“They fucked up. They fucked up bad. So you’re out, completely, free and clear. My mom,” she paused to roll her eyes, “has kind of been obsessed with Jeremy’s family ever since he was arrested. She hated the way they protected him for so long. So when all this went down, she had an inside track.”
“When what went down?” I asked, shaking my head.
“Apparently Bancroft Walden, Jeremy’s dad, and the head warden at Statesburg where Knox was kept were close golfing buddies. When, uh, when what happened between you and Jeremy happened, there was a video...of the whole thing.”
Knox’s fingers clamped down on mine. “A video?” he echoed, turning gray.
Reese sent him a sympathetic wince, then shared a look with Mason before nodding. “It showed how you didn’t kill them in cold blood, how the entire thing was self-defense, and...well, the warden hid the video so Jeremy’s super dirty lawyer father could charge you with manslaughter and you’d have to stay in jail longer. But after the warden died of a massive heart attack a week or two before you were released, the video was found in his office, and the truth behind that...event finally came to light to other authority members. There is a complete clusterfuck going on in that penitentiary right now, finger pointing, more illegal stuff coming to light, all kinds of things. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole place was shut down soon. If you wanted to, you could probably sue them for, like, beaucoups of money.”
Knox’s hand suddenly fell slack from mine. I lost my grip on him as he shifted backward. Instead of mentioning anything about taking legal action, though, all he could repeat was, “A video. There’s a fucking video of it?”
“And that’s not the worst part,” a worried-looking Reese reported, bringing her hands to her mouth. “Copies were made and...distributed. My mother somehow got her hands on one. She gave it to me. And before you ask, no, I’m sure none of her resources obtained it legally.”
A strangled sob tore from Knox’s throat. I thought he was going to pass out; he looked so pale. But when I reached for him, he held up his hand, warding me off. His gaze never left Reese. “Did you watch it?”
Mason and Reese exchanged guilty glances.
“Oh...shit,” Knox rasped as he whirled away to pace the room, rubbing his hands over his head. “You saw... you...?”
“We didn’t watch all of it,” Reese rushed to reassure him. “We...couldn’t. It was too awful. We just saw—”
“Enough to know what fucking happened?” Knox snapped.