“I’ve written them once a week for the past six years, saying sorry every way I know how. They were returned unopened at first, but that stopped a couple of years ago, so…maybe,” he said, his voice growing wistful. “I’d understand it if they threw the letters away, but I hold out hope that they have heard some of what I’ve been trying to say, the change in my heart.”

“I’m actually not here to facilitate your supposed redemption, and frankly I don’t give a rat’s ass about the ways you think you’ve changed.”

“God knows.”

“Well, you’re free to work that all out with Him at a later date. I’m here—”

“I need you to help me find my son,” Bill said. “Please.”

“I’m not here about that either.”

“I know, I know, I talked to Marnie.”

Darren’s ears were nearly aflame; his blood pressure spiked and that damp, sour smell rose up again from his own body. “You did?” Was it really going to be this easy? He heard the words almost before Bill King spoke them.

“I’ll claim the hit on Ronnie Malvo. In exchange, I want you to fight for my son.” He looked at Darren, who realized this was why Bill King hadn’t wanted the COs in the room, that he and Darren were on the same page. With a resigned shrug, Bill said, “I would have gotten life or maybe even the chair if that first jury had convicted me on murder, so I might as well take what I had coming. I knew Ronnie Malvo, knew what he stood for. I’ll gladly take credit for offing him.”

“Thought you believed you were getting out of here soon,” Darren said, remembering his first contact with Bill King, his letter to the governor.

“I’ve already told Mama to call off next week.”

“What’s next week?”

“I’m ready to do my time, all I got coming.”

“What’s next week, Bill?”

“I’m not trying to get anybody else in trouble here; I just want you to find my son. Levi, that’s the only good thing I’ve done in this world, and I had hoped to go home someday and be a real father to the boy, make sure he don’t turn out nothing like me. But the truth is I have been a piece of shit as a human being, and I am willing to sacrifice my freedom for that child. Hell, maybe the best way to make sure he don’t turn out like me is for me to stay my ass right here inside.”

“What makes you think I can find your son?”