Page 102 of First Chance

“Ah, he might have gotten a little shit-faced. Help me get him up the stairs.” I loop his other arm over my shoulders and help Hayes get him up the porch steps and through the front door.

“Hayes, what happened?”

“He saw the 6 o’clock NEWS.” He huffs as we continue upthe stairs to his room.

“They ran a story? I saw reporters at the bottom of the mountain, but I didn’t tell them anything,” I puff through ragged breaths.

“Oh, I know. They included that and a photo of the two of you, after they went on a smear campaign against him.” He nods to a door and I help him through it to Lochlan’s bedroom. “I got it from here, don’t worry about it, Jo.”

“No, let me help.”

“He wouldn’t want you to worry.”

“Of course, I’m worried!” I yell at an appropriate volume as we dump Lochlan onto his bed.

“What did they say?” I ask with my hands on my knees, catching my breath.

“You should just watch it.”

“Oh, God.” He starts to take Lochlan’s boots off, and I brush him away. “Please, let me do it. It’s the least I can do.”

“He’ll sleep it off, he’ll be fine by morning.”

“Does this happen often?”

“No, not since you got here.” I look at him, and he rolls his neck to crack it. “He stopped drinking so much when you started staying in the guesthouse. He wanted to be in his right mind every second of the day in case you needed something.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Lochlan mumbles something incoherent, and we both look at him as he slumbers in his bed.

“Not to him.” He shrugs, “Are you sure you’ve got this?”

“I’ve got it.”

Once he’s gone and it’s just me alone, I take in the gravity of the situation. Whatever was said was bad enough that hebroke his rule with drinking. I should pull the blanket over him and leave him to sleep, but I can’t get myself to move.

I sit on the edge of the bed instead and pull out my phone.

The blonde woman who approached me while Jackson was closing the road down comes up on my screen.

Second Chance Sanctuary is once again proving to be a danger to our community with an adult black bear on the loose near the outskirts of Langston and a troop of felons leading the charge. You might recall the man who owns the sanctuary and his scandal from nearly two decades ago.

Lochlan Dane is known for sexually assaulting his classmate, Bethany Summers, but denying his guilt in a lengthy legal battle. After being convicted and later exonerated of his crimes, some in the community welcomed him back, agreeing with his improvement to Second Chance Sanctuary. Others worried about the crime that seemed to have followed in his return.

Dane is to be married to the daughter of former Governor Montgomery. Sources speculate the courtship is part of an elaborate scheme to sway votes for Conrad Montgomery, who is currently running for Governor this election season.

Montgomery is known to be a major critic of prison reform, but many believe this relationship could encourage voters in the middle ground to vote in his favor.

Is reform as easy as it seems?

Or can a criminal really change?

The photo from The Biltmore that I posted a few days ago pops up on screen, and they highlight my follower count as if I’m using it to sway one hundred thousand people to an agenda. The final clip is the five-second conversation when she asked me for a statement, and I very professionally denied comments at this time.

Jackson warned me not to speak to her, but I thought I had it handled.

No wonder Lochlan’s upset. It’s my fault.

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