Page 4 of Jon's Helter Skelter Cold Case

“How about you both make individual lists first, then combine them and see what the total is.” Sho shook his head fondly, but his lips were pursed in exasperation. “I think you’re forgetting that half the police station are good friends of yours.”

Ah.

Shit.

I kinda had? But Sho was right, there were a lot of work colleagues who were also friends, and I couldn’t discount them.

“Make the lists tonight,” Alani reiterated. “Then we’ll have a much better idea of what to plan for in terms of venue size.”

“Yup.” Donovan let out a low breath. “I think that’s the smarter plan.”

Mom, being an efficient person, already had a yellow notepad out and was jotting down names. Family members first, then friends we had in common, and I could see her list growing very quickly.

It didn’t upset me. Everyone needed a reminder sometimes of how much they meant to other people. This was such a reminder for me, and Donovan, as I could see the same sort of feeling in him.

Sitting here with my family and planning out my future, knowing I’d soon be surrounded by people who celebrated a huge milestone for me, I felt a euphoria like I’d never experienced before. A truly heady feeling, like I was so full of joy it threatened to spill over. It was such a beautiful moment, I felt it become a core memory in my head. I hoped I never forgot it.

2

To everyone’s complete lack of surprise, the prison staff LOVED Jon. The warden especially loved him, but the people who loved him the most?

The parole board.

Parole board members were not above bribing Jon to come sit through hearings for them. Fancy dinners had been involved. Just saying. They fought dirty to get him. Mostly because hemade their lives so much easier. He could tell in a glance if a prisoner was actually remorseful or not. Sometimes prisoners didn’t even clear the doorway before they spotted him, sighed, and walked right back out. Which was comical in its own way.

Today, we had special permission from Warden Lopez to bring Abby in with us. I felt a little cautious about this whole idea, but it was true Abby would get all sorts of experience reading people by being here. Warden Lopez damn near shat himself, he was so excited there was a Jon 2.0.

With Abby on board, it meant doing double duty for a while, but I didn’t mind. Abby was a great kid. She was smart and studious, much like Jon. She wasn’t the type to look for trouble, which sincerely helped because two beings walking around who could kill electronics? Felt like I was playing an extreme-mode RPG.

No lie, I sometimes felt like asking my dad to play anchor for Abby. It hadn’t come to the point where I needed to, but it was a “when” question more than an “if.”

Anyway, today was easy enough. Abby sat next to me, yellow pad in her hand, busy taking notes on the prisoner who had just walked in. Abby had dressed up a little in a turquoise summer dress that accented her pear-shaped build and green eyes in a very nice way. I thought it was cute she was trying to give people a more professional impression. Frankly, she could wear cardboard and they’d welcome her with open arms.

This current case was interesting. Dude was guilty of vehicular manslaughter, bootlegging, and driving under the influence. Triple whammy of poor life decisions. He sat there before the three board members, visibly nervous, and kept glancing at Jon like he had no idea who Jon was or why he was sitting in. He seemed to mostly ignore Abby and me.

The room wasn’t large—twelve by twelve with a single long table, chairs for everyone, and absolutely nothing else. Theykept these rooms bare to help control the collateral damage if a prisoner lost his temper. I didn’t think we’d have trouble from this guy, though. For one thing, Jon hadn’t signaled incoming trouble. For another, the prisoner’s body language screamed fear and nervousness, not aggression.

Abby leaned against me, showing me her pad. In very cute, swirly handwriting she’d written,He’s really sorry but he’s also kinda…I dunno, resigned?He doesn’t think he’ll get released.

Huh. Well, if he was showing remorse, Jon would say something. So his fear probably was groundless.

Chelsea Martin, one of the most senior members on the board, glanced at Jon after asking her questions. “Jon?”

With that, Jon knew he had the go-ahead. He cast a sympathetic smile at the prisoner. “Thomas, I can see you’re genuinely sorry for everything that happened. But I canalsosee you’re severely sleep deprived, you have an addictive personality, and you’re dying for a drink. Which is a recipe for another disaster.”

Abby nodded along, like she’d seen all that too.

Readers were scary, man.

“So here’s my recommendation,” Jon continued smoothly, speaking to the board. “I think therapy and some time in a rehabilitation center would be the best thing for Thomas right now. Say, a year of therapy, then six months in a rehab center, at the very least.”

“Agreed, it’s a great idea.” Lee, another friend on the board, bobbed his massive head. “Everyone in favor?”

All hands rose in the air.

“Then that’s what we’ll do. Thomas, you’ll be on probation for that year and a half, okay?”

Thomas looked around the room like he could not believe he’d heard things right. He had truly thought he wasn’t going toget out. Then his eyes welled up with tears and he nodded, so emotional he couldn’t get a single word out.

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