Page 61 of Release You

“I got a pass to see Lisa. I gotta go.” She stood in the middle of the room, gloriously naked.

“Let me come with you. I owe Lisa an apology.”

“She would love to see you. Meet me downstairs in thirty minutes.” She beamed at me.

“Is that thirty minutes for real or an hour like before?” I asked, but she left the room without answering.

I went to the bathroom and discarded the condom. Because of Nikki, I had these things stashed everywhere—in the back pocket of my jeans, in the car, behind the bar, and even in the shower.

An hour later, I sat at the bar and watched as she descended the stairs wearing skinny jeans and a top that matched the sapphire necklace we’d found in mom’s security box. She looked absolutely stunning.

“We don’t have time for that.” She laughed.

“Time for what?”

“Whatever you’re thinking.” She ran her hand down my abs and kissed me. “We gotta go. And you’re making us late.”

“Me?” I followed her out of the hotel.

“Yeah, you.” She climbed into the passenger seat of her Tesla. “You’re driving.”

“As you wish.” I shook my head, smiling.

I tookMain Street out of town and got on the 303 toward Goodyear. This early in the day, I managed to get us through the city at a decent speed. We reached the women’s prison in a little over an hour. When I pulled into the visitor parking, Iturned to look at Nikki. Her eyes watered as she eyed the gray building in front of us. It was a terrible place for an innocent woman to spend any amount of time, let alone fifteen years.

“We’re going to get her out of here.” I reached for her hand.

“I know. I just wished I had better news for her today.” She unbuckled her seat belt and climbed out of the car.

At the front desk, we went through the process of signing in. On Nikki’s request, Dom had also put me on the visitors’ list. The ward quickly went through the visitation rules then asked us to wait in the designated area.

“I was hoping you’d come.” She wrapped her fingers around mine as we took our seats.

“I’m here, Nikki. For whatever you need.”

“Thank you.” She leaned in and kissed me.

Almost immediately, an officer came into the waiting room and called our names. She flinched and sat back before she realized she hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Cops make you jumpy?” I teased.

“Shut up.” She smiled and stood to face the officer.

I couldn’t imagine how hard this was for her. It pissed me off to see her like this, dealing with the guilt of not being able to save her sister. A guilt I was very familiar with. Both Mom and Lisa had been in prison for fifteen long years. We had to end this now.

Nikki sat facing the glass, rubbing the inside of her wrist. When Lisa came out, my stomach sank. This woman could not be the Lisa I remembered. At eighteen, Lisa had been given charge of her ten-year-old sister. She had no choice but to grow up fast. But this, this was someone else. She looked much older and defeated.

Lisa hesitated for a moment before she took her seat. Her gaze darted from Nikki to me. I’d bet she had a million questions running through her head. Like what the hell was Nikkidoing with the guy whose family put her in jail and ruined both their lives?

Nikki picked up the speaker phone, and Lisa did the same. Her lips moved, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying.

“Yeah.” Nikki slanted a glance at me. “That’s Henry.”

Lisa spoke again, and Nikki blushed. “Yeah.” She offered me the phone, and I took it.

What was I supposed to say to the woman who had been imprisoned for Dad’s murder? Especially now that I knew she was innocent. Even if we hadn’t found any evidence of it, it was clear to me that Lisa had just been at the wrong place, at the wrong time. She was a victim in all this, just like the rest of us.

“Lisa, I’m so sorry,” I whispered into the speaker.

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