Hang broke into a smile herself, still nervous at the edges, tight with emotion even as she blinked with relief. She gave up on trying to pry her mother away from John and just plunked herself down on the nearest bench. “Oh, my God,” she muttered into her hands. “I can’t believe it’s over.”

“It’s officially over,” John repeated, his smile threatening to helicopter him straight into the ominously gray cumulonimbus that was creeping up from the edge of the horizon.

Cuc said something to Hang in Vietnamese.

“Yes, Mom. You’re right. Come sit.” Hang patted the bench beside her and finally Cuc released John’s neck only to give her daughter’s neck the same treatment. The two women hugged and cried, and John gave himself the small pleasure of soaking it in. There were so few moments like this one as a public defender. When the world quieted and the only thing buzzing through his veins was good news.

All charges dropped. The jury had found Hang Nguyen innocent on all counts. This good-hearted young woman would not be serving time she didn’t deserve to serve. She would not be spending time and energy and worry inside the walls of that courthouse. She would sleep well tonight.

And so would John.

The three of them walked to a meeting room in the public defender’s office, where he explained things in full to them, walked them through the next steps. They spoke for another twenty minutes, exalting in their shared victory. And then the mother and daughter went on their way. He left a note for Sarah on his way back to his office. She didn’t accept presents of any kind from her staff, but she had a hell of a thank-you card headed her way.

Richie had already left for the night, so the office was quiet and hot as John sat there, buzzing, looking at the ceiling.

He’d won.

Hang had won.

He’d fought tooth and nail and saved years of this girl’s life. This, right here, was worth every late night, every moment of worry. Every taunting comment from his father.

There was a knock on his door and John lifted his head just as Crash Willis stepped inside.

“Willis.”

“Whitford.” There was a long pause and then Crash gave him an unexpected smile. “Reynolds told me about your win just now. Congrats.”

John’s eyebrows rose. “That’s...generous of you.”

Crash’s eyes flickered over to Richie’s desk. He took a deep breath and gave a shrug. “I think we got off on the wrong foot all those years ago. I’m not a bad guy. And for the record, I didn’t mean to crash your breakfast with your father the other day. He’s kind of a personal hero of mine, and I just...couldn’t help myself.”

“My father is a personal hero of yours.”

“He’s an exceptional lawyer.”