I have nothing to say up here for a change, but see me at the bottom.
With my brother following me around like he didn't have important criminals to lock up, I was finally getting some sleep. I didn't want to know what his wife thought about it; she'd never been my favorite person, but we tried not hate each other for my brother's sake. He and I parted ways each morning after coffee, he to police headquarters, me to the law office.
It had been two days since I'd been in my father's office. I was on edge, grabbing up the phone every time it rang, desperate for news of either the test results or the transfer request. I was getting nowhere with that, and trying to reassure a sobbing Esme on the phone was enough to make me tear my hair out.
When the phone rang shrilly at three thirty on Friday afternoon, I snatched it up like it held the key to life, and nearly cried when it was finally the call I'd been waiting for. I slumped forward in my chair as the tech rattled off the results for me, my head hanging and the phone barely in my grasp.
~E~D~
I was full of nerves as the buzzer went off, unlocking the door and allowing entry for me and the C.O. accompanying me. I wasn't about to show it, but I wanted to puke. My breath was coming a tad too quickly, and I struggled to regulate it. I saw Aro out of the corner of my eye, speaking with someone down a hallway to my left. He looked up as we passed, and I could feel his glare like knives stabbing me in the back. We stopped and waited for the next door to be unlocked, and I drew in a long, shaky breath.
I had news, and I needed to see how Edward was doing. I never came on a weekday anymore, the drive being too long, but this couldn't wait. It just couldn't.
The buzz sounded, the door unlocked, and C.O. Spencer led me to the private interview room. He let me in, then closed the door behind me. I stared at the door for a very long time before finally turning around and taking my seat. I didn't know what would happen after I spoke with Edward. It wasn't like I'd never been through this, but with this warden, it was anybody's guess. I was desperately, sickly afraid that something awful would happen after I left.
The door abruptly opened across from me, and the battered boy was led in, shackled at the hands and feet again. He looked so young and vulnerable this time, faded yellow and green marks covering his face and neck. He didn't meet my eyes, but shuffled forward forlornly, dropping into the chair like it took all of his waning strength. He had nothing left inside. Not a thing.
The hatred I felt for Aro DeLuca intensified tenfold, seeing how they'd completely broken Edward's spirit. I'd convinced him to hope again, and they'd proven that it was futile, just like he'd originally told me.
I waited for the door to close before I said anything. Even then, when I wanted to get the words out, I couldn't seem to speak.
"Why are you here," he whispered, his voice hoarse. "I told you to stay away. You did this," he accused angrily, his voice getting stronger. "You convinced me that it was okay to hope again, that I needed to have faith in you and the justice system." His laugh was bitter, harsh, and hit its intended target.
"Stop," I said. I trembled, but my voice did not. It echoed in the stillness of the room.
He shook his head, but I rushed to speak again before he could. "Edward, we did it."
His head snapped up, sadness etched in his features. He was as much a victim in all of this bullshit as Lauren Mallory. "Did what?" he whispered.
"The results, the DNA results. It was weakened saliva taken from an aluminum can, it wasn't, uh, it wasn't your bodily fluids. The chain of evidence was a joke, really, it didn't come from the girl's rape kit at all-"
"What are you saying?" His voice was louder, his attention more focused now as I rambled. I watched his throat work as he swallowed convulsively.
"It means, as soon as the judge signs off on it, you are an exoneree."
There was silence in the room as he seemed to process my words. I waited impatiently for him to speak, but I thought he deserved to take a moment.
He looked at me, his deep green eyes changing from anger and desolation to something else - wary hope once again planting its seeds. His lids slipped closed, and I had to strain to hear the words that came next.
"I wondered sometimes, when I was all alone." He paused, taking a deep breath and struggling to continue. "I wondered if-" Tears escaped out from under his closed eyelids, tracking down through the scruff that had started to grow on his jaw. He swallowed. "If I had actually done it. If I'd gotten drunk enough to be the guy they said I was." A shudder ran through his thin frame. "I hated myself, for ten years I've hated myself, and so has my father. I thought I was a rapist," he finished in a low voice. More tears streaked out, and I longed to wipe them away for him.
"You aren't, Edward. You didn't do it, you are not a rapist. Do you hear me? I have the proof at my office, and the judge is signing the papers first thing Monday morning." I leaned forward, and his eyes opened, burning into mine. "Don't tell anybody. Do you understand how serious I am?"
"I won't," he vowed.
"I don't know how they'll take it around here, what with Warden Hotlips in charge. I'm scared for your well being until I can come back for you on Monday."
"I don't know how I'll stand being here until then. Knowing for a fact that I'm innocent-" He stopped. "I've never been able to say that before, to know for absolute fact that it was true."
I smiled broadly. "That's why I do this, you know."
"I thought, after all I've seen and been through, that I had lost my soul. That I was damned to an eternity of whatever there is for people like me."
"I'm not terribly religious, Edward. But I'd say you've earned a pass from whatever god you choose to believe in. You had to pay for someone else's crime. You've earned a sainthood in my book."
We spent another half an hour going over the details. I assured him I would call his mom and dad, and ask them to come with me on Monday. I'd arranged with work to take the day off, and Leah and Liam were going to come with me.
It was so hard to leave this time, to know that he should be coming with me, and that the weekend would pass at a crawl for the both of us. I decided to spend it at my mom and dad's so Emmett didn't have to babysit me.
I was so tired when I got back to the city that I didn't notice the black sedan following me through the crowded streets.
He's getting out! The next chapter will be his release, promise. And, well, she's being followed.
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