Page 8 of Hard Heart

“A group of congresspeople taking bribes from drug companies to shape regulations. It didn’t go anywhere. Tasha refused to believe Doug Thresher’s death was an accident, and she was worried they’d go after the rest of her family if she kept talking. Her sister thought she’d been followed a time or two. Tasha tried appealing on the grounds that she didn’t receive a fair trial, but the appeal was thrown out.”

“But you tried again?”

“It wasn’t a fair trial. Her boyfriend cheated, and the prosecution introduced a revenge motive, which was both unproven and prejudicial.”

“So that was the conspiracy? The journalist was murdered, and then the judge presided over an unfair trial?”

“There’s more. Tasha insisted that the only way the baby could have died was if someone snuck into her house while she was asleep, lifted Livvy from her crib, and placed her in the car.”

I pulled a “yikes” face before I could stop myself. “That sounds a little far-fetched.”

“Yup, and the culprit even replaced her car key in her purse afterward.”

“Did you get back to court with any of that?”

“I was working for a different nonprofit last year, and right after I started digging into Tasha’s case, a major benefactor pulled out, and half of us lost our jobs. Probably just a coincidence, but…” She shrugged. “Now I sound like the conspiracy theorist.”

“You think you touched a nerve?”

Raelene laughed, but it sounded forced. “Oh, I poke the bear every day. That’s the nature of the job, isn’t it? A colleague was supposed to take over, but as far as I know, Tasha’s still in prison. My point is that even if there’s some merit to the case, even if you can find a way to challenge the conviction, the conspiracy stuff gets in the way and threatens to derail the whole process. Plus in Virginia, your options are limited. How long ago was Sykes convicted?”

“Over nine years.”

“So you’ve missed the twenty-one-day deadline for a direct appeal and the two-year limit for habeas corpus. That really only leaves a writ of actual innocence if you can find new evidence and explain why it was missed before, or clemency. And clemency is out—the governor ran on a platform of law and order, and he thinks we’re meddling do-gooders at the best of times.”

“You’re not exactly selling this job.”

Raelene sighed. “Sorry. I’m sorry. It’s just that so often, it feels as if we’re pushing water uphill with our bare hands, but we can’t stop because if we can get even one more innocent person out of prison, the heartache is worth it. Jones looks like the most hopeful, or maybe Stevens.”

“I’ll submit those requests.”

A year. I only had to last a year at the Justice Project, and then I could go back to New York and get my career back on track. Twelve months doing pro bono work plus an extra qualification would both look good on my CV, assuming I could muddle through the bar exam, and Richmond offered a slower pace of life that felt more like home. At times, the constant buzz of NYC had felt almost overwhelming.

I submitted the paperwork for the three applications I’d picked out and set up a meeting with Ryan to discuss Stevens, but on my way home, I dropped one more letter in the mailbox.

A FOIA request for the Sykes case.

My curiosity had been piqued, and even though I’d probably regret it later, I couldn’t bring myself to shove that neatly written application into a folder to gather more dust.

Levi Sykes was an enigma.

A good man gone bad.

And I needed a distraction from Rudd and his freaking trophy girlfriend.

CHAPTER 4

SERAFINA

To cash Lloyd’s cheque or not to cash it, that was the question…

My pride was screaming “no, no, no,” but the Sykes FOIA had given me the log showing the 911 call, a basic incident report, and Sykes’s arrest record. None of those provided any great revelations.

Agency: Fairfax County Police Department

Call Number: 333891

Date/Time Received: Tuesday October 16, at 08:42 AM