Page 88 of The Sin

I offered Daniel an apologetic smile, then I turned and fled before my presence caused another scene.

27

Across the road from the Guard Station, light glowed from every window in Berkley House. The Sisterhood hadn’t wasted any time taking over the building, and they were clearly hard at work. Ironing out the finer details of the new regime, no doubt.

My gaze swept over those windows as I crossed the road, catching the occasional glimpse of a moving silhouette behind the lowered Venetian blinds. I tried to picture what this new world might look like. I wanted to believe it looked better, prettier. I didn’t know, but I did know this: I sincerely doubted it could look any worse than where we’d come from.

The steps up to the porch were unchecked. I hammered a fist on the door, once, twice…it opened and I was greeted with the barrel of a rifle. I smacked it out from my face.

I had gone my entire life without encountering a lethal weapon, but the shine of horror was quickly wearing thin. I didn’t even wonder if this one was loaded or not.

The pretty brunette on the butt-end of the rifle didn’t take offense. She looked me over, then waved me inside. “We’ve been expecting you.”

“You have?”

She bumped the door closed and turned the lock. “Rose wanted to send someone out to find you, but Geneva insisted you’d find your own way here sooner rather than later.”

“Rose is here?”

“In the boardroom on the second floor.” She nudged her chin toward the staircase rising up from the middle of the wide foyer. “You can’t miss it.”

“Actually, I’d like to speak to Geneva.”

“Oh, sure, Bev will take you up. Bev!” she called over her shoulder, and the scowling grandmother from the other day appeared. “Bev, could you please escort Georga to the map room. She wants to see Geneva.”

The older woman nodded, and walked on ahead, not too bothered about whether I followed or not.

“Hi, I’m Georga,” I said, hot on the heels of her first step onto the staircase.

She didn’t acknowledge me, and, again, she didn’t utter a single word the whole way. Maybe she was mute? She wasn’t deaf, obviously. Maybe she just didn’t have anything to say to me.

The map room, as it turned out, was a small, private library on the top floor. Once again, Bev knocked, and opened the door for me to enter.

“Thank you,” I called as she closed the door in my face, leaving me to take in my surroundings.

A couple of comfortable reading chairs were scattered about. Along one wall, a series of reading lamps and hardback chairs were stamped to a long table. Standup bookshelves with narrow aisles between them occupied one half of the room. Geneva, seated at an enormous oval table inlaid with leather, occupied the other half.

“Georga,” she drawled, beckoning me toward her. “I’m sure you have many questions.”

I did, but that’s not what I’d come for. Although, maybe just the one. “What’s the story with Bev? She doesn’t much like conversation, does she?”

“Not since she was released from rehab, no.” Geneva’s mouth thinned. “She was committed for six years. Have you heard of the hard-crack cases?”

“I’ve heard,” I said, my heart bleeding for the poor woman. I’d heard of full incarceration. Women who came back like Miriam Edgar, or not at all. But I’d never heard of this third option, women who came back six years later. “That’s horrific.”

“I agree.” Geneva flourished a hand at the chair beside her. “Sit, please.”

I moved to stand behind the chair, curling my fingers over the top. My gaze skimmed the notebook she’d been writing in, and the pile of iComms on the table.

She tipped her chin up, studying me, hunting my thoughts with that gray stare. “You’re upset. That was quite the shock we threw you into, tonight. It was the only way, I assure you.”

That’s not what I’d come for, either. And now that I was here, I didn’t just want Roman’s release, I wanted an explanation and an apology. “Why do you have my husband, Roman West, locked in a cell? You know he’s a warden. They have no authority here in Capra. You had no reason to drag him down to the Guard Station.”

Her brow arched. “I assumed that’s where you’d want him to be.”

“Why?” My voice pitched. “Why on earth would you assume that?”

“He turned you over to the Guard,” she said calmly. “He placed you under reprimand. According to Rose’s report, you stated that he wouldn’t hesitate to commit you to rehab for a life sentence.”

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