Deconstructing Bridges

Chapter Thirty-Two

Rose sat in her cell, a half-eaten burger in her hand, a milkshake on the floor beside her. Seated opposite her with a burger of her own was the last person Rose had expected to see in a cell with her. Hayley had approached her cell ten minutes earlier with a sympathetic look on her face and a greasy paper bag. Without a word she had stepped into the cell, handed over the food and they'd begun to eat in silence. Rose took a sip through the straw, her eyes closing at the taste of sweet strawberry syrup and then set the paper cup down once more. Her fingers picked at a stray piece of lettuce.

She was in a cell, shoeless, and a woman who had once coveted her husband had brought her a frigging burger and shake. A pretty strange ending to the day, no doubt about it. Hayley cleared her throat, and Rose lifted her head, wary of whatever was about to come her way.

"Matt is going to be fine, Rose. What happened in the room - Parker accepted your claim that Matt's actions were a tactic to get him to confess."

Rose felt the relief wash over her once more and hugged her knees more tightly, nodding in gratitude. That had been her remaining stress. She'd felt immense relief since being told that Marshall had been taken immediately into a secure prison and would appear formally before a judge tomorrow. With the evidence now stacked against him, with the recording of his confession, along with the sworn testimony of Owen, Jeremiah and the other men involved as well as the copies of the bank transfers provided by Rose, he would go away. For how long, no one knew, but it was a healthy bet that he would not get off easy. Life sentences were a definite probability. Finally there would be justice.

"Matt is still clamouring to get in here, Nichole. He's desperate to see you. Why won't you let me bring him in?"

She shook her head, and Hayley exhaled loudly, a soft curse escaping her lips. Her voice held a hint of anger, and Rose couldn't blame her. She was angry at herself. She set the burger wrapper on the floor before adjusting her legs into a crossed posture.

"Go ahead, say it. You know you want to. Call me heartless, whatever. But this is best. Him being here will only make things harder."

"He loves you, you know. Now's not the time to give up."

"I haven't given up. It's not that." She leaned back, feeling the strands of her hair catch against the brick as she lightly shook her head. Hayley barrelled on.

"You're going to make it out of this. Your friend Bethany has been advocating as loudly as she can. She's pushing them hard, and Krause is arguing with his boss like I've never seen before. They'll convince the AG that the charges should be dropped once and for all. If they could give Owen an agreement, they'll do it for you. You're not going to be in here for long, and you won't have a record. There's nothing stopping you guys from having the life you wanted." Her brow creased in thought.

"You'll have to stop referring to yourself as Rose, though."

"Cat's well and truly out of the bag on that one, I guess."

"It's poetic, in a way. Frederick Marshall was the reason you became 'Rose' in the first place. Now that it's over, it's the perfect time to set her aside. You'll get out, and you'll start fresh together."

She wiped some stray salt crystals from her lips. "I'm not exactly keen on spending the rest of my life in a cell like this one. I'm not asking the team to stop fighting. Just him. For his own sake, he needs to stop. He's only going to make things worse for himself. If it doesn't work out, I don't want him putting his life on hold for me. And if it does..." She squeezed her eyes closed as a faint feeling of dizziness descended on her, tingles sweeping down her neck.

If it worked out and she was freed, their lives would still never be the same.

"One way or another, he needs to get used to the idea that our old life is dead and buried. I selfishly let him close because I needed something for me, even if I knew we'd only have a few days. He was always my one indulgence. But I can't stay. How can I integrate myself back into this community as a new person with a new name? Matt and I can't... How can we ever have a normal marriage?"