“Mom, I need to ask you a few more questions.”
She pulled the towel tighter around her chest.
“Will they listen to this?”
“Yes.”
“Will Julian go to prison?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Her chin trembled. “He’s still my son.”
The words struck harder than I expected.
Even after the bruises, the ropes, the stolen money, and the threats, a part of her was still trying to protect him.
I knelt in front of her.
“You can love your son and still tell the truth about what he did.”
She looked toward the locked door.
“He wasn’t always like this.”
“Tell me when it started.”
