Page 28 of The System

“I’m driving,” Carina reminded.

“I don’t want to be drunk when he calls with news,” Kieran replied. “Just a beer. Whatever you’d recommend is fine.”

“Okay. I’ll be back with your beer and your wine.”

“You didn’t even order,” Kieran said to Carina after the bartender was gone.

“This is my local. I’m here often enough that I have a usual.” Carina looked up just in time to see Jessa standing behind the bar, looking over at her.

Jessa gave the nod. Carina gave a slight shake of her head. Jessa nodded again and went back to work. That was how they worked, and Carina loved that about them.

“So, do you want to talk about it?” she asked, paying her full attention now to Keiran.

“I don’t know what there is to talk about. Mostly, we discussed the case, and you and I aren’t supposed to talk about that.”

“What was it like, seeing her for the first time?”

“Weird,” Keiran replied. “She looks just like me, but also not at all.”

“You’ve had very different lives… I imagine that changes people.”

“She never had a family,” Kieran told her, shaking her head. “I had a great family, and she never had one.”

“You feel guilty,” Carina nodded slightly.

“Of course, I do.”

“Kieran, none of this is your fault. You were an infant. Someone found her, and someone else found you. It just as easily could’ve been the other way around.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“No, I guess not.”

“I don’t know what I thought would happen, meeting her for the first time in jail. She had handcuffs and was chained to the table. They have her in an orange jumpsuit, looking like a criminal, and–”

“She is a criminal, though.”

“She says she didn’t do it.”

“I’m not talking about the murder,” Carina replied. “She’s been arrested before. Always misdemeanors, yes, but she’s technically got a record, which makes her a criminal.”

“She’s still my sister,” Kieran argued.

“And you can do everything you want to help her, but you might still have to face the fact that she’ll always be in prison from now on. If I win my case, she’ll never get out.”

“Can we talk about something else?” Kieran requested.

“Sure. You mentioned you’re a software engineer. How does that work?”

“I code things,” Kieran said simply.

Carina chuckled and replied, “Yes, but I don’t know what that means.”

“It means that when you use an app or software for anything, someone like me built it. I’m only a few weeks in, but I work for DNAdiscovery now, so I got a free test kit, which is how you all got my DNA.”

“You got it because you’re adopted and wanted to know if you had any relatives out there,” Carina realized.

“Yes. And it turns out, I have a sister.”

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