“No,” I said.

“He tried to frame you and throw you out on the street, Nora,” Raymond said, his hand tightening on the head of his walnut cane.

“I don’t want Christopher destroyed beyond what justice requires,” I said.

“I only want my son safe.”

Raymond let out a long breath, the stiffness leaving his shoulders as he looked at me with a deep quiet in his eyes.

“You have more wisdom than anyone who’s walked through these doors in thirty years,” Raymond said.