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She met his eyes squarely "If that monster had been you, I would have at least wounded you That way, at least, you couldn’t have been out on bail You would have been in a hospital There maybe someone would have screwed up your medicine and just maybe you would have croaked"

He drained the last of his coffee, an eyebrow arched "You don’t have much faith in our system"

"No, not a scintilla of faith The system, even if it weren’t screwed up, is so backed up that plea bargains are the only way to keep crie who lives this every day?

"You know that this guy, even if he were caught, et out in three It’s not right, but of course the trial lawyers aren’t about to let anybody change anything They don’t care about justice, just about getting their hands on as much money as they can Then they put all the focus on the poor criminal and how screwed up his childhood was, as if that excuses his brutality It’s just not right You’re part of it You know it’s not right"

He said uys on the streets Most of us work really hard to keep thes just happen"

"Spoken like the person you are"

He shrugged "I guess none of us can escape e are for very long"

"You said you cas were out of control I caive people tih"

"You’re a federal judge You have to know lots of people You must believe in the system Why didn’t you immediately take Emma to the police? The hospital?"

"I couldn’t," he said simply "I just couldn’t She was terrified I couldn’t bear the thought of strangers all over her" His eyes dropped to his running shoes "I also worried that she could be taken again if she went ho time, then, slowly, she nodded "If I’d been in your shoes, I wouldn’t have given her over to strangers either I wouldn’t have sent her home either, not until I knew she’d be protected Thank you for keeping her safe She’s the most important person in the whole world I don’t know if I could have gone on if she’d been killed"

He thought she would cry, but instead, she shook herself, and stood up "And that’s why I don’t want to go back to Denver"