Unintended Consequences - By Marti Green Page 0,80
a chaplain appeared and asked George if he needed anything. George shook his head.
The hours passed slowly. George didn’t speak much. Dani could only imagine what his thoughts must be. Her life wouldn’t end tonight, yet she felt the same helplessness he must have felt. She tried to engage him in conversation, as if by doing so she could drag the thoughts of death from his mind.
“Do you have any family?” she asked. “Parents? Siblings?”
“My dad died about ten years ago. Heart attack. Very sudden.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It was the stress, my being here, that did it to him. Every time he’d come visit, I could see it in his face.”
“And your mother?”
“She’s still alive.”
“Will she be here tonight? In the visitors room?”
George’s face tightened. “She came yesterday. We had a good visit. I told her don’t come tonight. I couldn’t bear my mom seeing me all strapped up like that. My folks, they understood. They knew what I did for Angelina. Never once did they doubt me.”
“They sound like good parents. Tell me about them.”
“Dad, he taught me everything I knew about cars. He could take apart any car and build it right back up like brand-new. He worked on the factory line, though. Cars were a hobby for him.”
“How about your mom?”
“A boy couldn’t have had a better mom. She would have done anything for me. I had no brothers or sisters. I’d come home from school and she’d always have something fresh baked for me. Always.” A smile crossed his face. “She wasn’t educated. Never even finished tenth grade. As soon as my dad finished high school, she ran off and married him. Mom thought everything I did was right. Never once did she use harsh words with me. It breaks my heart to see what this has done to her, but she puts on a strong show with me. Every time she visits she tells me I did what I had to do.”
“She must love you very much.”
“Yes, ma’am, she does.” George stopped talking for a moment and then said, “If you do find Angelina, will you make sure she gets to know her grandma? That would be a real good present for my mom. Not that it’ll heal her broken heart over me, but it would help. I know it would, if she has a granddaughter to love. So, will you?”
“Of course.”
“You’ve got to promise me.”
“I promise you, George.”
At 3:45, a guard came to take Dani to Coates’s office.
“Your associate is on the phone. Do you want some privacy?”
“Yes, please.”
She was afraid to pick up the phone. The odds were small that the Supreme Court would stop this travesty, and she didn’t want to hear the words she dreaded. But she couldn’t avoid it.
“Melanie, have you heard something?”
Melanie’s voice was weak, as if the elasticity had been strained out of her vocal cords. “It’s bad news. They denied a stay and they denied cert.” Certiorari was the term used when the Supreme Court agreed to decide a case.
Dani’s legs shook. She’d been through this before with other inmates. It never got easier. “I’ll call the governor’s office. There’s still hope in that corner.”
She got off the phone and dialed Joe Guidry’s number.
“Joe, the Supremes have turned us down. Governor Timmons is the last hope to stop the execution of an innocent man.”
“Look, I’ve read the stuff you’ve sent me and I agree there are doubts in this case. But she’s all about law and order. She needs something solid.”
“Give me one week. That’s all I’m asking for. One week and I’ll get you something solid.”
“Hold tight. I’ll go speak to her.”
The line was quiet for ten minutes before Joe came back. “One week and you need to produce the daughter. That’s the deal. If you don’t have Angelina Calhoun or a valid death certificate for her in one week, then she won’t do anything more for you. Understand?”
“Joe, she won’t regret this.”
“We’ll see. I’m faxing the stay over to the prison now.”
Dani hung up, elated. One more week. It was a lifetime.
CHAPTER
29
If he wasn’t so goddamn tense he might have appreciated the beauty surrounding him. The red rock encasing the Colorado River as it snaked its way thousands of feet below truly was majestic. Maybe when this was over, he’d take his wife for a vacation here.
The website listed on the brochure told him exactly when and where Nancy’s trip would end: Marble Canyon. It even said where they’d spend their last night before