Southern Lights: A Novel

The judge did what he said he would, and gave him the maximum sentence for each charge, and ran them all consecutively, a hundred and forty years in prison, life without parole, several lifetimes. He would never see the light of day again. He said something rude to the public defender as he was led from the courtroom, and didn’t look at Alexa. The war was over. He no longer cared. He would be transferred to Sing Sing prison within the next few days.

Alexa left the courtroom with Jack. Some of the relatives of the victims had come to the sentencing, but most hadn’t. Charlie and his family weren’t there. They had all gone back to work, and were satisfied with the convictions. They could guess the rest and would be notified later. It was over for them too. And sadly, the eighteen young victims were gone forever.

The press was there, but not as forcefully as they had been at the trial. Alexa left the courtroom when it was over, and drove away with Jack. Luke Quentin was just another case, a dangerous criminal they had put away. There would be other cases, although less sensational than this one. The Quentin case had been the high point of her career.

*  *  *

The next day Alexa and Savannah flew to London and stayed at a little hotel that Alexa had remembered from her youth. They had tea at Claridge’s and visited the Tower of London, walked New Bond Street, and gaped at all the jewelry and pretty clothes. They watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and visited the royal stables. They did all the fun tourist things and shopped in Knightsbridge, Carnaby Street, and the flea market in Covent Garden, where Savannah bought a T-shirt for Daisy. And they went to see several plays. They had a wonderful time, and flew to Paris after five days.

They checked into a small hotel on the Left Bank, and started their stay out with lunch at an open-air café, planning their attack on the city and what to do first. Alexa wanted to go to Notre Dame, and Savannah wanted to take a boat ride on the Bateau Mouche on the Seine, and walk along the quais. They decided to do all three and had time that afternoon. And they wanted to see the view from Sacré Coeur the next day, and visit the Louvre and Palais Tokiyo. They went back to the hotel to rest for a while before dinner, and Senator Baldwin called Alexa there. He had just arrived in Paris and was in the city for two days on his way to the South of France.

“What have you ladies been up to?” he asked her, and she reported on their assorted doings. He was impressed by all they’d done. “Could I talk you both into dinner tonight, or do you have other plans?” Alexa asked if she could check with Savannah and call him back.

“What do you think?” Alexa asked her, extending Baldwin’s invitation to them both.

“I think it’s great. Why don’t you go alone?” She had just turned eighteen, and felt very grown up, and capable of wandering around Paris for an evening on her own.

“I don’t want to go alone. I’m here with you. Do you want to do it, or is it too boring for you?” Savannah was her priority, and this was their trip. Savannah wanted to meet him and check him out, and it sounded fun to her. He was a senator, after all. How bad could it be?

Alexa called him back five minutes later, and said they accepted with delight. He was staying at the Ritz, and suggested they come there for dinner, and they could eat in the garden. The weather was beautiful and warm. He invited them for eight-thirty. And at the appointed hour, Alexa and Savannah met him at the restaurant, wearing skirts and sandals and pretty blouses, with their blond hair brushed straight down their backs. They looked more like sisters than mother and daughter, and he said they looked like twins.

The hotel was very beautiful, with an ornate mirrored lobby and huge vases of flowers everywhere. And the garden table where the headwaiter settled them was relaxed and balmy in a marble courtyard with a fountain, and there was music coming from the main restaurant. It was a perfect way to spend a warm Paris night, and he looked happy to see them.

“How was Hong Kong?” Alexa asked him after introducing him to Savannah, who was unusually quiet. She was watching him and how he looked at her mother. No question, he liked her, and not just as a friend. Savannah approved. He seemed nice, he was friendly, he wasn’t pompous, and he had a good sense of humor. It was a good beginning.

“Short, hot, and busy,” Edward Baldwin said about Hong Kong. “I’m looking forward to the South of France. I haven’t had a vacation in months. I need one.” He led a stressful life, and so did she. Particularly after the Quentin trial and four arduous months of preparation.

They ordered dinner, and he asked Savannah about her plans for school. He was impressed by Princeton, and said that his daughter was a senior at UCLA and wanted to go to medical school. She didn’t want to come back to the East, and was hooked on California and hoping to get into Stanford.