Chapter 9: The Steps

By nine o'clock my phone had four hundred messages.

Most were from people I had never met.

Some called me a homewrecker, and a few called me brave.

One came from Walter Fenn: "Emergency hearing at 11. Bryce's lawyer wants temporary orders. Do not go alone."

Nathan was already dressed, standing at the window with his coffee.

"I'm coming," he said.

"No."

"Odessa."

"If you're beside me, they'll say I brought my lover to court."

I pulled on yesterday's dress.

"I need to walk in as exactly what I am."

"Which is?"

"The only person in that building who read the paperwork."

He looked at me for a long moment, then nodded.

"Call me when you're done. Call me before, if you want to hear me say you're right."

I kissed him once, fast, and left.

The Daley Center courthouse rose gray and square against a clear blue sky.

A knot of reporters stood on the plaza, with cameras and microphones, and they turned as one when I climbed out of the cab.

"Ms. Hale! Is it true you've been seeing Nathan Strand?"

"Did you cheat on your husband?"

"Is it true you stole from Pinnacle?"

I stopped on the top step and let them gather.

The Tribune's reporter was in the front, a young woman with a notebook and a hungry look.

"I'll answer one question," I said. "Then I'm going inside."

The questions rose, and I held up a hand.

"Here is my answer."

"On June thirtieth, my husband handed me divorce papers in front of nine witnesses."

"I signed them that night."

"Whatever I did afterward, I did as an unmarried woman in all but name."

"That's not the question!"

"It's the answer."

A voice behind me called, loud and cheerful.

"Odessa!"

Bryce came up the steps with his lawyer on one side and Kendra on the other.

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