My jaw tightens so hard I taste blood.
“That was planted in her Beth’s saddlebag,” Royal says. “Anonymous tip to the Sherrif said to look there. Thankfully, we got there first.”
Anonymous.
Pearly Gates doesn’t do chaos. They do narrative. They do planting. They do making the story so loud nobody hears the truth.
Legend studies me. “You got anything you want to tell me.”
I hold his stare. “No.”
Because I didn’t push Bethany. Because Brittany didn’t either. Because I saw the look in her eyes when she ran back to that lake edge. That wasn’t guilt. That was fear, raw and honest and panicked.
And it ain’t that I don’t trust my President and my brothers. I do. I can’t bring this heat down on them either. The less they know the better. For now.
Royal folds his arms. “We’ve got a witness.”
I let out a short, humorless laugh. “Of course we do.”
“Man from Official,” Royal continues. “Says he was fishing. Claims he saw Brittany swing a board. Says he saw Bethany fall.”
My vision narrows. “And he waited how long to say that.”
Royal doesn’t answer. He doesn’t have to.
Legend rubs a hand over his face. “Sheriff’s bringing her in.”
My chair scrapes back before I realize I’ve moved.
“Where,” I demand.
Royal’s voice drops. “Already happened. They picked her up at Lottie’s twenty minutes ago.”
Everything in me goes cold and violent at the same time.
I’m out the door before anyone can stop me.
The sheriff’s office in Official, Paradise, Kentucky is small, brick, and self-important. It smells like stale coffee and paperwork that’s been touched by too many hands. I push through the front doors hard enough they bang against the wall.
Deputy Wilson looks up from behind the counter. “You can’t…”
“Where is she?” I ask in a growl.
He stiffens. “Interview room.”
“Lawyer?” I bark.
“She waived.”
Of course she did.
Because Brittany still thinks truth matters more than strategy.
I shove past him.
She’s sitting at a metal table under fluorescent lights that make her look smaller than she is. Her hands are folded in front of her like she’s trying not to shake. There’s a red mark on her wrist from where someone held her too tight.
She looks up when I step in.
