Chapter Twenty-one

Darien

The bang on my car window nearly had me jumping out of my skin. My heart was still pounding as Levi opened the passenger door and climbed in. I stared at him as he made himself comfortable and fastened the seat belt. “What are you doing?”

“I’m coming with you.”

“Since when?”

“Since… I decided I’d be a terrible future brother-in-law if I let you do this on your own.”

“And Hayden?”

“If he finds out, I’ll tell him you kidnapped me. Did you tell Felix?”

“No.” Even admitting that out loud made the ball of guilt that had been ever present over the last few days, while I’d been waiting to hear from the prison, grow. Things had been good between us. Well, as good as things could be when you were paranoid about a) the neighbors working out who he was and b) someone at work realizing I’d not only moved one of my clients into my house but also into my bed. No doubt any edginess Felix might have picked up on, he’d put down to one of those two things.

I was grateful when Levi had nothing to say in response to my confirmation. I guess he’d said everything he needed to a few days ago. And he’d been right. But this was a tricky situation with no correct course of action. Therefore, all I could do was trust my gut. And my gut was saying not to tell Felix until I had something concrete to report.

Levi cleared his throat. “Well…”

“Huh!” I stared at him blankly for a moment. Until it sank in I’d been sitting staring into space. “Right. Are you sure you want to come?”

Levi waved a dismissive hand in my direction. “Just start the damn car, would you?”

I started the damn car. The drive to East London would take at least an hour, longer if we hit traffic, and I was glad of Levi’s company. “You know you won’t be able to come in when we get there.”

“No! Really? Thanks for telling me how prisons work. If only I’d set foot in one myself. Those two years inside must have been a fever dream. Which would mean I didn’t need a probation officer, and you don’t exist either.”

I smiled at Levi’s snark. “Just be glad you weren’t in Belmarsh.”

“Yeah, well… Thankfully, I went down the path of stealing cars rather than killing people.”

“Wise decision.”

“Wasn’t it? ”

I switched the radio on, tuning it to a station that played the latest pop hits, Levi surprising me by humming along to one or two of them. When he caught me staring, he narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Spit it out, Quinn.”

“I’m just surprised you like pop, that’s all.”

“What am I supposed to be into? Gangster rap? Anyway… it’s Hayden that listens to this stuff.”

“Course it is.”

“It is.”

We bickered amicably most of the way there, Levi providing the perfect distraction. At least until I parked in front of Belmarsh’s red brick building and things became all too real. I checked my watch, the visiting order scheduled for 14:15, which seeing as it was only 13:30 meant I’d gotten here in plenty of time. Belmarsh wasn’t a prison I’d ever had cause to visit before, my clients tending more toward petty crimes than serious ones, but I expected the security checks to be even more stringent here, so I’d kept that in mind with my arrival time. Most murderers, Julian Blackwell included, got life without the possibility of parole, which kept them off my books.

Levi’s gaze burned a hole in the side of my face as I stared at the entrance to the prison. “Are you nervous?”

It was tempting to lie and pretend it was no big deal, but I doubted Levi would buy it. “Yeah, a bit.”

“What did you end up telling him?”

“Author, like you suggested. I told him I was researching possible miscarriages of justice, that I’d seen his case and thought it might qualify.”

Levi grimaced. “ Wow! When you start lying, you do it with panache, don’t you? ”

I shrugged. “I needed to see him. You were the one who told me to think about what someone like him would want. I figured he’d want someone telling him he was innocent, that he’d been treated unjustly. Besides, if you think about it, I stuck as close to the truth as I could. I am researching a miscarriage of justice. I just happen to think he’s the perpetrator of it rather than the victim.”

“I suppose.” Levi didn’t sound convinced. “You’re going to have to be clever with how you talk to him.”

“I’m aware.”

Levi sat back in his seat. “And what if you get him to admit to something? It’s only going to be your word against his, and he’ll deny it.”

I fought a wave of conscience as I reached into the glove compartment and pulled out my recent purchase from Amazon. It was tiny—a rectangle of black plastic smaller than a matchbox. When Levi only stared at it blankly, I explained. “It’s a voice recorder.” I turned it over to show the underside. “You press this button here and it records everything. And yes, I know they don’t allow recording equipment, and if they find it while frisking me, I’ll be in deep shit. It’s a risk I’m willing to take.” The sheen of sweat that had broken out on my forehead gave lie to my words. Levi was staring at me like I’d gone insane. I probably had. “Don’t look at me like that. You used to steal cars. All I’m doing is taking an item I shouldn’t into a prison for a visit. And it’s for the right reasons.”

Levi blinked. “Where are you going to put it?”

I’d thought about that long and hard. My armpit was out when the frisk would require me to raise my arms. I doubted oops, how did that get there would be very convincing when it dropped out .

“My shoe. I’ll just have to start it recording before I go in and pray that I don’t accidentally knock the button. It records for two hours, which is more than enough time.”

“You know there’s such a thing as dogs that can sniff out electronic equipment?”

I did. I’d done extensive research. “I’m counting on the sniffer dogs here being trained to sniff out drugs, not technology.”

“Oh, you’re counting on it, are you?” Levi lay his head back against the car seat and heaved out a breath. “Hayden’s going to kill me for being part of this when you get arrested for smuggling contraband in.”

“It’s not contraband per se. I’m not giving it to Julian. I’m using it against him.”

“It’s good that you’re already working on your defense. I guess that losing your job for sleeping with a client won’t be a problem once you’ve already lost it for getting caught doing this.”

“What other option do I have?”

Levi sat back up and twisted round to face me. “To forget all about this. We can turn the car around and just go. Felix will be alright. He’s out of prison. He’s not going to commit a crime during his parole and get sent back inside because, according to you, he didn’t commit the first one. He’s got you. He’s got a place to live. Things could definitely be worse.”

I shook my head, not willing to see the sense in Levi’s words. “He’s got a criminal record.”

“You’re the one that always says criminal records aren’t important. That anyone who matters will look past them, and that it’s the future that’s important. You told me that more than once.”

It was odd to have my own words used against me. “Felix had to leave his mother’s house because he was the victim of a hate campaign. We’re talking graffiti smeared on the walls calling him a murderer, and press camped on his doorstep.”

Levi sighed. “They’ll get bored. Maybe he should give an interview or something. An exclusive to one of them. He can tell them he’s innocent and just wants to be left alone to get on with the rest of his life.”

“His mother won’t give him the time of day.”

“I never knew mine. We all have our crosses to bear.”

I was wasting my time trying to get Levi to empathize. He’d had a hard life until recently, so he wasn’t the best person to look at the situation rationally without bringing his own baggage into it. I started unlacing my shoe instead. I’d tested the recorder the previous night, the device picking up my conversation with Felix. It had been a little muffled in places when I’d played it back, but not enough that you couldn’t tell what was being said.

“Is there anything I can say that will stop you from doing this?”

I switched the recording device on and then tucked it in my sock before sliding my foot carefully back into my shoe and tying my lace again. It wasn’t comfortable, the hard plastic digging into my foot, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t put up with. “No.”

“I could call Hayden and tell him what you’re about to do.”

I winced at the thought of what Hayden would have to say about it if Levi made good on his threat. No doubt he’d break his own personal record for the use of the F word. It certainly wouldn’t be pretty. I undid my seatbelt and swung my legs out of the car. “Too late.”

“Darien!” Levi’s voice was plaintive enough that I looked back. “Be careful.”

I flashed him a smile. “I will. Try not to die of boredom while I’m gone. ”

Levi pulled a battered paperback out of his jacket and returned my smile. “It’s fine. I came prepared. Take your time.”

I tossed him the car keys. “You better have these in case I get arrested. No taking it for a joyride.”

Levi laughed. “Don’t worry. Those days are long behind me.”