"Some say you and people like you caused it."

"Maybe we did. We just wanted to make money."

Nate nodded but kept his mouth shut.

"I didn't pay William Buckley to kill Vinnie. I just wanted him to scare him, that's all. I never would have hurt that girl."

"Like every other guy in here, you're innocent?"

Charles's shoulders hunched even more. "I'm as guilty as any of these guys. It took me a couple years in here to realize that. At first, I was angry at the injustice of it all. But I got to thinking about Vinnie. He was a nice kid. Young and enthusiastic. And smart. You have no idea how smart that kid was. He hadn't had a lot of opportunities, not like I had. He was the third son of a single mother, went to college on a needs-based scholarship. But he made it worth something. Straight A's. I hired him right out of college.

"Vinnie saw me as a father-figure. Truth is, I wasn't a very good dad to my own kids, especially Richard. By the time he was a teen, I was... Well, I was busy with other stuff. And his mother was no better. And Richard... He wasn't like John and Andrew. They were like me, you know? Ivy League attitudes and brains. But Richard, I never knew how to connect with him. And he never seemed to like me very much. I love him. Love all my kids, though I never see them."

"They don't visit?"

He looked around. "Would you want to visit this place?" After a minute he said, "Doesn't matter. They have their own lives."

He looked down, seemed to slump a little more. "Doesn't matter."

Nate prompted, "But Vinnie...?"

Charles looked up. "I loved Vinnie. I taught him the business and helped him succeed. I never should have gotten him involved in the other stuff. Because Vinnie would have done anything I asked of him. He was desperate for somebody to tell him he mattered."

Charles wiped a tear. "He did matter. He trusted me, and I betrayed him."

"He was about to betray you."

"My fault," Charles said.

Of all scenarios Nate had prepared for on his drive down that morning, this one had never crossed his mind. "Did you have some sort of religious experience in here?"

Charles nodded. "You could say that, yeah. I can never undo what I did, but I'm sorry for it. I wish I could tell the girl that. I ruined a lot of lives, but what I did to Vinnie, to her—that still plagues me."

Nate wasn't sure if Charles was sincere or just a great actor. "If that's true, I might be able to help you get some redemption."

"Only God can offer redemption, but I'll do whatever I can."