The Edge of Heaven (26 page)

"This is his life we're talking about, Joe," Emma said, then turned to. Sam. "He's not a bad person."

"I want to believe that," Sam said. "But you saw what he did to Mark."

"And what would you have done to Mark, if you had been here when he broke into this house and you'd found him getting ready to smack me with a fireplace shovel?"

"I don't know," Sam admitted, then turned to Joe.

"I feel bad about this," Joe said. "I wish I'd done more to head this off before it ever got ugly. Emma, I'm sorry."

"Joe, I'm not the one who got hurt. If you want to make it up to somebody, make it up to Rye. Can you do that?"

"I'll try," he said.

"What's happening now?" Rachel asked.

"Well, Mark's parents showed up, screaming about their precious little boy being attacked. They didn't want to believe anything I told them, but we got the fingerprint evidence back today. His fingerprints are all over your back door, the frame of the broken windowpane, the lock, and the fireplace shovel. Emma saw him hit Rye with that shovel. He waved it in her face and talked about needing to punish her. So we're looking at breaking and entering, assault and battery... His parents sure aren't going to like that. Apparently, they think he's downright perfect, and they want Rye locked up for a long time."

"Is that going to happen?" Emma asked.

"I'm not sure," Joe said. "If we charge him with a felony, he may have to serve out the rest of the time on the manslaughter conviction. But it's not really up to me. I'll make a recommendation, and from there, it's up to the county attorney, a judge, and a jury."

"What about Mark?" Rachel asked.

"I sure don't want him to do this to anybody ever again. Which reminds me..." He turned to Emma. "Has he hurt anyone else? Did he mention any old girlfriends? Any of them ever give you any kind of warning about him?"

"You know... One of them did say something." Emma felt sick just thinking about it. "I didn't think much of it at the time. It sounded more like someone who was jealous because he'd broken up with her. And... Oh, no."

"Em, it's okay." Rachel put her arm around her.

"She tried to tell me. She said something like, he wasn't what he seemed." She leaned into Rachel, thinking that this whole thing could have been avoided, thinking about Rye and all the trouble she'd drawn him into.

"What was her name?" Joe asked. "If there's a pattern of behavior here, I need to know about it."

Emma gave him the name. "That will help?"

"We'll see," Joe said. "Give it a few days. We'll see how it plays out."

Chapter 13

It took two days. She had to go to the county attorney's office and give a statement. They took one from Rye, one from Mark, conferred with the attorney Mark's parents hired, and finally called Emma back in. Sam and Rachel were with her. She sat in the thickly padded leather chair in front of a massive, gleaming wooden desk and felt like her whole future was on the line.

Joe was there, along with the county attorney, Jim Dixon. She knew him. She'd gone to high school with his daughter.

"Emma, I'm sorry about all of this." Jim opened up a file on his desk and frowned. "I know it's been difficult, and I hate putting you in this position, but it's time for us to make some decisions."

"About Rye?" she asked.

"About the whole thing. The Jacobsons are screaming, but there's no doubt their kid was the instigator. We've got his fingerprints. But you and Sam's brother came out of this relatively unscathed. Mark's still in the hospital, and we've got Sam's brother's own statement that he basically beat the hell out of the guy. He never tried to deny that. Although I have a feeling if I put Emma on the witness stand in court, she'd say he was just trying to defend her."

"He was," Emma said.

"Emma," Sam began.

"No," she insisted. "He was."

"Okay." Jim jumped in. "I can see where this is going. The Jacobsons' attorney seems to understand it, too. Bottom line is, they have high hopes for their son, and it doesn't include a criminal record. At the moment, they're more interested in making this go away than seeing Sam's brother punished."

"What?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm not crazy about any of it, but you know what the courts are like these days. We plea-bargain most everything. The Jacobsons' attorney asked us to consider a misdemeanor battery charge against their son, a year of probation, and court-ordered counseling. Maybe he can work through that little problem he has in controlling his anger and wanting to hit women."

"No," Sam said. "He hit Emma. He harassed her, scared her, chased her here from Chicago, and for that, you're going to send him to a shrink?"

"I know, Sam. I'm sorry. It's not what I want, either, although I have to tell you, the courts have never been too concerned about a guy hitting his wife or his girlfriend. Not the way they should be. I think you know that."

"Shit," Sam said.

"We can add a restraining order against him, make sure he doesn't go anywhere near Emma," he said.

"I'm sure she'll sleep better at night. I'm sure we all will," Sam said.

"I'm sorry," Jim said again.

Emma didn't know what to say. She'd tried not to think about how she would feel when Mark was out of the hospital. It had seemed very far away.

"I want him in jail," Sam said.

"Even if we pressed, I'm not sure what we could do," Jim said. "He slapped her a couple of times. I know it was a lot more than that to you and to her, and I'm sorry. But I've gone into court with women with broken bones and bruises like you wouldn't believe all over them, and... Well, it doesn't often amount to much jail time."

"So you can't do anything?" Sam roared.

"I'm not saying that. We can get him on breaking and entering. If you want me to, I'll go at him as hard as I can on both. I'm just telling you about an offer the Jacobsons' made."

"What offer?" Sam asked. "To get their kid off?"

"No. Not just that. They've gotten wind of the family connection here, and are thinking you and Emma might not want your brother in jail, Sam. In exchange for us offering probation to their son, they'll agree not to press for charges against your brother."

"You'll let him go?" Emma asked, stunned and hopeful.

"I can't prosecute one without prosecuting the other. It's not like Sam's brother jumped this guy on the street and beat him up. I can't ask a jury to punish Sam's brother for his part in it and ignore what Jacobson did. I'd never win that kind of a case."

Emma smiled for what felt like the first time in days. "So what would happen to Rye?"

"Same thing. Misdemeanor battery and probation. He may have to face a parole hearing in Georgia over it—although, a misdemeanor that turns out to be a fistfight with both parties charged, so close to the end of his parole term, overcrowded prisons, budget woes.... That could all amount to nothing, too. On our end, basically, if he stays out of trouble here, this is done."

"You'd do that?" Emma asked.

He wouldn't go back to jail then.

Maybe she hadn't ruined his life, after all.

"I'm trying to decide what to do, and as part of that, I'm asking you how you'd feel about that kind of plea bargain for both of them. I know Jacobson hurt you, and I know the idea of him going unpunished would make me furious if I were you or your father."

"Yes," Sam said. "It does."

"But, as I said, I won't prosecute one without the other, and I'll need your testimony to do that. If you get up on the stand and say Sam's brother was just trying to protect you from Jacobson... Even if the jury's looking at the damage done to Jacobson's face, the guy broke into your house. You said you thought he might well kill you."

"I did," Emma said. "I really did."

"I can't see getting a lot of jail time for Jacobson, even if we go breaking and entering and assault. The jury's going to look at pictures of his face after the beating and say the guy's been punished. End of story. But Sam's brother is going to pay big-time if the Jacobsons push this and Georgia decides this is a violation of his parole." Jim threw up his hands. "It doesn't seem fair, but that's where we are. I'm asking you, as the victim here, what you'd like me to do."

"I want it to be over," Emma said.

"Emma, think about this. Mark is going to get away with what he did."

"I don't care," she said, although, honestly, that was a lie. It scared her. But if the price was Rye going free, she'd pay it. "Rye was just trying to help me."

"That's not all he did," Jim argued. "Although, I have to say, I'm afraid a jury in this town—knowing Emma's history—would be more likely to applaud than to ever send him to jail for protecting her from another man who hit her."

It was the first time Emma had ever been glad about coming from an abusive family, and that most everyone in town knew it.

"I want you to make the deal," she said. "Let them both go."

* * *

Sam was still in shock a few minutes later. He'd sent Emma and Rachel home. Jim sat at his desk watching Sam warily, and Sam was torn, not knowing whether to thank the man or rant and rave at him.

"Look," said Joe, who'd kept quiet through everything so far, "if it helps, I think the Jacobsons have seen the light on this. I found that kid's old girlfriend and the one who came before her. They all tell the same story. He roughed them up. They're all scared of him. I made a point of telling the Jacobsons they're damned lucky nobody pressed charges before now, and I think they see that their son needs serious help."

"Emma can't even sleep at night, and you know what it takes to scare Emma." Joe put a hand on Sam's shoulder. Sam shook his head and tried to breathe. "And would somebody tell me there is something fundamentally different about my brother and what he's done, and this kid who's hitting my daughter."

"Your brother doesn't hit women," Joe said. "In fact, he doesn't seem to hit anybody who doesn't hit him first."

"Yeah, but what happens when he gets mad, Joe?"

"Sam, I checked him out. He's been living in the same town in Georgia for almost eight years. The sheriff there hasn't heard so much as a peep out of him."

"He was locked up for almost ten years," Sam said. "That changes someone. And even you were shocked by what Emma's boyfriend looked like when my brother got done with him."

"I was," Joe admitted.

"So as long as nobody jumps him, maybe he'll be okay?"

"I wouldn't turn him loose on my town if I thought he was a walking time bomb," Jim said.

"And another thing," Joe added. "He knew what was happening here. He knew Emma's ex-boyfriend was going to cause trouble, and he knew what trouble could do to him. I was ready to arrest him after Jacobson did that little song and dance and showed off the bruises on his neck, and you know what your brother did? He stayed right here. Told me everything I needed to know to find out all about his record, knowing I probably could have arrested him right then for what he'd already done and that it might well send him back to prison on a parole violation. You know the only thing he asked me?"

"What?" Sam asked.

"He wanted to know whether Emma would be okay if you came back here. Which was him wondering, if he got locked up, who would look out for her? He knew the risk he was taking, and he stayed anyway, Sam. Now to me, that says something about the kind of man he is."

"I hope so," Sam said. "Don't get me wrong. I appreciate what you're trying to do for him. I don't want him in jail for the rest of his life."

"Let's give him a chance," Joe said.

It was more than he'd thought his brother would ever have when he came back here and found his brother in jail. Maybe they could make something of this yet. Maybe everything would be okay.

"Have you talked to Rye about this?"

"Not yet," Jim said. "I wanted to know how you and Emma felt first. I figured there was no sense in getting his hopes up, in case it didn't work."

And then Sam had to ask for one more thing. "Can you make him stay here, as part of the probation deal?"