Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
And I hope Sara’s going to bring it all to bear on these fucks because my boy Nicolas really is innocent.
We’re led down a back hallway and into an interview room. The guard leaves us alone and we’re sitting on the same side of a table with rings built into the other end for the inmate’s wrist chains. I lean back and watch as Sara opens her briefcase and starts getting her shit together. I catch glimpses of files and notebooks and photographs.
“Is that all the evidence the state has?” I ask.
“Not all of it,” she says and her lips push together. That’s the look she gets when she’s annoyed, which is the expression she has most of the time. “They’re being cagey. They keep promising the rest of it, but somehow there’s a new excuse every day.”
“That’s always the way.”
“Makes me curious.” She taps a pen against her lips. “Who would want to set Nicolas up?”
I tilt my head side to side. “I don’t think it’s about Nicolas at all. Better question is, who would want to hurt the Scavo Famiglia?”
She studies me for a moment. “Well? Who?”
I spread my hands. “Your guess is as good as mine. We’re a bunch of saints.”
She sighs and I grin at her. I love the way she acts like I’m the most frustrating man in the world, and maybe I play it up a little bit when I’m with her, just to get a rise. And she never fails to deliver.
“This is my first jailhouse visit,” she says quietly, suddenly, still staring at her notes, but I notice her hand is trembling slightly and the nib of her pen makes little skittering marks across the yellow lined pad.
“You’ll be fine, don’t worry. Nicolas is a good kid and I’m here with you.”
Her smile is bitter. “Your presence isn’t as reassuring as you might think.”
“I’m a delight and you’re glad I’m back in your life.”
“We both know that isn’t true.” The door cracks open and the guards come in first. I swallow my reply as Nicolas is led to the table and locked into place as he gets settled on the lone metal chair.
He looks harried and tired. Big, black bags hang under his dark eyes. His black hair is greasy and messed up like he hasn’t showered since he got picked up, and there’s a fresh bruise under his right eye. We don’t speak until the guards leave.
“Nice outfit,” I say and nod at his orange jumpsuit.
He grins at me. “Same to you. God, fucking hell, Angelo, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“How you doing, kid?”
“I’m all right. Surviving.”
I gesture at his face. “Looks like you got into a scrap.”
He glances down at the handcuffs on his wrists. “There are guys in here.”
We go silent and let that sink in. I know what he means and I’m sure Sara does too. She looks queasy and nervous but she’s hiding it pretty well behind her rigid back and her hard expression.
“If you’re in danger, I can speak to the staff,” she says. “My name is Sara Bray and I’ll be your lawyer.”
“You’re the one Carmine promised? You’re good, right? Listen, I know it’s fucking crazy and I bet you don’t believe me, but I’m innocent.”
She glances at me. “I believe you,” she says quietly. “And so does Angelo.”
“We know you didn’t do it. Shit, you can barely tie your shoes, much less kill five cartel guys.”
He looks relieved. It’s almost pathetic. “They were dead when I got there, but the cops, they kept saying they found evidence. I haven’t said a fucking word to them since they brought me in, but they can’t have anything, can they? I was in the room for like a minute at most.”
“It appears they do,” Sara says. “Nicolas, I need to know everything, the whole story, start to finish. Everything you saw, everything you heard, everything you touched, and everything you smelled. Tell me whatever you remember.”
I nod to the kid and he clears his throat before he dives into the story.
It’s more or less what I told her. As he talks, Sara takes notes. She watches him, and he’s staring at the table, and I keep looking at her. The girl’s in over her head, that much is obvious, but she’s smart and capable or else Carmine wouldn’t have brought her into this. He’s a good judge of character, and in this situation, I completely agree with his decision, even if she doesn’t specialize in murder defense.
She’s still smart and at least she’s willing to listen. Most lawyers, they see a guy like Nicolas, they see a little evidence from the cops, they immediately assume we’re full of shit.
For once, we’re not.
“I might’ve touched the table. When I got into the room, I freaked out, you know? There was blood everywhere, it was absolutely crazy, and I panicked. But once I got myself together, I ran the hell out of there and called Angelo.”