500 Days

by Jessica Miller

  “I just want to talk to her,” I said, picking myself up off the ground.

  “Well she doesn’t want to talk to you.” He stood standoffish, ready to take me on if I attacked again. “I’m sorry man, but it’s over. Now pick your sorry ass up and go home.”

  “Will you just please tell her I’m here. I need to hear it from her.”

  “I’m sure she already knows. Take the hint Casper.” I heard the door open and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. I looked over Jasper’s shoulder and frowned when I saw Jacob and Jaxson come out to stand by their brother.

  “Guys, please,” I pleaded to Jacob and Jaxson.

  “Sorry, Alex said she doesn’t want to see you,” Jaxson said, looking almost as hurt as I was. “And I have to respect her wishes.” Not willing to take on all three, I picked up the shattered pieces of my heart and got in my car.

  I still refused to give up. This was not the end. I would prove to her that I was good enough for her. I racked my brain on how I was going to do that when it hit me. The one and only thing that was going to prove to her how much I loved her. I was going to help her get her family back. And if she still didn’t want me, then at least I gave her what she really deserved. Something she’s always wanted. I couldn’t bring Jack back, but I could set her mom free.

  I drove straight to the source. The one and only person who could straighten out this entire mess. The biggest player in the game. I didn’t even bother to knock. I saw Candice’s car in the driveway and knew they were here for Sunday Funday. I marched straight to the dining room. My father paused mid-bite. “Well, isn’t it the prodigal son,” my father sneered.

  “I need to talk to you.”

  “We are in the middle of dinner.”

  “I don’t care,” I said, having no patience. He smiled smugly and continued to eat his dinner. I grabbed his plate and threw it across the room, scaring Katalina. His head tilted slightly in my direction. “I said now. Unless you want me to tell everyone how you purposely put an innocent woman in jail.” He stared back at me, challenging me with his eyes. I refused to back down. “Yes, I know everything.” It was a long stretch, but the slight shift in his posture told me I was on the right path. I had no idea what really happened at Alex’s mom’s trial but I knew something went wrong. And I knew my father was the cause.

  “If you’ll excuse us,” my father said, standing. He threw down his napkin and walked to his study down the hall. I followed. “Close the door.” I did, praying I didn’t make a mistake. “I’m to assume you are the one who stole my files.” It wasn’t a question. He knew it was me, but why hadn’t he said something until I confronted him. “This has to do with that girl, doesn’t it?”

  “No, this has to do with the fact that an innocent woman is sitting in jail because you’re to incompetent to do your job.”

  “You have no right to talk to me like that,” he snapped. “Any lawyer out there would tell you that was an open and shut case.”

  “And a good lawyer would admit when he was wrong. He would take a second look at the case and see there were mistakes made. I’m telling you there are a lot of things that don’t add up. I never asked you for much but I’m asking you for this one favor, dad.” He flinched slightly at me calling him dad. The last time I called him that I was six. “If you were ever to do something right in your life, then do it by fixing this.”

  “You really love this girl, don’t you?”

  “With every fiber in my body. I would die for her.”

  My father sunk down into his chair. “I’ll take a second look at the case and I’ll let you know what I find.”

  “No, you’re going to do it now. And I’m going to help you.” Knowing I wasn’t going to back down. He agreed and we got to work right away.

  In order for him to understand the cracks in the case, I had to tell him the true story. I told him everything Alex had told me. I knew she would be pissed at me for telling him who really killed her father and what really happened, but it was the only way we were going to find out what went wrong. I think after I told my father the whole story, he had a slightly different opinion of Alex. For a moment I thought I even saw a shadow of remorse in his eyes, but I couldn’t be certain.

  We spent all night going over the files. “You said Alex went and talked to the psychiatrist?”

  “Talked, yelled, something like that.”

  He chuckled softly to himself. “You got yourself a feisty one, there.”

  “She definitely is a little firecracker.” Who was going to blow a gasket if she ever knew what I was doing. I thought back to what Alex said about her blow up in the doctor’s office. There was something I was missing, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I scrubbed my hands down my face, frustrated. “I think we need to have a chat with this so-called doctor.”

  “I agree, but we can’t do that tonight.”

  “Why the hell not? I knew you weren’t going to take this seriously. Why did I even bother?” I was ready to storm out when he stopped me.

  “Casper, I was simply stating that it’s late,” he pointed to the clock.

  It was just past midnight. Shit. “Sorry,” I grumbled.

  “Clearly we’re both tired. I think we should retire for the night.”

  I wanted to keep going but he was right. We were both just spinning in circles driving ourselves nuts. “I’ll pay that doctor a visit tomorrow and let you know what I come up with.”

  “No you won’t.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Casper, I know you. You think I don’t, but I do. You can’t go in there guns blazing. Let me talk to her. Professional to professional.”

  I let out a sigh and made my way to the door. I turned around before I left. “Thanks dad.” He nodded his head, that was the best I was going to get and I would take it.

  When I got home, Colton immediately bombarded me at the door. “Where the hell were you?”

  “Chill Cujo. I was working on something.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Relax, I was at my dad’s.”

  “Really, if you’re going to lie you could at least come up with a better one than that.”

  “You don’t believe me? Call him,” I challenged. His brows furrowed. “Relax, baby. I wasn’t cheating on you.”

  He punched me in the shoulder. “Don’t be a dick.”

  “But I’m Casper Covington, that’s what I do.”

  “That’s what worries me.”

  “If you’re done giving me the third degree, I’m going to go to bed.”

  “I just need to know you’re not going to freak out again.”

  Declan must have told him about this morning. “No, not this time.” And with that I went into my room and crashed.

  The following week I spent all week at my dad’s trying to get Alex’s mom out of jail. I was hoping to have her released by Christmas but my dad said no matter how many strings he pulled it would still be impossible to get her out by then. I think this was the most time I had ever spent with my father and I was slowly having a new respect for what he did. There was a reason he had to be the cold hard bastard he was. It was a requirement of his job. The only downside was he was never off the clock.

  We found out – after a few threats – that the psychiatrist was lying. Turns out she was the one who was mentally unstable. She confessed, on record, that Alex’s dad was in fact sick, but she had convinced him he wasn’t. She did the unthinkable and fell in love with one of her patients. The truth was Alex’s dad never planned on leaving her mom, but the doctor hoped he would. We took our recent findings to the judge. I begged my dad to leave out the part about Jack being the one to really kill his dad. He promised he would try his best, but he couldn’t guarantee it.

  After what felt like a lifetime, my father finally came out of the judge’s chambers. I nearly jumped out of my seat. “Well?”

  “He said the doctor will lose her license and be arrested for perjury.”

  “And Alex’s mom?”

  “While the co
nfession of the doctor helped, she stilled killed a man. That can’t be overlooked.”

  “But what if you told him it wasn’t her?”

  “Without a witness, it won’t mean anything. Unfortunately with Jack’s passing he can’t corroborate the story. The only way is if Alex confesses what really happened.”

  “She would never do that. I would never ask her to do that. She just lost her brother. The last thing she would do is sully his name.”

  “Unless there’s another witness. I’m sorry son, but there’s nothing more we can do.”

  “So that’s it? We just give up?”

  “It’s not giving up. It’s knowing when to walk away.”

  “No, I won’t accept that. There has to be something else.”

  “Casper, for now, we did what we could. Alex is going to appreciate the fact that you tried.”

  “I’m not so sure about that.” My dad patted my shoulder as we started to walk out.

  “Excuse me? Mr. Covington?” We turned to see the judge step out of his chambers. “May I have a quick word with you?”

  I waited while my dad returned to the judge to talk in confidence. I crossed my fingers hoping it was good news, that maybe he missed something. After twenty minutes of sitting on the hard bench and my butt going numb, I stood up. I decided to take a walk outside. I pulled a smoke out of my pocket and lit up, getting dirty looks from the passersby. I couldn’t stop tapping my foot and was about to out my cigarette when my father emerged from the building. He followed the cloud of smoke, narrowing his eyes at me. “I shouldn’t be surprised you would pick up such a filthy habit.”

  I fought back the insult that was on the tip of my tongue. I flicked the cigarette and turned to him waiting for a relay on the new information. “Well?” I prodded.

  “Apparently the dead can speak,” he said, making his way down the steps.

  “Wait, what? What the hell does that mean?”

  I grabbed his arm to stop him. “Not here. I’ll explain everything in the car.”

  My dad’s driver was waiting for us at the front. My dad slipped into the town car first. The second I closed the door I turned my attention to him. “Tell me.”

  He set his briefcase aside and addressed the driver. “Excuse us Thompson,” he said pushing the button to lift the divider. Then he took out his phone and called his secretary. “Yes, Carol, will you please reschedule the rest of my day.” Slight pause. “No, no, everything is fine. Just have a few things I need to take care of. Thank you.” I looked at my dad confused. He hung up the phone and reached in the small mini fridge for a drink.

  For crying out loud. “Are you going to tell me what the fuck is going on?”

  His face fell, showing his distaste for my foul language. He took a sip of his drink, just to piss me off. “Turns out the judge had gotten a very special delivery.” I watched him curiously, waiting for him to continue. Another sip of his drink. I gripped the door handle, trying to calm my nerves.

  “The judge was sent a package a few days ago, but never opened it because it got lost in the pile on his desk. After our meeting, he recalled the name on the package and opened it immediately. Inside was a DVD. A video of Jack Radcliff confessing his sins. Apparently, Jack felt the need to get a few things off his chest. He confessed he killed his father and told the entire story in detail. Details that only someone who was there would know. The judge agreed his confession fit with everything that happened. So in light of the new news, the judge decided to drop the murder charge and release Alex’s mom.”

  “So she’s free?”

  “Not yet. There’s a still ton of paper work that has to be filed, calls to make, and for the fact that she lied on the stand, she still has to pay for that.”

  I opened my mouth to argue, but he held up a hand to stop me. “The judge is letting her time served, serve as penance for the perjury.”

  I dropped my head to my hands, relieved. We did it, we actually did it. “Why did you cancel the rest of your day?”

  “Because I thought you would like to deliver the news yourself.” I looked out the window to see we were hitting the highway. My dad was taking me to the prison.

  Chapter 27

  Alexis

  I managed to reschedule all my finals. My professors were very sympathetic to my situation and allowed me to take the tests when I was ready. I decided to just take them all right away. I needed a distraction. I tried everything I could think of to keep my mind off of Jack and Casper. I even went as far as too read one of Declan’s cheesy romance books, but that just made it worse. All the talk about yearning, want, need, and fiery loins (I snorted at that one) made me so desperate for it I was half tempted to see if Colby was still in town. No matter how much my head screamed bad idea – Alert! Alert! – I wasn’t in the mood to worry about what good ideas were.

  We were only two days away from Christmas and it was the last thing I wanted to celebrate. Jack was gone. I was no closer to figuring out how to get my mom out of jail and I was all alone. The only thing keeping me company was my current Netflix movie, my kitty Lucky, and a book about zombies. I thought it safe to go with a zombie book – no romance – just killing and brain eating. Or so I thought. Half way through the book one of the zombies fell in love with a human. Go fucking figure. I threw the book in the trash causing Declan to frown at me. Surprisingly she had spent every night at home, mostly without Colton. I insisted she didn’t have to stay, I was fine – on the outside – but she wouldn’t hear it. She knew better. And I was just happy to have her around even though she tended to be overbearing, annoying, and always in my face, but I loved her and was thankful for her company.

  “How about we go out tonight?” Declan said cheerfully. She took my book out of the trash and brushed it off. I rolled my eyes at her.

  “I wouldn’t mind just getting shit-faced so I can feel numb for a while.”

  Her smile instantly fell. “Alex,” she began in that I-feel-sorry-for-you-but-I-don’t-like-your-ways-of-dealing kind of tone.

  I put up a hand to stop ‘the talk’. “The last thing I want to do is risk running into Casper.”

  “Well you don’t have to worry about that because Casper has been spending most of his time with his dad.”

  I pressed mute on the TV and shifted so I was facing Declan. “Casper doesn’t like his father so I find it very hard to believe he would be spending any time with him.”

  She shrugged. “That’s what Colton told me.”

  “I’m sure he’s just out getting hammered and using his dad as an excuse which I’m surprised Colton would be dumb enough to fall for that.”

  “I don’t know. I think he’s telling the truth. You’re right, Colton would not fall for a lie like that, but I’ve never seen Casper so…,” she paused looking for the perfect word. “Determined. The boys tried to take him out several times but he kept saying he was busy and would hit them up later. And every time I saw him he was sober.”

  “Did he say what he was doing with his dad?”

  Declan shook her head no. “Alex, just come out with us.”

  “Us?” I raised a brow. If it was her and Colton then I was definitely staying in. The last thing I wanted was to be a third wheel.

  “Shauna and me. I won’t take no for an answer. Alex you need to get out of this apartment and out of those clothes and in the shower,” she wrinkled her nose at me. I looked down at my outfit, lifting Jack’s t-shirt – that I’ve been wearing for the past 3 days – and sniffed it. “Okay if you have to do that then it’s time to change.” I tugged my knees close to my chest. “Alex, you need to come back to the land of the living.”

  That hurt and she knew it too. The shocked expression on her face told me she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “Alex I’m so sorry I didn’t –”

  “No, you’re right. There’s nothing that’s going to bring him back. I have to accept that and move on.” I stood and walked down the hall to my room.

  “Alex, wait,” De
clan chased after me. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

  “I’m not mad,” I said, grabbing a towel.

  “Oh, so you’re going to come out with us?”

  “Yes,” I said on a sigh. “Just give me a little extra time to shower and get ready.” She gave me an encouraging smile and let me be.

  I wrapped my hair in a towel while I did my make-up and got dressed. When I sat down in front of my vanity, I stared at the letter that had been sitting there for days. I haven’t had the courage to open it. Jasper gave us all an envelope the day after Jack’s funeral. He told us Jack had given them to him before he left and told him to only deliver the letters if he didn’t make it back. Something told me he already knew he wasn’t going to make it back which made it all that much harder. Did he really know he was going to die? I shook the thought from my mind and pushed the letter aside. I wasn’t ready yet and I didn’t think I ever would be, but I kept it close by, just in case. I swiped the few tears that shed and stared at myself in the mirror.

  “Okay Alex, you need to get a grip.” Jack would be pissed at me for crying like a baby. He would yell at me for holing myself up in a dark room and not going out into the world. I could just hear him now. “Alex, you can’t see all the good stuff because you’re too worried about everything else that’s going to drag you down. Be free, experience life the way it’s supposed to be. And always, be brave.”

  “Be brave,” I said, letting out a breath. “I promise Jack, I will try.” I hadn’t notice Declan standing at the door.

  “Hey,” she said softly, her smile sad. “You okay?” Her eyes darted to the still closed envelope.

  “Yeah,” I smiled, slipping the letter inside my drawer. “So where are you dragging me tonight? And please don’t say Angels and Demons.”

  “No, Shauna wants to check out this one place downtown. They’re having an open mic night. ”

  “Great, so we’ll have to sit there and listen to people who think they can carry a tune, singing sappy love songs. You just saved me a lot of time picking out my outfit. Dark and depressing, like me. Don’t forget to pack your knife so I can slit my wrists later,” I said with a sarcastic smile.