Sophie
My condo smelled like citrus, emotional avoidance, and denial. I padded over to my floor-to-ceiling windows on socked feet and looked out at the Potomac that rippled past downtown Georgetown. It was relentless, like the feelings churning deep inside me.
I stared at the gloomy river, goose bumps breaking over my skin even though I was dressed in thick corduroy pants and an alpaca-wool sweater. It felt like this winter weather was dragging on.
I didn’t know if it was the constant worry for my family that made it impossible to move on from the accident, but I couldn’t continue like nothing had happened.
Sometimes I woke up believing Jonathan was still alive, but then I remembered my encounter with Jacqueline and Sienna’s kidnapping, and I knew it was wishful thinking.
Utterly exhausted.
That was the way I felt as I stood in the elevator watching the numbers move into negative digits.
I fought the urge to lean back and close my eyes, fearing the fatigue would pull me under. But that wouldn’t change my reality. Jonathan was dead and buried. My protests and questions about his deathremained unanswered. And then, the moment things had returned to some semblance of normal, Sienna was taken. Thankfully, Kristoff got her back with the help of his morally gray friends.
But now, it was a new year. It’d be a better one. It had to be.
The hospital elevator’s ding startled me. I straightened as the doors slid open, stepping into the garage and searching for where I parked my new car.
The early January cold hit me like a slap, sharp and bitter, and I fought off a shiver.
My Uggs were silent against the concrete as I made my way down the lane of cars. I was distracted thinking about IV lines and the dosage I’d need to administer in room 6 tomorrow morning, when I sensed a presence behind me and smelled a hint of expensive perfume.
My steps slowed and I threw a look over my shoulder. No one. I turned back around and was met with three men and a familiar figure I wanted nothing more than to forget.
Jacqueline.
I should have recognized that scent—it drowned out the rot that festered underneath it.
My eyes darted to the men who appeared to be flanking her and I opened my mouth to call out to the guard I knew would be at the entrance of the garage.
“Don’t you dare,” she warned. “Or my friend here will be forced to end you.”
A man with cold eyes and darkness swirling around him pressed a gun to my temple, and fear snapped awake in me.
I’d never seen a gun up close before and the doctor in me was instantly uncomfortable with a device that shattered lives. A device that killed Jonathan, despite the nonsense police report that stated he’d been battered by the river and drowned.
I froze.
My whole body locked up the way it had the night Sienna was taken. The way it had in the car when the world spun and metal screamed. The way it had when Jonathan’s eyes stared blankly at me.
“You haven’t heeded my warning.” She tsked, almost as if she were scolding a child. “And now you’re a loose end.”
“You killed Jonathan,” I whispered with false bravado. My voice sounded far away, like it belonged to someone else. “We both know it.”
“You know nothing.” Jacqueline smiled coldly. “But I need you to know something before I resort to my next steps.” The gun pressed harder, sending my pulse into overdrive. “Your questions… your relentless pursuit of so-called justice… they were the reason for Sienna’s misfortune.”
The words didn’t land all at once. They slid into me gradually, like poison diluted in water.
I swayed on my feet and had to close my eyes to recenter myself.
“She fought like a cat,” Jacqueline went on, almost conversational. “But she’s no match for me. Of course, everyone thinks the kidnapping was the result of her hacking into some criminal’s bank account, but I want you to know the truth.”
My stomach twisted, and I could taste bile on my tongue.
“You’re lying,” I choked out.
“Am I?” Jacqueline shrugged and tilted her head, a cruel gleam shining in her eyes. “Oh, what the hell do I care? Believe what you will,” she said. “But this is your last warning. Stop asking questions about Jonathan, or I’ll be forced to deal with the youngest member of your family. How do you think Kristoff would feel about that?”
