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Alexia glanced up at Teddy. For a moment his eyes met hers with a look of gratitude and love. He seemed so composed. If he was afraid, he didn’t show it.
“Even allowing for good character, in the interests of justice . . .”
Did I ever really know him? thought Alexia. Did we ever really know each other?
“I sentence you to life in prison, with a recommendation that you serve a minimum of twenty years.”
Boom. There it was. Twenty years. The same sentence as Billy Hamlin got, all those years ago. The sense of déjà vu, of being trapped in some terrible, inescapable cycle, was overwhelming.
He’ll die in prison. I’ll never share a bed with him again. Never hold him in my arms.
Teddy was being led away. Angus Grey was talking. Alexia watched the lawyer’s lips moving but she couldn’t make out the words.
His voice sounded as if he were underwater. Once again, the waves were rising, pulling her under.
“Mummy.” It was Roxie’s voice that pulled her back. “Mummy, can you hear me? Are you all right?”
Alexia nodded mutely.
“If you want to see Daddy, you have to go now.” Roxie prodded her mother gently. “Go on. Angus will take you.”
Summer Meyer answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Oh, hi there. It’s Karen.”
“Karen?”
“Karen Davies. From Drake Motors? You came in a week or so ago about a Ducati.”
The rude garage manager’s secretary. Summer had completely forgotten she’d given the woman her number. “Of course. Karen. I remember.”
“You said to call if I thought of anything, about the lady who picked up the bike. Well, I thought of something.”
“You did?” Summer held her breath.
“Can’t think why I never thought about it before, or why David didn’t. He’s my manager. He’s a bit of a prat, to be honest. Anyway—what I remembered: we have CCTV in the showroom!”
Summer tried to contain her elation. “That’s wonderful. And you think you might have caught this woman on camera?”
“I don’t think. I know,” Karen Davies said triumphantly. “I’ve got the tape here. D’you want to come by and pick it up?”
If the court proceedings had felt surreal, seeing Teddy face-to-face was even more so.
“Alexia. Dearest.” He kissed her on both cheeks. “How are you? You must be simply shattered after your journey. Good of you to come.”
He was behaving like a dinner party host welcoming an old friend. Not like a man about to begin a life sentence for murder.
“Sit down, sit down. Please.” He looked past Alexia hopefully. “Is Roxie not with you?”
“No. She’s outside with Angus. It was a huge step for her to come here at all. I think this”—Alexia gestured around the dreary room with its peeling paint and furniture screwed to the floor—“would be too much.”
“Yes, well . . .” Teddy nodded sadly. “I suppose so.”
“You don’t look well, Teddy. You’re terribly thin.”
“I’m fine, darling. I had some sort of god-awful tummy bug, but I’m fit as a fiddle now.”
