“Everyone else gets praise, and I get punishment?”
“It’s protocol. You just killed someone, Lucia. It wasn’t a dart this time. That leaves a mark. It spins your head. You should be at home with your husband right now. I know you love him, regardless of how much you complain about him, so go to him. Write up your statement and go home.”
“I know damn well what I did. That wasn’t the first person I killed. Far from it.”
“You’re not on the front lines anymore. Go home.”
“Is that an order?”
“Yes.”
The chief snorted. “That’s too bad that you already gave up your job, then.”
“It’s not yours yet,” Lila pointed out, suddenly feeling very childish. She tugged on the ends of her jacket. “Look, if you want to ignore me and go in tomorrow, then fine, I can’t stop you. I’m not about to get my mother involved, either. But at least for tonight, go home.”
Sutton puffed out her chest. “Fine. After I get you back to the great house with a kettle of tea. Your voice sounds like shit.”
This time, Lila did not contradict her.
Chapter 32
Lila spun in her bedroom before the mirror, studying her new gray leather coat. It hit her ankles, and didn’t look too far off from her blackcoat. She’d bought it earlier that morning at one of the shops across from the estate, ignoring the salesclerk’s futile attempts to steer her into a “more appropriate color” befitting her family and station. Once purchased, she refused to allow the plump tailor to stitch the Randolph coat of arms on its breast. Instead, she carried it up to the great house in a red shopping bag with a half-dozen new scarves folded and wrapped in crimson tissue paper.
The coat might not have been tailored specifically for her, but it would do.
Besides, the familiar weight soothed her.
She wrapped a new scarf around her neck, some of her makeup already rubbing away. The bruises were brighter today, though her voice was less hoarse. It would take a while for the evidence of La Roux’s attack to vanish, but at least it was hidden away.
A knock sounded upon the door.
“Ms. Gardner parked your car out front, just as you asked,” Isabel said with a small bow.
“Thank you, Isabel.”
“Are you going somewhere?” She fixed Lila with a curious, almost frightened look.
Lila felt sorry for her. Alex had disappeared from the servants’ quarters overnight, and Ms. O’Malley had only told the staff that she had been transferred. None of them knew where she had been taken. Even Lila only had a vague suspicion about where she had ended up. One thing was for certain, though: Alex would fantasize about fetching trays for Jewel after her first day.
Unfortunately, Isabel had been left to deal with Jewel all alone, with only some small bit of relief from Ms. O’Malley. Jewel had ceased her crying, at least until she’d eaten breakfast with her mother. Something had started her up again, and Lila couldn’t have cared less what it might have been.
She might have found out if she’d answered the summons to breakfast or the note that followed, but Lila had refused to open either of them. They lay on the floor next to her luggage. She didn’t have much, for most of the clothes she liked belonged to a militia chief, and she wasn’t that person anymore. She’d put the rest into a suitcase and her old canvas bag, along with her gadgets, her hard drives from her office and home computers, the paperwork for her mark, and a few pictures. She left behind the closet full of crimson coats and dresses and matching heels. She wouldn’t have need of such colors for a while.
Luckily, she had plenty of money to buy new clothes, for she’d spread her credits into a dozen accounts throughout the commonwealth and Burgundy. She’d be far from broke when she moved into Hotel Emeraude, a temporary stop until she could decide on a new place to live, perhaps in a new city.
She didn’t know where she’d go, but she knew where she didn’t want to be.
She also knew a place she’d stop along the way. She owed someone a long conversation, regardless of how much they’d yell at one another. Her life was her own now, and she was tired of living with unfulfilled regrets.
“Yes, I’m going away for a little while. You’ll take care of Pax and see that he takes care of himself?”
Isabel bowed again. “Of course, madam. He’s my favorite,” she answered with a rare, sly grin.
Lila grabbed her satchel and slipped it over her head. Both women snatched up a bag and trundled down the hall.
Pax did not come to see her off, still sulking after she’d said her goodbye that morning.
Lila would miss him, and he would miss her. But maybe, just maybe, her absence would nudge him back to school after the winter break.