Page 34 of Angel's Flight

“What do you think I should do instead?Call the police?”

“The police here only care about what they are paid to care about, and you can’t afford the debt it would entail to put her in jail, even for a night,” Jack said with a grimace.“I don’t even know what you’d tell them—”

“That wouldn’t get me arrested first,” Christine finished with a sigh.

“You could just talk to me.”

They turned to look at where Pauline waited, bound to a kitchen chair with Howard glowering behind her.She looked distressingly pleased to have their attention.

“I may have some insights for you.You seem overwhelmed by all this, my friend,” Pauline went on.

“You’re not my friend,” Christine replied, stalking towards the smaller woman.

“No, I wasn’t.”Pauline shrugged.“But you were so easy to turn into mine.”

Christine squinted at Pauline.All her softness and warmth were gone, so different now than when Christine had first encountered her.“You helped me when that man was harassing me.”

“I paid him, yes,” Pauline replied proudly, “And then became all a lonely, gullible girl who once believed in fairy tales and ghosts could want in a friend.”

“Ghosts?”Jack echoed.Howard also looked perplexed.

“Oh.They don’t know your whole story, do they?”Pauline said with a wicked grin that made Christine queasy.“Gentlemen, are you aware you’re harboring the wife of a dangerous criminal?”

“He is not dangerous,” Christine snapped, more to Howard and Jack than to Pauline.She couldn’t risk losing the only allies she had left.

“Such a naïve fool, sweet Christine,” Pauline sighed.“When I began to study you, I almost admired you.Such an independent woman, so talented, able to bewitch such an unparalleled beast.Then you tossed it all away.”

“I made my own choice,” Christine protested.She hated this.Hated how it felt like all her mistakes had suddenly turned into a thing of flesh made only to mock her.

“Have you heard her sing, gentlemen?”Pauline went on, ignoring Christine in a way that made her feel utterly powerless.“I saw her in Paris, at her last performance, no less.She was brilliant.Truly brought the house down.To think such a voice will never be heard again except by a murdering monster.”

“You know nothing about my husband or me,” Christine seethed, her cheeks burning as she avoided Howard and Jack’s eyes.

“I know everything about him.And you,” Pauline smirked.“I have made myself an authority on all the secrets you tried to leave behind at the Palais Garnier – where your dear Erik spent years terrorizing people.”

“What is she talking about?”Howard asked.Christine stared at the man who had been so quick to help her, unable to explain why she and Erik were being hunted.

“We simply want to live our lives in peace,” Christine whispered, panic rising along with her memories.

“Peace?After he brought down that chandelier?”Pauline scoffed.

“The chandelier that fell during the performance in Paris?”Jack asked, face paling in horror.Christine couldn’t meet his eyes.

“That’s enough,” Christine ordered, but it sounded like begging.

Pauline continued to smile.“You don’t want them to know about the monster you married and all the awful things you’ve done?”she asked, nodding towards the men who had foolishly helped Christine.“Have you seen the creature yet, young sirs?I’ve only heard stories, but I’m amazed she can keep her stomach when he takes her.”

“Careful, Signora,” Howard warned.“You’re talking about our friends.”

“They are killers,” Pauline whispered, holding Christine’s gaze as she did.“They ran from France to escape their crimes.I am only on their trail to exact justice.”

“You have been misinformed,” Christine hissed.“I have made mistakes, but I'm not—"

“Don’t waste your excuses,” Pauline sneered.

“Who told you all this?”Christine asked, trying to keep calm as her heart pounded.She couldn’t look at Howard or Jack.She didn’t want to see them judge her.Is this what Erik felt like when he was unmasked?“Tell me why you’ve done all this.”

“Our services have been procured on behalf of the estate of one Antoine de Martiniac,” Pauline replied lightly.“You do recall your husband’s last victim?”

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