We're All Broken
Page 27
“I’m a compromising sort of judge, and am inclined to practice a little leniency, especially when I take into consideration the cases you unknowingly helped to solve fifteen years ago. I believe that now, after all the treatment you’ve had, and after reading through all the evaluations you’ve had since the discovery of the guns, that you are completely sane at this time. I also believe that having control of yourself, as you now do, that you pose no danger to society. And, in fact, you are attempting to use your experiences and crimes to make the world a safer place for all of us.
“So, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m not going to sentence you to death. You’ve started a movement to gain federally mandated harsher penalties for those driving while intoxicated, and I want you to be able to finish that task and see if it can come to fruition.
“I am, however, going to dole out twenty-one life sentences. I am mandated to do so, as you have been found to be guilty. But I am going to have you serve them in a minimum-security prison, in light of the seven positive impact statements presented on your behalf, in light of the law-abiding life you’ve been living for the past ten years, and in light of your continued mental health stability through all this.
“I am placing stipulations on this sentencing. And I want to make these stipulations perfectly clear to you. If, at any time, you feel your mental stability is slipping, or staff begin to suspect it is slipping, you will temporarily be moved to a psychiatric facility for treatment. At the end of which, it will be up to another judge to determine if returning to minimum security would be best, or not. Any slip-ups in your behavior or obedience, will be cause to bring you before a judge to re-evaluate your level of security. Therapy will be made available to you and will continue for the remainder of your life, no matter the level of security, so I suggest you use it well. Does everything I’ve said make sense to you, Mr. Hayes?”
Roger cleared his throat, “Yes, your Honor. I understand, and I think you’ve been incredibly fair to me, in light of everything I have done both in my past, and in bringing so much media attention into your courtroom. I thank you for allowing me a prison placement that will enable me to continue to work remotely with the team of people trying to elicit change within the judicial system. And I also thank you for recognizing that despite going about things in a distorted and very wrong way, I honestly was attempting to make the roads safer for all of us. I also appreciate that you took all the factors of this case into careful consideration. I promise to do my best to live up to the trust you’re placing in me with a minimum-security placement, and thank you for the mandated continued therapy.”
The judge shook his head. “I think this is the first time I’ve ever had someone thank me for doling out a life sentence, let alone multiples. Yours is not a case I will ever forget. If there’s anything I can do to help you in your lawful endeavors to deter others from driving while intoxicated, you and Mr. Zimmer just let me know.”
Chapter Thirty
Five Years Later
“Are you ready for Monday?” Dad asked me, coming to sit next to me at the table.
“I’m as prepared as I can be,” I said, looking over at the next table, to see Lily holding up a drawing for me to look at. I smiled and nodded to her, “Good job, honey.”
Dad looked over to watch Lilly beam and grab up another piece of paper to begin drawing something new. “She’s just as adorable as you were, at her age.”
“She has Logan’s temperament, though,” I said with a smile.
“Thank God,” Dad said. “You were agreeable enough, but you had a streak of sass in you.”
I shrugged. “If it weren’t for that streak of sass, I’d never have agreed to meet you in the car every week.”
Dad chuckled, “I know it. You wouldn’t have been the one to keep your siblings linked together, either. And where would Charlotte and Sophie be now?”
I looked over at little Sara, standing on wobbly legs as Sophie let her grasp one finger to steady herself. “I wonder about that, probably more than I should. Sophie wouldn’t be standing over there now, married, with a daughter, happy and settled. She’s doing so well.”
“I’m glad it worked out for her and Zach. The timing of her finding him, someone solid to be there for her when everything with me went down, was amazing.”
“Yep, she did well in finding him and latching on,” I said with a smile.
“And Charlotte dive-bombing into her career seems to be working well for her.”
“Yeah, it is. And she’s now dating a guy, too. He seems really solid, comes from a nice, normal family.”
“And what does he think about you guys coming here nearly every other week, to visit her old man in the slammer?” he asked with a grin.
“Charlotte explained the whole deal. He thinks it’s great that we’ve all found a way to still be a family through all this.”
“And Kelly?”
“…Dad.”
“I just want to know that she’s alright. That she’s found her way, that’s all.”
“She’s good, Dad.”
“Adjusting to divorced life well?”
I glanced at him and back to Lily, flinging the drawing away from herself and grabbing onto a tub of Play-Doh she’d just spotted at the craft table they had set up for kids who came to visit inmates.
“What? Is she dating?”
“…Yeah.”
“Well…” he shifted in his seat and grabbed the back of his neck. “Good for her. Who is he?”
I let out a sigh. “I could tell you, but then you’ll be spending then next month in therapy, talking about it.”
He let out a chuckle. “I’m already going to be spending the rest of my life in therapy. I might as well have something new to talk about.”
“Dad…”
“Max?”
My eyes shot to his. “How did you—”
He shrugged. “I always knew Max liked her, had always wished she would have looked in his direction, instead of mine. He never acted on it. First, out of not wanting to be accused of some sort of sexual harassment in the workplace, then out of respect and deference to me. But, I kinda figured, especially after the divorce went through, that he would make a move.”
I regarded him a moment. “Daddy?”
“Oh, dear Lord, you called me Daddy. What?”
“She’s pregnant.”
He grabbed at the back of his neck again, before letting out a long breath. “Well… huh. I guess I can’t be surprised that she’d want a child of her own. Neither one of them having any, and she’s got that big house with all those bedrooms… Hell, kid, I’m choosing to be happy for her. Happy for them.”
“Really?”
“…Yeah, really. I’m the one that messed everything up. She has the right to be happy. So, let her be happy.”
“There’s something else, Dad,” I said with a smile.
“About approaching Congress on Monday?”
“Well, no. You already know everything going on with that.”
“Then what? This is a lot of information to gain in one visit, I can’t possibly guess at anymore,” he said, before letting out a chuckle.
“Someone else is pregnant, too.”
“Oh, honey, that has to be you.”
I was shocked, “How did you know?”
“Because you’ve been glowing every time you came in here for the last couple of months.”
“We just wanted to wait until we cleared the first trimester, before saying anything.”
“No morning sickness?”
I shook my head. “Nope. It’s weird, with all that I had with Lily, there’s been none this time around.”
“Well, good. Maybe that means we’ll be getting some more testosterone in the family. It’ll be a nice change for me.”
I laughed at him, then grew quiet.
“All right. There’s more, I can smell it. What else is going on?”
“Next Sunday is Father’s Day.”
“Yeah.”<
br />
I took my time in warming up to tell him. “All of your kids will be here, next Sunday.”
His face scrunched. “What do you mean all of my…” His expression shifted to surprise, “Connor and Chloe?”
I nodded.
“I can’t believe it! Why now?”
“Connor is signing up for the Marines, and he wants to reconnect before he heads out. Chloe is tagging along because she feels obligated now that Connor wants to come.”
“He probably wants to reconnect in case he dies in service. I can respect that.”
“Daddy…”
“No, no. It’s good. I’d rather have the opportunity to see him than not, just in case. You girls should make an effort with Chloe. She’s going to be lost without Connor around.”
“She has her other siblings.”
“Still though, make the extra effort with her, okay?”
“Okay.”
“And bring their afghans, okay?”
I gave him a nod. “Okay.”
Dad looked around the room, pausing to smile at both Lily, then Sara. “My heart is full, baby.”
Both my eyebrows raised. “Really?”
He nodded. “Yes, really. You and Sophie settled into your adult lives, two grandbabies, another on the way, Charlotte finding fulfillment with her life, Kelly is taken care of, my other two estranged kids coming to visit. I’ve had a hand in real, meaningful work that you and Ryan and Logan are taking to Congress. I know I’m stuck here and all, but my heart is full.”
“Dad, you know I love you, right?”
He looked at me, “Right. But?”
“But you picked a hell of a convoluted way to become whole and healed.”
He drew his lips together. “Yeah, kid, I know it. I’ve had a convoluted life, in general. But if the cycle of violent outbursts ends with me, it’ll be well worth it. I don’t know how it happened, but so far, all five of my kids are happy, healthy, and well-adjusted. How that happened, with everything that went down, I’ll never know. I’m just glad that it’s happened that way.” He paused to wink at me, “Must be your mother’s genes running through all of you.”
I grinned. “Must be.”
“You guys all go to the Hill in two days and kick some ass for her, would ya?”
“That’s the plan,” I said, moving to lift my Styrofoam cup of tea, sporting my peacock blue nails. “To Mom…”
He smiled and lifted his cup of coffee, gently tapping it against mine. “To both our moms.”
Current and Upcoming Titles
Daughter of the Bering Sea (February, 2013)
Gift of the Bering Sea (May, 2013)
Bering Sea Retribution (October, 2016)
The Complete Bering Sea Trilogy (October, 2016)
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Lulling the Kidnapper (July, 2013)
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Looking to the West (December, 2013)
Rusty's Beautiful Skye (December, 2014)
Teddy's Drive-In (November, 2015)
Sweet on Coco (December, 2018)
Luke Has Faith (December, 2018)
Embracing Dawn (December, 2018)
Green Valley (December, 2018)
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The Daddy Secret (August, 2014)
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Madam President (November, 2014)
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Walk of Shame (December, 2015)
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The Island Cottage (November, 2016)
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She Waves (September, 2017)
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I Used to Be (October, 2017)
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If It's the Last Thing I Do (December, 2017)
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Come What May (July, 2018)
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The Possibility of Me (December, 2018)
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We’re All Broken (December, 2019)
Find me here:
www.facebook.com/beringseatrilogy
and
www.olgregory.com
About the Author
O. L. Gregory lives in southeastern PA with her husband, children, and two cats. The author of over twenty published titles, she spends much of the day with her head in the clouds. A hardcore night owl, she can be found typing long after the rest of the household has gone to sleep. She harbors addictions for crochet, travel, Post-It Notes, Mountain Dew slushies, and bath bombs.