How They Got Away With Murder | Book Three

Chapter Thirteen-Part Two

      It was safe to say that Karmen was a nervous wreck.

      A trial Frank filed for was occurring tomorrow that she had no clue what the premise was, and she was really hoping that Frank's public defender would be good enough. Her faith in the man was about as great as her love for her father.

      Henceforth, she was dreading the next day.

      The blonde groaned as she plopped on to her bed, wincing when a familiar pain shot through her body at the action. She was only granted ten minutes of relaxation when her phone rang. She reached over to her nightstand, eyebrows pinching together at the unknown number. She accepted the call, shakily pressing the phone to her ear. What if something bad happened?

      "Hello?"

      "You are receiving a call from an inmate at Philadelphia County Prison. This call is being recorded. To accept the charges, press three."

      She jumped to her feet, quickly tapping the number three on her screen. A few seconds later, she heard,

      "Hey."

      She was torn between smiling and scoffing at the single word. Was that the best he could greet her with?

      "How are you? Is everything okay? Wh—"

      The sound of Frank chuckling cut her off. 

      "I'm fine. I just wanted to check in on you."

      "Check in on me? It should definitely be the other way around. I'm okay." She lied.

      "You sure? You didn't seem okay last time I saw you."

      She pursed her lips for a moment. "I was an emotional mess that day. I mean, I'm still losing it with the people around me, but I'll be fine. I think I'll be much better if tomorrow goes well."

      "Yeah."

      She frowned. Something in his tone shifted, telling her that there was a problem. 

      "What is it?"

      "What?"

      "Please just tell me. What happened?"

      "I uh...I fired my lawyer."

      She blinked once. Then twice. Slowly, the information pieced itself together in her brain, and when finally it all hit her, she breathed in and out slowly. She was trying not to have any more of her famous outbursts.

      "I'm sorry," she said in a low voice that held a certain level of trepidation, "you did what now?"

      "The guy wasn't really helping. I can do better off on my own."

      Before she spoke with Frank, Karmen thought that the anxiety she had built up for the trial was at its peak. Now, it had doubled. She could hardly breathe properly. This is it. Frank is going to stay jail. He's gonna be stuck in a prison for the second time in his life and we'll have to see each other in a room with a bunch of other inmates or talk on the phone with a wall separating us and—

      "Karmen? Say somethin'."

      "I don't know what you want me to say."

      "I dunno, anything. Tell me I'm an idiot for doing this."

      She huffed a laugh. "Fine. You're an idiot. I mean, in what way did you think this was a good idea?"

      "Look, I've been talking to Bonnie—"