CHAPTER 6

Andrew had spent the morning getting information on the so called "witness" who had come forward in Monica's case and what he had found out left him feeling more than slightly unsettled. This was more than a case of the little angel being in the wrong place at the wrong time. No, this was a case of someone counting on her to be there.

Maggie Matthews, the witness, not only was insisting that she saw Monica shoot Edward, but that the angel had been romantically involved with him, despite the fact that he was married. Maggie attested that when Edward had finally decided to call things off with Monica in order to work on his own marriage, that Monica had gotten more than slightly angry and that had led her to take her revenge into her own hands. Of course, Maggie stated that it had been Edward who had told her all of this and now Edward was dead and unable to confirm anything. Maggie had spoken of harassing phone calls that Edward had told her about and that Monica had threatened to tell his wife about their affair. The whole thing was so absurd to Andrew, but then again, he knew the Irish angel's true nature where a jury did not.

As the blonde angel made the long drive back to the women's prison, he tried to imagine why on earth anyone would want to frame Monica for anything, but then he realized that it had nothing to do with his little angel. No, it had to do with the fact that she had a routine. Monica had always been directionally challenged, which is why Andrew had made it a point to walk her home the first week of her new assignment. He had shown up the first night, unbeknownst to her, and had watched her perplexed expression and the way she bit her lower lip as she tried to remember the way back to her apartment. He had chuckled softly to himself, finding her indecision adorable, before he had cleared his throat to get her attention. The slow smile that had spread over her face had been beautiful and the memory, even now, warmed his heart.

He had walked her home each night until he felt reassured that she knew the way beyond the shadow of a doubt, and Andrew also knew that she would have never strayed from the route he had shown her. The problem was that the real murderer had picked up on the fact that Monica walked that way every evening at approximately the same time and with that little bit of information, a plan had apparently been formed. Someone had wanted Edward Nowels dead and had found a way to frame Monica and the thought caused anger to surge through him.

Problem was, he had no idea how to prove her innocent.

X

The time before dinner was spent outside; one precious hour to feel the sunshine, to walk or socialize with the other inmates. Monica was focused on finding only one; the woman who had spoken to her at lunchtime.

As the little angel wandered the large courtyard searching for the young woman, she found herself looking up at the guards that were positioned up above them and she shuddered. This is what true captivity felt like and again, she forced her mind back to that place it had been this morning after Andrew had left. She was here to fulfil a purpose and she couldn't allow herself to dwell in a place as dark as her cell.

Her dark eyes, finally fell upon the woman who had spoken to her that afternoon, warning her about the inmate who had bumped into her that morning. The woman was standing alone in the sunlight, leaning up against the wall with her eyes closed and Monica approached her cautiously, not wanting to frighten her.

"Hullo." The angel smiled when the woman opened her eyes, "I'm Monica and I just wanted to introduce myself. I didn't catch your name earlier."

The woman looked undecided for a moment but finally replied, "Abby."

"Nice to meet you, Abby. You're the first person I've met here." Monica tried to meet Abby's blue eyes but failed.

"It's not really a place to make friends, Monica." Abby replied with a sigh, "You're much better off keeping to yourself."

"Seems to me like that would make a lonely place even lonelier. It's nice to have someone else to talk to, don't you think?"

Abby was quiet for a moment and when she finally looked at Monica, there were tears in her eyes, "No. Because no one cares what you have to say in this place, so talking is nothing more than a waste of time because no one listens. If you'll excuse me..."

"Abby!" Monica called after her, but her new friend refused to turn around as she walked away. The little angel started after her, but was suddenly stopped as if she had hit a brick wall.

"You again."

Monica looked up to find herself face to face with the same woman from earlier and she immediately took a step backwards.

"Thought I told you to stay out of my way." The woman's eyes were filled with anger as she took a step closer to the angel.

"I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

A laugh came from behind the other woman, "Aw Sheila, she didn't mean to."

Monica swallowed hard as she looked from Sheila to her friend, "I didn't. It was an accident."

"Two accidents in one day," Sheila raised an eyebrow, "Looks like you're pretty accident prone, Irish. That's a shame really."

With those words, Sheila gave the angel a rough shove that landed Monica on the hard concrete, knocking the air out of her. As Sheila walked away, the angel struggled to find her breath again, gasping for the air she was desperate to have fill her lungs. A few inmates glanced over at her, but none of them made a move to help her.

Finally, her breathing returned to normal though a few tears escaped her eyes from the lack of oxygen. Wiping at her eyes, Monica looked down at her skinned palms and wiped them on the pants of her orange prison uniform before rising shakily to her feet. The whistle had just sounded and it was time to return to their cells before dinner and for the first time, the angel would actually be glad to be there.

She walked quickly, head down and it wasn't until she heard one of the guards call her name, did she look up at all.

"Monica, come with me. Your lawyer is here and needs to meet with you."

She gave a shaky nod of her head as she moved to follow the guard down the hall. She was feeling so defeated at the moment and she knew she would be unable to hide it from Andrew and she so didn't want him to be disappointed in her.

Drawing in a deep breath, Monica summoned all her courage to push aside the things that had just happened outside. She didn't want to hide anything from Andrew, but with a guard just outside the door as they spoke, what else could she do? Other than at night, in her cell, Andrew was simply her lawyer as far as the assignment went and he was doing all he could to help her.

As the door opened and his green eyes met with hers, Monica forced a smile that almost immediately faded. Something in those eyes told her that the news was not good, at least as far as her situation was concerned.

"Something's wrong," She murmured as she sat down across from him at the table.

Andrew let out a heavy sigh as he reached for her hands, "Well, I did find out some things," He began, before a puzzled look crossed his face. Turning over her hands, he frowned at the brush burns on her palms as he met his eyes with hers once more, "Angel? What happened?"

Without even thinking, she surreptitiously pulled her hands away, "It's nothing. Please. Tell me what you found out."

His anxiety shot up a notch as he watched her pull away physically and emotionally. Andrew knew she was protecting herself; that somehow today she had been hurt in some way and the mere thought of it caused his heart to ache. His eyes glanced up at the small window in the door and he saw the guard glance in at them. Why did Monica have to be so close and yet so far away right now when all he wanted to do was to pull her into his arms and make her confess what it was that she was harbouring in her heart?

Knowing he wouldn't get any further information out of her right now, Andrew instead told her about the things he had learned today as he watched the distress in her dark eyes deepen.

"But Andrew, that can't be possible. Why would anyone say those things about me? They're not true and I don't even know Maggie Matthews."

"Angel, I know that," He replied gently, "These people, they knew you were going to be there in that alley that night and they used that knowledge to frame you for this crime. Baby, I don't think it has anything at all to do with you personally; they just needed someone to take the fall for them and that someone was you," As she lowered her head, he hurriedly continued, "But even in this, God has a plan and you know that."

"But I was only doing what I was supposed to be doing," She insisted weakly, hoping that something she said could make everyone see how insane this all was.

"That's right, but those people were exerting their free will, Angel," Andrew desperately wished she would place her hands back on the table so he could offer her some small comfort, but she kept them stubbornly in her lap, "This isn't over and I'm not finished. Someone out there has to know something about what really happened that evening."

Monica drew in a deep breath and released it slowly, trying to keep her emotions intact. Finding someone who knew the truth could take a long time and while Andrew searched, she was stuck here with one woman who needed help but wouldn't talk to her and another woman who seemed to hate her for some reason.

The door opened and the guard barked a two minute warning. Instantly, Monica pushed her chair back and winced at the scraping noise it made over the concrete floor, "I have to go. It's time for dinner and I didn't have lunch," She murmured, her mind still reeling from the things he had told her.

Andrew's eyes narrowed, "Why not?" He could so easily tell she was holding things back from him.

"I dropped...it wound up on the floor," She explained, knowing that Andrew didn't miss her attempt at back-pedalling.

As she stood up and started for the door, Andrew reached out and grabbed her arm. Turning to look at him, Monica nearly gasped at the intent look in his eyes; it was deliberate and full of love and compassion, "I'll see you tonight."

Giving a tiny nod, Monica rapped on the door and a heartbeat later, she had been led away.