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for his mom again. He put an arm around her shoulders and
    helped her to the couch.
    She ignored him and said, “He"s ruined Jay"s life. Ruined all our lives. They
    were going to have a baby. He should be dead.”
    Dead? Was her grief that out of control?
    “It was an accident,” Jay whispered.
    Five heads turned his way.
    They stared at him like what he said was inconceivable, like what he said
    made no sense and his mom"s words were the rational ones.
    Why had he said anything at all? He was angry, grieving. Like the rest of
    them.
    “An accident he caused.” His mom jabbed a finger toward the TV. “No matter
    what that man said, he has no idea what he took from us.”
    She was right. How could anyone know Katie? Not the way Jay did.
    “Susan, stop.” His dad moved to stand between her and Jay. “Son, you need to
    deal with your loss, deal with what you"re feeling—including your anger toward
    that man.”
    His mom shoved her husband aside. “Deal with it? Howard, this isn"t going
    away. His wife died. He can"t even raise their children. He can"t ever get over that.
    Who could?”

    Breathe

    19

    Chapter Four

    Lincoln lifted his ass and shifted on the bed before settling his weight. Did
    they give him a new mattress? The bunk had never been close to comfortable before.
    He opened his eyes and blinked until the sunlight seeping in through the half-closed
    curtains didn"t blind him. A poster for a live-action G.I. Joe movie covered the
    opposite wall. A soldier wearing futuristic military garb made of a steel-like
    material, his face held in a constant scowl. He looked ready to lift the weapon he
    clutched and fire at Lincoln.
    Right. Not the jail cell.
    A ten-year-old boy"s room.
    Lincoln was lying on top of the blankets, still wearing his jeans. His shirt and
    socks were lost sometime between his first sip of whiskey and his last.
    “Why you sleeping in Davy"s room?”
    The familiar, small voice floated up from the foot of the bed, comforting
    Lincoln, calling him home like the checkered flag on race night.
    He sat up and leaned back against the headboard. “Got nowhere else to go.”
    Jessica stepped closer. Funny how you can"t see kids aging when they"re right
    in front of you, but stay away for six months and you miss a lot. Her pink flannel
    Beauty and the Beast nightgown no longer brushed the floor around her feet. The
    hem lay near her ankles. Her face was less round, her eyes more serious. Yet she
    still held the same ragged, purple stuffed animal that wasn"t quite a bear and
    wasn"t quite a dog. Lincoln had once asked her for clarification on the type of
    animal. All she said was his name, Mr. Wuzzie.
    The specifics of the stuffed animal didn"t matter to her. He was her favorite
    color, she got to name him, and he played whatever games she wanted, unlike her
    two brothers. The qualifications for the best friend of a five-year-old met. And
    despite Lincoln"s absence, Jessica still looked like she loved Mr. Wuzzie.
    “You slept a lot,” she said.
    Lincoln glanced at the clock. Almost noon. The longest night"s sleep he"d had
    since he left for the Grant County Justice Center—hell, since a year ago to the day.
    Thanks to the whiskey.
    As if to mock him, Jessica"s tiny feet hit the paper sack as she came closer to
    the bed. The whiskey bottles clanked inside the bag. She glanced at what she had
    run into, but it didn"t slow her down. She bounced onto the bed and sat beside him,

    20
    Sloan Parker

    her legs straight out in a replica of his posture, the soles of her feet lined up next to
    his legs midthigh.
    She laid Mr. Wuzzie on her lap and pointed to the tattoo on Lincoln"s left
    upper arm. “Your wolf was running while you slept.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Your arms were all twitchy.”
    “Guess I was dreaming.”
    “Musta been a bad dream. You weren"t smiling.” She stared up at him with
    big, brown eyes. Nancy"s eyes.
    “How come you"re not at school? I thought kindergarten was all day.”
    She