The silence stretched like a taut wire ready to snap. Scarlett Hayes stood frozen, cigarette poised between her fingers, staring at me with an expression I couldn't quite read.
Uncle Victor's face had gone completely white. "Ms. Hayes, I apologize profusely for—"
"Quiet." Her voice cut through his stammering without her gaze leaving mine.
Logan Bell stepped forward desperately. "Ms. Hayes, please, allow me to—"
"I said quiet."
The room fell silent again. Even Ethan Pierce's breathing through the phone speaker seemed to pause.
Scarlett studied me with the intensity of a scientist examining an unexpected specimen. Her head tilted slightly to one side.
"You don't have a lighter," she repeated slowly.
"No."
"And you won't ask to borrow one?"
"No."
Owen Murphy made a strangled sound. Liam looked like he might faint. Old Mrs. Bennett gripped her cane so tightly her knuckles had gone white.
Scarlett's smile widened fractionally. "Interesting."
