“I know,” I said, too afraid to tell him the charges. “I just want to get out of here and be somewhere safe. Be with you.”
Everything was such a mess, and from the outside, I understood that it looked like I was one hundred percent guilty, no questions asked. I wanted to be there when he had the charges explained to him so I could tell him what really happened, but that would mean getting out of jail, and they weren’t letting me go anywhere, anytime soon. I knew that all of this might have been too much for Blaine to take, and I would understand if he took off and washed his hands of the whole thing. We may love each other, but sometimes, outside events are stronger than love. Sometimes, even love can’t hold up against murder charges. I wouldn’t blame him, though. I wasn’t even sure what I would do if the roles were reversed. There was no way he could totally believe me, without questioning it in some way.
Blaine leaned his head forward and slid his hands up to grasp my face. He kissed me gently through the bars. The buzzer to the outside door went off, and a guard walked in. Blaine looked over at him and nodded, grasping my hands even tighter. He looked me in the eyes like he always did, and I didn’t see a tiny pinch of doubt in his gaze. He leaned forward and kissed me again, and I could tell our time was up.
“I want you to stay strong,” he said. “Let them know you want to see me so I can start being allowed regular visits, and we can get this all straightened out. In the meantime, I’m putting together a team of the best lawyers in the state, and we are going to find a way to prove your innocence. Whoever is doing this will not get away with it forever. I promise. There are always holes in every story, and I’m going to find theirs.”
“Okay,” I said, sniffling and walking along the cage as he walked toward the door.
“I’m going to get these ridiculous charges dropped if it’s the last thing I do,” he said. “Just hang in there, okay? And Josie? I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I said, walking along.
“You’ll see it’s all worth it when you are free and we sue the hell out of the city for putting you through this.”
I shook my head and grasped onto the bars as he was escorted from the area. The door slammed behind him, and I jumped, closing my eyes and letting the tears fall down my cheeks. I walked back over to the bed and opened up the gray, scratchy blanket. I pulled the hood of my jumpsuit over my head and laid down on the thin mattress. I pulled the blanket over my body and huddled underneath, thankful that it was at least warm. I stared at the cinder block wall, only glancing up when a guard would enter or exit the area outside the cells. I could smell the cold steel of the bars and the not so clean toilet against the wall. I turned my body over and faced the wall, not wanting anyone to see me crying. I pulled the rubber band from my hair and let my locks fall to my shoulders, covering my neck and helping me to stay warm.
I wanted to crawl into a ball and never come out. I was absolutely terrified in that place, and it got even worse when the women in other cells would start acting crazy. I knew they were bored, but I was the target of the moment, being the newest one in there and the most fragile. Those girls saw right through me, and I even heard them whispering that there was no way I could have killed anyone. I wished the police would open their eyes and see it that way, too. But they weren’t going to, and I needed to come to terms with the fact that there was a really good chance I would be spending a lot more time behind bars. I needed to start getting comfortable with the steel bars and cold floors.
Chapter 19
Blaine
I scanned through the court documents in front of me, unable to fully comprehend what I was looking at. The district attorney was throwing a long list of charges at Josie, from obstruction of justice to murder in the first degree. Anyone who talked to her for five seconds would realize she wasn’t capable of committing crimes like these, but apparently, the state of Florida didn’t agree with me.
Obviously, the first-degree murder charge was the most serious. It was a capital offense. If convicted by a jury, she could be facing the death penalty. She could be facing lethal injection or a life in prison for a murder she wasn’t even part of. I couldn’t understand how the justice system had failed her so badly. I became a lawyer because I believed in the system. I knew if the judicial system was working properly, someone’s innocence or guilt would be brought to light, but this did not feel like the system was working properly. This was a witch hunt.
Every single one of the detectives working the case seemed more interested in pinning this murder on Josie than actually finding out the truth. They weren’t trying to determine her culpability or look for other suspects. They were completely focused on proving she was guilty.
Josie was my sweet and innocent baby. There was no way she was guilty of this crime. She was the most loving woman I had ever met, and she didn’t have connections to anyone in the community where the victim lived, much less the victim herself. There had to be more to the story than what was being presented. Unfortunately, the police had some damaging evidence against her, and although the witness testimony could be explained away since they were so high up in the building, the fact that the murder weapon and victim’s clothing were found in Josie’s trashcan would be difficult to explain. There had to be a mistake here somewhere, and I was determined to find it.
I knew that I couldn’t solve this case on my own, so I had been putting together a team to help with the research and defense. I called Anderson to my office to go over the details and help consult with me on proving Josie’s innocence. I knew it would be hard for him to swallow, but I had never been surer of anything in my life, and I knew that he would respect that. I leaned back in my chair, my mind racing over the details presented so far in the case. Although our firm specialized in financial law, we had some really solid talent and were ready to start diving into criminal defense. I knew my father would have never questioned me on the decision, and I think that Anderson knew that as well, since he didn’t even try to argue us out of taking the case.
Anderson walked to the door of my office and tapped on the doorframe, bringing me out of my swirling thoughts. He was wearing one of his Armani suits, and his peppered hair made him look like Richard Gere. I nodded and tipped my chair forward, motioning for him to come in. He shut the door behind him and sat down across from me, his face twisted in concern.
“I want to say something, and you may not like it,” he said.
“Go ahead,” I replied.
“The evidence is mounting against Josie, and it’s going to be incredibly difficult to prove her innocence without a single soul seeing her that day,” he said.
“Her father saw her,” I reminded him.
“Yes, her gambling-addicted father who has been MIA now for weeks,” he replied. “I want to make sure that you really trust this girl. I don’t think it’s a strange or outrageous question to ask. You’ve only known her for a couple of weeks. Is it possible she just pulled the wool over your eyes?”
“No,” I said, looking down at the documents on my desk. “I know Josie, like really know her. She is the kindest woman I have ever met, and there is no way she did this. I know it, not just in my brain, but in my heart as well. It’s not wishful thinking. It’s just the way it is.”
“All right,” Anderson said with a sigh after watching my face for several moments. “So, let’s get to it. What are we working with here?”
I pulled out everything I had on the case, and Anderson and I went to work, starting to piece together our defense strategy. I could see the concern on his face when he went over the evidence, but I realized how good of an eye he had for details. A fresh pair of eyes was worth its weight in gold. Anderson pointed out that the knife and shirt w
ere found in a trashcan on the curb, not necessarily Josie’s trashcan. And even if it was her trashcan, anyone could have had access to it.
We called the precinct to find out more about that and sent one of our team members over to check it out. If it wasn’t Josie’s trashcan, that could help us prove that someone was trying to set her up. Just as we pulled out our notebooks and started making lists of things to do, my secretary alerted me to a call on line one.
I picked up the phone, looking down at the paperwork as I answered. The voice on the other end of the line was a woman’s. She was quick to respond and started asking me questions about the school teacher that was accused of murder. Instantly, I realized that she was someone from the media. I replied to her with no comment and slammed the phone down on the receiver. The media frenzy was starting already.
“That was the media asking about the school teacher accused of murder,” I said, rubbing my face. “I knew it was coming eventually, but I didn’t think it would be this fast.”