Chapter 2 #2
This was a quick trip to hopefully set things up for next summer.
Her first stop would be McCarthy’s Gansett Island Marina, which she hoped to use as her home base on the island.
She’d done her research and had liked what she’d seen online of their operation.
She was looking forward to seeing it in person.
Dan woke in the best suite in the best hotel in Providence—the Biltmore—early on Wednesday morning. After he spent an hour in the gym, he returned to his room, ordered coffee and breakfast, showered and then sat down to go over the details of Charlie’s case one more time before the hearing at ten.
The night before, he’d had dinner with Grant and Stephanie and had decided she was perfect for his tightly wound pal.
She cut through the bullshit to get to the heart of every matter, and Grant needed someone like her in his life.
He was looking forward to getting to know her better and for her to have the chance to live her life free of the terrible burden of Charlie’s incarceration.
As he sipped his coffee, he reread the Grandchamp file with a heightened sense of outrage for what Charlie and Stephanie had endured at the hands of the so-called justice system.
Fourteen-year-old Stephanie had been viciously beaten by her drug-addict mother.
Her stepfather, Charlie, had taken Stephanie away from their home and had later been charged with kidnapping and assault.
No one had wanted to hear that a teenage girl had gone willingly with her stepfather to escape her abusive mother. Charlie had been given a life sentence with no chance of parole, and he was still in jail fourteen years later, despite Stephanie’s tireless efforts to get him out.
In his career as an advocate for unjustly incarcerated people, Dan had seen a lot of bullshit, but this case was unlike any other in that the victim had said all along that Charlie wasn’t the one who hurt her. He’d saved her and paid for that with his freedom.
If Dan had his way, Charlie would walk out of court a free man later today.
He got dressed in one of the three-piece suits he wore to court and tied his brother’s favorite tie.
He loved having Dylan with him, even if it was just by wearing his tie.
Dylan’s ties brought him good luck in court, or so he thought.
He liked to think Dylan would be proud of him for leaving corporate law to start the innocence project.
Sometimes Dan wondered if Dylan hadn’t died whether he would’ve made that move.
After he lost his brother, he’d gone looking for some meaning in the throes of the deepest kind of grief and was led to his current path.
Every victory was one he shared with his late brother.
He studied his reflection. “Let’s go get ’em, huh, bro?” They’d looked so much alike that people had often assumed they were twins. He missed being mistaken for Dylan.
The hotel elevator stopped on the sixth floor, where Grant and Stephanie got on.
“Morning, Counselor,” Grant said.
“Morning. How’re you feeling?”
“Stephanie feels sick, but I’m on top of the world knowing the best lawyer in the country is on our team today.”
“It should be a slam dunk, Steph,” Dan told her. “Try not to be sick over it.”
“I don’t know how to thank you,” she said softly for the hundredth time, or so it seemed to him. “I’ll never have the words.”
“You don’t have to thank me. This is what I do, and it’s very satisfying to be able to help families like yours to finally get justice.”
They shared a taxi to the courthouse and walked in together.
Dan noticed how Stephanie’s hands shook as she handed over her purse at security.
He felt so bad for what she’d been through and hoped this would turn out to be one of the best days of her life.
None of it should’ve ever happened to her or Charlie, and he fully intended to encourage them to seek compensation from the state.
But first things first.
Dan took his seat at the defense table on the left side of the room while Grant and Stephanie sat behind him.
Charlie was brought in with his hands cuffed, hopefully for the last time ever.
He gave Dan a brief nod and then turned to smile at his daughter.
The change in him when he gazed at her was remarkable. All his hard edges disappeared.
When the hearing was called to order, Dan stood.
“Your Honor, we’re here today to right a terrible wrong.
You have our motion along with the victim statement from Stephanie Logan, asserting that her mother was the one who assaulted her, and Mr. Grandchamp was her savior.
Not just that day, but always. He did not assault her.
He did not kidnap her. And he has been denied his freedom for fourteen years as a result of judicial and prosecutorial malpractice.
We ask you to release Mr. Grandchamp immediately to end this nightmare for him and his family. ”
The judge turned next to the prosecutor.
She stood to address the judge as Dan held his breath. “The state has no objection to the defense motion, Your Honor.”
Holy shit. Just that quickly, it’s over. Dan forced himself to stay seated while the judge made it official.
“Mr. Grandchamp, I’ve spent the last twenty years on this bench, trying my best to ensure that justice was done in every case that came before me.
I can’t say for certain that I’ve always gotten it right, but I’ve sure as hell tried.
After reviewing your case and the defense motion for immediate dismissal, I wish to apologize to you for the terrible injustice you have suffered. You, sir, are free to go.”
Charlie dropped his head into his hands and wept.
Stephanie came forward to wrap her arms around him.
Grant clasped Dan on the shoulder. “Thank you so much,” he said tearfully.
“Entirely my pleasure.”
Charlie stood and hugged his daughter. They stayed that way for ten full minutes while Dan and Grant wiped away tears.
You’d have to be dead not to react to the scene playing out between two people who’d waited so long for this moment.
When they finally released each other, both their faces were wet.
Charlie kept an arm around Steph when he turned to Dan with his hand extended. “Thank you.”
Dan shook his hand. “You’re welcome.”
Charlie turned next to Grant. “You, too.”
Grant nodded, seeming too choked up to speak.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Charlie said.