Page 70 of His Virgin Vessel

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Corinne

The joy of Asa making it through surgery and being on the road to a complete recovery was soon tainted by bad news from elsewhere. I had known for a few days that something was bothering Dad. I had overheard snippets of angry phone calls. He always shut the door when he realized I was nearby, but I heard enough to know that whatever was going on had something to do with Asa. Finally, I couldn't stand the tension any longer.

"What's going on?" I sat Dad down at the kitchen table and demanded an explanation.

"Not much. What's going on with you?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Almost never." Dad tried to keep things light, but I could easily see that he was hiding something.

"Dad, I know something's going on with Asa. I need you to tell me what it is. Have his doctors told you something?"

"No. Nothing like that." Dad instantly reassured my worst fears. "He'll make a full recovery. Tough son of a bitch."

"Then what? Don't tell me it's nothing."

Dad met my gaze. "The charges against him aren't being dropped. He'll stand trial as soon as he's well enough."

I just gaped. "But, didn't you make a deal with him?"

Dad shook his head. "Everything he did was voluntary. He knew that this was a risk."

Of course he had. Asa would never have stood for a deal, even if it was just for show. The idea that he would only have come to my rescue if the charges were dropped would have sickened him.

"You've got to be able to do something!"

"I've tried."

"Try harder!"

"Corinne..." Dad reached out and took my hand. "I have tried. But everyone I speak to knows what Asa did for me. They all think I owe him. Ironically, they all think that there was a deal. Like an unofficial one, under the table. My word holds absolutely no weight where Asa is concerned. Which is right. That's how it should be. The justice system has to be fair for all, or it's fair for none. And I am biased in this."

"You can't be serious." Anger was now replacing dismay in my body, hotly burning through me. "After all he did for you! I thought you stood by the men who helped you!"

"Which is why I went to bat for him as hard as I did," Dad said. "And it goes against the grain to let him down, but..." Dad rubbed his head in frustration. "All those bogus, trumped up charges that Quint and Hamlin were trying to pin to Asa - those are all gone now. They've all been pinned to Rassi, as deserved, and he's dead, so that's the end of that. What Asa is accused of, and I've been through it all line by line, is what he did. He is guilty of this stuff. And while you may think that he's exonerated himself by helping us, there's a bunch of people out there affected by his crimes, who've not had any recompense. It's up to the state to deliver that. I've spoken to Asa and, to his credit, he's not trying to weasel out of this. He committed the crimes, and he's willing to do the time."

"I'd be dead if it wasn't for him." I could see how my words affected my Dad, twisting his face. Just the suggestion hurt him.

"And I'll never be able to repay him for that."

"Yes, you can!" You can fix this!"

But Dad shook his head. "I can't. And I'm not sure I should, if I could."

There was so much I wanted to say to him, so much I wanted to throw in his face. But there was stuff there that I would not be able to take back. I got up and walked away from the table.

"Where are you going?" Dad asked.

"I'm going to visit Asa."

"I'm sorry, Corinne."

"What?!" I turned back around sharply. "Are you forbidding me from seeing him? Because we both know how well that works."

"Now that he's no longer in immediate danger, he's been moved to a prison hospital."

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