Page 106 of Resurrection

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Finn

When the phone beside my bed rings, I answer it before the noise wakes Lucas. He’s not sleeping well without his mother here, but I sure as hell didn’t tell her that. She would have been on the first plane back without freeing herself from her anchor of a father.

“Finn Donaghey?” the female voice on the other end of the phone asks while I rub my eyes and get my bearings. What time is it?

“Yeah. Who’s asking?”

“Carys Van de Berg asked me to call you and relay information to you. My name is Sook Park, and I’m Ms. Van de Berg’s lawyer.”

My heart beats a staccato in my chest. “Is she all right?” I glance at the crib across the room outlined by the faint glow of a nightlight.

“She’s been arrested by the FBI, Mr. Donaghey. They have accused her of conspiring with the PLA to commit an act of terrorism on American soil.”

I frown and rub my forehead. “That’s fucking ridiculous.”

“The evidence the FBI has accumulated is”—the line quiets—“significant.”

“Get her out on bail or whatever you need to do, and let her come home.”

“She’s considered a flight risk. At this point, we’re unable to arrange her release.” Silence floats between us across the distance. “They know about you, Mr. Donaghey. Everyone knows about you.”

Her words set my chest on fire.

I press the phone to my ear and crawl out of bed, heading for the door. Won’t take long for me to lose my shit if this conversation keeps spiraling. There’s no fucking way Carys isn’t coming home. She sure as shit isn’t going to jail. Once I’m in the kitchen, I take deep breaths while I pace. “Don’t sugarcoat it. What the fuck are we looking at?”

“There’s a lot of evidence. Sorting through it will take a while. We’ll have to wait for a trial or try to secure a plea. She won’t be back in Switzerland anytime soon.” Sook takes a breath. “Carys asked me to let you know she’s fine. The case against her will be fine, and she wants you to focus on Lucas.”

I laugh, but there’s nothing funny in what’s happening. “That’s what she wants me to know? What the fuck does ‘anytime soon’ mean?” The urge to throw my phone is almost uncontrollable.

Another pause and shuffling of papers. “We can never be certain how things will go in a case like this. Until we have a plea or a deal or a conviction, there’s always a chance the case will be resolved favorably.”

“You’re fucking sugarcoating it. I told you not to do that. Based on your experience, what will happen?”

All I hear is her breathing before she says, “She’ll go to prison. Unless we can counter their evidence, poke serious holes in their more damning arguments, Carys will go to jail.” She hesitatesagain. “Either way, she’ll be in the States for a while. Possibly for a very long time.”

I stop pacing and stare up at the cathedral ceiling. Light streams in the large windows from the full moon. “How long?”

“Years.”

My focus strays up to the spot outside our bedroom overlooking the living room. Lucas is up there, waiting for his mother to come home. “Years,” I repeat the word, foreign, unknown on my tongue.

“We may be able to work out a deal. At this point, she wants to fight.”

Fight—probably what I’d do. I’ve never gone into one where the odds were so stacked against me. With the law, guilt and innocence doesn’t matter. The weight of the evidence is the only factor. From what Sook is saying and not saying, I don’t like these odds.

“Carys can’t speak to you, and for obvious reasons it would be ill-advised for you to try to visit her. She’s asked me to keep you up-to-date on her case. We’ve got all hands on deck at the firm while we sort through the evidence.”

“If a loophole exists—”

“We’ll find it, yes.” Her voice sounds confident for the first time since she called me. “Sometimes cases take an unexpected turn. Nothing is a guarantee in a case like this.”

“Call me as soon as you have something. I don’t give a shit about the time difference. Just call.” I take a deep breath and pace around the room. “Tell her I’ll do what she wants.”

Sook breathes what sounds like a sigh of relief. “Great. Good. I’ll let her know. That’ll be a weight off her shoulders. Listen, I have to get going. There’s a lot happening here, and I need to stay on top of it. Someone will call you when we understand more.” She hangs up without waiting for my response.

I hold the phone, staring at it, letting the rage build, and then push it down.

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