At my next visit, Jonah asked, “Did Owen retake the test?”

I blinked. “You remembered that?”

“You wrote it down.”

“I write a lot of things down.”

“And I read them.”

That irritated me more than I expected.

Kindness is far more difficult to dismiss than cruelty.

One night after working a double shift, I sat on the kitchen floor reading Jonah’s case file.

Owen stepped over the papers carrying a bowl of cereal.

“Please tell me that’s something fun and not prison husband stuff.”

“Prison husband stuff. Look at this date.”

He crouched beside me. “October fourth.”

“Jonah was already in custody on October fourth.”

“So he couldn’t have signed this transfer order.”

“Exactly.”

Owen leaned in. “Dean?”

“I think Dean copied his signature.”

“Can you prove it?”

“Not yet.”

Owen placed his cereal on the floor.

“What do you need?”

For the first time in years, I didn’t feel like I was fighting alone.