A battle raged inside of Danny later that night, when he was alone back in his cell. The voice threatened, screamed that Grant was just a kook, and that Tony hadn’t really had any sort of conversion. But Danny could not deny how he had felt the moment they held hands and said that prayer. He also had a vision of a woman with long, white hair and olive-colored skin, who was looking at him with the most beatific smile. He only knew her through Kevin Grant’s description, but when he closed his eyes he could see her as if she were standing right there in the cell with him.

Danny knew something was different; it was like a wind had passed through him and wiped him clean. He didn’t want to be a cynic any longer. All night he tossed and turned, and had crazy, vivid dreams. When the morning light came through his window, he awoke. He was lying there, half awake, half asleep, when he heard the sound of beautiful music, like a mother singing a lullaby—only he knew it was meant to wake him up, not put him to sleep. Then he spoke to God. He rejected the voice he had heard in his head all these years. He acknowledged it for what it was: It wasn’t his friend. It was his enemy. It was evil.

Danny and Tony were released roughly a year later. It seemed that everyone around them noticed a genuine change had taken place. The officer who was in the room that day was an old friend of the warden’s, and he told him his life had been changed when he watched those three boys pray.

When they were given a hearing for early release, the committee considering their cases read letters of support from Linda, Kevin, and Missy Grant. Don Grant wanted nothing to do with it, however. Throughout their years in prison, Danny and Tony had maintained exemplary records, so they were on very solid ground. The decision to grant them early release was unanimous.

As it turned out, Tony was released a day before Danny, so he was there with his parents to greet Danny at the prison gate the next day. Later that day, they went to a restaurant to celebrate, and Danny and Tony felt as if a miracle had happened. Everyone smiled, laughed, and cried with relief. Then Tony, ever the pragmatist, said, “I wonder if anyone will hire us, given our record.”

Steve and Debby looked at each other and smiled, as if they knew a secret. “Well, boys,” Steve said, “I guess I could take a chance on you.”