Page 31 of Born Wicked
“He give you any problems?” Roman asks, never once taking his eyes from Markus.
“He’s been a perfect, silent little prisoner,” I answer with a smile. Roman hands the passport and ID to Markus, and all three of us walk to the ticket counter together.
A good chunk of money later, Markus has a ticket to India. I changed my mind at the last second. Seemed like a good idea to throw the man off.
“We’ll know if you don’t get on your connecting flight,” Roman warns Markus as we walk him to his gate. His seven AM flight leaves in only a few minutes. “So don’t go getting any ideas. You’ll get out of the States, or I won’t be as forgiving as Juliet.”
“Got it,” he mutters, and I’m reminded that he is only twenty-four years old. He might be bitter and terrible, but he’s still little more than a kid.
Wordlessly, Roman and I stand and wait until they load the plane. Markus glances back at us just once before he disappears into the crowd as they shuffle onto the aircraft.
“Kansas didn’t go how you wanted?” Roman asks half an hour later as we watch the plane pull away from the terminal and finally take off.
A sigh escapes me as we turn and walk away. “No. My mother didn’t get buried after all. She ended up being cremated.”
There is silence between us for a beat. “I’m really sorry, Juliet.”
“Yeah, me too,” I say. I can’t go deep into this right now. It’s still too raw, still too fresh. “Anything dramatic happen while I was gone?”
“It seems like half a miracle, but no,” he answers. I look over at him to see a smile forming in one corner of his mouth.
“Small miracles, thank goodness they come around every now and then,” I say as I step around a group of people stopped in the middle of the hall. It’s getting busier by the moment.
My phone vibrates in my back pocket. I pull it out to see it’s a number I don’t recognize, from here in Chicago.
“This is Dr. Doe” I answer as we make our way back toward the L.
“Juliet,” a familiar voice comes through the other line. Superintendent Teresa Day. “You and I need to talk.”
“Really?” I ask, barely resisting an eyeroll. “You haven’t charged me with anything. When are you going to stop harassing me?”
Oops. I know I’ve shot my mouth off too quickly the second the words come out.
“I need you at my office in thirty minutes, or I will come to you,” she says coldly, and the line goes dead.
“Ah shit,” I hiss as I put the phone back in my pocket. “The day just keeps getting worse.”
“I think you should call your lawyer,” Roman says as we ride the escalator down and climb into the train.
“Yeah,” I groan, once again pulling my phone.
Just great.
I hate this depressing place.
Seriously. Superintendent Day could spruce the place up a bit. The drab space makes my skin crawl the second I walk into it.
“Do you understand what you’re doing when you keep dragging me in here?” I bark. My eyes meet Teresa’s, and I know already that I’m dangerously close to turning back into the reckless Juliet who landed herself in juvenile detention. “Do you know what I do for a living? Do you understand the suffocating weight and difficulty it is to keep that hospital going? I am trying to save lives, Superintendent. And you keep dragging me in here when you have no reason to.”
Roman’s hand lands on my shoulder, and he none too gently guides me down into a seat. It’s a clear message,calm the hell down.He sits in the chair beside me, and to the untrained eye, he might look relaxed, but he’s ready to detain me if I snap.
“I thought we had things settled,” Sylvano says as he stands in the corner of the room.
“This is still an open investigation,” she explains to him in a very calm yet very condescending tone. “Until Sebastian Vincent is found, or until we have a body, it is my job to keep asking as many questions as needed until he’s back home safe and sound.”
“What is it now?” I ask, anxious to get this over with. I need to get out of here before I do something stupid.
“I’ve interviewed quite a few people at that hospital,” she dives in. “And I keep getting the same story, over and over. That you and Sebastian were a match made in heaven. Everyone says they couldn’t imagine a better paired couple. I know you said Sebastian began stalking you. But from what people say, from the look in your engagement announcement,” she says as she slides the news article and the accompanying picture across her desk toward me, “I am not sure I should have been so quick to take your word for it.”