Dylan. Her boyfriend of five months.
I’ve never seen her this happy. Even after everything, she’s coping better than I am, and seems to be healing faster.
We’ve given her everything we can. Time, love, and lots of therapy.
“I know, honey. Let me just give it a little more volume.”
I run the brush gently through her dark hair, then use my fingers to shape the curls before turning her toward me.
“I love you so much.” I press a kiss to her forehead.
She pulls back quickly, laughing. “You’re going to ruin my makeup.”
“Wait,” I say softly, then reach up and unclasp the silver necklace from my own neck, the one I bought when we thought we had lost her, the one I haven’t taken off since.
For a moment, I hesitate, then I fasten it around her neck. “This is yours now. For tonight…and to keep.” My daughter is alive and well, with many more birthdays ahead of her.
With her fingertips, she touches the teardrop pendant, her birthstone catching the light. “Thanks, Mom. I love it.”
She’s still smiling as she slips out of the bathroom and disappears into her room, where her dress is waiting for her. It’s the color of a stormy sky, and she fell in love with it the moment she saw it.
“I’ll wait downstairs for the big reveal,” I call.
In the living room, Gabriel is sitting on the couch, staring at the TV. His face is pale.
After finding out about his affair and the secrets he kept from me, we’re still working through things, separated for now until we decide what’s next. But today, he’s here. For Sadie.
“What’s going on?” I lower myself beside him.
“Another arrest,” he says quietly.
I squint at the TV. “Who?”
He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t have to. The name is already on the screen.
Alexander Robbins, a local police officer.
I push the door to the hallway closed so Sadie won’t hear, then turn the volume up slightly.
A female reporter with auburn hair whipping in the wind is standing in front of the camp gates.
I exhale slowly, preparing myself as her voice crackles through the speakers.
“Tonight, we have new developments in the Saltspray Cove Youth Camp scandal. Alexander Robbins, a local Saltspray police officer, has been formally linked to former employee Megan Hale, with whom he was apparently also romantically involved at one point. Authorities say Robbins assisted Hale in a web of illegal adoptions and human trafficking.”
I press my fingertips to my temples, willing the ache away.
The camera pulls away from the polished newsroom set and glides over a stretch of private beach, the beach Alice and I escaped from that day.
The reporter’s voice continues, low and urgent. “You’ll remember, after police raided Saltspray Cove Youth Camp sixteen months ago, they discovered two children locked in rooms only a few doors from the dark room where Sadie Sutton was rescued. Sadie, once presumed dead, was found by her mother. Megan Hale was later found dead on the premises before she could stand trial.”
No one ever found out how Megan died. Whatever poison was in that syringe was undetectable. The cause of death, according to the autopsy reports, was heart failure, same as Scarlett’s. To me, it suggests they died from the same poison. Megan helped me cover up her own death, and my crime.
I blink twice, then open my eyes again to focus on the screen.
“Megan Hale was a dangerous woman who stopped at nothing to get what she wanted, including murder. During the search, human remains were discovered near a concealed tunnelleading to the beach.” The reporter tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. “They have been identified as Anthony Hoggins, Eliza Bennett, and Marisa Lane, three children who disappeared years earlier after reportedly threatening to expose Hale. Authorities also confirmed that Hale was responsible for tampering with the vehicle of camp director Mandy Potter, resulting in the accident that led to her losing a leg.”
I shift a little closer to Gabriel, feeling a chill settling on my skin despite already knowing most of what the reporter is saying.
