Detective Diaz's name on the screen. My pulse kicked. It always did when she called.
Good news or bad news, with this case, it could go either way.
"Torres."
"I have news." Diaz's voice was different. Lighter. Almost... excited. "The DA is reopening the case."
I sat down on the bumper of the engine. My legs had apparently decided to stop working.
"You're serious."
"Dead serious. The evidence package we put together—the traffic footage, the financial records, the witness statements—was enough. The DA's office is convening a grand jury. Kevin Lang is going to be formally indicted for vehicular manslaughter."
"Holy shit."
"There's more." I could hear the smile in her voice. "Richard Lang is being investigated separately. Obstruction of justice, witness tampering, conspiracy. The shell company payments, the pressure on witnesses—it's all coming out. CaptainHendricks has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal affairs investigation."
The words didn't land right away. They just... sat there.
We'd won. Actually won.
"Torres? You still there?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm here." I ran a hand over my face, realized I was grinning so hard my face hurt. "Diaz, I don't know how to thank you. If you hadn't?—"
"Don't thank me. Thank the evidence. And thank Dr. Rothwell for having the guts to come forward in the first place." A pause. "This is what justice is supposed to look like, Torres. I'm just glad I got to be part of it."
"You were more than part of it. We couldn't have done this without you."
"Just doing my job. The way it should have been done from the start."
She hung up. I sat there for another minute, phone in my hand, letting it sink in.
The Langs were going down. Kevin was going to face justice. Ava was going to be safe.
And with the DA moving forward, it was time to let Sloane publish. Put the whole story out there—the cover-up, the corruption, the six months Derek Edwards' family spent waiting for answers that almost never came.
I needed to tell Ava. Now.
She was curled up on the couch when I got home, Watson sprawled across her lap, sunlight streaming through the windows. Two mugs of coffee sat on the table—still steaming—and something about her expression made me pause in the doorway.
"I have news," I said, already grinning. "Detective Diaz called. The DA is reopening the case. Kevin's being indicted."
Ava's smile widened. "I know."
I blinked. "You know?"
"Diaz called me too." She gently displaced Watson, who meowed in protest, and crossed to me. "We did it, Brian. We really did."
I pulled her into my arms and buried my face in her hair. She smelled like the hospital—antiseptic and exhaustion—but underneath it all, she smelled like home.
"I was so scared," I admitted against her neck. "For months, I was terrified they were going to win. That they'd find a way to make it all disappear."
"Me too." Her arms tightened around me. "But we didn't let them."
We stood there for a long moment, just holding each other. The past weeks finally started to lift. The fear. The vigilance. All of it.
Finally starting to lift.
