A Long Road to Redemption

Chapter 27

Since her incarceration, Luke Brady met with Sidney at least once a quarter. Mostly, it was a short visit to update her on the status of her case and how things were going from a legal point of view. Sometimes, he brought news from her parents, and they often talked about her father and if anything was new around her hometown.

There was a designated area that granted more privacy for an attorney and client to speak without other people listening to the conversation. When she arrived, Brady had already unpacked his briefcase and had a stack of papers before him. "Sidney, good to see you again," he said as she was escorted in, "how are you holding up?"

She smiled just a bit and took the seat directly across from him. "I'm managing things pretty well right now. How's my case coming?" When she agreed to take the plea deal, he explained that an appeal would be almost impossible but that he would continue to fight for her through other means. She couldn't say exactly what that meant, but Mr. Brady must know what he was doing.

Brady shifted a bit in his seat and pulled off his glasses. "I'm not going to lie to you; not much has changed. I have a team of investigators trying to punch holes in the case against you to sink the prosecution's case. Leonard Pierson covered his tracks well, though. That being said, I think there's an angle we can explore that might yield some results, but it will be a long process. Probably means you're going to be here a while."

"I expected that. I never meant to kill Lawson. I just wanted him to hurt like I did." She thought to herself that she had said that a thousand times. She got a feeling of frustration every time she said it. To her, it seemed no one cared. She was now just one of the many that society had written off. She tried not to think about that conversation with Leonard Pierson, but she was starting to believe him when he told her that there were worse monsters outside the cages.

"I know, and I'm doing everything I can to try and get you out of here as soon as possible. If nothing else, get your sentence reduced." He flipped through the papers from his briefcase, trying to find anything useful. He didn't want to give her false hope about getting her released, but she needed to know that the investigation was still active. "Just remember to keep all the information about your case to yourself. Don't tell anyone about anything we discuss."

"Don't worry, I won't. That was one of the first lessons I learned here," Sidney said.

"Look, I know it's not much. Things are moving forward, I promise. In the meantime, try to stay positive and keep yourself as busy as possible." He was giving her the standard useless advice, and he knew it. Sidney was stuck and it was partially his fault. He was the one who said she should take the deal. His reasons may have been good, but they were far from perfect, and he couldn't help but fault himself. Under normal circumstances, he could have gotten a better deal for her, but Pierson has Cooper in his pocket. Of course, no one told her to hit the bastard in the head. She had fault here, too, and he also had to keep that fact in perspective.

He decided to change the subject. "Hey, your dad told me he and your mom were going on a cruise next month. Did he tell you?"

"He did," she responded, "Mom told me she would take plenty of beach pictures for me." She thought for a second. Brady meant well, and he had been a family friend for a long time. It wasn't fair to take her frustrations out on him. "The beach is the biggest thing I miss in here."

"You're going to get there again someday," he tried to assure her. He left that day wondering if he should have trusted Shelia and Detective Taylor with the information on the flash drive. He also kept another secret. He indeed gave Pierson the flash drive, but the one he kept was not a copy but the original. Not only that, he only copied some files. There were things he knew about Leonard Pierson that few others did. Maybe the time was finally right.