Jenna found him standing in what appeared to be a craft room, walls lined with shelves containing neatly organized supplies.Her flashlight illuminated a bulletin board on the far wall, covered with photographs, newspaper clippings, and handwritten notes.
Derek Sullivan’s sneering face stared out from one image, Amanda Hartford’s bitter smile from another.Red yarn pinned beside Derek, green beside Amanda.And there, in the center, a photograph of Brenda Drummond with a length of pristine white yarn beneath it.
“She’s done this,” Jenna murmured.“All of it.”
Then something outside the room’s window caught her eye.A light in the house next door, a movement in that window.A nosy neighbor?Is that where Brenda lives?
Jenna peered more closely.Then the figure was jerked away, out of sight.
“That was Piper!”Jenna’s voice cracked with fear and urgency.She was already moving, running out through the back door and toward that light.She found herself at the back of the neighboring house and tried the door.Unlocked.
By that time, Jake was beside her.
“Piper’s inside.I think she’s in trouble.”
Jenna entered first, weapon drawn.Elena Bowers had Piper pinned with her face against a wall, a thin cord held around Piper’s throat.
“Elena!”Jenna shouted, her voice carrying the full authority of her position.“Release her and step back!Now!”
Elena’s head jerked toward the sound, her eyes widening at the sight of Jenna and the deputy beside her.For one terrible moment, Jenna thought she might tighten the cord anyway, might complete the murder even as justice closed in around her.
Piper didn’t wait for Elena’s decision.She drove an elbow into the body behind her.As Elena gasped and lost her grip, Piper turned and shoved her away with both hands.
“Hands where I can see them, Elena!”Jake ordered, his weapon trained on the woman who now stood trapped.
Elena’s shoulders sagged, the fight draining from her.The cord dangled from her fingers for a moment before falling to the floor.
“On your knees, hands behind your head,” Jenna commanded, advancing with her weapon aimed at Elena’s center mass.Only when Elena had complied, only when Jake had stepped forward to secure her wrists with handcuffs and began stating her rights, did Jenna allow herself to look at her sister.
Piper leaned against the kitchen wall, breathing heavily.Their eyes met across the room, identical green finding identical green, and something passed between them—a recognition deeper than words, an understanding of the darkness they had both faced and survived.
Several of Jenna’s police team were arriving now, taking over the prisoner.
“Are you hurt?”Jenna asked Piper, holstering her weapon.
“No, but check on her,” she replied.“In the hallway.The woman is injured.”
Jenna moved to see where her sister was pointing and saw Brenda Drummond beginning to stir on the floor.
“Call for medical,” Jenna instructed one of her team.“We need paramedics.”
As Elena was led away and Jake was attending to Brenda Drummond, Jenna crossed to her sister.For a moment, they simply looked at each other, the weight of the night’s events settling between them.Then Jenna pulled Piper into her arms.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Jenna’s eyes burned from exhaustion, and the taste of stale coffee lingered on her tongue as she guided her car along Trentville’s empty streets.It was nearly dawn now.Elena Bowers was behind bars, and Brenda Drummond was in the capable hands of Trentville Memorial’s staff.This murder case was officially closed.
Jake had taken Piper home while Jenna escorted Elena to the station, where the woman had stunned her with her calm, almost serene confession.
“I was cleansing the community,” Elena had said as she described wrapping Derek Sullivan in red yarn, Amanda Hartford in green.“Removing the damaged threads from our social fabric.Sophie would have understood.”
Now Jenna wanted to drive by her mother’s house, just to check.If all the windows were dark, she’d continue home to her waiting bed.If not...
When the craftsman house came into view, Jenna saw a warm glow from the kitchen window.Someone was awake, despite the early hour.She pulled into the driveway and cut the engine, sitting for a moment as fatigue washed over her.Her body begged for rest, but her mind still raced with questions—not about Elena or the murders, but about Piper.About how her sister had known to go to Brenda’s house, about what might have happened if she hadn’t.
The front door opened before Jenna reached it.Her mother stood in the doorway, wrapped in her faded blue robe, her face drawn with worry.
“I thought that must be you,” Mom said, stepping aside to let Jenna enter.“We’ve been waiting up.”
