Page 129 of Thief of Night
Beside him stood Adeline, all in winter white. She had a cream bag over her shoulder and was flashing the smile of someone who’d practiced it in front of a mirror, so it would be just right for cameras. Lawyers flanked them, along with Fiona in a fur-trimmed coat.
He’d told Charlie that he was going to accept all the things Remy had given him, but this looked more like capitulation. If not, Adeline wouldn’t be half so delighted, her fingers wouldn’t smooth the lapel of his coat so possessively. Nor would he be standing so rigid and stiff, a muscle jumping in his jaw as though forcing himself not to flinch.
“Hall?” An officer was standing in front of her cell. “Time for your phone call.”
Charlie got up, her back aching from sleeping on the bench. She followed the officer into the corridor and then into a room with a single phone in it.
“You’ve got fifteen minutes,” the officer said. “Remember this is monitored.”
Sitting down on the cold metal chair, Charlie stared at the phone. Sheconsidered and dismissed calling anyone in her family. No point in them feeling obligated to pay bail, when bail would be stupid expensive. And no point in attempting to get in touch with Red; he was busy. Odette probably knew a good lawyer; that was what Charlie really needed. She didn’t need to ask anyone else for help.
Then she lifted the phone and made her decision.
“Charlie Hall,” Balthazar said. “Are you calling me from a correctional facility?”
“Yeah,” Charlie told him. “Can you ask Odette something for me real quick?”
He sighed, but agreed, and further agreed to contact the lawyer on her behalf.
After the call, the officer brought her back to the cell. She returned to her bench and watched a daytime soap opera where a baby was born without a shadow.
Hours passed.
The door of the cell opened. Charlie expected it to be the policeman who’d brought her in, but this man was in plain clothes with streaks of silver in his hair, old enough to have seniority. He looked as though he’d tasted something bitter and wanted the flavor off his tongue. “We got a call from the chief, but I thought there had to be some mistake, Mr. Carver.”
Behind him, Red stepped into the cell.Mr. Carver.
“Therewasa mistake,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”
For a disorienting moment, it seemed as though maybe she wasn’t looking at Red at all, but the real Remy Carver, back from the grave. She’d seen him enough times in photos to recognize his bemused expression and the way he styled his floppy hair. A gold watch shone on his wrist. His crisp white shirt was open at the throat. Even his trousers looked expensive. He gave off the vibe of a golden Labrador, big and friendly.
But Remy Carver wasdeadand his body,burned.
Charlie felt dizzy.
And even dizzier when the officer unlocked her cuffs.
“Yes, I’m absolutely sure,” he was saying to the policeman by his side. “Didn’t my lawyers explain?”
“Charlotte Hall, you are free to go,” the officer said. “For now. Don’t leave town. We might have more questions.”
“Understood,” Charlie said.
Her sense of unreality intensified as she stepped into the hall. She half expected Red to look at her as though he didn’t know her.
Remy could never have loved someone like you.
Self-consciously, she pushed her hair out of her face.
“How are you here?” she asked him, which seemed important. Balthazar couldn’t have called him. Red didn’t even have a phone.
“I told her that I wanted to see that you were free with my own eyes.” Despite saying that, he wasn’t meeting her gaze directly.
“See me one last time?” Charlie asked, imagining Adeline’s reaction to that request.
He glanced toward her at that, a corner of his mouth lifting. “Something like that.”
“Tell me you didn’t accept her terms because of me,” she said, turning toward him. “Because I got arrested.”
