I wish more than anything that I could turn back time but instead I’m simply forced to stand here impotently and watch as Nicholas’ fate is sealed away for good.

But then, a glimmer of hope!

Before he walks out of the door, Owen tosses the cup into the garbage can near the vending machine.

“Do you mind if I get some M&M’s before I go?” I turn to the guard standing near my table. “I haven’t had anything to eat today.”

“Hurry up,” he mumbles and walks over to another table with a screaming toddler who doesn’t understand why his daddy has to leave.

I stick four quarters into the machine and press the numbers for the peanut ones.

Once I retrieve it from the bottom compartment, I rip it open at the top and toss the ripped piece into the garbage can next to Owen’s cup.

After a quick glance at the room, I grab his discarded cup, careful not to touch the rim, and bury it in the arm of my oversized sweater.

With both of my hands showing, I pour some M&M’s into my palm and walk out of the visiting area.

25

Olive

The results…

Walking around Boston Common on my daily two-mile walk, I zip up my jacket all of the way to the top to try to keep the wind from chilling me to the bone.

It’s hard to imagine that only last week, I was submerged in the warm turquoise water of my mother’s pool watching the palm trees sway in the breeze.

I glance down at my phone at what feels like the fiftieth time today.

I’m expecting a call from Meredith with the news about the DNA test. I had sent the cup to them overnight in a Ziploc bag and it has now been almost ten days.

With official investigations, it can take a year or more but Meredith has assured me that we can get the results in less than two weeks.

These are, of course, not official results.

She has a friend at the lab who has access to all of the samples that have been collected.

There are blood samples from the motel room where Nina went missing (her body has never been found) and there are samples from the scene where David was found.

Of course, it is highly illegal to mess with the data collected from crime scenes but Meredith assures me that her friend can use a small amount just to run the comparison test and leave the rest to be tested by an official decree.

I pick up the pace as I pray that he finds a match. In addition to being negative, the results can also be inconclusive and those will pretty much leave us exactly where we are right now.

The only hope that Nicholas has is if the DNA comes back a match to Owen.