AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, that’s the problem. There’s…” She quiets, and I don’t like the sudden change in her tone.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
She sighs into the phone. “My dad learned something else.”
I chew on my lip. “What? Just tell me.”
She clears her throat. “The Harrisons aren’t the only ones with connections to city officials. My dad knows plenty as well. It only took a few calls to find Tristan and get him released. That same call revealed something else. Something…”
She hesitates again, and my pulse pounds. “Iris?”
“They already knew he didn’t do it,” she says quietly. “Someone found camera footage showing the vehicle as it drove past the gas station on Fifth, just before the turn onto Callowhill. It’s too grainy to see details of the driver, but it definitely didn’t appear to be a six-foot, three-inch male. But the DA at the time determined it wasn’t enough to reopen the neatly closed case and no one wanted to deal with it, so they buried it.”’
“When did they find it?”
“Two years ago.”
Rocked, I lower myself to the desk, my hand shaking. They made Tristan do two more yearsafterthey suspected he wasn’t the driver?!
“Do they still have the footage?” I force out.
“I don’t know. Probably not.”
Of course not.
“Who else knows about this?”
“I don’t know. But it proves it will be hard to clear Tristan without someone else coming forward, and even then, the new DA might not believe them without any solid evidence. This puts us in a tough spot. If we go after people over the false arrest and this video, it could blow back on Kim. We’ll do everything we can, but the best thing might actually be to do nothing.”
Right. Nothing. The best thing is to donothing. Tristan loses everything for a crime he didn’t commit, and others won’t face a single consequence for one they did.Iris is probably right thatnothingis the answer here, and it infuriates me.
“I’m sorry, Isabel. That has to be hard to hear.”
Hard? No. Dragging myself to work today was hard. This is…
I press my fist into the tabletop. God, I’m going to be sick.
“Thanks for the information and everything you’ve done to help us.”
“Of course. I wish there was more. My dad is still working on it.”
“Thank you. Really.”
“Take care of yourself, and tell Tristan we’ll do whatever we can to get justice.”
Justice… ha. I’m losing faith injustice.Tristan was right. It’s as fickle and subjective as everything else.
As soon as we hang up, I dial Tristan. When he doesn’t answer, I head back to my desk to pack up for the day.
Kim still isn’t home when I arrive at the apartment, but Tristan is. My pulse quickens at the sight of him, freshly showered and wearing only his sweatpants like usual. I have no idea how I’m supposed to tell him what I learned from Iris. I doubt anyone else has, fearing his impulsive temperament and likelihood to take matters into his own hands.
They also don’t want to be the one to hurt him again.Lucky me.
“Hey,” he says, looking over from the range in surprise.
Whatever he’s cooking smells really good. I bet he does too. If it’s even a fraction of how good he looks right now, I’m in trouble.
“You okay?” he asks. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”
