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But...to her point...
“Michigan’s code of criminal procedure allows for judges to conduct business on weekends through use of two-way interactive video technology. That includes criminal arraignments and setting bail.”
She turned to look at him then, those hazel eyes clouded with so many emotions she wasn’t sharing with him. “She could be arraigned today? Locked up until trial?”
She knew the ropes intimately.
“Yes.”
Her entire being seemed to settle at that point. Relaxing against the seat of his rented town car as though, finally, something had gone her way.
* * *
Everleigh’s mind wouldn’t settle. While the tension in her body eased at the thought of Larissa locked up, Everleigh’s imploded life continued to stare her in the face.
So many things...
Too much to process.
Rationally, she knew she was probably still in the throes of shock. That her mind was caring for her by wrapping itself in a shield of cotton. But one after another, facts sprang on her. Over and over. Just facts. No understanding. Nowhere to go with any of them.
“I just wanted to let Gram know this part’s over,” she said. “I want to tell her in person.” She needed to see her, to see that her cold really wasn’t getting worse, wasn’t turning into pneumonia. And to beg her to please put in a request to speak with her attorney.
His phone rang, and he answered over the car’s system. Melissa. Letting them know that Larissa would be arraigned later that afternoon. She’d been in a private residence uninvited, with a loaded and cocked gun. They had solid evidence to prove that much, and it was enough for the DA to request holding her without bail. If the judge agreed, they’d be home free on that one.
And when Melissa heard where they were headed, she said, “That’s the other reason I was calling, to suggest that Everleigh would want to head to the prison. Hannah McPherson decided to accept a plea agreement. A judge will take the agreement by video conferencing from the prison this afternoon. In light of the fact that she’s not feeling well, the DA is recommending that she be released from prison, on home arrest, at least until sentencing...”
Everleigh laughed out loud. “Hallelujah!” she cried because it just burst out of her. But she quickly sobered, forcing herself to tend to the logistics. “When is the hearing?”
“It could be going on now.” Melissa’s voice filled the car. “Or soon. With everything going on, I missed the DA’s original call on the matter. With all of the protesters outside and the bad GGPD press, the DA thought I’d want to know ahead of time.”
Gram free? There was so much Everleigh needed to do. Get transportation. Take Gram to a clin
ic. Get groceries for her and...
“Your parents have been notified that she could be released as early as tonight and are on standby,” Melissa added.
Everleigh wasn’t going to stand by.
She was going to be at the prison...in the hearing, if she could make that happen.
The killer caught and Gram sleeping at home? All in the same day?
And Clarke right there, supporting her through it? The man who’d just saved her from a deranged killer. His timing down to the second. She wasn’t going to ever forget those moments when the gun went off, she’d toppled to her side and no one had been hit.
He was also the teacher of a sexual lesson she would never forget. The man who’d shown her that life held the possibility of unbounding physical joy.
With everything good happening, she could even wonder if maybe, by some chance of good fortune, she and Clarke could remain friends.
See each other every now and then.
Grab a beer.
They could meet in public places. Talk. And have no danger of ending up in bed.
Yeah...life had all kinds of possibilities.
And it was up to her to find them.
