Chapter 1 - THE MAN WHO WASN’T SUPPOSED TO CRY
The alarm screamed at 6:12 in the morning.
Daniel Reyes woke to boots pounding down the hallway and a guard shouting, “Everybody against the wall! Now!”
His forty-second birthday had officially begun.
“Happy birthday to me,” Daniel muttered.
His cellmate, Marcus, glanced at him. “Man, you seriously picked the worst place in America for a birthday party.”
Daniel almost laughed.
Almost.
Then three officers appeared outside the cell.
One of them pointed directly at him.
“Reyes. On your feet.”
Daniel’s stomach dropped.
“What happened?”
“Move.”
“Am I being transferred?”
No answer.
That scared him more than a yes.
Daniel had been inside the county detention center for eighty-nine days. Eighty-nine mornings waking up under fluorescent lights. Eighty-nine nights staring at a concrete ceiling while imagining his wife sleeping alone.
Eighty-nine days since he had touched his children.
His daughter Sofia was ten.
His son Mateo had just turned six.
Every Sunday, they came to see him.
Behind glass.
They would pick up the phones on opposite sides and pretend everything was normal.
Mateo would press his tiny palm against the window.
Daniel would press his hand against the same spot.
“You feel me, Dad?” Mateo always asked.
“Every time.”
It was a lie.
Daniel felt cold glass.
That was all.
Now an officer cuffed his wrists.
Daniel looked toward Marcus.
Marcus frowned. “You good?”
“I don’t know.”
They walked him through two security doors.
Then three.
Then down a hallway Daniel had never seen before.
His pulse quickened.
A female officer waited near a steel elevator.
Officer Maya Collins.
She was one of the few guards who spoke to inmates like they were human beings.
Daniel had noticed that.
“You’re coming with me,” she said.
“Where?”
“Upstairs.”
“Why?”
Collins didn’t answer.
Daniel stopped walking.
The officer behind him shoved his shoulder.
“Keep moving.”
Daniel spun around.
“Don’t push me.”
The hallway went silent.
The officer stepped closer. “You want to make your birthday worse?”
Collins immediately stepped between them.
“That’s enough.”
“He stopped moving.”
“I said that’s enough, Baker.”
Officer Baker stared at her, jaw tight.
Then he backed away.
Collins looked at Daniel.
“Come on.”
Inside the elevator, Daniel whispered, “How did you know it was my birthday?”
Collins watched the numbers change above the door.
“I read files.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“No.”
The elevator stopped.
The doors opened.
Daniel expected another hallway.
Instead, he saw a table.
A white tablecloth.
Paper plates.
Balloons.
And in the middle—
a massive birthday cake.
Daniel froze.
“What the hell is this?”
Officer Collins reached behind him and unlocked his cuffs.
Daniel slowly rubbed his wrists.
“This some kind of joke?”
“No.”
He stared at the cake.
Chocolate.
His favorite.
Blue frosting around the edges.
Exactly the way Elena used to order it.
His chest tightened.
“Who told you?”
Collins said nothing.
Daniel looked around the empty room.
“No.”
His voice cracked.
“No, don’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“Give me a cake and expect me to smile.”
Collins’s expression changed.
“Daniel—”
“My kids should be here.”
“I know.”
“My wife should be here.”
“I know.”
“I haven’t hugged my son in three months.”
Collins looked toward the door.
Daniel followed her eyes.
A second door stood at the far end of the room.
Something moved behind its narrow window.
Daniel’s breathing stopped.
Then he heard it.
A little voice.
Muffled through the door.
“Daddy?”
May you like
Daniel’s knees nearly gave out.
The handle began to turn.
