CHAPTER 1

March 21, 2010

Dottie thought it was ironic that exactly one year to the day after her arrest, she's back in a courtroom. The past nine months had changed her. No longer was she a shy, backwards girl who never stood up for herself. Prison had made her into a hard woman, determined to never trust again. The only person who had continued to be in her life was Amy Walker. All the rest of her friends had one by one dropped out of sight. She didn't know if they believed in her innocence or not. But she couldn't blame any of them for not wanting to be associated with a convicted felon, all be it an innocent one.

Amy, though, had stayed true. Visiting her often, she had brought magazines and such. Since it was a minimum security facility, the warden had allowed them to do makeovers. Amy even brought all the implements for coloring Dottie's hair, which now hung down to the middle of her back. She never once let her friend feel sorry for herself.

Even now, she sat behind Dottie as the judge made his ruling. "Dottie Morgan, you have been brought here today because new evidence has been presented. It is the ruling of this court that you shall be set free. You are free and your record will be wiped clear of any and all charges." Dottie was stunned, to say the least. Before she could utter a sound, the judge continued. "Ms. Morgan, I feel the need to tell you exactly what this new evidence is because you were unjustly convicted and you have spent time in prison, where you didn't belong. Someone confessed to setting you up. Being an officer of the court, I cannot divulge anything other than that. I can only tell you that I am deeply sorry that this wasn't uncovered before your conviction, and the person responsible will be tried on charges of embezzlement and perjury, among other charges."

Dottie didn't hear much after that. There was a roar in her head as she realized what he said. Free. She was free. Emotionally drained, she slumped down in her seat, not even aware that the judge had dismissed the case.

Amy was there, crying as she hugged her friend. "I told you they would figure out what happened. I wonder who did it? No, I don't. I don't care. All that matters is you can go home."

Dottie looked lost. "I don't have a home, Amy. I don't have a job. I don't have anything." Tears gathered and fell and she cursed herself for the weakness.

Grabbing her by her arms, Amy slightly shook her. "You do have a home. You are staying with me till we get you back on your feet. First things first, let's find out if I can get you out of here." She turned to talk to Dottie's lawyer as Dottie sat, taking it all in.

Feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand up, Dottie knew someone was staring at her. Turning, she saw them. Howie, Brian, AJ, and Nick. All watching her. Not prepared to see them, she almost doubled over in pain. Quickly recovering from the shock and masking her pain, she looked to her lawyer, begging for help. "I can't talk to them. I don't want to see them. Is there another way out?"

Before he could answer, Howie approached them. "Dottie, please, you have to listen to us."

Pure rage swept through her as she turned and faced him. She could see remorse in his eyes, but she refused to acknowledge it. "Listen to you? Did you listen to me when I begged you to? Did you listen to me when I promised you I didn't do it? When I swore to you it wasn't me? How well did you listen Howie? No, I won't listen. Never."

Howie paled at her words, bowing his head and slightly turning. "For what it's worth, Dottie, we did believe you. We tried to prove your innocence, but we couldn't. Not until Jake confessed. I'm sorry for what we put you through. For what we all said and did."

Dottie latched onto that one sentence. "Jake? Jake did this to me?"

Howie sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose as he did when he was stressed out. A habit he had picked up from Kevin years ago. "Yes, he did. He took the money and left the trail on your computer. He finally confessed to it when Nick realized that money was still disappearing. We knew it couldn't be you and Jake never hired anyone to replace you. It had to be him, so we called the police and finally, he admitted he had been doing it. He thought we'd never miss it and that with you gone, there would be no reason to think anything else would disappear. But Nick wouldn't give up. He's the one who figured it out."

Dottie looked up, seeing the rest of the guys had joined Howie. Her eyes met Nick's. His expression was desolate. "Dottie, I'm sorry. I can't take back what's happened, I wish I could. I tried so hard to figure it out before your trial, but there wasn't time."

Dottie knew he meant what he said. Nick could never hide his feelings from her. But she had turned her emotions off a long time ago and swore she wouldn't let anyone close again. "Thank you for figuring it out. I owe you that. But I never want to see any of you again. When I truly needed you, you deserted me."

AJ swore under his breath. "We tried to be there for you, but they wouldn't let us near you. You have to know how we begged to get in to see you."

"No, AJ, I don't. The last time I saw all of you, Howie was accusing me and all of you were backing him up. You weren't very supportive of me then."

Brian broke in, "But we were told there was iron clad proof you did it. We were shown the computer records and everything pointed to you. It wasn't until after your arrest that we figured out things didn't add up. But you refused to see us. We did try."

Howie reached out to grab her hand, but she jerked it back. "We never deserted you; we've been fighting this battle for months, trying to get anyone to see what was happening. Finally, Detective Peters agreed to meet with us and hear what we had to say. He re-opened the case and helped us figure out what Jake had done. We know you hate us, but hopefully someday you can forgive us."

She looked them each in the eye, wanting so badly to forgive, but feeling so hurt she couldn't do it. Her gaze locked with Nick's. "I can't do this now. I can't see you because I don't trust you. I don't trust any of you. Leave me alone. Go back to your music and let me start over."

A tear slid down Nick's face. "I've missed you Dottie. You always were someone I could depend on, and I'll never forgive myself for letting you down. But please, don't shut us out. Don't shut me out."

Dottie steeled herself against the feelings he evoked in her. "You shut the door Nick, slammed it right in my face. I can't open it again. Good bye."

She walked out of the courtroom that day with her head held high. But she left her heart behind. No one had ever known just how deep her feelings had been for Nick. And now it was too late. He'd never know how much she loved him and she was going to make damn sure no one else knew either. It was time to start over.