“I have never liked this part of Florida,” she said.
“Not much to like,” Sam commented.
For the next hour, they rode in silence, both of them thinking their own thoughts. Tessa was glad. It would take time to absorb her new reality. People seemed different, and uncaring, at least the few she had had contact with. She had always been the caring type, wanting to make things right for those around her. In doing so, she had ruined so many lives. It had cost her everything that was dear to her.
Wanting to know but afraid to ask, she wondered what kind of changes had been made to her home on the island. She had always thought the place was much too extravagant, too flashy. After a few years of living there, she had gotten used to seeing yachts moored in the deep canals, Bentleys and Lamborghinis casually parked in driveways, their owners uncaring of the damage from the brutal sun. Fearful, yet curious, she wanted to focus on anything but the day that her life fell apart. She knew that once she arrived home, she would break.
Maybe this was all a bad idea. Maybe she should ask the driver to turn around and take her back to the place she had called home for the past ten years. She had accepted the fact the she would spend her life behind bars, and now, this. She was getting a chance to start over, a chance to prove her innocence, and the thought scared her to death. Tessa knew what she would have to do to make things right.
And she would. In due time.
Chapter 6
This was almost worse than prison, almost, she thought, as the obnoxious female deputy adjusted the bracelet on Tessa’s left ankle. Tessa tried to pull her khaki slacks over the giant black ankle bracelet, but they weren’t wide enough. Cuffing her slacks into a pair of makeshift capris, she would have to remember that whatever type of slacks or jeans she was able to get her hands on in the next few days would have to be either flared or boot cut.
“While you’re wearing the ankle monitor, you must not drink or use drugs; if you leave your assigned area, your monitor will notify authorities; you must pay any and all court costs connected with the use of the ankle bracelet; you must have a job, and you will meet with an officer weekly.” The female deputy recited her spiel with about as much enthusiasm as a dead rat. “Do you understand these terms?”
What if I said no?
“Yes,” Tessa said instead. “I understand.”
“Sign here.” The deputy shoved a clipboard in Tessa’s face.
Tessa skimmed through the form, stating she was responsible for the care and maintenance of her bracelet.
“I don’t understand this. What if it breaks?” She returned the clipboard to the woman without signing it.
“It’s fine, Tessa. It’s just a formality,” Sam said.
The deputy handed the clipboard back to her. She scanned the paper, then signed and dated it, giving it back to her. “If this thing is faulty through no act of mine, what am I supposed to do?” Tessa directed her question to the deputy.
“Ain’t no free pass. It means you violated your terms, and you’re going back where you belong.” The deputy smirked.
Sam held his hand up, preventing Tessa from speaking. “If there is a malfunction in the unit, they’ll issue you another. Isn’t that the correct procedure”—Sam glanced at the name on her badge—“Deputy Pierson?”
“It depends,” she answered.
“On what?” Sam asked, his tone sharp, demanding.
“Ask her,” the deputy said. “She ain’t about to keep that on her leg once she gets to that fancy mansion. It’s all over the news here. I remember you.” She practically spat out the last word.
“Let’s get out of here before I break the law,” Sam said, giving the deputy a withering look that promised he would not forget how she had behaved and that she had better hope he didn’t use his position in the community to make sure that her career in law enforcement would soon be over.
Turning his back in disgust on the soon-to-be-unemployed poor excuse of a deputy, Sam took Tessa’s hand and led her out the side entrance, where their SUV waited.
He opened her door, and she climbed inside, settling in the backseat again. She fastened her seat belt, leaning back in the leather seat, which seemed frivolous now. Being in prison, she had learned that one only needed the barest necessities to live. Even with a fortune at her disposal, Tessa couldn’t see herself as the woman of power and position she had been before. She couldn’t be that woman ever again, and she didn’t want to be.
“Sorry about her.” Sam turned his head and said as soon as he was seated next to the driver. “Power-hungry. With any luck, she won’t be a deputy much longer.”
“I’m used to it,” was all Tessa could say.
“Maybe you can begin to get ‘unused’ to it?” he asked.
Tessa looked at him, saw he was smiling. “I’m not putting the cart before the horse, Sam. If I have learned anything in the past ten years, it’s to expect nothing. That way, I’ll never be disappointed. Being locked away changes a person. If I’m convicted again, I’ll go quietly. That deputy’s words meant nothing to me.” She had heard so much worse, but she wouldn’t burden Sam with stories of her time in what many called the Big House.
“Then let’s keep our fingers crossed. Lee Whitlow is one of the best criminal defense attorneys in the country. He will win this, Tessa. I know him. He wouldn’t have taken your case on if he thought there was even the slightest chance of losing. I have been friends with him for years,”
