Page 98 of Oath
“I was, but it was kind of very last minute. Ronnie is being a dick.”
“Ronald Grant,” Alphabet was already reporting. “He’s in jail, on month five of a thirty-eight month stretch.”
Grace touched a hand to Reilly’s arm and moved them aside from the foot traffic. “I thought he was still in jail.”
The woman let out a long sigh. “He is, but his parents are suing me.”
A frown tightened Grace’s expression. “Visitation?”
“Checking,” Alphabet said, but Reilly was already nodding.
“I don’t… his father is abusive. I don’t mind his mother seeing them. She’s a good grandmother, and I wish I could convince her to leave her husband. He’s worse than Ronnie.”
“Guy’s got a record and she’s not wrong,” Alphabet said with a whistle. “Wouldn’t hurt anyone if he got hit by a bus tomorrow.”
“Are you trying to work out an agreement with her?”
“Yes.” Another long, almost wet sigh as the woman folded her arms. The weight of it all seemed to be crushing her. “I toldPhyllis—his mom—she’s more than welcome to come spend time with the kids at my place. I’ve even invited her to a couple of the birthday parties and to the park. But her husband…he wants Nathan to spend weekends with them, and more…”
“Nathan, age seven, and Matilda, age five.” Alphabet was definitely feeding her what she needed.
“We need to move her along,” Bones said, though it wasn’t unfeeling or harsh. I doubted he liked hearing the defeat in this woman’s voice anymore than we did.
“Nathan?” Grace said slowly. “Not Matilda?”
The angle hid half of her face, but her mouth had firmed. Yeah, she’d caught that too. Reilly nodded. “He doesn’t care about Matilda, just Nathan. Wants to man him up and a bunch of other misogynistic bullshit. I just want him to be safe and that man is always drinking, yelling, and hitting his wife. I willnotlet Nathan be exposed to that.”
“Tell me you found someone good to represent you.” Even as her sister, the steel came out in her voice. Or maybe they both possessed that. Would make sense.
“I do! Melinda Cho. You recommended her last year when we were talking about the house and about future family issues. Ronnie can’t see the kids because I have a restraining order and he’s in jail. I don’t even have to take them to see him. But his parents…”
Now Grace reached out to take Reilly’s hand and clearly, she was squeezing it. “Good, Melinda’s tough as nails. Listen to her and make sure you do everything by the book, but also document everything. You are still doing that right?”
“Oh yeah, I never forgot that lecture. I’ve logged all their calls, everything he’s said, all the things I’ve witnessed both before and after. I also have some photos—they’re old family photos of Ronnie’s but you can see the abuse in the pictures. Bruises that pop up in odd places. The lost look in Phyllis’ eyes.”
“I’m glad you’re still doing it. Every piece of data helps and if you have a clear log that shows you have documented each movement, that is evidence a judge can take into account.” Then Grace held up her hand. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Reilly…”
“I told you, you can call me Joan. You said I could call you Am, but it seemed kind of weird to yell that in here.” She huffed out another breath then caught Grace’s hand again for another squeeze. “You have to go.”
“I do. Listen to Melinda. Keep documenting. Maybe see if your mother-in-law will go to a counseling session—or a shelter.”
Was it me or did Grace really want to help this woman? Some of it was the part, sure, but she was really focused on her.
“I don’t know, but I’ll try. Please, go, I don’t want to make you late.”
A flash of a quick, almost apologetic smile on Grace’s face before she turned to continue. I caught the moment she spotted Voodoo. There was a brief moment of recognition but her expression didn’t ripple.
Good girl.
“Guys,” she almost said it on an exhale.
“I’ll see what we can do,” Alphabet answered. “But not right now. Let’s focus on Sinclair while we’re here.”
A single nod of acknowledgement.
She took a controlled breath then headed toward the bank of elevators before she paused and glanced at the stairwell. The elevator was a tight location, one entry, one exit. But Voodoo was already up and heading for the stairs. The image cut in and out as he climbed.
“Sinclair is…” Alphabet told her which courtroom and which judge. The whole plan hinged on what Sinclair did when he saw her. “Voodoo, you’ll have to lose the phone video if you go into the courtroom. Switch to lapel camera.”
