Chapter 10 - BACK TO THE GLASS
The hearing stopped.
The investigation exploded.
And Ethan knew none of it.
All he knew was that a guard told him he had a visit.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Knox stood outside his holding room.
“Your wife refused to leave until she saw you.”
“She shouldn’t be here.”
“Try telling her that.”
Ethan almost smiled.
They escorted him to visitation.
This time, no general room.
No other prisoners.
Only Claire.
Rosie.
And glass.
The moment Rosie saw him, she lit up.
“DADA!”
Every fear Ethan had carried all day disappeared for one second.
He sat down.
Picked up the phone.
Pressed his hand to the glass.
Rosie slapped hers against it.
Claire looked exhausted.
“You okay?”
“You already asked me that.”
“I’m asking again.”
“Still ugly. Still alive.”
She laughed.
Then cried.
“Ethan.”
“What?”
“The judge saw the video.”
His heart jumped.
“And?”
“She was going to vacate the conviction.”
Was.
He heard that word.
“Was?”
Claire hesitated.
“Detective Harris is dead.”
Ethan’s face changed.
“What?”
“They found him today.”
“How?”
“They’re investigating.”
“Claire.”
“I don’t know.”
He looked down.
This was getting bigger.
People were scared.
Scared people did desperate things.
“Listen to me. You take Rosie and go somewhere nobody knows.”
“I’m not running.”
“This isn’t about courage.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
Claire leaned closer to the glass.
“Don’t tell me what I know.”
Ethan stopped.
She continued.
“I spent three years standing beside people who looked me in the face and told me maybe you lied to me.”
Her voice shook.
“I watched our bank account disappear. I sold your truck. I moved in with my mother. I gave birth while you listened through a prison phone because they denied your emergency visit.”
Ethan looked down.
“I know what this costs.”
Claire pressed her palm against the glass.
“But I also know what happens if we stop now.”
Rosie placed her hand over Claire’s.
Ethan covered both from the other side.
Three hands.
One wall.
“I just want you safe.”
“I want you home.”
Rosie leaned forward and kissed the glass.
Ethan laughed through tears.
“Hey, baby girl.”
She frowned at him.
Then reached.
Not at the glass.
Around it.
As if her little arm could somehow bend through the barrier.
Ethan’s face broke.
He stood instinctively.
“Baby…”
Rosie started crying.
“Dada!”
“I’m right here.”
“Dada!”
“I’m here.”
Officer Knox entered.
“Cole.”
Ethan didn’t turn.
“Not now.”
“Cole.”
“I still have time.”
Knox walked closer.
“Visit’s over.”
Claire stood.
“What?”
Ethan finally turned.
“No.”
Knox grabbed his arm.
“No, man. Not like this.”
“Move.”
Rosie screamed.
“DADDY!”
Ethan fought the tears.
“Thirty seconds.”
“Cole.”
“Please.”
Knox looked at him.
For one strange second, his hard face changed.
Almost like he felt sorry for him.
Then he tightened his grip.
“Trust me.”
Ethan stared at him.
“What?”
Knox pulled him away.
Claire shouted.
Rosie screamed.
And the steel door closed between them.
Back in the hallway, Ethan ripped his arm free.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Knox looked toward a second door at the end of the corridor.
“Taking you somewhere you’ve been trying to get to for three years.”
The lock buzzed.
May you like
The door slowly opened.
And Ethan saw daylight.
