Bonus Chapter Joaquín Caldwell-Oviedo
Joaquín Caldwell-Oviedo
I don’t know why I still watch this crap.
The television is tuned to the crime news channel, but I can guess, without paying attention to a single word, what they will say.
Some damn guy broke into a house and killed an elderly couple to get money for his next fix. A good girl lost her innocence at the hands of a bastard who couldn’t take no for an answer. A drunk driver caused a fatal accident, wiping out an entire family.
God, I’m so fed up with the world!
I look at the folder on the kitchen table and think about the trial I have in two days. The creep ran over two little girls and fled without stopping to help.
Most of the time—ninety-nine percent of the time—I only come across misery in my work.
I take a sip of coffee, specially selected by my sister-in-law.
Damn, this is good! Our little bean really knows what she’s doing.
I unlock my phone to check my messages, and suddenly, one catches my eye.
It’s from a lawyer friend of mine.
Levi: Turn on CNN. We need to talk.
It isn’t him texting me in the morning that puts me on alert but the certainty that something is very wrong.
I change the channel, and as I hear the first words from the news anchor, my stomach churns.
“. . . pieces of the plane can be seen scattered in the sea. It is believed there were no survivors. Onboard the aircraft were not only the judge and heir to Velvet Vest Industries and his young wife, Aileen, but also their parents. As they were only children, we have the sad duty to announce that, with the plane crash, two entire families were annihilated.”
I search for Levi’s number, and he answers on the first ring.
“Do you know what this means?” he asks without greeting.
I do know, but I’m not ready to say it out loud because, besides losing a friend, from this moment on, my life is changed forever.