Page 101 of Second Chance

“No, you said you blamed yourself, which is ridiculous. I was far more at fault than you.”

“That’s not fair. You’re putting words in my mouth—”

“You’re not being fair.”

Daniel turns his back and turns the burner on. “Do you take milk or sugar?” he asks Emilio.

Emilio shakes his head wordlessly.

“Hey, you think you could give me your key?” Meredith asks Colette. “I’m just gonna shower and freshen up.”

She escapes down the stairs, and Lisa, the coward, goes to check on the patient in the other room.

Tony barely dares to think her name, not with the situation in the kitchen set to explode.

Daniel hands Emilio his coffee.

Emilio takes it, thanks him, and asks, “Daniel, who kidnapped you?”

Daniel’s Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. “I don’t know if…”

“It’s an easy question, unless you were blindfolded or unconscious or something.”

When no one responds, Emilio continues. “And given no one here is racing you to the hospital, I’m guessing you weren’t. So, I’m thinking you know exactly who it was, and you don’t want to tell me. Which is weird because, last I heard, I was helping you guys out and tracking IP addresses off of Rate My Professor, which was also pretty weird.”

“Christ.” Tony rubs a hand across his eyes. This is his fault. He shouldn’t have gotten Emilio involved. He’s so tired. “Emilio, man, this isn’t about you—”

“If you all know who killed my wife, it sure as fuck is.”

“It’s not that simple.” Daniel tries to stay rational and light, but Tony hears the steel in his voice. He’s getting angry, and if Tony is supposed to be the last remaining voice of reason in the room, he might as well start hiding the sharp knives.

“Sounds simple to me. My wife gets stabbed, you get kidnapped, you know who did both, they get arrested. Boom. Easy.”

“She’s just a kid, Emilio,” Tony tries. Lily is only seven years younger than him. Gianna’s old enough to be a mom, and she’s only a year older. Lily can vote. She can drink legally.

She’s old enough to own her fuck-ups, no matter how bad things get.

But at twenty-one, Tony had finished his associate’s degree and started working full-time in the shop. All his friends weredoing four-year degrees or work placements in other towns; they were dating and having regular sex with whomever they wanted. Tony was right where he’d always been and exactly as unsure of what and whom he wanted how.

He would have given anything for anyone in his life to think he was worth protecting.

After everything Lily’s done, he can’t give her that grace anymore, but he knows why Daniel thinks she deserves it. He suppresses the part of himself that violently disagrees.

“I don’t care who the fuck she is, she—” Emilio says.

“I know!” Daniel bursts out. “I know, all right? And we’ll get there. But she—I—look, this is my fault.”

Colette scoffs.

“She ismystudent, and my responsibility,” Daniel continues. “She’s been taking drugs, and she’s been through a hell of a lot, and I will not watch another kid get institutionalized and die over what fucking Mario did to them.”

“So we tell the detective.” Colette inspects her fingernails, trying to look cool even though she’s trembling as if the tension is rattling through her entire body. “They have suicide watch protocols. They can—”

“Do you know how inhumane that is?” Daniel turns on her. He hasn’t slept in about as long as Tony, probably. “I mean, you’ve been reading those articles I sent you, right, about—”

“Remember which of us was arrested last year? You’re not responsible for this country’s draconian nightmare of a criminal justice system.”

“If you hate the country so much—”

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