I was lying. All three of us in the room knew it. Maybe even the woman on the phone knew. I wasn’t giving her my husband. I was gaining time. But I was a good actor. The words rang true. So true that I might mean it after all. If it came down to it. And maybe she knew that, too.

“Good,” she said. “It’s what I would choose. Now, hush and listen here to me, because this is the last time we’ll talk. I’m going to smash this phone up with a hammer, soon as I hang up. I thought and thought how to work this, and you’ll only get one chance at it. First, call your husband home. You can tell him the truth if you like, or any lie that pleases you. Just get him on a plane. I’ll give you the day. Tomorrow I’m going to leave Robert here and drive to the Funtime Carousel and Gold Mine. You can meet me there if you decide to trade. You know Funtime? You know the carousel?”

“I don’t,” I said. It sounded made up.

“Well, you’re too young. It closed years ago. It’s up north of the city. You bring your husband there to me, nine a.m. sharp, mind. I won’t wait. Come together, in the same car. Then the two of you walk up and meet me at the carousel.”

“Then what?” I asked, confused.

“Then you and me are done. I’ll finish my business with your husband and this whole black world, and then I’ll give you directions to go get your baby.”

This I understood. She meant to kill Trey and then herself. Or both of them together. Marshall held his hand up, shaped like a gun, asking if I thought she was armed. I shrugged.

I asked, “So who will have Robert? Your daughter?”

She tsked. “Naw. I’m telling you, she’s clean of anything that happens to your boy. I’m keeping her clean. I’ll just leave him and come meet you.”

“By himself?” Strange that this could shock me, considering everything she’d done. I had a vision of Robert alone in a dark place that smelled of mold. Maybe hungry. Maybe wet. Crying for me, every minute an erosion to his tiny trust that the world was warm and loving. “How far away is Funtime from where you’ll leave him?”

Marshall gave me an approving nod. It was a smart question, but she wasn’t stupid enough to answer.