Chapter 6

Anna Claiborne had been Lea Scott’s best friend for a thousand years; well, since high school anyway. She was there for her now. Oh my, yes she was.

“Honey, you need to calm down. He did what he had to do. That evil man, those evil men, were going to use you and then throw you away. Andrew knew that and he made sure that they would never be able to anything like that to you again. He’s our hero. Yes, he killed them, and he is going to be punished for that, unjustly as far as I’m concerned. But to my mind he’s still a hero, no matter what that judge said,” said Anna.

“He is my hero too, Anna. He will always be my hero. My hero and Kari’s. I just wish that we’d been able to get married. You know what he told me when I talked to him in the jail?” she said. “He told me that the most important thing in the world to him was his fatherhood of our child. I had to guarantee that I would make sure that our baby knew who her father was no question. Hah, like there is any chance that anyone else would ever be able to take his place in that role!”

“For sure,” said Anna. “Have you been able to find out when he will be transported upstate?”

“Yes, it’ll be a few more days, maybe even a week, but soon,” she said, and she began to cry yet again.

“Let’s go home. I know your mom wanted to be here today, but with little Kari...” started Anna.

“Yes, yes, I need to get home. Mom is so worried about me. At least I have a home to go to. That’s something, right?” said Lea.

“You bet it is. And me and your mom are there for you and of course little Kari too,” said Anna.

“Lea, what happened!” said Cecilia Scott. Lea swallowed.

“He was sentenced, Mom,” said Lea. Cecilia could see from her daughter’s look that the news was not hopeful. She nodded.

Cecilia looked over at Anna who was carrying two purses and shaking her head.

“He got ten to twenty-five years, Mom. I don’t know how I’m going to cope,” said Lea. “Those were bad men Mom, very bad men.” Cecilia nodded.

“I know,” she said. What she didn’t say was that her daughter had brought this whole thing down on herself by insisting on a lifestyle that was bound to have a bad outcome, and now it had.

Anna set the purses down on the dinette table of the small two-bedroom residence and took a seat beside her friend, holding her close, protectively.

“I have to say, I think his lawyer tried, but he just wasn’t as good as he might have been,” said Anna. “He was young, lacked experience. Well, it’s what I think.”

“He’s going to appeal,” said Lea.

“Yes, I heard him tell him that, but...” said Anna.

“Long shot,” said Cecilia.

“Yes,” said Anna. Lea howled.

I guess it was routine protocol. But I’d no more than been returned to the holding cell before the guard told me my lawyer was waiting for me and to follow him, the guard. I stood up from the cot I’d plopped down on and followed him out to the meeting room. The man hadn’t even bothered to cuff me; well, where was I going to go.

The guard opened the steel door and nodded for me to go inside. He closed it behind me as he left us to our conversation.

“It’s long, Andrew, but not forever,” said Jesse. And yes, we were using first names at this point in our short but intense relationship. I liked the man. I saw him as doing his best for me. But the cops had me dead to rights. I was holding the fucking gun when they came upon us, me and Lea.

“What are my chances at getting out in the minimum?” I said.

“It varies. It depends a lot on behavior and guard reports while you’re in there,” he said. “But...”

“But?” I said.

“Realistically, it’ll likely be a bit longer, but again, depending,” he said. “The men I’ve defended before on similar charges, and there’ve been a few, got out between twelve and fifteen years. None have spent the max inside.” I nodded.

So, I was looking at a likelihood of a max of fifteen. I’d be cluing Lea as to that reality when I next saw her. I knew I was going to be transported upstate in a week or so. After that it would be months before I would be allowed visitors; there were rules, and, limits.