My little girl is already shaking her head. “I only want the superhero lady to be my nanny. And then she’ll love me like I love her and wanna be my mommy too! Please find her for me. Please, please.”
It’s not ideal, but it’s progress. Better than her referring to Frankie strictly as her new mommy. A win is a win, after all.
“I’ll try my best, okay?” If only to end this madness.
Ronnie smiles, granting me a temporary reprieve from the darkness. “Okay! Thanks, Daddy.”
My lungs fill with warmth and hope. I’ll track Frankie down just to make my little girl happy. Maybe Bianca can provide some helpful insight.
“Anything for you, cupcake.”
And then she launches herself at me like the cheerful child she was too many months ago. “I love you. So super much. You’re the best.”
Heat stings my eyes and I squeeze my lids shut. “Love you too. You mean everything to me.” Which is why I refuse to fail her again.
One way or another, Frankie is going to face my daughter and expose her true colors.
Aloud buzz fills the claustrophobic room. My brother appears in the narrow doorway, escorted by an armed guard. A faded gray jumpsuit dulls Walker’s already pale complexion. He blends right into the dingy walls of the visitation area like a shit stain on concrete.
The fluorescent light flickers from above, threatening to burn out. It would do us all a favor, but the stench would remain. I wrinkle my nose. This place reeks like stale piss and corruption.
Walker’s muddy brown stare is flat as he shuffles forward. Dark circles hang heavily under his eyes. Neglect coats his jaw in thick stubble. It matches the disheveled mess that his hair has already become. As he drops onto the chair on the opposite side of the bulletproof glass, I can practically hear his spirit dying.
I lift the phone to my ear, waiting to speak until he’s clutching his own receiver. “You look like shit, bro.”
His expression hardens into stone. “Did you come here to ridicule me?”
“Nope, this is more of a courtesy call. To make sure you’re… taken care of.”
Walker raises his cuffed wrists. “Can’t even take a shit in peace.”
I’ve spent enough nights in jail to have personal experience. My petty crimes aren’t worth mentioning compared to his, though. “Probably won’t for many years to come. That’s what happens when you’re on the hook for attempted murder. You’re lucky it wasn’t considered premeditated or you’d be facing a life sentence.”
My idiotic brother was high on who knows what and convinced himself that after our boss died, his estranged son—our cousin—would return to take control of the crew. That delusional state drove Walker to send Colton a message. I only went along for the ride to make sure my brother didn’t do anything too stupid, as if assuming Colton would actually want anything to do with his past life wasn’t bad enough.
He’s still in the hospital recovering after Walker’s trigger finger slipped while under the influence.
“Innocent until proven guilty,” my brother drawls.
I scoff across the tapped line. “Is that what the judge told you?”
“You’d know if you bothered to show up to the trial.”
“Initial hearing,” I correct.
“Same thing.”
My grip on the phone tightens while I picture hammering some sense into his thick skull. “It’s really not.”
That ignorance is just one reason why he’ll rot in county before getting transferred to a more permanent cell. But he’s not ready to accept that.
“Gonna bail me out?”
Laughter bursts out of me. It’s the humorless kind that’s reserved for especially stupid scenarios. “Never took you for a comedian.”
Walker narrows his eyes at my theatrics. “Not tryin’ to be funny.”
“Well, I sure think your optimism is a joke. The judge said no pre-trial release. That means no bail, brother.”