“This right here is why.” Jay shoves him back. “You’re too hotheaded and emotionally invested in this case. I brought in someone who can be clinical. And you finished your damn report, you’ve been too chicken shit to turn it in.”
“Fuck you, Jay!” Trent jabs a finger in his direction. “Back the hell off. I should have had a say. You know as well as I do, we can avoid this whole thing.”
“Avoid it?” Jay laughs. “After the way you acted about it, I can’t brush this under the rug. Every DA in the county is salivating for this case and this deal after you made it that way.”
Trent’s hands slide behind his head and a defeated look crosses his face. My mind swirls from all the information and accusations.
“Can you give us a minute?” I ask, turning to Jay and Stephanie. They both eye me warily. “Please?” I add and they finally back off.
When they’re a safe distance away, I turn back to Trent, whose gaze is traveling over every part of me. The look in his eyes is agonizing, again adding to the confusion. I clear my throat and his gaze jumps to mine. “This is for the best. We were both too caught up in the feelings and hurt. Stephanie has been great.”
“You call six to ten great?” Trent scoffs.
“It’s what I deserve, Trent,” I remind him. “I’ve done really awful things.”
“You were forced to under duress and your life being threatened,” he argues.
“I still committed crimes.” My voice doesn’t shake and I’m proud of myself. “I did it. And now it’s over. I will take six to ten over being dead. I can sleep at night knowing I finally did something right by ending it all.”
“I didn’t…I didn’t want it this way,” his voice crumbles a little and his head lowers, “I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I pushed so hard. I was blind and mad and frustrated. I didn’t know how to handle my feelings or the truth. I couldn’t move past what happened back then.”
“It’s okay,” I tell him. “I don’t blame you. I know I hurt you and I’m sorry. My reasons don’t mean much to you, and I can understand. Just please love my daughter.”
Trent pulls me into his arms, right as I start crying. Ugly, terrible sobs are torn from my throat, and Trent’s arms just hold me tighter, closer.
“Our daughter, Scar,” he says into my hair, gathering my body as close as possible, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“I am too,” I whisper to him, my arms winding around his waist.
“I love you. I never stopped.” His voice cracks and pieces of my heart do right along with it.
“I love you, too.”
Both of us are a mess. Trent doesn’t let me go until Jay walks back and informs him that we have to go. I pull back first, my eyes lowered, so I don’t have to look at him. I only make it one step out of his arms before he’s snatching me back, his hands cupping my face and his mouth on mine. There is nothing gentle in this kiss. It’s fast and fierce, full of longing, apologies, and love. My body sways from the lack of oxygen, and it takes another warning from Jay before Trent finally does release me.
My cheeks are red, and my lips are swollen by the time I’m cuffed and placed in the back of the car. Stephanie and Jay drive us out of the garage. Trent stands stoic, watching the entire time until I can’t see him anymore.
I learn quickly court is not what it looks like on television. I’m up, down, asked to say a few things, then the judge decides my fate. I’m given six years with the possibility of parole in three. I’ll take it. Jay straps me with a vest before we leave, the final act in this long-awaited drama. My mind buzzes while my body can’t relax, knowing I’m waiting to be shot at. Hopefully, only Jay’s sniper will be the one using me for target practice today. We walk outside and, sure enough, there is a mob of reporters and journalists lining the block. I keep my eyes peeled for any faces I may recognize and I attempt my best to look like the smug criminal I’m supposed to be.
The shot being fired makes me jump, even though it was expected and I feel a stinging sensation, a thousand times worse than being hit with a paintball pellet. I go down, just as Jay told me to, which actually works as the rubber bullet takes my breath away. Red, synthetic blood runs over my chest and I close my eyes, letting my body become limp. It is pandemonium on the sidewalk. People are running, taking shelter, and sirens are heard in the background. On the cement, with my eyes closed, I relax under the sun and picture my baby. If this is how I die, it sure is the best way to go. I say goodbye to my old life one more time.
Happily Ever After….
Trent
Want to talk about life changing? Try witnessing the love of your life die in front of you. I wanted to kill Jay when he didn’t tell me the plan. After apologizing to Scarlet, only two hours before her hearing, and not even getting the opportunity to say everything I should have, she is shot outside the court house and supposedly dies in front of me. In hindsight, Jay made the best choice, to keep me away; on the other hand, I would have preferred to be in the loop. I lost my shit that day. Suddenly the past no longer mattered and the only thing I could feel was the agonizing pain of losing Scarlet. Underneath her alias was the girl I loved. In the end, it took thinking I lost her for me to realize why she tried so hard to save everyone, and it’s simple. She loved me. She loved her cousin. She loves our daughter. She would rather die than have us feel pain.
I made the decision to man up. I took Selene to see Scarlet before she was transported to the facility where she would serve her time. Then I took Selene home and showed her my house. We painted her room and picked out all her furniture and decorations. I enrolled her in school, and we used FaceTime to call Aunty Evie every night until she felt comfortable not to. Evita decided to stay in Talum, although she has made some frequent trips back to Florida after a chance run in with Elias when she was helping me move Selene. Jay moved out East to be with Blaise and I was offered his position. In the end, I turned it down because I didn’t want to lose more time with my daughter. Being a single parent was hard enough, still building a relationship with Selene was extra work and I was willing to put the time in. Scarlet wasn’t lying when she told me that she told Selene all about me. Baby girl even had a picture of me she kept by her bedside.
On our weekends, Selene spends Saturdays with either my parents or Evita while I keep up appearances at Scar. My parents were thrilled to have a granddaughter. Right away, my mom was a martyr for Scarlet and condemned me for being an idiot. They never even met, but my mom is a sucker for a good love story. Every Sunday I take Selene to visit Scar. We get three hours with her every week. Even if Selene is unable to go, I still make the four-hour, roundtrip drive to see her. I miss her. I feel lost and hopeless thinking about the time we’re missing. I apologize so much that eventually Scarlet threatened to ban me from her accepted list unless I stop. My parents have even made a trip to meet Scarlet while she’s been away, and they fell in love with her too.
For a year and half, we make life work this way. Then the miracle of all miracles happens, good behavior. That’s what Scar calls it; I call it a favor from higher places. And I’ll never tell how. Standing outside the gate, waiting for her to come out, is agony. My insides are screaming with the need to see her and hold her. I made the trip by myself while everyone else is waiting at my house for a surprise party. When I finally see her, my heart stops, just like it did that night on the beach.