The day after Hathorne stopped by Cade was on edge. Every time Leigh's phone rang, he hoped it was Meg. He considered calling her at the magazine hourly, but then he remembered she was engaged and wondered who she really was. Certainly not the sweet and sexy illusion he had planted in his mind.

Even knowing Meg's identity, Leigh and Jason worked to build a case, Cade felt each minute as it ticked closer to the grand jury. Leigh was cooperating, so the police agreed not to show up and arrest him. When, not if, the grand jury decided against him, he would turn himself in and plead not guilty. Then he would rot in jail waiting for a trial. His gut reacted, and he wondered how long before he had ulcers. He saw gray hair, and he was only thirty-one. Prison would age him ten years before Leigh could file an appeal. It was futile to remind himself that the jury would acquit him. The judicial system felt like guilty until proven guilty.

With a surge of helplessness, he dialed the number knowing she wouldn't be there. He listened through the automated message and pressed three for the directory. After entering RIC, the first option was Ricci and then Rice. Her phone rang and went to voicemail. Maybe it was better that way.

"Hi, um Meg. It's Cade. I really need your help. You know every move I made that night. Please help me. This is my number at least until I go to jail. Please save me."

He hung up and put his face in his hands. Sighing, he sounded like a whiny kid. Instead of begging for a toy, he was pleading for his freedom.

Later over a meal that Cade only picked at, the siblings argued. Leigh felt it was time they told their father. "He'll come support you."

"He'll go see mom and probably get shot by one of Vinnie's thugs."

Leigh sighed. "Do you think she knows?"

Cade frowned. "I hope not. The pain of her knowing and not doing anything cuts like a double edge blade." Brenda was too weak to stand up to Vinnie. If only she hadn't been lured into his trap. His life would be so different and he never would have sold his condo. His primary catalyst for moving was to get away from Vinnie. If they never met, he would have been happy. It was hard to remember what happiness felt like.

"We can't look backwards." Leigh frowned.

It was a line Leigh used after her brief marriage. "I trust you, but what if you can't get me off?"

"I will or I will work to prove your innocence every day until you are free."

"This is so depressing."

He jumped when his phone rang. Frowning, it was just Joe. "Hi." He answered unenthusiastically.

"How are you holding up?"

"Awful. Trying to grasp hope, but it's hard."

"I know. I'll never abandon you. Renee is practicing baking cakes with files in them."

Cade shook his head. "Not funny." His sense of humor had vanished. Even his comics were depressing.

"Seriously, we will do anything, sit in court every day, testify. You name it."

"I don't want to think about it."

Except he did every moment of the day. He tried to ask his friend questions about his life, but he resented his answers. Joe's expertise was the written content for the games. Together they brainstormed the concepts, but Joe's technical writing skills created the rules. His friend had taken some freelance jobs to keep busy even though he didn't need to work.

Cade could do the same. He loved designing, but he was waiting for the hammer of injustice to fall on his head.

He ended the call with a long sigh. Leigh looked up. "I've told clients they needed to let the system work, but most could wait it out on the outside. I will fight for bail, but I... I thought I cared before but never like this.

"At least you'll get me off your sofa."

"Not funny, Cade." She wiped a tear.

He frowned. "Hey, you're supposed to be the strong and confident one."

"I know. Everything they have on you is circumstantial. I need to create reasonable doubt in all of it."

"What do we have?"

"The video."

He nodded. "My walk."

"And your movements. Jason has the video showing you going into your room and not leaving until the cops knock."

"That's reasonable enough."

"They'll splice it to show you leaving."

"Not in boots. Right."

She nodded. "No."

"We can prove every dollar I've earned."

Leigh nodded. "I feel better. It adds up to a lot of doubt."

Cade wished they could fast forward and get the trial over with, but so many things could go wrong.

On Monday morning, they were at the park again. Despite the bright sun shining, and the sweet fragrances of blooming flowers in the air, Cade was on a mission to escape. His furrowed brow, quickened his pace. His incessant worries had turned his beautiful and peaceful surroundings into a mere backdrop to his own internal chaos. A sense of unease followed him as he ran through the park trying not to let the inevitable catch him. Cade looked around frequently, wary of every sound and movement. He studied groups of children playing and people relaxing on benches. Even though he wasn't in Boston, his eyes darted across the horizon as if trying to locate one of Vinnie's thugs. He resented having to drive out of the city. Cade was afraid of the bastard, although he wondered who the jerk would pin his murder on? His mind spent too much time spinning paranoia. Would his mother finally wake up if Vinnie offed him?

Leigh looked up when he walked back-and-forth panting in front of her. "You need to eat."

"I try. What will meals be like in jail?"

"I don't know. Your girl is our only hope to avoid an indictment."

"She's not my girl. I don't even know her." The girl he met didn't like a bachelorette kissing a guy. What was he? A guy who did more than kiss her. She was a girl he met once who refused to call him back.

"I'll call Hathorne to see what's happening."

"Isn't he the enemy?"

"Maybe, but he's all we have."

It was late that evening when Hathorne returned her call. After Leigh hung up, she looked at him with wide eyes.

"What did he say?"

"Nothing specific. Something about things getting interesting. I asked if she would come forward."

"What did he say?"

"He said there was a better chance than a day ago."

Cade jumped up. "Why?"

"That's what I asked, but he wouldn't say. Except he knows about us."

"It's not really a secret." Leigh only hid her identity from their mother and Vinnie.

Leigh put her arms around him and hugged him. "No. It was never you. It was always the connection to Vinnie. Let's hope the rich boy and the Attorney General's daughter come through for us."

Cade reminded himself that she had deceived him. She was engaged, and he didn't kill bugs or sleep with another guy's girl.

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