said, breathing deeply. “I just… I’m anxious.”
“I can see that.” He nodded. “And I understand, but unfortunately, I can’t disclose any information to you. I just came to see how you were holding up.”
“There’s nothing you can give me?” I asked desperately. “Nothing at all?”
“All I can say is that there has been movement in the case,” Manolo said.
I tried to bottle up my hope so that I could live off it for the next few hours, but it vanished as soon as it appeared. Manolo’s face was a blank canvas that gave nothing away. His words were somewhat encouraging, but they could have meant anything.
“Have you spoken to Brent?” I asked, hoping his answer would give me a clue.
“I can’t say,” Manolo replied.
“How about Megan?” I asked.
“I can’t say,” he repeated.
I sighed. “What can you say then?” I asked.
“Try doing some push-ups,” he said, with a slight smile. “Keep active in here…it’ll help you from going crazy.”
I sighed. “I doubt it.”
“You know your boys are with you, right?” Manolo said. “Everyone down at the fire station believes you a hundred percent. They want you to know that they have your back.”
That did make a small difference, and I managed to crack a smile. Then I thought about the person I cared about most in the world right now and my smile faded. Manolo noticed that immediately.
“Don’t be too hard on her,” he said, as though he knew exactly what I was thinking. “She really does love you.”
I looked up at him. “So you have spoken to her.”
Manolo only smiled.
“She didn’t believe me,” I said softly. “I thought she knew me better than anyone else in the world… Turns out it took one measly arrest to change her mind and break her faith in me.”
“There is overwhelming evidence that points to you in all this,” Manolo reminded me.
“I don’t care,” I said heatedly. “She knew me. She should have known what I was capable of.”
“Sometimes love can blind…”
I frowned. “I just told you, she believed me when I was accused of—”
“What I mean is that she probably thought she had been blind because she loved you,” he explained. “She probably thought she had missed the signs because she cared about you so much.”
“Is that her excuse, or yours?”
Manolo smiled. “You’ve been in there barely five days, Phil,” he said. “You don’t get to be this bitter.”
“Is it strange that I’m more worried about my relationship than about my job?” I asked.
Until I’d said it out loud to Manolo just then, I hadn’t actually admitted as much to myself. I felt a small amount of release, except that it was hollow because I was so hurt and angry with Megan for actually believing that I was guilty, especially when it was her own brother who had put me in this position.
“It’s not strange,” Manolo said kindly. “You love her.”
“Fat lot of good that did me.”
“Hey, you haven’t been found guilty yet—remember that,” he said sternly.