Page 81 of The Condemned (Echoes from the Past #6)
SIXTY-EIGHT
Near the French Border
A shimmering purple dusk descended over the snowbound landscape, the windows of picturesque cottages set back from the road glowing warmly in the gathering darkness.
There were few motorists on the road and the car chewed up the miles as it sped toward England.
Seth had taken one look at the tiny yellow Fit and pronounced it unfit (no pun intended, he’d assured the women) for the drive to England.
He’d rented a BMW SUV that was roomy and comfortable.
Jo, who sat in front next to Seth, had been animated for the first few hours of the journey, but now her head rested against the reclined seat, her eyes closed in deep sleep.
She was bundled up in warm clothes and wore a dark-blue knitted hat, which had accentuated her extreme pallor when they stepped out of the hospital into the blinding brightness of the snowy morning.
Quinn had been pleased to notice that a little color had crept into her cheeks after they’d stopped at a rest area to get some tea and use the restroom.
Jo had asked to spend a few minutes outside, enjoying the sun on her face as she leaned against the car.
She hadn’t been outdoors since the day she got hurt, and the fresh air was doing her good.
She’d picked up a handful of snow and made a snowball, weighting it in her hand as if she were planning to hurl it at someone.
Instead, she’d pressed it to her lips and grinned like a mischievous child when it began to melt.
“Would you like me to take a turn?” Quinn asked Seth. “You must be tired.”
“Give me another half hour and then you can take over. I don’t like driving in the dark. My eyesight’s not what it used to be,” Seth replied .
“I think we should stop for the night around seven. Jo needs rest and a decent meal. She barely ate anything when we stopped for lunch.”
“I won’t say no to a decent meal myself. I hate fast food,” Seth agreed.
Quinn smiled. Seth loved good food and all manner of comforts. He wasn’t a man who enjoyed “slumming it,” as he put it.
“Want a Coke?” Seth asked. “There’s one left.”
“No, I’m all right. You have it.”
Seth opened the can and took a long swallow.
“I know soda’s bad for you, but I just can’t resist. There’s nothing like a cold Coke when you’re thirsty and tired.
I’m not much used to driving on icy roads.
” His profile was tense as he gripped the wheel, wary of hitting an invisible patch of black ice.
“Quinn, there’s something I want to talk to you about,” Seth said. His voice was low so as not to disturb Jo, but Quinn could hear the sudden intensity in his tone. Whatever he wanted to tell her was important.
“What is it, Dad?”
“Kathy and I hired a crack-shot criminal attorney. She’s going to file an appeal for Brett. There are certain issues in the case that bear scrutiny.”
“Brett locked me in a vault and left me to die. Is that one of the issues you hope she’ll scrutinize?” Quinn asked, angry despite herself.
“What Brett did is unforgivable, but he’s very young, Quinn. I won’t allow him to spend the best years of his life in prison. I’m his dad. I have to do everything in my power to help him. ”
“So, you hope to get him off on a technicality?” Quinn asked bitterly.
“In a nutshell, yes.”
“And what technicality would that be?”
“I beat a confession out of him. Ms. Jackson says it should never have stood up in court.”
Quinn felt a cold rage at the thought of her half-brother walking free after serving only a few months of his sentence but said nothing. She could sense Seth’s nervousness. He’d been keeping this from her for a while. “You must do what you feel is right.”
“Would you abandon Alex?” Seth asked.
Quinn was about to reply but paused. Would she?
Alex was only five months old, so it was difficult to imagine him as an adult, especially one with criminal tendencies, but Seth’s question was legitimate.
She loved both Alex and Emma with her whole being, and the thought of turning her back on them in their hour of need went against the grain.
Would she be able to still love a child who’d tried to kill someone, in this case a pregnant woman and a half-sister?
Would she be able to forgive Alex if he’d tried to kill Emma?
No, she wouldn’t forgive him, but she would not abandon him either.
Seth was right—Brett was still young. He was only nineteen.
There was still a chance for him to turn his life around.
He wasn’t a hardened criminal, just a foolish young man who’d allowed his prejudices and fears to rule his head.
They’d shared a bond and had been on the verge of establishing a solid relationship when he’d turned on her.
What would have happened had Quinn never told him the truth and threatened to expose their shared history on her television program?
What if Brett had never discovered they were descended from a Trinidadian slave?
His prejudice and fear had driven him over the edge, but was she partly to blame for what happened?
Would Brett be here right now, come to meet his other sister, if Quinn had never stumbled on the truth about Madeline ?
Quinn sighed. The situation wasn’t as black and white ( no pun intended , Quinn thought with a smirk) as she liked to believe, and Seth could hardly disown his son, the only child he’d known since birth and raised in a way he’d hoped had been right.
What would her grandmother Rae advise her now if she were still alive?
Quinn had met the old woman only twice, but Rae had left an impression on her, and she wished she’d had an opportunity to get to know her paternal grandmother better.
“Seth, are you asking for my permission to appeal the case?” Quinn asked at last.
“No, but I am asking for your understanding. I love you, Quinn, and I would give my life to keep you and yours safe, but Brett is my son—my teenage son. He deserves another chance, and I will do everything in my power to give it to him. I would like to know that I have your blessing to try.”
“I’m not sure I can give you my blessing, but I do understand where you’re coming from, as a parent. I would do the same for one of my children. I won’t hold it against you, Seth, but I don’t think I can be in the same room with Brett ever again.”
“I would never ask that of you, but he is sorry, Quinn. He truly is. Have you read the letter he sent you?”
Quinn shook her head. “I couldn’t bring myself to.”
“Read it. Please.”
“Seth, no amount of remorse can undo what Brett’s done.
Another few hours in that vault, and I would have miscarried Alex.
I might have survived, but I would have lost my baby.
I’m sure Brett believes he had good reason to do what he did.
I realize that having grown up in the South, his prejudices run deep, and his fears were legitimate in his mind, but I simply cannot offer him forgiveness. I’m not that generous of spirit.”
“I understand, and I thank you for not forcing me to choose between my children,” Seth replied .
“We’ve all spent enough time apart, I think. This is our chance to rebuild, to heal. Jo needs you, and I need you. And so does Brett. If you can help him, then you mustn’t pass up the chance.”
“Thanks.” Seth reached back between the seats and squeezed Quinn’s hand. “I love you, kiddo. And I’m so grateful you brought us all together. I never imagined being so blessed with children, and grandchildren. I’m a lucky man, in more ways than one.”
“You and Kathy are all right, then?” Quinn asked. Seth and Kathy had been divorced when Quinn first met them, but Brett’s incarceration had brought them together in their shared pain, and they seemed to have recaptured something they’d lost all those years ago.
“I’m going to ask her to marry me again,” Seth said, smiling into the darkness. “I was a fool to let her go, a stupid, arrogant fool. Kathy is the best part of me, and regardless of what happens with Brett, we belong together. We are a unit, and always were, even when we were apart.”
“I’m happy for you, Seth. Kathy is a wonderful woman. I couldn’t ask for a better step-mum.”
“Funny how things turn out, isn’t it?” Seth said as he peeked at Jo, who was dead to the world. “A year ago, I had no idea I had a daughter, and now I have two.” Seth met Quinn’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “Quinn, will you be putting your London apartment on the market once you move?”
“Yes, that’s the plan.”
“I’d like to buy it,” Seth announced.
“What?”
“I’d like to buy your apartment. I want to be a part of your lives, and I can’t do that from New Orleans.
I need a base in London, and the apartment is perfect.
It’s large enough for Kathy and me, and it has a spare bedroom should one of our lovely grandchildren wish to have a sleepover,” Seth replied, grinning. “What do you think?”
“I think that’s a great idea. I’d love it if you were closer.”
“Well, I wouldn’t be closer all the time. I still have a business to run, and I’m nowhere near retirement age, but I would like to have a permanent address in London. A foothold, I should say,” he amended.
“I’ll tell Gabe. He’ll be pleased. Now, pull over and let me drive. You’re tired, and I’m feeling useless.”
“All right,” Seth conceded. “We wouldn’t want you to feel useless.”