Page 15 of Nick

“I do?”

“Yes, you do.”

“Thank you. You’re Luca’s friend?”

“Yeah, we all hung out together when we went to school. Luca is a good man. If he killed anyone, they deserved it.”

“That’s what I thought. I’m glad he’s my cellmate. Thank you for coming.”

“I wanted to tell you that your family loves you so much. When you get out of here, your mom will cook all your favorite foods for you.”

His eyes lit up then, and suddenly his wide smile was replaced with fear in his eyes. “I can’t wait for that,” he said as his voice broke. “Thank you.”

“Chin up. This will all be over soon. I’ll see you in court.”

“Okay, thank you.”

7

Luca

Iwatched the boy come back into the cell. He sat on his bunk, staring into space. “So, you met Opal. What did you think of her?”

He looked at me like he was disgusted with himself. “I kept saying thank you; she hugged me and smelled so good, I couldn’t think of anything. Even when she told me my mom was going to cook me my favorite food when I got out, I thanked her then too.”

I laughed so hard, and it felt good to laugh. “Opal and her sisters are so damn good-looking, you would fall over if you saw all of them together. What is more important is that she’s damn smart. She’ll have you out of here in less than a week. I know her. Once she sets her mind to something, she doesn’t stop. Fuck! Get me Dave!” I shouted. I didn’t give a damn who heard me; I had to talk to Dave.

“What the hell took you so long?”

“Luca, what is going on?”

“Could you call Opal? I have a terrible feeling she will start snooping into my case. I want my case locked tight.”

“Why does that bother you? Are you afraid she’ll find out the truth—that you didn’t kill anyone?”

“Dave, I’m serious. Call her!”

“I’ll call and see what I can do. You do know Opal considers you her client?”

“I don’t know why she would think that.”

“Get real, Luca, we both know Opal, and she hasn’t changed one bit.”

“I haven’t seen her since I joined the Navy Seals. I don’t want her involved with this. She’s stubborn. Remember when she said someone was messing with your grades in high school? She and her sisters investigated until they found out your old girlfriend went into the school computers and changed everything, not wanting you to get into any colleges.”

“Well, she saved my ass that time, and I’m sure she could save yours now. But, okay, I’ll call her and tell her you are serious about her leaving this alone.”

“Thanks.”

After he left, I lay back thinking about Jenna. I hoped she was taken care of. I told Sammy what had happened. Sammy would take care of her; I didn’t doubt that. I wish I could see them. I missed them. They were the only family I had. My mind went back to that night. Six years seemed like it was one hundred years.

I had gotten out of the Navy Seals and was excited because my friend, Ryker, called and asked me to join Seals Security. I told him I would be there the following week. But two days later, I was in jail for murder. Jenna ran into the house crying. She was covered in blood, crying, saying her boyfriend was dead. Sammy ran to her, looking for cuts on her—there was nothing.

Sammy hurried Jenna to the bathroom to put her in the shower. She put the dress in a bag to get rid of it. She noticed Jenna didn’t have her panties on and blood was smeared between her thighs. “Where are your panties, Jenna?”

“My boyfriend took them. He hurt me, so I hurt him.”

“Who is your boyfriend? I never met your boyfriend. How did you hurt him?”

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