Page 214 of Bound By Fire
I stand up from my chair, and my legs are not entirely steady, but they hold. I take a step. Then another. The room is very loud around us.
I’m almost to the gallery gate when Carla reaches me first. She puts her arms around me and holds on. I hold on back, and I feel the shudder move through her.
“You’re free!” she says, muffled against my shoulder. “I’m so happy.”
“Me, too. Thank you for being here.” My voice is muffled too, and a little high-pitched from trying to hold back tears.
“Obviously.” She pulls back. Her eyes are wet. She laughs at herself, swipes at her face, and laughs again.
Brody shakes my hand and then pulls me into a hug that nearly lifts me off the floor. Hannah squeezes my arm. Lena hugs me with both arms and doesn’t say anything at all. A member of the hospital board shakes my hand.
“We knew you weren’t guilty,” he says.
It goes on and on as I walk down the aisle. I’m touched at how many people are here in support of me. I don’t trust my voice, so I just nod or smile or hug them back.
Then I’m outside and turning my face up to the sun. It feels wonderful. I had started to imagine myself being stuck inside a cell for years.
Carla comes through the door behind me and stops too.
“Okay?” she asks.
“Yeah,” I say. My voice is steadier now. “Yeah, I think I am.”
Flint is at the bottom of the courthouse steps. He waves.
Carla waves back. “Holy shit, he’s just as hot as I remembered.”
I find myself looking around to see if I can find Ridge or his SUV. I hate how disappointed I feel when I don’t see either.
I need to stop, so I focus on Flint.
We go over to him.
“Robyn, Carla, hi. Good to see you both.”
“Hi, Flint,” I say.
“Hi.” Carla sounds all breathy.
They have a stiff, slightly awkward hug.
“Let me guess: you had a part in this,” I tell him as they break apart.
He nods. “I did, but it was mostly Ridge. He worked pretty much around the clock.” He glances at Carla, then back at me. “He’s the one who cracked the whole investigation wide open.”
“Where is…um…Ridge?” I wince inside because I shouldn’t have asked. It doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter.
“Apologies, he had somewhere to be.” He licks his lips, looking down at his feet, and then sighs. “I told him to speak with you himself, but he wanted to give you space after what happened. He didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”
“Right.” I look at Flint. “Can you tell me what actually happened? What evidence did you guys unearth? How did you get me out? I’m assuming you found the person who framed me.”
He blows out a slow breath. “Ridge got to the bottom of it, and I’m sorry to have to tell you, but it was Dr. Patel.”
My stomach dips. “Patel.” I hear myself say it quietly, and feel the small, specific ache of disappointment that rises inside me. “Oh, my goodness.” I huff out a breath. “I would never have thought that it was Raj. We’re friends. I’ve been to his house. I had Thanksgiving with them. I know his wife. Avani is lovely.” I wave a hand. “Sorry, it’s just that I’m in shock. He’s a good guy. At least, I thought he was a good guy.”
“Dr. Patel and his family were being threatened. More specifically, his two sons. Whoever orchestrated this threatened to kill Patel’s boys. They sent pictures to prove that they had access to Dr. Patel’s sons. It’s the same MO these people have used before, and it’s highly effective,” Flint confirms.
“That’s terrible. He must have been so afraid. Where are they? I hope Raj hasn’t been arrested.”
