Shaking my head, I focused back on Sadie, who was lying with her head resting on the shorter panel behind her, giggling at the memory of what I’d told her after it’d happened.
After a moment, she lifted up and looked at me through her sunglasses. At least, I assumed she was looking at me?
“How are the plans for your schooling coming along?”
Things had changed slightly on the front. After what’d happened, I’d spoken to my dads and Jackson at length about what I wanted to do, and I’d also decided that what Jackson was studying was vital to saving lives and giving families answers.
Fita was still saying ‘no answer’ to all of the questions she’d been asked during her interviews, so teams were trawling through her computer and phone and conducting interviews all over the state to piece it together.
Actually, I tell a lie—she hadn’t answered ‘no answer’ to everything. Initially, she’d made out she was crazy and suffering from schizophrenia, but few people could keep it up when they didn’t have it. She’d been assessed by psychologists and an independent psychiatrist, and she’d undergone all sorts of tests.
What she didn’t know was that she was being monitored constantly, so they saw her when she was in her room or talking to another patient with her defenses down.
The ruse had slipped, and they’d declared her free of anything that could impede a normal case against her.
Bitch!
Then again, I’d discussed it at length with our neighbor, who was a retired psychologist who’d worked at a center for criminals with mental health issues. What he’d outlined the inmates went through wasn’t exactly what I’d call ‘easy,’ contrary to popular belief. I’d been one of the people who’d thought criminals who went into one got off lightly, but they didn’t.
Maybe it was a bad thing she’d been put in an ordinary prison, then?
After that, she’d become resolute in her refusal to answer any questions. The DA had a team working on getting everything they could find to take a rock solid case to court.
Sure, they had enough based on the number of weapons and ammunition she’d had, but the DA had said that if they were doing this, he wanted her away for as long as he could on every charge he could throw at her. Personally, I thought there was something they weren’t telling me, but no matter what approach I took, they all stayed quiet.
It’d gotten me thinking about families who’d lost loved ones or whose loved ones were missing. Jackson’s line of work turned over stones and found clues that could give them answers. There may be many instances when all they got back was the person’s body, but there were also many instances where they found the person alive.
I’d broached my idea last night, and he’d initially said no and that my masters came first, but then I’d pointed out I could do an online course and asked him to think about it. This morning, he’d been quiet until we’d gotten in the shower, but then he’d dropped to his knees and rested his head on my stomach for a moment before saying he’d love to do what I’d suggested.
The idea I’d given him was for Jackson to do his Master of Science in Forensic Science at the University of Central Florida. It was just over an hour away from where our parents lived, or he could do it at the University of Florida in Gainesville, just over three hours away from them.
He wasn’t limited to those ones, I’d follow him anywhere, but it gave him a starting point. He still wanted to gain experience by working in the department in Arizona, but he was going to send out applications to colleges to get his M.S. after I’d graduated.
After I’d relayed all of this to Sadie, a big smile broke out on her face. “Well, look at you guys being in a relationship and shit. Obviously, my preference is that you’re both here, but I love that you want him to succeed and your reasons.”
Shrugging a shoulder, I glanced back at the shore, frowning slightly when I noticed how far we’d drifted. “I just want him to be happy and to make a difference like he wants to.”
“What about you making a difference to this beautiful ocean and world we live in?” she gestured with her hand in a circle over her head.
“I can do mine online, or I can find a college near where Jackson gets in to get my own M.S. My preference is something along the lines of Marine Resource Assessment, so I’m sure there’ll be somewhere I can do that, or I’ll do it online. The main thing is that Jackson gets his college of choice and kicks forensics’ ass.”
Sadie burst out laughing. “You should get him a mug with that on it. My man kicks forensics’ ass. What’s your man’s superpower?”