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"You would have tried to stop me." He was right; I would have, and I would have been furious with him.
"And that's why I'm not mad," I said, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jean shorts. "Thank you for doing that, but now I need you to leave and never come back. You need to move on with your life, and I need to try to move on with mine."
"With Brandon?"
I shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know." I crossed my arms over my chest, squaring my shoulders and lifting my chin. "But what I do know is that I'm not your problem anymore." He opened his mouth like he was going to argue, but I cut him off. "Please, Jayden. Please walk away now, and don't ever come back."
A single tear escaped streaking down my cheek. His throat flexed on a hard swallow. Cupping my face, he brushed the pad of his thumb across my cheek, wiping away my tear. My eyes closed as I leaned into his touch, and then it was gone, and when I opened my eyes, he was gone.
forty-four
SADIE
My heart poundedagainst my chest as I followed the correction officer down the narrow, dimly lit hallway. I'd never been inside a prison before, but that wasn't what had my nerves rattled. I was going to sit face-to-face with my dad who thought murdered my entire family. The man I testified against putting him in prison—the man I wrongfully accused.
Would he hate me?
There was no way a sorry would be significant enough for him to forgive what I'd done to him.
"Are you okay?" KJ whispered. I swallowed the lump in my throat as my gaze flicked over to meet his, and I nodded. I didn't know if I was okay. My erratic heartbeat, sweaty palms, and heavy breathing said I might pass out or be consumed by a panic attack, but I was trying to hold it together.
The correction officer shoved his key into a door, twisted it, and pushed open the heavy metal door before ushering us into the brightly lit room where Mr. Silverton was waiting.
"Sadie." He flashed an all-white smile as he pushed out of his chair to greet us. I jumped when the correction officer slammed the door closed.
My father wasn't here yet. God, I just wanted to get this over with. KJ pulled out the chair next to Mr. Silverton and gestured for me to sit, and even though I didn't want to sit, I did to keep myself from pacing the room.
"Where is your neighbor?" Mr. Silverton asked.
"He's not here," I said, my brows pinching. "Did he need to come?"
Mr. Silverton shook his head. "No, I can speak to him later." He shuffled a few papers around. "They'll bring your father in shortly. He will be shackled by hands and feet, so don't be alarmed." I narrowed my eyes. I wasn't sure if he was trying to tell me not to be afraid of my father or seeing him shackled, so I nodded. "We'll go over a few things with the case, and then KJ and I will give you a chance to speak alone with your father if you'd like."
My breath caught in my throat when the door opened, and they ushered my father in. It had been years since I'd seen him. His dark hair was now mostly grey, and his age was more prominent in the deep creases etched into his face. He looked tired. Guilt wrapped tightly around my lungs, knowing I had done that to him.
His gaze flicked up, meeting mine, and a slow smile spread across his face. "Sadie." I returned the same, trying to match his energy. The CO shackled his hands to the table and his feet to the floor before leaving and closing the heavy metal door behind them.
My father's gaze shifted to the corner of the small square room where KJ stood. His brows raised. "Who are you?"
"I'm KJ, a friend of Sadie's."
"Where's Jayden?" my father asked, and my chest tightened at his name.
"He was busy," KJ answered for me. "He asked me to come with her." I wondered if there was any truth to that. Had Jayden asked KJ to be here for me?
"I met with Sadie a week ago," Mr. Silverton said. "We played the 9-1-1 recording for her, and she talked to your neighbor..." He paused, flipping up a paper. "Brandon. Sadie was able to remember what actually happened that night, or most of it anyways." My father's gaze flicked from Mr. Silverton to me, and I expected to see anger or hurt, but instead, I saw sympathy and sadness. "I've filed the appeal paperwork on the grounds that Sadie's testimony was coerced by law enforcement. So, now we wait."
"Does it look good for good getting an appeal?" My father asked.
"Yes," Mr. Silverton said. "Between the coercion and all the evidence struck from the recorded that should have been admitted. I think we have a really good chance of going back to court."
"Thank you." My father smiled.
"Sadie," Mr. Silverton shifted in his seat to face me, "why were you on the roof that night?"
"I was talking to Brandon," I shrugged.
"Do you remember what you were talking about?"
