Page 41 of Old Money
I look at him.
“Tell?” I turn my hands up in a tired shrug. “Get Patrick charged? Get the case reinvestigated properly, somehow?”
“Uh-huh.” Theo nods, his knee bouncing. “So, to get a case reopened, you need novel or compelling evidence.Legallycompelling, I mean. It’s extraordinarily rare. And when it does happen, it’s all over the press.”
“I don’t mind, Theo.” I shake my head. “I’m telling the press anyway. I’m going public as the witness.”
Theo’s knee stops. He tilts his head, searching me. I hear my own words repeating in my head, my voice so light. Idon’t mind. I’mgoing public. As though I’m the only one involved—the only one affected.
“So, you thought this through before you came here,” Theo says, putting the pieces together. “You know they’re going to have eyes on you, right? Now that this is public?”
I nod.
“Which means they’ll have eyes on this house,” he concludes.
I nod again, my chest caving in beneath a wrecking ball of guilt.
“Well, that’s rotten, Alice,” Theo says simply. “This whole thing is ridiculous and rotten as hell.”
I hear the boys spatting in the bedroom, Isaac telling Simon to quit it. Their voices are so, so small.
“I’ll go,” I say, looking into my lap. “I’ll go to the Inn—today.”
“No. I’m not kicking you out,” he says, a tired look on his face. “Not because you’re my sister—that’s why I insisted before.Weinsisted. Now I’m insisting because if you walk out of here, I’ll be up all night waiting for the phone to ring. And I’ve already spent half the nights of my life awake, worrying about you. You here is bad. But you outthereis worse.”
He stands, ending the conversation.
“Okay,” I mumble. “I guess. If you think that’s best.”
“What’s best, Alice, is you back in the city,” Theo says, then catches himself. I watch him consider taking it back, and then decide not to. “Get away from the club and all those awful,legitimately dangerouspeople. If you really give a shit about me—my kids, my family, the only family you’ve got left—that’s the best thing you could do. Second best is staying here.”
Chapter Nineteen
Idrive to the police station at 6:00 a.m. the next morning. I gave up on sleeping three hours ago, got up, showered and picked up my phone to leave a voicemail on the village PD courtesy line, requesting my appointment. Then I had a better idea: fuck the appointment.
I shove the station door open, bleary-eyed, my hair still hanging damp.
“Well, hello again!”
It’s Officer Jessie behind the desk. I nearly scowl at the sight of her bright, friendly face (It’s 6:00 a.m. Can’t I get a dour stranger?), but then I catch myself. Jessie may be a puzzle, but she’s also a village cop. If she wants to play nice, I should play along.
“All right, Officer, tell the truth—do you actually live here?” I give her a suspicious grin, shuffling across the linoleum. “Or is it just—”
Another head pops up beside the metal cabinet. This officer has a stack of files in the crook of one arm, and a dirty look on his face. There’s my grumpy stranger.
“I’m on overnights this week,” Jessie says, laughing at the joke I didn’t finish. “I’m on until nine—you just got lucky again.”
Lucky, right. I wonder what she’d say if I told her I got kicked out of my job yesterday, and that my brother’s only keeping me around because he’s worried people are watching me, and he’sright.Get back in your car and leave. Now.Maybe I’ll show her the text and see what she thinks about my current luck status.
“Everything okay?” she asks as I approach the counter. I see her clock my wan, insomniac face and quickly paste a smile on it.
“Yeah! Everything’s great actually. Look what I got yesterday.” I pull out my approval notice and place it proudly on the counter. “Heck of a lot faster than ninety days, huh? It went to the wrong address, but you know, mistakes happen.”
I hold my friendly expression, watching her face for a reaction—any hint of knowing. She angles her head, knitting her eyebrows—the very picture of confusion.
“Doesn’t matter,” I breeze on. “Anyway, I know I’m supposed to make an appointment, but I was in the neighborhood. Any chance I could take a peek now?”
The other officer glances over his shoulder, his dirty look aimed at me now.
