Chapter 1

"Charged with kidnapping resulting in the death of Eric Thomas and remaining at the scene afterward."

In the courtroom, the prosecutor closed the case file and displayed the crime-scene photographs on the large screen.

In an abandoned chemical plant, my son Eric was tied to a rusted iron post.

A coarse nylon rope was pulled tight around his neck. His face was blue.

Nicholas sat slumped a few feet from the body with blood all over his hands and a bloody knife still gripped in one of them.

The scene was horrifying.

Alex took one look, clutched at his chest, and let out a cry of pure despair.

"Your Honor, I don't want compensation. I want him sentenced to death!"

"My son was 22. He was supposed to graduate next month! His life had only just begun!"

In the gallery, the cries of friends and family blended into one.

Emma Wood, my son's girlfriend, pointed at Nicholas in the dock and screamed herself hoarse.

"You destroyed a family for money! People like you belong in hell!"

Nicholas stood in the dock in his prison uniform, his head bowed the entire time.

He did not defend himself. He only bit down hard on his lip, his eyes dull with despair.

When it was my turn to speak, every camera and every eye turned toward me.

I rose from my seat and faced the bench.

"On behalf of the family, I'm withdrawing our request for the maximum penalty and waiving every civil claim against the defendant. I have also hired a lawyer to plead not guilty on Nicholas's behalf."

The courtroom went dead silent.

Alex's head snapped around, his bloodshot eyes wide with disbelief. "What did you say?"

The judge struck the gavel. "The deceased was your son. Are you certain you want to support the man accused of killing him?"

"I am certain. My son is dead. Nicholas is barely into his twenties. I don't want to destroy another young man."

Emma rushed at me and grabbed my arm across the rail.

"And Eric's life? Did he deserve to die?"

I raised my eyes to my son's photograph on the screen.

In it, Eric wore a custom-tailored suit and flashed a bright smile, like an angel.

"He went to an abandoned chemical plant in the middle of the night and put himself in danger. He brought this on himself."

Alex staggered forward and stared at me across the rail, tears streaming down his face.

"Olivia, you carried Eric for nine months! Every year he bought you a birthday present with money he earned himself, and when he found out you had migraines, he even learned how to massage you. How could you say that?"

Emma immediately held up a tablet for everyone to see.

On the screen, one clip showed my son massaging my temples; another showed him preparing healthy meals for me.

I looked away.

"I'm his mother. Looking after me was only right. Small kindnesses like that don't make up for the trouble he caused."

Ultimately, my request for leniency, along with the efforts of the top lawyer I had hired to challenge gaps in the chain of evidence, persuaded the judge to postpone a final ruling and grant Nicholas bail.

When the ruling came down, Alex collapsed into his chair as though all the strength had left his body.

He clutched Eric's things and murmured the same words over and over.

"Eric, I failed you. I couldn't get justice for you."

In the gallery, several older business partners of the Thomas family stood and accused me of being cold-blooded.

They said Eric had donated $500,000 to an impoverished town only days before and that such a kind young man didn't deserve to be condemned by his own mother after his death.

I pushed away the tissues they held out.

"He donated the money to look good. If you think so highly of him, go join him in hell. Don't mourn him here."