Page 12 of Nick

“But I’m a stranger. You’d let a stranger stay with you?”

“Will you try to kill me while I’m sleeping?”

I heard her giggle. “No.”

“Then I trust you.” I knew this girl was telling the truth. I knew it before she opened her mouth. Sometimes, I could look at someone and know they were telling the truth. “I need to talk to my son and tell him I’ll be home late.”

“You have a son?”

“Yes, Axel. He’ll be going to college next year.”

“You look too young to have a boy going to college.”

“Thank you, what about your brother? Was he going to college?”

“Yes, Jeff had a football scholarship. He lost his chance to go to college. I felt like it was my fault because he was helping me. I hate saying this, but I’m glad my husband is dead, I just hate that it ruined my brother’s life.”

“Just don’t say that to anyone else. Follow me to my house.”

Axel decided to go with us, which surprised me. He knew I could take care of myself, or was it the story Tina told him about her brother? I know he would do the same thing as her brother had done.

We were almost at her parent’s home. Axel and Tina were talking like they were old friends. “How old are you, Tina?”

“I’m twenty-two.”

I almost cried on hearing that. This poor girl had been put through hell all because she thought the man she married loved her, and he was a fucking monster. I wondered if her mother had seen her body. When I took some pictures as I had promised, I broke down and cried. I couldn’t finish, I just couldn’t. We decided that I’d have to finish taking photos tomorrow. This fucking judge was going to pay for locking this girl’s brother up.

“What did you say the judge’s name was?” I’d asked her earlier.

“Judge Jack Samson. He’s a horrible person. I met him before. The bastard treated his wife like a slave. I knew she hated him as much as I hated Tommy…”

I knew that judge, and he was indeed an asshole. That bastard would regret putting Jeff in prison for protecting his sister. Some judges became power-hungry when they became judges; it was as simple as that.

I was brought back to the present by Axel’s voice. He was still talking and making her laugh. I wondered how he knew she needed some laughter in her life. I pulled into the driveway and saw a man mowing the yard and another teenager raking the grass. When I parked the vehicle, and we stepped out of the SUV, he turned the mower off and walked to where we were.

“Daddy, remember Jeff told us about her. She’s going to help us get Jeff out of prison.” Without a word, Tina’s dad pulled me into a hug and cried. We went inside, and Tina went to get her mom.

“My wife isn’t doing too well. She’s so worried about Jeff,” her dad told me.

“I understand.” I looked around for Axel and spotted him outside helping the other boy finish the front yard. When the mother walked into the living room, I guided us to the kitchen, where I started making coffee. I had already poured all of us a cup before I turned and looked at them. I burst into laughter, then they joined in.

“My family are kitchen people, so I always gravitate to the kitchen,” I shrugged, not apologizing for taking over. After all, they were the ones suffering at this time. I just wanted to help. “What do you like in your coffee?”

“Let me help you,” Tina said. Coming over to the corner where I was. The two of us finished off and soon everyone had a cup.

We sat at the kitchen table under the window. The light breeze coming through the slightly opened window was welcoming. I scooted a little on the corner bench, so Tina could sit comfortably too. I took her mama’s hands in mine, “I’m going to get your son out of prison. I will see him tomorrow and make sure he’s okay. Judge Samson won’t be able to keep him locked up.”

“Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to us. He’s only a boy. He still has his whole life ahead of him. I still can’t believe this is happening.” She reached over and took her daughter’s hand, “Great job finding her. I knew you would.”

“I will stay with Opal because she has a bread store on the pier, and I will work there for her while she takes care of getting Jeff out of prison.”

“Is there anything else that we can do to help you? I wish we had money, but—”

“I don’t want any money. The only reason Tina is helping me out is because I don’t want to close the shop while I am busy with the case. You should come to my bread shop if you ever get a chance. That will be payment enough. Is there anything you want me to tell your son?”

“Will you tell him how much we love him? I’m not going to make his favorite food until he gets home.”

“I’ll tell him. And don’t you worry. I will bring him home and you will make him the biggest feast he’s ever had. I’ll be in touch. For now, I need to get home. I have some people to call. I want to get an early start in the morning. Do you get to visit him at all or does Tina go alone?”

---