Skin Privilege by Karin Slaughter

too far. Valentine was right about one thing: on purpose or not, Sara had aided Lena ‘s escape. Lena was a cop; she knew the law better than most lawyers. She’d known exactly what she was dropping Sara into and she hadn’t cared.
    In the quiet of the car, Sara asked, ‘What now?’
    ‘We go back home.’ He could feel her looking at him, trying to figure out if he was serious. ‘I mean it, Sara. This is it.’
    ‘You’re just going to leave Lena down here to rot?’
    ‘After what she said to you? What she did to you?’ He shook his head, his mind made up. ‘It’s over. I don’t care what happens to her.’
    ‘Did you see her reaction when we walked into that room?’
    ‘I heard what she said.’ He felt his anger spark back up at the memory. ‘There’s no choice here, Sara. She used you. I’m not going to help her.’
    ‘I’ve never seen her so afraid. She’s usually completely in control of herself.’
    He snorted at the idea. ‘Maybe with you.’
    ‘You’re right. She never shows me her weak side. It’s always this act, this posturing about how tough and invincible she is.’ Sara insisted, ‘That wasn’t an act back there, Jeffrey. Maybe later, but when she saw us in her room, she was absolutely terrified.’
    ‘Then why not talk to me? Or at least to you? She had you alone. She knew you weren’t going to run off and tell the sheriff anything. Why didn’t she confide in you?’
    ‘Because she’s scared.’
    ‘Then she should’ve just shut up and left you out of it.’
    Sara spoke carefully. I appreciate that you’re taking up for me, but just think about it for a minute: Lena knew that if she hurt me, you would do exactly what you’re doing right now. She didn’t want me to leave town, Jeffrey. She wanted you to.’
    Jeffrey gripped the steering wheel, not wanting to admit that Sara could be right. ‘Since when did you start taking up for Lena Adams?’
    ‘Since…’ Sara’s voice trailed off. ‘Since I saw her scared enough to risk everything in order to get you away from this town.’
    He saw the scene again, the way Lena had reacted. Sara was right: Lena wasn’t faking her fear. She hadn’t looked Jeffrey in the eye because she knew that he was probably the only person in the world who knew when she was lying.
    Sara said, ‘I’ve seen her in a lot of bad situations, but I’ve never seen her terrified like that.’
    Jeffrey let her words hang between them as over and over, he replayed Lena ‘s response in his mind, trying to figure out what it had to do with the dead body in the torched Cadillac.
    Sara told him, ‘She said that I should be afraid.’
    ‘Did she say why?’
    ‘She went into this pity thing about how everything she touches turns to crap. I thought she was feeling sorry for herself, but now I think she realized what she was doing wasn’t working, so she decided to try something else.’ Sara shook her head. ‘She’s terrified, Jeffrey – so terrified that she’s willing to cut you out of her life if she has to. You’re the only constant she’s ever had. What’s so horrible that she’s willing to lose you?’
    ‘Did you ever think maybe she’s right?’ he responded, not wanting to answer her question. ‘Maybe it’s a good idea that I don’t get involved.’
    She gave something like a laugh. ‘You’re not going to leave this alone.’
    ‘You sound pretty sure about that.’
    ‘Seven-eight-zero, A-B-N.’ She paused, as if she expected an answer. ‘Isn’t that what you wrote on the back of the card – the license plate number from the white car?’
    Jeffrey took out the card, checked the number on the back. 780 ABN. As usual, Sara had perfect recall. He glanced at his wife. She was staring out the window, keeping her thoughts to herself. He knew that she was no longer regretting the fact that she’d come to the hospital with him. She was regretting that he was there, that Lena had yet again managed to pull Jeffrey into something