500 Days (63 page)

He kissed me just below my ear, then my jaw
and chin before he returned to my lips. He rolled off of me and I
rolled over on my side facing away from him. I didn’t want him to
see me cry. I didn’t want him to know how much I was hurting.
Before I knew it the tears came faster and harder and my body
started to shudder from my sobbing. Casper rolled me over to face
him. His face was contorted with concern. He wrapped me up in his
arms and held me close to his chest. “It’s okay,” he soothed. “It’s
all going to be okay.”

Casper

When I woke up Alex was gone. I didn’t think
too much about it, figuring she was in the bathroom or getting
something to eat. I got dressed and walked out into the living room
to find it empty. What I found instead was a note.

Casper, I’m sorry, but I
know deep down you knew this would never work. I never wanted it to
end this way but I knew you would never let me leave and I didn’t
want to fight. I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for me
over this past week. You helped me get through something I never
thought I would survive. I owe you for that, but what
you want from me, I can’t give you. I’m sorry for
the cop out. You deserve better and I hope someday you realize how
right I am. And maybe someday you’ll forgive me for this letter. If
not, I understand. Please know that I never meant to hurt
you.

-
Alexis

I crumbled up the paper and threw it aside,
storming out of the apartment and slamming the door so hard I heard
a crack. I didn’t bother to look back. I didn’t care if I broke it
or not. I hopped in my car and drove straight to Jasper’s where I
knew Alex would be. I wasn’t going to let her walk out on me again.
She thought I deserved better, but the funny thing was, I thought
she deserved better than me. There was no one else for me besides
Alex. She was the only one I ever wanted. The only one I ever
needed. No matter how hard it would be to prove that to her, I
would. I would find a way to show her my life was nothing without
her.

I pounded on Jasper’s door, ready to break
it down if I needed to. I knew I would have to fight my way in and
I was prepared for it. My anger was rising with each thump of my
fist. “Alex, I know you’re in there!”

Jasper was the one who swung the door open,
looking as mean as the day he first found out I was dating his
sister. He stood there with his arms crossed, creating a barrier to
the inside. “Where is she?”

“
She’s not
here.”

“
I know she is. I just
need to talk to her.” I tried to get past him but he put a hand on
my chest.

“
I wouldn’t go there if I
was you.”

“
Well you’re not me.” I
looked over his shoulder. “Alex!” I yelled.

“
I told you she’s not
here,” he said, stepping to the side to block my view.

“
And you’re full of
shit.”

Jasper turned around to close the door. I
leaped for the entrance thinking he was trying to shut me out. He
grabbed a fist full of my shirt and knocked me back a few feet.
“You need to chill the fuck out. Now.” He closed the door behind
him and turned to glare at me.

“
I just want to talk to
her,” I said, picking myself up off the ground.

“
Well she doesn’t want to
talk to you.” He stood standoffish, ready to take me on if I
attacked again. “I’m sorry man, but it’s over. Now pick your sorry
ass up and go home.”

“
Will you just please tell
her I’m here. I need to hear it from her.”

“
I’m sure she already
knows. Take the hint Casper.” I heard the door open and my heart
nearly jumped out of my chest. I looked over Jasper’s shoulder and
frowned when I saw Jacob and Jaxson come out to stand by their
brother.

“
Guys, please,” I pleaded
to Jacob and Jaxson.

“
Sorry, Alex said she
doesn’t want to see you,” Jaxson said, looking almost as hurt as I
was. “And I have to respect her wishes.” Not willing to take on all
three, I picked up the shattered pieces of my heart and got in my
car.

I still refused to give
up. This was not the end. I would prove to her that I was good
enough for her. I racked my brain on how I was going to do that
when it hit me. The one and only thing that was going to prove to
her how much I loved her. I was going to help her get her family
back. And if she still didn’t want me
,
then at least I gave her what she
really deserved. Something she’s always wanted. I couldn’t bring
Jack back, but I could set her mom free.

I drove straight to the source. The one and
only person who could straighten out this entire mess. The biggest
player in the game. I didn’t even bother to knock. I saw Candice’s
car in the driveway and knew they were here for Sunday Funday. I
marched straight to the dining room. My father paused mid-bite.
“Well, isn’t it the prodigal son,” my father sneered.

“
I need to talk to
you.”

“
We are in the middle of
dinner.”

“
I don’t care,” I said,
having no patience. He smiled smugly and continued to eat his
dinner. I grabbed his plate and threw it across the room, scaring
Katalina. His head tilted slightly in my direction. “I said now.
Unless you want me to tell everyone how you purposely put an
innocent woman in jail.” He stared back at me, challenging me with
his eyes. I refused to back down. “Yes, I know everything.” It was
a long stretch, but the slight shift in his posture told me I was
on the right path. I had no idea what really happened at Alex’s
mom’s trial but I knew something went wrong. And I knew my father
was the cause.

“
If you’ll excuse us,” my
father said, standing. He threw down his napkin and walked to his
study down the hall. I followed. “Close the door.” I did, praying I
didn’t make a mistake. “I’m to assume you are the one who stole my
files.” It wasn’t a question. He knew it was me, but why hadn’t he
said something until I confronted him. “This has to do with that
girl, doesn’t it?”

“
No, this has to do with
the fact that an innocent woman is sitting in jail because you’re
to incompetent to do your job.”

“
You have no right to talk
to me like that,” he snapped. “Any lawyer out there would tell you
that was an open and shut case.”

“
And a good lawyer would
admit when he was wrong. He would take a second look at the case
and see there were mistakes made. I’m telling you there are a lot
of things that don’t add up. I never asked you for much but I’m
asking you for this one favor, dad.” He flinched slightly at me
calling him dad. The last time I called him that I was six. “If you
were ever to do something right in your life, then do it by fixing
this.”

“
You really love this
girl, don’t you?”

“
With every fiber in my
body. I would die for her.”

My father sunk down into his chair. “I’ll
take a second look at the case and I’ll let you know what I
find.”

“
No, you’re going to do it
now. And I’m going to help you.” Knowing I wasn’t going to back
down. He agreed and we got to work right away.

In order for him to understand the cracks in
the case, I had to tell him the true story. I told him everything
Alex had told me. I knew she would be pissed at me for telling him
who really killed her father and what really happened, but it was
the only way we were going to find out what went wrong. I think
after I told my father the whole story, he had a slightly different
opinion of Alex. For a moment I thought I even saw a shadow of
remorse in his eyes, but I couldn’t be certain.

We spent all night going over the files.
“You said Alex went and talked to the psychiatrist?”

“
Talked, yelled, something
like that.”

He chuckled softly to himself. “You got
yourself a feisty one, there.”

“
She definitely is a
little firecracker.” Who was going to blow a gasket if she ever
knew what I was doing. I thought back to what Alex said about her
blow up in the doctor’s office. There was something I was missing,
but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I scrubbed my hands down
my face, frustrated. “I think we need to have a chat with this
so-called doctor.”

“
I agree, but we can’t do
that tonight.”

“
Why the hell not? I knew
you weren’t going to take this seriously. Why did I even bother?” I
was ready to storm out when he stopped me.

“
Casper, I was simply
stating that it’s late,” he pointed to the clock.

It was just past midnight. Shit. “Sorry,” I
grumbled.

“
Clearly we’re both tired.
I think we should retire for the night.”

I wanted to keep going but he was right. We
were both just spinning in circles driving ourselves nuts. “I’ll
pay that doctor a visit tomorrow and let you know what I come up
with.”

“
No you won’t.” I narrowed
my eyes at him. “Casper, I know you. You think I don’t, but I do.
You can’t go in there guns blazing. Let me talk to her.
Professional to professional.”

I let out a sigh and made my way to the
door. I turned around before I left. “Thanks dad.” He nodded his
head, that was the best I was going to get and I would take it.

When I got home, Colton immediately
bombarded me at the door. “Where the hell were you?”

“
Chill Cujo. I was working
on something.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Relax, I was at
my dad’s.”

“
Really, if you’re going
to lie you could at least come up with a better one than
that.”

“
You don’t believe me?
Call him,” I challenged. His brows furrowed. “Relax, baby. I wasn’t
cheating on you.”

He punched me in the shoulder. “Don’t be a
dick.”

“
But I’m Casper Covington,
that’s what I do.”

“
That’s what worries
me.”

“
If you’re done giving me
the third degree
,
I’m going to go to bed.”

“
I just need to know
you’re not going to freak out again.”

Declan must have told him about this
morning. “No, not this time.” And with that I went into my room and
crashed.

The following week I spent all week at my
dad’s trying to get Alex’s mom out of jail. I was hoping to have
her released by Christmas but my dad said no matter how many
strings he pulled it would still be impossible to get her out by
then. I think this was the most time I had ever spent with my
father and I was slowly having a new respect for what he did. There
was a reason he had to be the cold hard bastard he was. It was a
requirement of his job. The only downside was he was never off the
clock.

We found out – after a few
threats – that the psychiatrist was lying. Turns out
she was the one who was mentally unstable. She
confessed, on record, that Alex’s dad was in fact sick, but she had
convinced him he wasn’t. She did the unthinkable and fell in love
with one of her patients. The truth was Alex’s dad never planned on
leaving her mom, but the doctor hoped he would. We took our recent
findings to the judge. I begged my dad to leave out the part about
Jack being the one to really kill his dad. He promised he would try
his best, but he couldn’t guarantee it.

After what felt like a lifetime, my father
finally came out of the judge’s chambers. I nearly jumped out of my
seat. “Well?”

“
He said the doctor will
lose her license and be arrested for perjury.”

“
And Alex’s
mom?”

“
While the confession of
the doctor helped, she stilled killed a man. That can’t be
overlooked.”

“
But what if you told him
it wasn’t her?”

“
Without a witness, it
won’t mean anything. Unfortunately with Jack’s passing he can’t
corroborate
the story. The only way is if
Alex confesses what really happened.”

“
She would never do that.
I would never ask her to do that. She just lost her brother. The
last thing she would do is sully his name.”

“
Unless there’s another
witness. I’m sorry son, but there’s nothing more we can
do.”

“
So that’s it? We just
give up?”

“
It’s not giving up. It’s
knowing when to walk away.”

“
No, I won’t accept that.
There has to be something else.”

“
Casper, for now, we did
what we could. Alex is going to appreciate the fact that you
tried.”

“
I’m not so sure about
that.” My dad patted my shoulder as we started to walk
out.

“
Excuse me? Mr.
Covington?” We turned to see the judge step out of his chambers.
“May I have a quick word with you?”

I waited while my dad returned to the judge
to talk in confidence. I crossed my fingers hoping it was good
news, that maybe he missed something. After twenty minutes of
sitting on the hard bench and my butt going numb, I stood up. I
decided to take a walk outside. I pulled a smoke out of my pocket
and lit up, getting dirty looks from the passersby. I couldn’t stop
tapping my foot and was about to out my cigarette when my father
emerged from the building. He followed the cloud of smoke,
narrowing his eyes at me. “I shouldn’t be surprised you would pick
up such a filthy habit.”