23. | out of sight

I wake up to the sound of my phone ringing and roll over, groaning in pain and exhaustion. Glancing at the unknown caller ID, I hesitate slightly but still pick up.

"Hello?" I mumble into the phone with a rough morning voice as I continue to lay on my side. A few seconds pass by, not a single noise from the other side. All I can hear is some heavy breathing, causing me to sit up straight. "Who's this?" I whisper, my voice giving away my sudden nerves.

A deep chuckle sounds from the other side, one that couldn't be mistaken to be from anyone other than Ethan. Relaxation falls upon me as a smile automatically creeps on my face. I lay back on my back as I chew on my bottom lip, staring at the ceiling.

"Well, good morning." Ethan's raspy morning voice greets me and my heart beat immediately accelerates. "Look at you, picking up phone calls of unknown callers. Don't do that, could be creepers—" I can imagine his grinning expression by his tone, searching for a word to finish his sentence. "Babe."

My stomach flutters at his words. I hate how he can make me feel with just some words. We're starting to act like a couple, it makes me sick and giggle at the same time. I'm so drawn to him, I wish we could be physically close all the time. I wish I could kiss him.

God, I wish I could kiss him.

"Thanks for the advice babe."  I mimic him as I start playing with a string of hair. I don't know where the confidence is coming from, but I'm assuming it's the fact that there's such a distance between us at this moment. In front of him, my mind turns to mush and my legs weaken. Now, I can tease him a little and enjoy it, making him have a taste of his own medicine.

"Say that again." He breathes into the phone.

"Say what?" I mutter, a questioning tone lacing my innocent demeanor. "Babe?" I play along, hearing him sharply inhale a breath in on the other side.

"I like that."

God, fuck this distance. This is aggravating. My entire body is aching just to be in his hold. I feel all warm and fuzzy because of our interaction of words. Sadly, but realistically, I don't want to start something we can't finish. Even though I'd die to be able to.

"How are you even calling me, aren't you supposed to be in jail or something?" I change the subject for both of our sake.

This earns me a chuckle from him. "You know, I am actually permitted to place up to 120 minutes of telephone calls every month. I've just never called you before." Stupid question. Of course, he gets to call. At least my change of subject helped, a little.

"Oh," I simply reply, "But aren't you only allowed to call relatives?" Relevant question from my side for once. I'm pretty sure they could be tracking and listening to his calls if they're thinking he'd acting suspicious. Makes sense, since a lot of inmates, particularly the ones that are part of gangs, would try to order hits on people through calls.

"What are you saying? You're my cousin, Daisy." He whispers from the other side, making me laugh.

"They're going to think you're from Alabama, idiot."

"Who says I'm not?" He tries to sound hurt, I can already picture him placing his hand on his chest where his heart is located. He always does that.

"Great way to turn me off, well played." I admit, rolling to my side and pulling a blanket to cover my legs. The glass pieces from the photo frame are still scattered all across the floor, the memory not so groggy anymore as my mind has slowly woken up by now.

"You were turned on?" He mumbles, intimacy dripping from his every word.

"Were you?"

He doesn't reply for a few seconds, because I know he was. Distance makes even the simplest interactions so intimate. "There's your answer." I answer, sinking my front teeth into my lower lip.

"Fuck me." He whines and I hear voices of guards in the background. "Fuck me as in fuck me for being in here. I mean the other fuck me is also preferred..."

I let out a chuckle, trying to conceal the reality that I'm feeling hot all over. "Cousin, stop saying weird shit."

The voices in the background sound near, and I realize his time must be up already. "I've got to go, they're saying we all have to end our calls and line up. I guess they're going to search us and then bring us back to have lunch." He mumbles, clearly annoyed.

"Okay." is all I reply, not asking further.

"When will I see you again?" He whispers, not wanting anyone else to hear his question. We're being ridiculous. They could be listening to us through this phone call, and we somehow act like whispering is going to prevent them from hearing.

Just a little longer, and we'll be able to act however we want. At least, that's what I'm hoping for. I don't know for how much longer I can keep going like this.

"If everything goes according to my plan, I'll be there tonight." I reply, not sure why I'm whispering even though I'm in my room. "Cole and I are meeting up with your attorney, so hopefully I'll update you with some good news tonight. " And I'll tell him about my visit to his family. I don't want to do that over a phone call.

"You may be out of sight, but you are never out of my mind, Daisy."

And the phone line goes dead.

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"Chris isn't here yet?" I ask Cole as I take a seat at the table in the corner of a rather quiet café.

"Yeah, about that..." Cole begins as he signs for a waiter. While Cole orders us two coffees to warm us up, I take of my coat and grab a notebook from my bag. Placing it in front of me on the table, I open the pages with some of the important things I've written down. "Ethan and I have decided to not work with him any longer."

This surprises me a bit, I must say. Two weeks ago Cole showed me a picture of Chris, Ethan's attorney, with William Davis, a high functioned attorney working for the district attorney office. William and the governor are also in contact with each other, not only through the office, but personal parties and such.

Before Cole showed me those pictures, he found a check of a large amount of money, from my father, for William Davis. It was the perfect evidence that there was bribing in this case. My father was probably trying to make sure William convinced the governor to not allow another court for Ethan. Now, this is all speculation from our side, with pretty relevant proof. This is however enough to pressure the governor into accepting our request for a case, to prove he's not being unfairly influenced. He knows how the media could destroy him if they would get ahold of these suspicions.

The second the waiter brings our coffees, I wrap my hands around the cup in order to warm up a little. December has arrived, and so has the coldness of the building winter. I glance around the café, making sure there's no one here that has any ties with us or the prison.

"We should expect traitors left and right. Even the ones closest to us." Cole's previous words haunt me, for the better. Rather be careful beforehand than sorry afterwards.

"Why?" I ask.

"You know how I told you I would try to reach him because you hadn't been able to for days?" He begins, "He dodged my calls and texts for a while. I went to his office, so that he could not hide from me any longer. Thankfully, he was there that day. I pressured him into admitting how good his ties are with not only William Davis, but the governor himself as well."

This still makes sense to me and doesn't sound weird. They could have met through another case. Then, a possible scenario hits me.

Cole leans in a little closer, causing me to do the same. "Does that mean...?" I begin, trying to sum it up.

"He was aware of the fact that they were trying to make sure Ethan didn't get another chance with a new judge and jury? Yeah."

"But, why would he do that? He's been getting paid for being Ethan's attorney for several years now. Why agree to losing? What's in it for him? Wouldn't that make him lose other possible clients due to the publicity this one had gotten three years ago?"

"More money in it for him from bribing than what he could get from clients." Cole shrugs as he states the obvious. "And luckily, this helps our case. We're so going to throw that motherfucker under the bus. Fucking idiot has been playing for another side, thinking he could get away with it."

I shake my head in disbelief. Great, no one can be trusted. Are we surprised by now though?

"I've recorded the conversation with Ethan's attorney." He mentions, causing me to lighten up a little. That's good. We both sit there in silence for a few minutes, sipping our coffee.

I feel so terribly bad for Ethan.

"And, " He begins, causing me to lean into him a bit more. "We've gotten green light from the governor."

My mouth falls open. "You're kidding." He shakes his head as a proud grin forms on his face, his warm brown eyes narrowing because of it.

We jump up simultaneously as I take step closer to hug him in disbelief and happiness. Finally, some proper progress is being made.

As we let go of each other, I look up at him with my arms folded. "Why didn't you begin with the good news then?"

He laughs as he sits back down again. "That's no fun."

After that interaction and after the few people at other tables stop staring at us for being too loud in that moment, we finish our drinks. Cole orders himself something to eat, and insists I should too. We happily munch away on toasts and salads while discussing further steps.

"A little while ago Reed promised to talk to me, to tell me stuff I need to know. He wasn't ready, he was even afraid to tell me. I'll seek contact with him tomorrow, and try to convince him now's the time to help us. If his information really is that insightful, we could use him as witness, right?"

Cole nods, seeming to be thinking about what I just mentioned. "He could be positively influential, yes. Do you think he can be trusted?"

"Not at all," I admit, "But I'm just trying my best to guilt him into helping us. I just need him for filling some blank spaces in our story." I think about telling Cole about the yellow post-it I found last night, which I think might be related to all this. I decide on not spilling just yet, we have enough to do for now.

"He better do so," Cole says, wiping his mouth and checking his phone for notifications. "I've found a new attorney, Michelle, she's a far cousin of mine. She's going to be here in a few days, flying over from another state. We'll be able to get a quick new case with her ties." He assures me, finally piling up some good news.

"Even if we can't entirely prove his innocence, or prove who the real murderer is, we can get him out right after court. We could get him released because of lack of evidence, after we prove how evidence was tempered with and high functioned people were bribed. It's a huge beginning step. If Reed has good information, or actual physical proof, Ethan will be out in no time Brooklyn."

We've gotten rid of the bribed defense attorney, Chris. We've got proof an attorney, William Davis, working at the DA office, was also bribed. We've indirectly pressured the governor to accept and give Ethan a new case with a new jury and judge. We've gotten Ethan a new attorney, one that can be trusted. And all that is left is for Reed to do what he needs to do. It honestly feels too good to be true, but suddenly we're moving a whole lot faster than I thought.

Finally.

We talk excitedly about how everything is starting to slowly unfold, finish our plates and get up. Even though I want to pay, Cole insists and pays for the both of us. As I wrap a scarf around my neck, he speaks up.

"Are you going home or to the prison?"

"Prison." I answer as I push open the door of the café, the chilly December wind making me shudder.

"C'mon, I'll drive you." He replies. "I prefer sleeping there when you are too, just in case your dad decides it's the right place to get near you again. We'll pick Lexi up too."

Smiling at this, I follow him to walk towards his car.

"You can tell Ethan about what we just discussed. It'll give him hope, especially coming from you." He nudges my shoulder as I grin even wider.

While he tells me about how much he hates the beds in the prison for guards, I glance up at him. He's starting to become the brother I never had before, and I never realized how much I needed one in my life until now.

There it is. Another example of why blood doesn't mean shit.

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A/N; i hope you guys, the ones who celebrated, had a nice xmas :)

thanks for reading, i hope you enjoyed.

please don't forget to vote & comment, i really enjoy reading every single one of them.

— lyra b.