In Silence, I Let You Go novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: The Taunt

"What was voided?" the voice from the balcony asked again.

Tim opened his mouth, and for once nothing polished came out of it.

"A lease," he said. "An old lease. It's not relevant."

Two hundred people heard him say it.

The lawyer took his elbow and said something close to his ear, and the two of them left through the glass doors at the back, fast.

Nobody clapped, and nobody spoke.

I bent down, lifted the cardboard box with my name on it, and found it lighter than I expected.

On top was my old desk plant, a pothos, still alive.

"I'll water it," a voice said from the railing above.

It was the support woman from the diner.

I nodded to her, and walked out with the box on my hip.

Colter's car was at the curb.

Maggie looked at it, looked at me, and said, "I'm taking the subway. Don't tell me anything."

I got into the passenger seat and shut the door.

For a minute neither of us said a word.

Then I turned and looked at him.

"Nothing on the record," I said, "until the board votes."

He kept his eyes on the windshield.

"That was the rule."

"It lasted three days."

"Three and a half," Colter said. "I remember every hour."

"You walked across a floor in front of two hundred employees and took a man's hand off my arm."

"Yes."

"With a conflict of interest, as his lawyer pointed out."

"I heard him."

"I'd say that's on the record."

"Hannah." He turned his head at last. "If you want me to say I'm sorry, I'll say it. I'm not."

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