'What about Eddie Fleet?'
Tasha gave her a long, silent look. 'What's the point of this?' she asked. 'I don't know what happened. I lied because Payton asked me to. Now you're asking me to guess about what I lied about. What good will that do anyone—me and my family included?'
For Terri, the last phrase sounded a bell of warning, suggesting a reluctance deeper than Tasha had acknowledged. 'Look,' Terri said evenly, 'they're about to execute Rennell. I know in my bones he's innocent. But unless I can piece together a compelling case—any way I can—I'll have to watch him die.
'Your 'lies' didn't just help Lou Mauriani convict a guilty man, they may have helped condemn an innocent one. I'll take anything you've got to give me—any impressions or scraps of information that might help me save Rennell. I don't care what it is, and for the sake of your own conscience, you shouldn't either. No matter how you try to escape it, his death will be part of your life.'
A spark of resentment flashed in Tasha's eyes. 'I don't see that. Whatever Payton did to that girl wasn't 'part of my life.' It was part of his, fifteen years ago, when he left me with no one. After that, I made my own life.'
Terri stared at her. Softly, she said, 'Your husband doesn't know anything, does he. Nothing about Payton, or perjury, or the death of a nine-year-old girl. Nothing but that you worked your way out of the Bayview, and now you're a wife and mother.'
Tasha met Terri's eyes. But silence was her only answer.
'You do know something,' Terri went on. 'I don't know what it is. But you started sparring when I asked you about Fleet.'
Tasha placed a finger to her lips, appraising Terri with a mute hostility. Her body seemed to perch on the edge of her chair—as though, Terri suddenly suspected, she were about to leave.
'Don't,' Terri said. 'Don't do this.'
Tasha stared at her. 'You come here,' she said at last, 'and you've got no idea. All you care about is what you want . . .'
Once more, Terri thought of Elena. 'I'm Rennell's lawyer,' she answered. 'He's all I get to care about.'
'Really. Have you got a family?'
'Yes.'
'Then how would you feel if I barged into your life, asking you to spell out in some court paper stuff you don't want anyone to know?'
Mute, Terri considered her response. 'Resentful. Angry. Scared. Maybe ashamed. There are things in my life I don't want anyone to know, things I feel guilty about. But my husband does know.' Terri paused. 'I guess, in the end, what I did would depend on how I wanted to feel about myself. And whether I thought I could bury shame through silence when someone else's life is at risk.'
For the first time, Tasha looked down, eyes focused on the table.
'Eddie Fleet,' Terri repeated.
For a long time, Tasha was silent. Finally, she said, 'I don't know that whatever I've got to say makes any difference.'
'But you're not sure it doesn't.'
Tasha touched her lips again, and sorrow seeped into her gaze. 'Promise me—unless it really matters, I don't want you to use this. And if you do, I want time to tell my husband.' Her voice was raw with feeling. 'I saw my name in the papers once, for lying. I don't want my family reading about this.'
Though the words held little meaning, Terri said, 'I promise.'
* * *
A few nights after the brothers were arrested, Eddie Fleet knocked on Tasha Bramwell's door.
She had always despised him—there was something twisted about him, something treacherous she could not quite identify, though the insinuating way he looked at her was bad enough. Since Payton's arrest, she had barely slept, and Eddie's gold-toothed smile made her skin crawl.
'What you want?'
His smile broadened. 'A little conversation, sweet thing.'
'Save it for the police,' she snapped. 'I know you lied to them about Payton. Now I may never see him outside of jail, or a coffin.'
Eddie shrugged. 'What's a man supposed to do, po-lice on your ass day and night. Didn't tell no lies about Payton, either. You just got to face the facts, sweet thing.'
Tasha quivered with disbelief and anger. 'Go away.'
Eddie's grin broadened, as if he were struck by a new idea. 'Maybe I could do that. Just go away. Without me, the police won't have no case, and your man be back in your arms. Not to mention other places.'
Tasha hoped she did not understand him. 'Then go,' she said. 'No one stopping you.'
He leaned in the doorway. 'There's the one person stoppin' me,' he said softly. 'Till she sends me on my way.'
Tasha's grip tightened on the door. 'Consider yourself sent.'
Eddie gripped her wrist. 'Not quite yet.'
'Stop, or I'll tell Payton.'
