nothing.
Will stood at the kitchen counter stirring a pot of chili he’d made. It was a recipe he’d learned in a life skills class he was taking. It smelled delicious. Every time Sam or I tried to see if he needed help, Will kicked us out. We’d been relegated to the living room.
“He smacked your hand away too?” I asked Sam, smiling.
“More of a body block,” Sam answered. “In six more months, that boy’s going to be taller than me.”
No small feat. Sam stood just over six feet. I resisted the urge to say Will got his height from his father. Sam harbored no jealousy, but it had taken me a long time to reclaim my life after Jason tried to destroy it. I would not give him purchase in it again.
“Mara,” he said. “You’re gonna have to stop looking at your phone.”
I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding it. I kept checking for texts from Judge Saul’s clerk.
“They said they wanted to go until noon today,” I said. “It’s almost five. They’ve been at it for ten hours. How could it take ten hours?”
He sat down beside me. “And you’re the last person I have to tell how juries work.”
“It means they weren’t unanimous when they took their initial vote. It means some of them think he’s innocent.”
“Or it means only one person thinks he’s innocent and the other eleven have common sense. Or something else.”
“Ugh. You’re right. I don’t know why I’m torturing myself with this one. I’ve never done this before during deliberations. I always think my job is over after the panel is sequestered.”
“It is.” Sam leaned over to kiss me. It felt good to have him here. He’d been spending most weekends at my place lately. We’d gone slow, letting Will adjust to having him as a permanent fixture in his life. Now, my son was out there making dinner for all of us.
But there was something bothering Sam. Over the last months, I’d gotten used to his noises, his facial expressions. Right now, he had a crease between his eyes. I knew it meant he had something else on his mind.
“What is it?” I asked. He was getting used to my noises, tones, and facial expressions, too. He knew I wouldn’t be brushed off.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” he said. “Something Cutler said in his closing. That bit about you using this case as leverage to run for prosecutor.”
I looked over Sam’s shoulder. Will opened the oven. He’d asked me to pick up some garlic bread. He busied himself basting butter over the top of it as it baked.
“What do you want to ask me?”
Sam shifted so he was facing me. “When were you going to tell me you decided to run?”
“I haven’t. That’s the thing. That’s what’s been bothering me about it. I had one conversation with Kenya. The crux of that was me trying to bully her into coming back. I probably shouldn’t tell you this. But she’s going to. She just wanted to be sure I didn’t want it.”
“Wow,” he said. “That’s … wow. She’s coming back?”
