Kimbra stood to greet them, giving Holly a gentle hug. “Oh, there she is.”
Holly thought Kimbra meant her, but when she turned, she spotted Lynn, Paul, Terrie, and Mark walking down the hallway toward them.
That’s when Holly lost her battle to hold back her tears. As Lynn hugged her, Holly started crying. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you so much.”
“It’s okay. This is something I’m happy to share the wealth for. Kimbra promised me I could have the second hug with him after you get yours.”
“Let’s hope we all get to hug him,” Holly said.
Two men approached, a younger one carrying a file box and the older one a face Holly recognized.
Corden Salazar.
The man smirked. “This is a waste of the state’s and court’s time, Ms. Luzon,” he said. “The court has rejected previous appeals.”
Kimbra smirked back and unceremoniously dropped a folder onto the top of the box. “Discovery, counsellor. And I think you’ll find this time that the court is going to want to listen to us. I know the media is.” She nodded her head.
Behind them, coming up the hallway, was a reporter and cameraman for the Sarasota TV station.
Holly felt the urge to break into laughter as Salazar grabbed the folder and started looking through it. “What the hell is this?”
“It’s the results of the DNA testing the state should have done and which prove my client didn’t attack his mother or sister. Not to mention I’m going to tell the court about the prosecution’s glaring ‘omissions’ of autopsy evidence from Jason Davids that will show he was completely intoxicated, as well as bore injuries caused by Sarah and Holly. And that Sarah and Holly both had DNA evidence under their nails that only belonged to Jason Davids.”
“Wait, what is—”
“You have two options, Mr. Salazar,” Kimbra said. “Either make a motion to the court to vacate the previous conviction and free Louis, or take this to trial while I show the entire world what a racist bastard you are.”
“You can’t do this! We never got copies of this. We need time to prepare a rebuttal.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Those are extra copies. I had this exact same set of paperwork delivered to your office Friday morning. I have a signature of delivery from the courier service. Not my fault if you don’t bother to read your mail, or have someone in your office who handles stuff for you when you’re out of the office.”
The reporter hustled up and Kimbra started talking to her as Salazar pulled his assistant aside and they went through the folder of paperwork.
Meanwhile, Walt had slipped an arm around Holly’s waist and edged her out of the way, his mouth near her ear.
“Breathe, sweetheart,” he whispered. “It’ll be all right. He’s scared shitless. Just look at him.”
She nodded even as she watched the prosecutor’s face get redder and redder. He stepped away and pulled out his cell phone to make a call, apparently pissed off at whatever he found out when he hung up only a minute later.
The reporter was already interviewing Kimbra, who had apparently blindsided Salazar in more ways than one that morning. Holly stood there as Kimbra took point, and when the reporter asked to talk to Holly, Holly first looked up at Walt, who nodded. He handed her off to Kimbra, who stood by her side while Walt stepped out of the shot and stood next to Lynn and the others.
* * * *
“She looks terrified,” Lynn whispered to Walt.
“She is. God, I hope Kimbra’s right. If this doesn’t work, it’ll break Holly’s heart.”
“The prosecutor looks pissed,” Terrie noted.
“I think he is. Kimbra found out he was going down to the Keys for the weekend. She could have delivered the paperwork on Thursday evening, but she wanted to make sure she jammed it up his ass this morning. She knew the assistant prosecutor wouldn’t have time to look at it.”
“Smart woman.”
“You have no idea.”
Walt was a little surprised to see Cedro and Amaleeza Luzon hustle up during the interview. He peeled away from Lynn and Terrie to intercept them. “What are you guys doing here?”
Momma poked him in the shoulder. “What’s wrong with you? You think we’re gonna let her go through this alone? Plus we want to meet Louis ourselves.”
“Well, fair warning, Lynn’s been promised hug number two already.”
“That’s fine,” Papi said. “We’ll wait our turn.”
Twenty minutes later, they were heading into the courtroom. Walt and Papi flanked Holly as their entire group filled the front row.
Kimbra had disappeared to go speak with Louis before the hearing, and she was with him when he was led into the courtroom by two bailiffs. He wore slacks, a button-up long-sleeved shirt, and a tie that Walt was pretty sure had been picked out by Momma or Kimbra. He’d shaved, and his hair had been trimmed short, down to the length it’d been when he was first convicted.
He looked the part of a clean-cut kid.
He turned and gave them all a nervous, sick-looking smile and nod of his head before sitting at the table with Kimbra and Teresa.
They all stood when the judge entered, and then retook their seats as the courtroom was called to order.
When his clerk announced the case, the judge looked at Kimbra. “Ms. Luzon, this is an interesting motion you’re presenting me with this morning.”
“Yes, your Honor, it is.” She proceeded to go through the basics, including adding the evidence to the record. It took the better part of thirty minutes, with Salazar trying to object and the judge overruling him at every turn.
When Kimbra finally finished, the judge looked at Salazar. “Mr. Salazar, the state’s response?”
“Your Honor, we aren’t prepared to rebut all this evidence today. I just received it this morning, and—”
“Funny, I’m looking at a courier receipt that says your office had it Friday morning.”
Salazar swallowed hard. “We did, your Honor, but I was out of town, and—”
“I’m looking at a long list of very valid points that Ms. Luzon has presented regarding this case. I’m actually inclined to make a ruling right this minute, unless you give me something valid to dispute any of the evidence she’s presented.”
There was a rushed and angry-sounding whispered conference between Salazar and his assistant. “No, your Honor,” he finally said. “The state, however, would beg the court to not release the defendant until—”
“I’m sure you’ll be begging a lot of things, Mr. Salazar.” He closed the file and stared at Kimbra. “In reviewing this evidence, it’s quite clear that Ms. Luzon is absolutely correct that there were several egregious errors made in the investigation and prosecution of this case. Considering that I am the judge who heard this case, I will tell you right now that I plan on notifying the state board to recommend sanctions against Mr. Salazar for prosecutorial misconduct, and will be recommending they take a hard look at Mr. Salazar’s past cases as well.
“In light of this conclusive evidence that Jason Davids obviously attacked his wife and step-daughter, that he was extremely intoxicated at the time of his death, and that the prosecution withheld vital evidence not only from the defense team but from this court and the jury, I hereby vacate Mr. Olson’s conviction on all charges in this case. I also order him immediately released from the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections, order that all his rights and privileges as a free citizen of this state hereby be restored, and that his record be expunged.
“Also, let the record show that it is the opinion of this court that Mr. Olson and his family should discuss with their attorney the possibility of seeking restitution from the state for his wrongful conviction and incarceration…”
Walt wasn’t sure Holly was okay, because she sat frozen next to him, tears streaming down her face. It was only when the judge finally slammed his gavel down, after some more harsh words for Salazar, that she flinched and stared at Walt.
Loui
s also looked like he was in a daze. Kimbra prompted him to stand, and then Holly was up and hugging him over the divider, both siblings sobbing as they held each other.
Lynn, also crying now, scooched past Walt so she could get her promised hug. Then it was a mass of hugs and tears as everyone somehow got out of the row and made their way to the defense table to get their hugs in.
“Now, listen,” Kimbra said. “They need to process his release, so we can’t leave just yet.”
“We’ve got his stuff, too,” one of the bailiffs told her. “We’ll get that brought out.”
“Thank you,” she said.
Louis hugged that bailiff, too, and the other one, both of them smiling and patting him on the back.
It seemed if Louis turned to someone, he was ready to hug.
Walt had already gotten his hug and stepped back, out of the way, where he could stand and glare at Salazar. The man angrily started packing stuff, his assistant silent next to him.
Walt walked over to him, unable to help it. “How’s it feel?”
The guy looked up. “What?”
“How’s it feel to know you tried to ruin what was left of a family and still couldn’t win in the end?”
“That kid’s guilty. We’ll be refiling charges.”
“Good luck with that.” Walt dropped his voice. “Good luck finding a new job, too.”
Salazar grabbed his laptop case and stormed out of the courtroom, leaving the other guy scrambling to gather the rest of their things and follow.
Walt and Papi offered to cart Louis’ boxes of personal effects out to Walt’s truck while everyone gathered in the hallway for interviews with the reporter.
“You love Holly, don’t you?” Papi asked him.
“Yeah, I do,” Walt admitted. “I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I’m always going to love Kimbra, but—”
He laughed. “My daughter, she’s a stubborn one, no?”
“Yeah.”
“She told us that you and Holly have her blessings. So that’s good enough for us.” After they got the boxes stashed into the backseat, he turned to Walt. “If he needs a job, he’s welcomed to come work for me. I’ve already talked to a couple of my best guys, and they said he can apprentice with them. We’ll help pay for him to go to trade school, if he wants. Can always use more electricians in the world.”
“Thanks, Papi. I’ll let him know. I’m not sure Holly will want to let him out of her sight for a few days, at least.”
“Rightfully so. Maybe Kimbra can get him a good settlement.”
“It’ll probably be a couple of years before she can. Lawsuits take time.”
“That Salazar. He’s gonna get fired, isn’t he?”
“I hope to hell so.”
“Good. Man like that shouldn’t be ruining lives.”
They returned to the courthouse and found them all still standing in the hallway. Apparently a newspaper reporter had joined the hearing just as it started and was now interviewing Holly, Louis, and Kimbra about it. It took the better part of an hour before they could actually make their way out of the courthouse, Holly and Louis holding on to each other as they walked, Louis’ arm around Holly’s shoulders and dwarfing her by nearly a foot in height.
Walt matched steps with Kimbra. “When’s his interview schedule start?”
“Three o’clock today in my office. The Sarasota channel, two Tampa stations, one from Orlando, and one from Miami. My office already heard from the Today Show’s booker, and they want him to headline tomorrow’s hour two with Matt Lauer, so I need to make sure I get him another outfit tonight to wear for it all. Good Morning America was a little late to the punch, so they get him to headline their hour three slot.”
“What about Fox News?”
She snorted and looked up into his eyes, smiling. “I told them they could go fuck themselves.”
His eyes widened. “No.”
She giggled. “No, but they don’t get to interview him. They get my ass at eleven tomorrow. Should be fun.”
“I can’t wait.”
“I know, right?” She sighed. “This felt good. This felt really damn good.”
“What happens right now?”
“Everyone’s meeting up at Holly’s. I’m going to stop on the way and grab food for us, and we can decompress for a little bit while I talk to them about what happens next.”
“How much you think he’s going to get from suing?”
Her expression turned angry. “Not nearly enough to make up for what they’ve been put through, but it’ll be a start.”
They all ended up at Walt’s truck. Holly offered to sit in back, but Louis wouldn’t let her. Fortunately, all of the boxes fit on one side of the back seat and the floor behind Walt’s seat, leaving ample room.
“Do you want to stop anywhere on the way home?” Walt asked. “Anywhere you want.”
Louis needed a moment to think about it. “Can we go by McDonald’s for a chocolate shake?” he softly asked.
Hell, Walt wanted to cry for the kid. “Of course we can.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Holly wanted to ride sitting turned around and staring at Louis for the whole trip home, but she knew she’d end up in more pain than she already was if she did that.
She didn’t want to take her eyes off him.
Even including the stop for his shake, they were still the first ones to arrive home. She knew the rest of the invited crew wouldn’t be too far behind. Kimbra and the whole Luzon family, as well as Lynn and Terrie and the rest.
And a couple of local reporters, whom Kimbra had carefully selected from the group of media swarming them at the courthouse once the hearing ended. Holly didn’t know where they’d all come from, but she was glad she really hadn’t been aware of them before or she might have been even more nervous.
All she’d wanted to do was focus on Louis.
Louis started to help Walt unload the boxes, but he waved him off. “Go on inside with your sister and have a moment,” he insisted. “I’ve got this.”
Holly unlocked the front door with a trembling hand and heard Louis suck in a breath behind her. “Wow.”
“I had to paint…after. And I didn’t want carpet anymore. If I’d known then what would happen, I would have just kept bare concrete floors and not spent the money on new flooring. I was sort of in shock, I guess.”
“It’s okay. It looks good. It’s better like this.”
They walked in and he immediately homed in on the picture of them with their mom and their dad when they were little.
“This her?” He reached out and stroked her urn.
“Yeah.”
“You never told me what you did with him.”
“Better than he deserved. Dumped him into Sarasota Bay. I didn’t want him here. I never even brought his urn into the house. It rode around in the trunk of my car for several weeks until I had time to go do it.”
Tears rolled down his face. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save her.”
She hugged him, not caring about the pain it caused her, burying her face against his chest and unable to believe he was there, home, where he belonged.
“Hey, you saved me. If you hadn’t come home early, I might have died. Maybe even you, too.”
Walt walked in with the first couple of boxes and didn’t interrupt them as he headed down the hallway to Louis’ room.
“What do you want for dinner tonight?” she asked Louis. “Anything you want.”
“I don’t even know.” He stared down at her. “Are you really okay? They wouldn’t tell me anything about you while I was in. I didn’t even know if you were alive or not at first until my attorney was able to talk to you. Walt said you hurt a lot now because of what happened.”
She reached up and cupped his face in her hands. He’d grown a couple of inches since she’d last been able to hug him. “We can talk about that later.”
“I want to talk about it now.”
“She’s got fibromyalg
ia,” Walt said from the hallway, where he leaned against the wall. “It’s not a disease so much as it’s a diagnosis of exclusion. It’s a condition, with a lot of different variables.”
Holly didn’t want Louis’ homecoming marred by this. “Walt—”
“No, sweetheart, he needs to know. He’s your brother, and he deserves to know. It’s not his fault.”
He pushed off from the wall and walked over. “She’s in a lot of pain a lot of the time. Crippling fatigue. Fibro fog, which is like a brain fog thing. Bad memory, a hard time concentrating.”
Walt stood next to them, staring down at her. “And she’s stubborn as all get out. She pushes herself too hard and refuses help when she shouldn’t, and then she has a crash or triggers a flare because she did too much and didn’t ask for help.”
“I’m home now,” Louis said. “I’ll do all the chores and stuff.”
“It’s not just that,” Walt said. “Did she tell you about her job?”
“Walt!” She didn’t want to discuss this. Not right now, when he just got home.
Walt made her turn to face him. “He’s an adult, and he deserves to know.”
“But he doesn’t need to know all this now.”
“Yeah, he does, sweetheart.” He gathered her hands in his and tucked them against his chest. He didn’t pull his gaze from hers as he talked to Louis. “She had to take a different job where she works. Because of her injuries, even after she recovered and was cleared to go back to work, she couldn’t focus and do her job. So they demoted her. She’s been struggling.”
“I’m sorry, sis.”
“Don’t you dare apologize for something you didn’t do,” she snapped.
Walt pulled her into his arms. “She’s spent a lot of years fighting for you and hiding how bad off she was from you. She didn’t want you to worry. She loves you. Expect her to hit a flare here shortly, if she’s not in one already, from all this stress of the past couple of weeks.”
“What’s that?”
Walt explained it to him, keeping her body securely pressed against his. She gave up and let him hold her, knew this man wasn’t about to stop taking care of her, no matter how stubbornly independent she pretended to be.