Here and Gone(31)

Audra nodded as she swallowed, as if she had any control over who came and went from between these bars. Mitchell indicated the camera in the corner.

‘We’re not being watched,’ she said. ‘But I know you won’t try anything stupid.’

‘They turned it off last night,’ Audra said.

Mitchell crossed the cell, placed the bottle of Coke on the bunk, sat down beside Audra.

‘Turned it off?’

‘Whiteside and Collins,’ Audra said. ‘They came in here during the night and put a gun to my head. Whiteside pulled the trigger. I thought I was going to die.’

‘That’s a serious accusation,’ Mitchell said.

‘A serious accusation,’ Audra echoed. ‘More serious than taking my children, or less?’

Mitchell leaned in. ‘Audra, you have to realize the position you’re in. Sheriff Whiteside and Deputy Collins have years of public service between them, unquestionable records. Sheriff Whiteside is a war hero, for God’s sake. He served in the first Gulf War, got medals and everything. You’re a former addict running from Children’s Services. How much do you think your word means against theirs?’

The meat and rice in Audra’s mouth lost their flavor, turned to ash on her tongue. She dropped the fork into the box, wiped her mouth with the napkin.

‘Here,’ she said, pushing the food back at Mitchell.

The agent took them. ‘Audra, I want to help you. Don’t pull away from me.’

‘Can I make a phone call?’

‘Whatever you’ve seen on TV, you don’t have an automatic right to—’

‘Can I make a phone call?’

Mitchell closed her eyes, opened them again, and stood up. ‘All right.’

She reached into her jacket pocket and retrieved a smartphone, entered a code to unlock it.

‘You’re aware there’s about a dozen cops on the other side of that door who want to tear you to pieces, right?’

‘Yes,’ Audra said.

‘Well, then,’ Mitchell said. ‘Act accordingly.’

Audra stood, walked to the far side of the cell, and tapped out the only number she could think of. A few moments of silence, then the purr of the tone, before a woman’s voice answered.

‘Hello?’

Audra opened her mouth, found it empty. She listened to the hiss and whine of the signal travelling all the way from California. I should be there now, she thought. Me and Sean and Louise, out there by the sea. Not trapped here, not like this.

‘Hello? Who’s calling, please? If this is a reporter, I don’t want to—’

‘Mel?’

Silence for a moment, then, ‘Audra? Is that you?’

‘Yeah, it’s me. It’s good to hear your voice.’

‘Audra, what’s happening?’

‘I need help.’

‘Do the police know you’re calling me? Are you calling from jail?’

‘Yeah.’ She forced a smile into her voice. ‘I know, it’s crazy, isn’t it? Me in jail. Mel, can you help me?’

‘Jesus, the press have been calling me nonstop since this morning, asking about you. I only picked up the phone because I was expecting Suzie’s school to call. What do you want?’

‘I want help. Mel, I’m in trouble. Whatever you saw on the TV, I didn’t do it. The sheriff, he’s trying to set me up. Him and his deputy, they have my children. I think if I could get someone, like a private investigator, he could do something. If I had the money to pay him, I could hire one. But I don’t have any. I’ve got nobody else to turn to. Mel, can you help me?’

Audra listened to her friend breathe, in and out, in and out. Mitchell watched, her face blank.

‘You want money,’ Mel said.

‘Yes,’ Audra said. ‘Can you help me?’

‘I’m sorry I ever met you,’ Mel said. ‘Don’t call me again.’

A click, then a series of beeps.

Audra stared at the phone. She wanted to smash it against the wall. She wanted to beat herself around the face with it. Instead she swallowed her anger, did not allow its destructive energy out into the world. She had done that too many times before and it never solved anything. She gripped the phone tightly between her hands and forced herself to think.

Who else?

Audra’s parents were long gone. Her one brother was eking out a living as a musician somewhere in Seattle. Even if they’d had any kind of relationship, he’d never kept a dollar in his pocket longer than it took to walk to the nearest bar.

Who, then?

‘You done?’ Mitchell asked.

‘Wait,’ Audra said.

She screwed her eyes shut, tried to think of someone. Anyone. Only one name came to her mind, and she would not dial that number. Not if her life depended on it.

‘You don’t want to call your husband?’ Mitchell asked, as if reading her mind.

‘What good would that do?’

‘He’s the father of your children.’

‘That’s right,’ Audra said. ‘He’s my husband. And he’s the father of my children. And he’s the kind of man who’d pay someone to take my children, just to try and break me. He’s been trying for a year and a half to grind me down. I won’t let him get me now.’