He pushed an envelope across the table at her.
A thick-looking envelope.
She eyed it.
“Do you know who killed Harriet Forbes?” she asked in a low voice.
“No, and I don’t really care. What I care about is making sure this goes away. That’s what I do. I make the bad publicity go away.”
She saw the money, stuffed into the envelope. Just within reach.
It appeared to be enough that she could afford to live in St. Louis for years. Maybe even at the level that Lillie did.
It was enough that she could get Walt into the best possible treatment center.
She could pay off her father’s restaurant.
But she would have to turn her back on Oliver and therefore Lillie. And if she did that, she would never forgive herself.
“I’m afraid I can’t accept that,” she said.
The man seemed surprised. His face of pleasantries disappeared.
“It’s a highly generous offer already. This isn’t a negotiation.”
“No, it isn’t,” she agreed.
“I see you’re determined to be unreasonable.”
“I’m quite reasonable,” she said calmly. “My integrity just isn’t for sale.”
The man glowered. “Then I regret to inform you that you’re hereby barred from entering the fairgrounds. If you’re seen there, you will be promptly removed.”
“For what?”
“For public disruption.”
She reached out and delicately touched the envelope. Like a caress. As though she were reconsidering.
He paused for a moment. His eyes watching her very carefully.
She picked up the envelope and handed it to him.
“You wouldn’t want to forget this,” she said.
He snatched it from her hand, his mouth tightening into a slim line, and stalked with as much dignity as he could muster out of the diner.
She gathered herself. Then she knocked angrily on the window to draw the attention of the host.
“Check, please,” she yelled.
Oliver’s head was bowed over the wooden table when she came into the small jail room.
The guard sat in the corner.
She took the seat across from her cousin.
“Oliver,” she said.
