The Hero's Redemption

Her mouth fell open. She couldn’t help it. Completely blown away, she said, “But—” She tried to slot in the pieces until they fit, but—“I don’t believe it. You, shoot someone? No way.” Not the quiet, gentle, caring man she knew. “Even if you were high or something… No.” She shook her head.

“I was convicted.” He sounded odd, his voice unfamiliar. “The prosecutor made her case, and the jury bought it.”

Erin kept shaking her head. She’d guessed… She didn’t know what, but not murder. Not rape. The man who’d held her every time she needed him, who’d raced to help Mr. Zatloka, who’d done small favors for the old folks up and down the street without being asked, without expecting thanks…

“No,” she said again. “Will you tell me what really happened?”

He stared at her for the longest time before a raw sound tore from his throat and he bent forward, elbows braced on his knees, his hands covering his face. His shoulders shook.

Shocked, Erin pushed herself to a sitting position despite the fireworks going off in her head. “Cole?” He was crying. She wanted desperately to wrap her arms around him, hold him. Well, she’d have to do it with one arm, but that had to be good enough. By slow degrees, she scooted toward the edge of the bed.

He lifted his head, face wet. “Damn it, what are you doing? Lie down before you fall out of bed!”

“What did I say?” she begged. “I didn’t mean—”

He used the corner of the white hospital blanket to wipe his face. “I’m sorry. I…can’t remember the last time I lost it like this.”

“But…”

He was on his feet, moving her back to the middle of the bed, arranging her until he decided she was comfortable. Or so she thought.

Then he sat back down, wiped his face with the hem of his T-shirt and gave the strangest laugh. “I should have known.”

“Known what?”

“I kept thinking you had X-ray eyes. That I didn’t really have any secrets from you.” He laughed again, a little more naturally. “Turns out I was right.”

“You didn’t do it.”

“I didn’t.” He swallowed. “Dani claims to believe me, although I wonder. Otherwise, you’re the first person who has believed me. Even my father—” Cole had to stop.

Fury leaped as if it had been fed by gasoline. “I want to punch him,” she muttered.

This time, he laughed at her. “You’re ten years too late. And—” he sobered “—I did commit some crimes. I’d gotten into drugs—cocaine—and joined a crowd that was into stuff I didn’t let myself think about.” He hesitated, his gaze sliding from hers. “When a guy supposedly cheated one of my friends on a drug deal, I went along with the others and helped smash the shit out of his car. That was the worst thing I did. Got caught, too.”

“What happened? I mean with the law.”

“I made a deal. They don’t have room in the jail for punks. It put me on the cop radar, though. After my father hauled me home, he slammed me against a wall and I hit him. I packed my stuff and moved out.”

“Tough guy, huh?”

“Angry guy. I don’t totally know why. He and I butted heads even before Mom died, but it got a lot worse after. I’ve told you that. The older I was, the harder he came down on me. Dani could do no wrong, and then there was me. It was like…I was a threat to him. He became more and more rigid. I rebelled.” He grimaced. “Stupid.

“The thing is, I never liked guns. I didn’t own one. I went to the shooting range with friends a few times, which might have been the biggest mistake of my life. I used this guy’s gun.”

“Your fingerprints were on it,” she said slowly.

“You got it. I asked my attorney to find out if the range kept a video that would show me handling the gun there. She claimed they didn’t keep it that long, but I think she didn’t bother looking. She was more interested in making a plea deal than in defending me.” Cole’s voice was hard now. “The trouble with the plea was, I’d have to admit I’d done the crime, and I refused. It got so I could have served as little as three years, but I kept saying no. What a stubborn ass.” He shook his head. “I was so sure I wouldn’t be convicted.”