THE FINAL HOUR
ALM No.81, October 2025
SHORT STORIES


11:00 PM – Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, Nashville
The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting a glow on the concrete walls. Logan Kyle sat on the edge of his bunk, dressed in a crisp white shirt and slacks. He looked more like a professor preparing for a lecture than a man awaiting execution.
Outside his cell, the guards shuffled their feet back and forth in front of his cell. Inside, Logan’s mind raced.
The scent of bleach lingered in the air. The cold concrete surrounding him added to his depressive thoughts that seemed to consume him in that moment. He could hear the distant hum of a generator and the ticking of the wall clock. Each second was a countdown.
“You sure you don’t want a last meal?” asked Officer Ramirez, leaning against the bars.
Logan shook his head. “I’ve had my fill of injustice.”
Ramirez didn’t respond. He’d heard Logan’s story more times than he wanted to. The DNA collected from under Karolyn Kyle’s fingernails. The lack of wounds on Logan. The cell phone pings placing him at Vanderbilt during the time frame of the crime. None of it mattered. The jury saw a grieving husband with motive, as the prosecutors labeled Logan as a jealous, controlling husband. His wife had filed for divorce just 3 weeks prior, as she alleged, he had an extra marital affair with a student last year. The media saw a monster. Someone to take the fall. If not Logan, then the State wouldn’t have gotten a conviction at all.
11:15 PM
Logan’s attorney, Marla Jennings, burst into the corridor, her heels echoing like gunshots.
“I need to speak to him. Now.”
Ramirez hesitated. “He’s got forty-five minutes.”
Marla’s face was pale but with a gleam of hope, her eyes wide. She clutched a manila folder with an impenetrable grip.
Inside the cell, she sat down in the chair across from Logan.
“They finally ran the whole-genome sequencing on the DNA, as we requested in our appeal. In fact, there is a match, but not to you.”
Logan blinked. “What?”
“It matched to a man with your same DNA. You have a twin brother, Logan. He was adopted at birth. He’s the one who killed Karolyn and Garrett.”
The room spun. Logan gripped the edge of the cot.
“A twin?” he whispered. “I never knew…”
“He was institutionalized. In and out of foster care. He blamed your family for giving him up. Your parents are gone, so he came for you.”
11:30 PM
Marla was already on the phone with the Governor’s office. The warden paced outside the cell, checking his watch every few seconds.
“They’re reviewing it,” she said. “The pardon could come any minute.”
Logan stared at the wall. A photo of Garrett’s championship shot had been taped there months ago. His son, arms raised, celebrating and looking the happiest he had ever seen him. Karolyn in the crowd, tears in her eyes.
“I never got to say goodbye to my wife and son. I just want them to know that I love them more than life and that I would never hurt them,” Logan murmured.
11:45 PM
The guards began the preparations. Logan was led to the holding room adjacent to the execution chamber. The scent of antiseptic was stronger here. The air much colder.
Marla followed; her phone pressed to her ear.
“They’re stalling for some reason,” she said. “This is wrong. We just need some time.”
Logan sat in the chair; wrists strapped down. He looked up at the ceiling.
“If this is it,” he said, “tell the world I loved my family and clear my name for all of us. That I didn’t do it.”
11:59 PM
The phone rang.
The warden answered. The call was brief. His face fell.
“It’s time,” he said.
The execution proceeded.
12:07 AM
As Logan Kyle’s body is examined by the prison staff doctor, his time of death is confirmed at 12:04 am. As his body is rolled out on a gurney, the warden gets a call. The call that should’ve saved an innocent man’s life just moments ago.
The governor’s pardon had arrived.
With the news spreading quickly and finding its way outside of the prison, a large group of individuals began to gather. Some held signs with the words, some with their voices…” Justice for Logan!”
Gary A. Noe II is a writer, student, husband and father whose stories are inspired by family, faith, and the natural world. His work seeks to uncover the sacred within the ordinary and to reflect the transformative power of story.

