Page 130 of The System

“Yeah, no shit,” Kieran replied.

Carina smiled and said, “I’m not here as a lawyer. I’m just here for her.”

“She’s my moral support.”

“Moral support? She tried to lock me up,” Marin noted.

“She’s been helping me try to get you out of here, actually,” Kieran argued.

“Technically, I was trying to help find the truth.”

“Babe, you’re not helping here,” Kieran told her.

“Babe? It’s ‘babe’ now? You’re a lesbian? What happened to that ex-husband?”

“He’s still my ex-husband. Carina is my current girlfriend.”

“Well, hopefully, a future one, too,” Carina said.

“Can we get back to the reason we’re all here, please?” Frank requested. “I’m getting a headache.”

“Yeah, when do I get out?” Marin asked.

“Well, you don’t,” Frank replied.

“What are you talking about? The asshole confessed. Don’t you have him on film or something? Take that to a judge and get him to let me out of here.”

“Marin, you didn’t kill anyone, but you still have fraud counts,” Frank explained. “The DA has agreed to give you two years, and you’d be out in one on good behavior.”

“I’m going to prison for changing my name?”

“You didn’t just change your name; you did it illegally, and that’s a problem. I did, however, convince the ADA to let you serve out your remaining time here at county instead of at the state’s max prison, so you won’t be transferred. And you’ll have time served credited to you, so it’s less than a year. All in all, I think you’ll be out of here in maybe six months, assuming you can find a place to live since you’ll be on probation after that.”

“Carina got Kevin, the ADA on the case now, to agree to let you live with me for six months. After that, you can go wherever you want.”

“Live with you?” Marin asked.

“Is that okay?”

“I have to live with someone?”

“It’s the connection to family here that gave the DA the reason to let you out earlier than he would’ve otherwise. Kieran is not your babysitter, though. You’ll have an ankle monitor and will be permitted to go anywhere within a few miles and to a job, which you’ll also need to find,” Frank replied. “It’s only for six months.”

“Do you even want me there with you?” she asked Kieran.

“Yes, of course, I do,” Kieran replied. “You’re my sister, Marin. I want to have time to get to know you where you’re not in cuffs and an orange jumpsuit.”

“But living together? Do you have space?”

“I have an office that I can turn into a guest room, and I can work in the living room. There’s space out there for a few months. It’s not a big deal. Plus, I’ll be staying at Carina’s place sometimes, so–”

“I can’t hear this,” Frank interrupted. “You’re supposed to be there every night.”

“So, a babysitter, then?” Marin asked. “You said she wasn’t a babysitter.”

“She’s–”

“I’m your sister,” Kieran said. “And we have a whole lot of DNAdiscovery.com matches to go through together and decide who we want to contact. We might be able to find our birth parents together.” She smiled, and Carina squeezed her hand. “After the six months, I’ll help you find an apartment here or somewhere else, if you want.”

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