“Do you have something to share with the class, Dr. Becket?” Juliette asked piercingly. Bruno was shallowly glad to watch someone other than Clarice squirm under her gaze.
“It’s personal,” Becket said. “But I swear I would be an asset you don’t want to overlook.”
“I’m going to need a little more to go on than that,” Juliette said with great frustration. She raised a hand. “But keep your secrets. God knows you’re all getting a heavily redacted version of all of this already. Involving civilians is not ideal and I want to keep a capable crew here to protect the kids.” Her look lingered on each of them and Bruno was reminded that two of her own children were nestled down in the sleepover room.
“W-what about Veronica?” Clarice asked tentatively.
“What about her?”
“What are you going to do to her when you find her?”
“Probably put her in jail for the rest of her life,” Juliette said pitilessly.
“For what?” Clarice asked, as Bruno asked thoughtfully, “For what charges, exactly?”
“We’ve got evidence of collaboration,” Juliette said, with a frown. “It’s not solid, but we could make it stick.”
“Let her go,” Clarice begged.
“Why should we?”
There was a murmur from the others, a dark undercurrent of anger and frustration.
“She’s the reason you knew they were coming,” Clarice said staunchly. “She was only a part of all of this until she knew better. Isn’t that worth something?”
“Veronica Chase is a self-centered, meddlesomebitch.”
Bruno turned in surprise to find gentle and mild-mannered Cherry at the entrance to the hall, standing with her hands on her hips. He hadn’t even known that shecouldswear.
“But she saved our kids, and that counts for a lot,” she said warmly, and that was the Cherry that Bruno knew. “Disappearing a bunch of mad scientists and unethical mercenaries is one thing, but Veronica is a staple of the community, and it’s bound to draw a lot of attention if she goes missing.”
“We could come up with some kind of cover story,” Juliette said.
“Or we could just let her go and try to make peace at last,” Cherry said patiently. “She thought we were the bad guys. We thought she was a bad guy. Maybe people aren’t as simple as bad or good. Maybe it depends on the angle you’re looking at them from. She’s shallow, selfish, and good at manipulating people, but that doesn’t warrant a lifetime behind bars. It would onlyproveall the awful things she thought about us. She didn’thaveto help us, and she did so at great risk to herself when she betrayed those men breaking into the day care.”
“She might become an asset,” Vivian suggested reluctantly. “She’s got powerful friends.”
“She jacked up my rent last year,” Chloe grumbled. “But she did fix the porch, and I know things are more expensive now.”
“She always tries to get my work done cheaper, but she pays every bill on time,” Roderick conceded.
“Her realty company is always the first one to sign up for charity events,” Addison said with a sigh. “She’s not awhollybad person.”
Clarice, with a brave little wobble to her voice, added, “She said shestoppedgiving Stork information or answering Hunter’s number, and that’s why they had to trick her into meeting at the listing. Shesaidit wasn’t on purpose that I went instead, and when she realized what happened, she came to help me.”
“I’ll send a recommendation above my head to let her off,” Juliette agreed at last. “I’m not the one who makes that final call.”
Unsurprisingly, Bruno found himself sorted into the team that would remain behind. “I’m not much good in a fight,” he said sheepishly, wishing not for the first time that he was something bigger and tougher.
“I can cook,” Clarice volunteered. “I had a look at the kitchen and I could probably come up with a few meals that would feed some hungry kids.”
Her offer was accepted and Bruno was grateful for her easy going nature and her willingness to be helpful. She had volunteered to help clean up in the kitchen without prompting, and did an admirable job being tolerant and patient with all the screaming children underfoot. It was a lot even for Bruno, and he was at least already used to Gil’s boundless energy.
“Let’s get some rest,” Juliette suggested. “And since this is my bedroom tonight, I want the rest of you to get out. Cherry, which couch do you want?”
Bruno got to his feet and helped Clarice to hers. “My fingers still feel funny,” he admitted, after they’d said goodnight to everyone and retreated back down the hallway.
“You probably frostbit them,” Clarice said, and it was perfectly natural to lace his fingers with hers as they returned to their only-one-bed room.
