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Do I really have the strength to fight against the invisible cage that he is placing all around me, just with his look?
“Hi,” he says, a little awkwardly.
I walk over to him and cross my arms over my chest, as uncomfortable as he is. “What are you doing here?”
“Mikael Larey has finally been cleared. New evidence has been discovered. In the past, Helena Larey had told her mother several times that she sometimes had suicidal urges. Her mother was never really alarmed because she knew that her daughter was seeing a psychologist, but Helena’s mother had hidden something fundamental from us.”
I remember talking to Mrs. Richards months earlier about how evidence had been found that would surely turn the tide.
“Helena’s mother had in her possession a suicide letter from her daughter, which she eventually turned over to the police after Mikael’s trial. In this letter, Helena explained what she planned to do to herself and her daughter. The mother didn’t intervene to save her granddaughter because…fuck, Helena sent the letter the same day as the tragedy. So her mother didn’t receive it until a few days later, and it was already too late. You were right, Iris.”
“Mikael was innocent,” I whisper.
Tucker nods several times before running a hand over the back of his neck. “The mother didn’t disclose the letter at the trial, damn it. She didn’t tell the police because she wanted to protect her daughter, even though her daughter killed herself and took her child to the grave.”
Shock overwhelms me. I didn’t expect him to tell me such news.
“So it was Helena who abused their daughter and strangled her before killing herself. That’s why Mikael’s fingerprints weren’t on the knife. Oh, my God…” I whisper, not believing it. “I…I fucking knew it! I knew something was wrong.”
For the first time in weeks, a joy comes over me, and I don’t try to contain it. An innocent man is going to be set free. “And you came all the way here to tell me that instead of picking up your phone?”
He shrugs casually. “I needed to…tell you in person.”
I nod as he eyes my legs shamelessly. A lot of time has passed, but the attraction remains. The bond that united us has not disappeared. He’s there, even stronger, even more invasive.
“And how is your mother?”
He comes out of his thoughts and stares at me, straight in the eyes this time, trying to relax. “The first few weeks were very difficult but I was there for her. I visited her every day. And now she’s doing well. Great, in fact.”
“That’s great, Tucker.”
Like three months earlier, we stare at each other. I remember the last words we exchanged. I can’t think of anything else. I didn’t think I’d see him again…But here he is.
For me?
“Well, you caught me off guard, I didn’t expect to see you here. You came all the way here to tell me all this?”
He doesn’t answer, so I go on. “Why did you come, Tucker?”
He takes another step in my direction, running his tongue over his lower lip. “Officially? To tell you that Larey has been released.”
“And…unofficially?” I ask in a whisper, feeling a lump in my throat.
He stops a few steps away from me, and I feel the warmth coming from his pores. It caresses my skin and makes it electric. I try to fight the electric current that runs through me but I can’t.
“TJ screams at me every day that he misses his best friend.”
“Oh, really?”
He smiles gently at my skepticism. “You want the truth?” he finally says.
His smell invades my nostrils, exactly the same as I remember. I nod my head. I can’t talk.
“I know you needed to come back here for a little bit, but I realized I made a mistake letting you go.”
He takes another step in my direction. Only a handful of inches separate us now.
“I tried to leave you alone, but I couldn’t get you out of my fucking head. I spent most of my time at my sister’s grave. And the more time passed, the more I understood that she would have wanted me to be happy. But I couldn’t be happy because I wasn’t whole.”
