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“Beatrice, please.” Her voice was soft like she was speaking to a cornered animal. “You don’t have to do this. It’s time to tell what happened. We want to know everything. About Alice. About the orphanage. About you. And who hurt you so we can make them pay.”

Her kindness cut through me like glass. No one had ever spoken to me like that before, except Alice. Something cracked inside me, something that I’d been holding tight for years.

But I clenched my teeth, locking the emotion down. I wouldn’t break. Not here. Not now.

I glared at Tory. “Fine. I’ll tell you my story. But only here. Right now. Once I leave this place, I won’t say another fucking word.”

The room was silent, save for the low growl of the dog. My hand trembled as I lowered the gun. The metal felt heavy, almost burning against my palm. With a quick motion, I shoved it across the floor.

Jaxson moved like lightning, snatching it up.

“Back the fuck up!” I snapped, my voice cracking from a torrent of emotions crashing through me.

Jaxson’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t move back. The dog growled like rumbling thunder. Drool slipped off its fangs and splattered on the wooden floor.

Tory gave Jaxson a sharp look, her calm stillness somehow more commanding than his aggression. “Jaxson.” She indicated for him to back up.

He hesitated, then took a step back, pulling the dog with him. But his gun stayed trained on me, unwavering.

Tory turned back to me with her hands still raised in a gesture of peace. She stepped closer, just slightly, her movements slow and deliberate.

“Let me help you up,” she said gently.

“No!” The word exploded out of me, and I flinched that my tone was so raw and desperate, and hated myself for it.

She stepped back, giving me space.

I swallowed hard, hating the lump in my throat. Hating the way her kindness made me feel.

I rolled onto my hands and knees on the hard wooden floor and my body screamed in protest, and as I shifted my weight, my back and joints burned like fire.

My gaze snagged on the tiny packet on the floor containing the white pill. My insurance policy.

I froze, my breath hitching. Groaning loudly, I made a show of struggling to get my balance and pressed my hand over the packet, slotting it between two fingers.

Gradually dragging my body upright, with my back to them, I slipped the pill packet into the edge of my bra, hiding it beneath the fabric.

I turned with my hands at my side. The guns were still trained on me.

Jaxson’s finger hovered near the trigger. “Move slow,” he bellowed.

I glared at him but didn’t say a word. My stiff body ached with every step as I shuffled toward the open door with sharp darts of pain scraping through my back and knees.

Outside, the air was fresh and cool, carrying the scent of salt from the water.

My gaze flicked to Alice’s body, my chest tightened, and my knees wobbled, but I forced myself to shuffle toward the chair.

I collapsed onto the seat with a groan. The wood creaked beneath me as I leaned back, scanning Alice’s body one more time.

“How did you find me?” I asked, my voice hoarse. “Was it the courier van?”

“No,” Whitney said, with a smug little smirk. “I put a tracker on the tarp you wrapped Alice in.”

Fuck. I sucked air through my teeth, fighting my rage. Even if I had buried her, they would have found her and dug her up. Ruined her all over again.

I had failed her. The one person I vowed to look after, and I’d failed.

A tear slid down my cheek, and I tugged my lips into my mouth to stop my chin from quivering.

“Hey, would you like a glass of water?” Tory said.

Tory’s kindness dug deep, scraping at places inside me I didn’t even know existed. I nodded anyway, forcing down emotions I’d never let myself feel before.

“Zac, can you grab some water, please?” Tory asked, her voice soft but steady .

“Sure thing,” the guy with the weird accent said, before disappearing back inside.

“Beatrice. What can you tell us about Watts?” Jaxson eyed me like I was the devil.

I glared at him. “He’s a cop. What about him?”

Whitney stepped forward. “The name Watts was written in a ledger in those files I saved from the fire.”

I caught the way Jaxson shot him a filthy glare. Jaxson wanted to keep his cards close to his chest . . . a move I’d used plenty of times myself. But I wasn’t foolish enough to think I would get out of this. Not without consequences.

I wasn’t going to prison. My place was here, with Alice.

But before I went, I was going to take every last one of the bastards who ruined us down with me.

“The person in those records is Graham Watts,” I snarled. “Captain Watts’ father.”

A wave of relief swept over the group, their shoulders dropping like they’d just dodged a bullet.

“Don’t you dare be happy about that!” My voice cracked like a whip.

Their following silence was deafening, and it only made my rage burn hotter.

Zac reappeared, placing a glass of water on the table in front of me.

“Here you go,” he said, his tone casual, almost gentle.

“That bastard raped Alice.” My hands trembled with rage.

“And God knows how many other kids, too. But they brushed his vile crimes under the fucking carpet. Hid the truth over and over. And when I killed him with his own gun, they called it a suicide. They never questioned what he was doing in the doctor’s office at that hour or why he was half-naked.

They practically made him a fucking hero. He was no fucking hero.”

“Oh, Beatrice . . .” Tory’s soft tone was barely above a whisper, but her compassion hit me harder than a slap.

She slid into the chair beside me, her gaze soft and steady, like she was trying to hold me together with just her eyes.

“I’m so sorry that happened to Alice. She deserved better. You both did. ”

Her words twisted something inside me, but I couldn’t let it show.

I reached for the glass, keeping my movements slow and steady. As I lifted the water toward my lips, my fingers brushed the edge of my bra, removing the cyanide pill.

“So, Beatrice,” Parker said, stepping into my view.

His voice was calm, but there was something in his eyes, curiosity, or maybe suspicion.

“You shared some details in that notebook. Thank you, it will be extremely helpful. But I get the feeling there were more names and details you wanted to write down. Care to share anymore?”

I lowered my hand to my lap and pushed the pill free with my thumb, securing it in my fingers.

A profound sense of relief settled into my chest.

I’m coming to you, Alice.

I tightened my grip on the water glass, my hand trembling as I brought it closer to my lips.

A phone rang, cutting through the tension.

Everyone turned toward Jaxson as he pulled his phone from his pocket and swiped to answer. “Hi, Aria,” he said.

As their attention shifted to Jaxson, I raised the water to my mouth and dropped the pill onto my tongue. It was small, bitter, and sharp against the roof of my mouth.

“It’s good to hear your voice,” Jaxson said. “We’ve captured Beatrice.”

No, you haven’t. I swallowed hard, chasing the pill down with a gulp of water.

The taste of cyanide lingered on my tongue, yet for the first time in decades, a glorious wave of peace washed through me.

I was free at last.