Page 260 of Things We Left Behind

“Sloane.” Lucian’s voice was an affectionate rasp over my name.

“I’m so happy,” I whispered through tears.

“Yes, I can tell,” he said dryly.

“God, I love you.”

“Get ready to really mean it, because I arranged for you and Fran to call Mary Louise to tell her the good news in five minutes.”

“Geez Louise, Lucian,” I said, whipping into my driveway. “I’m running out of room on the blow-­jobs-­when-­the-­doctor-­clears-­you tally sheet.”

“I’m confident you’ll make room,” he said. “Now go call Mary Louise.”

“I appreciate the call, but like I said before, I’m not going to change my mind about this. I’m not going to endanger my son by telling my story,” Mary Louise announced as soon as the greetings were exchanged.

“Why don’t you share the news?” Fran said to me from the screen of my laptop. She was wearing a canary-­yellow knit blazer with sparkly threads.

I was all but bouncing out of my chair. “Mary Louise, you don’t have to tell your story, and we don’t have to appeal. But you’re still going to go home soon.”

Her face froze and then her eyes started to go wide. “I’m sorry. I think there’s something wrong with our connection. It sounded like you said…”

“It’s true,” Fran verified. “The judge has been implicated in some hinky dealings, and once the investigation is underway, they’re going to be taking a hard look at his cases. Starting with yours.”

“The judge and everyone else connected is going down. Not only won’t you have to do anything about it, you also won’t have to worry about retaliation anymore,” I promised her, knowing Lucian would help me keep that promise.

Mary Louise brought her hands to her face, covering her eyes. “I don’t believe it. I just can’t believe it.”

“Believe it,” Fran advised with a rare smile. “Now here’s what I think we can expect…”

As the lawyer walked Mary Louise through the next steps, I absentmindedly paged through Mary Louise’s case file. All those years lost. All that time stolen. It could have easily been Lucian all those years ago.

All because greedy men wanted to line their pockets. I hoped they’d pay. Every last one of them. Lucian and I would make sure that they did, even as we figured out this new normal and began to build a life together.

And Mary Louise would get her life back.

Tears clouded my vision again. I blinked them back and stared down at the papers on the desk. A familiar name on the page caught my eye, and I frowned. It was a copy of Mary Louise’s arrest record.Arresting Officer: Chief Wylie Ogden.

My heart stuttered in my chest.

Lucian had mentioned local law enforcement had been on Hugo’sprison scheme payroll. Was Wylie one of them? He sure as hell hadn’t played by the book when he was chief of police, letting his friends off the hook and cracking down on citizens he didn’t feel any loyalty toward.

Another thought struck me like a brick to the face. He’d been friends with Tate Dilton, who had been up to his eyeballs in involvement with the Hugo crime family. What if Wylie had been the one to make the introduction?

My heartbeat was echoing in my skull. I needed to call Lucian. And Nash.

“We’ll be in touch as soon as we know more, but we wanted you to know that your days in that place are officially numbered,” Fran was saying, drawing my attention back to my laptop.

Mary Louise’s shoulders shook as she cried silently. She dropped her hands suddenly. “My baby. Does Allen know?”

I shook off my stupor and pasted a smile on my face. “Not yet. We thought he’d like to hear the news from you—­”

The video feed and everything else in the house cut off abruptly.

“Damn it,” I muttered. Power outages never happened at convenient times.

I snatched up the arrest report and was just scrolling for Lucian’s number on my phone when the doorbell rang.

I raced to the front door, hoping it was Nash on official wedding business, and yanked it open.