"He is ordered to appear daily before this court until further notice, is prohibited from leaving the jurisdiction without express permission, and will remain under electronic monitoring for a period of no less than five years."
Diaz didn't react. He just stared at the table in front of him, shoulders slumped. The cameras caught a single tear tracking down his scarred cheek before he wiped it away with the back of his hand.
The screen cut back to the anchor.
I let out a long breath I didn't realize I'd been holding.
Sarah stirred beside me, mumbling something incoherent. Her hand slid across the sheets and found my thigh, fingers curling loosely.
I set the empty plate on the nightstand, muted the TV, and lay back down, pulling her gently against my chest. She nuzzled into my neck without fully waking, warm and soft and still smelling faintly of last night.
I tucked the blanket around Sarah's limp, satisfied body, smoothing it over her curves one last time.
