Shattered Hearts

By Macy Lewis

Paralegal Trinity Sylinda has had a string of failed relationships and is desperate to find true love. But until that happens, she stays very busy juggling cases and legal files. When a colleague asks her to check on an ex-con who served eighteen years in prison for a murder he did not commit, Trinity is naturally nervous, but agrees to pay him a visit to ensure he’s adequately adjusting to life back in the real world and not focusing on his previous mistakes.

Released from prison over three years ago, Jack Julian has somehow managed to rebuild his life with help from his adult daughter, Alice. He’s understandably angry about the years he has already lost and it’s Trinity’s job to assess his mental health. When they meet, she realizes Jack is still holding onto guilt over the past and resentful of her presence, but the chemistry they share is obvious. When they eventually fall in love, a frightening health diagnosis sends their relationship into chaos and leaves the happily-ever-after they both imagined hanging perilously in the balance.

In this poignant tale, the lives of a well-respected paralegal and wrongly imprisoned ex-con intertwine and transport them down a path that will either lead to happiness or shattered hearts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Mar 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665720021

Macy Lewis

Macy Lewis has been blind since birth, she graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s in history and a minor in writing and rhetoric studies. Macy spends her time proofreading Braille, playing the drums, reading, traveling, and writing books, her forthcoming novel is The Island of Kamarie.

Book preview

Shattered

Hearts

Book 3 of The Hidden Hearts Series

Macy Lewis

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Copyright © 2022 Macy Lewis.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Archway Publishing

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.archwaypublishing.com

844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-2001-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-2002-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022904522

Archway Publishing rev. date: 3/15/2022

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Epilogue

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank the following people for their help with this book:

Jim King, thank you for the numerous telephone conversations, for reading the manuscript and offering suggestions, and for always believing in me. I could not write without you!

Madeleine Kmetzsch, thank you for the book cover, it is perfect!

Dr. Annika Pecchia-Bekkum, thank you for ensuring I understood everything about Fatal Familial Insomnia. Jill, thank you for being my liaison to your daughter. You were the link that made her help happen.

Rohan O’Duill, thank you for ensuring I understood everything about Ireland. I am so grateful for your friendship and support.

Janelle Evans, thank you for doing a final edit on the manuscript, catching everything I missed and adding more depth. You made this book even better than I could have imagined! Dad, thank you for going through the manuscript with me and accepting Janelle’s edits. I could not have done it without you!

Kelly Mattingly, M.Ed. Thank you for the numerous telephone conversations and encouragement. I could not have written this book without you!

Debbie, David, Cecelia, Gina, Lindsey, Lisa, Jon, Trishelle, Jarom and Michelle, Traci, Claire, Katie, Kara, Quinn, Assad, Holly, Brett, Kate, and Erica, thank you for always believing in me.

Archway Publishing, thank you for the help publishing this book.

To all my friends and family, thank you for the support. I am so blessed to have you in my life.

CHAPTER 1

Trinity sat at her desk with an open file folder on the keyboard in front of her; a DVD sat atop the stack of papers inside.

Where did this come from? she mumbled into her steaming Styrofoam cup of coffee. She took a hesitant sip of the lava liquid. Why was this file left on my desk? It says the client was in prison for eighteen years, but the case has been resolved, so why am I looking at it?

Glancing up from the papers, her focus landed on the thick stack of manila folders sitting to the left of her laptop and extra monitor. A ringing broke through her thoughts. Ripping her eyes away from the file folders, she frowned at the caller ID.

Hello, Shalise, Trinity said, holding the handset.

Hello, Trinity. Shalise’s voice chimed on the other line. Have you gotten a chance to look at the file folder I placed on your desk this morning?

I’m going through it now, why do you want me to re-examine it? The note says the case was resolved.

Take a look at the DVD and read as much as you can. The DVD doesn’t show much, but you’ll hear what happened. This afternoon, I want you to come with me to visit the man in the case. His name is Jack Julian.

All right. Who is this Julian fellow? She cradled the handset between her shoulder and her ear, thumbing through the pages of Jack’s file.

I haven’t time to put the other cases I have on hold.

Pushing a button on her laptop, the CD drive opened. Trinity opened the DVD case and lifted out the silver disk.

Jack was released from Wandsworth Prison three and a half years ago. He was wrongly accused of shooting the cashier in Hollow Joe’s Pub, because they couldn’t tell whose finger was on the trigger of the gun. DNA from Andrew and Jack was on the trigger, but none of the patrons in the bar saw what happened, because they were hiding beneath the tables. Jack’s accomplice, Andrew Carson, crashed on a motorway, hitting Ian and Sylvia Frothington’s vehicle. The Frothingtons died, and Andrew Carson, escaped. Convicted, Jack was given life for murder and vehicular manslaughter. He stayed in prison for eighteen years. At Andrew Carson’s sentencing, Andrew went after Jack’s daughter, whom Andrew had trafficked. A fight broke out in the courtroom and Andrew was shot by a police officer and died. I want to check up on Jack to see how he’s adjusting to life back in the world, because he has had some trouble.

Why? I’ve never visited an ex-convict before, Trinity said, gliding a pink fingernail along the DVD case.

Jack doesn’t converse with his father because his father’s still upset about the mistakes he has made. His mother and sister are proud that he’s building a new life for himself; in fact, he just bought a house in his hometown. Be prepared for Jack, I’m sure he’s still very angry. Poor fellow. Why don’t you give some of those other files to Holly? I want you to help me with Jack. If he’s still having trouble, you may need to arrange some counseling for him. We’ll have to see how he is when we visit him, Shalise said, her regular, professional tone going up an octave.

Okay, sounds good. You really want me to focus a lot of time on Jack’s well-being then? Trinity moved the DVD aside and skimmed the text on the first page in the file.

I’d like you to visit him. You’re the best paralegal I’ve had in years. Perhaps he’ll open up to you. I think he’s tired of hearing from me.

Fantastic, I have no training as a psychotherapist and I have these to work on, too. Trinity glanced at the stack of more than a dozen file folders to her left, but still couldn’t bring herself to refuse her request. I’ll watch the DVD.

Excellent! Bring the DVD to me when you’re done. See you.

See you, Trinity said and replaced the handset.

Placing the DVD in her laptop, Trinity watched Jack and Andrew Carson enter the pub. She had to listen to the sounds of Jack’s crime unfold from the speakers of her headphones. The images of Andrew and Jack running toward the front of the pub, sliding on the shards of glass strewn on the floor, Andrew pulling a knife and stabbing Jack in the shoulder, and the two men running off were all that the footage showed.

Trinity ran her manicured nails through her hair and frowned at the blank screen. I’ll have to read up on this file…but I must work on these. She glanced at the stack of files to her left and scowled. Opening the CD drive of the laptop, Trinity took the DVD out and held it in her fingers. With the office light gleaming off the silver surface, she squinted at the words ‘Footage at Hollow Joe’s Pub courtesy of Joe Carmona’ written in black marker. Trinity enclosed the DVD inside its case and bit her bottom lip. She decided to cross the aisle and knock on Shalise’s office door.

Come in. Shalise’s voice chimed so Trinity opened the door.

Shalise’s long, blonde hair flowed across the shoulders of her gray suit, flanked by dangling gold, teardrop diamond earrings. A steaming cup of tea sat on the desk next to a crumpet. Shalise had the handset of her office phone up to her ear. She nodded to Trinity when she handed her the DVD, so she left without a word.

Perhaps I should consider going to law school. I’m a great paralegal and I’m sure I’d be a great solicitor thanks to the cases I have worked on here.

Reaching her desk, Trinity picked up the stack of file folders and dove into them. After a few hours, Trinity stood and stretched her arms and legs before wandering to the office snack box. She grabbed a chocolate protein bar and a bottle of water and headed back to her desk. Trinity sighed, massaging her throbbing temples after reading a few pages of Jack’s file.

Jack Albert Julian grew up in a small town outside of London called Shiremore. Jack’s father’s name was Albert—a headmaster for a secondary school in a nearby town. Jack’s mum, Lauralyn, taught nursery school in Shiremore. His older sister Jennifer was married and had two children, Sarah and Rupert. Jack earned a degree in engineering from Oxford. He had worked before he landed in Wandsworth Prison.

From the footage, Trinity couldn’t deny that Jack had been involved in a very bad crime, but three and a half years ago Jack had been released from prison, moved into a flat, and started to rebuild his shattered life. After working two and sometimes three jobs at a time, a year ago Jack found employment working as an engineer and had saved up enough money to purchase a new car and house.

Trinity massaged her pounding skull. Could she truly learn everything about Jack and his involvement in the crime at Hollow Joe’s Pub by just these files? Was she even sure she wanted to?

Remember Trin, you’re not to make any judgment, until you have met the client. Observe him and over time you can see the truth about how he came to be in this position. No wonder Shalise wants me to focus on Jack. I bet he’s not right in the head—nobody would be okay in the world after spending eighteen years locked up behind bars after being wrongly accused of something they didn’t do. Poor fellow.

* * *

That afternoon, Trinity and Shalise met at Shalise’s silver convertible and drove the hour-long drive from the office in London to Jack’s house in Shiremore. Along the way, they conversed about Trinity’s latest heartbreak.

Trin, tell me about Justin. Shalise’s wedding ring sparkled in the light, distracting Trinity and making her scowl.

We attended secondary school together. I thought he was the perfect man, until he started to be verbally abusive. I didn’t see it—it took my sisters pointing it out to me that made me finally leave. He’s dating someone else, and I’m worried about her.

Verbally abusive? What would he say?

He would tell me he loved me, but he didn’t want me to go out with friends. You know, all of that sort of manipulation.

I see. Did he ever threaten you with physical violence? Shalise picked up a thermos of tea.

Yes, he used it to make me obey him when he would go into rages. Trinity shrugged her shoulders against the shiver creeping from her head to her feet.

Trin, you have got to stop looking at the bad boys. Those have been your last few relationships. It’s not healthy. Shalise’s voice rose with every word of her lecture.

I know, but I can’t seem to attract good men. Don’t you remember what it was like going through a heartbreak? I’ve had so many, I’m about to give up entirely. Trinity frowned at the windscreen.

Shalise parked the car, while Trinity thumbed through the file folder, checking for the hundredth time that all documents were there. Once confirmed, Trinity handed them across the car’s bonnet to Shalise. She grabbed them and put it in her briefcase. A small two-story house sat at the end of a quiet street called Lanier Lane. Birds chirped in the numerous trees fringing the street, offering a sense of reverence to the house. Trinity surveyed the outside of the light tan stone cottage with a dark brown wooden roof and matching front door. Lush green grass and trees enveloped the quaint house. A large front window sat to the right of the front door. Pink, magenta and white geraniums and salmon begonias crowded the front of the house and broken concrete sidewalk.

Keeping her heels from between the broken bits of concrete, Trinity offered Shalise a slight smile. Rummaging in her handbag, Trinity’s legs started to shake, and she bit her bottom lip.

Trinity’s heels clattered onto the front porch. She looked at Shalise. Are you sure this man’s safe to be around without someone watching him?

Shalise chuckled. Yes, otherwise, we wouldn’t be visiting him at his home.

Trinity nodded and slid her tongue along the dry surface of her mouth. I need some water. Shalise’s knock on the door made Trinity’s heart thud in her chest.

A few moments passed and the two women only heard the sweet song of birds all around. When the door was unlocked and opened, a young girl stood in the doorway. Her black curls fell over her shoulders, covered in a white t-shirt and multicolored apron.

Hello, Alice, Shalise said with a smile.

"Hello, Shalise. It’s good to see you. Come