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She stopped at the mouth of the hall, where the amber light from the dining room gave way to the brighter service lights near the office. Costumed guests continued moving behind her, too occupied with drinks, food, and each other to notice anything beyond a pregnant woman who had wandered away from her table. From where I stood, I could still see the front entrance and most of the route between us and the door. Gavin could too.

He made no move toward it.

Meredith looked at my hand around his forearm, then at the phone I had just returned to my pocket. Her expression changed enough that Gavin noticed.

“You don’t need to come back here,” he told her. His voice carried none of the edge he had used with me. “Stay where you are until this is handled.”

For seven years I had wondered what kind of man could leave his family, his home, and every familiar part of his life behind without making the mistakes most fugitives eventually made. Watching him now, I understood one piece of it better than I ever had from a recovery file. Gavin could make self-destruction sound practical if he believed somebody else might benefit from it.

Meredith’s mouth tightened. “That’s what you’re still doing,” she said.

Gavin’s shoulders tightened beneath his jacket. “I’m not doing anything.”

“You’re standing there telling me to stay out of it while you let them take you away again.”

Georgia lowered her arms. She had not said a word since I called dispatch, but her attention moved between her brother and Meredith with an intensity I could feel beside me.

Gavin kept his gaze on Meredith. “What happens to me tonight is because I skipped court and stayed gone. That part belongs to me.”

“I know it does.” Meredith stepped fully into the hall. Her pace was careful, both because of the pregnancy and because fear still showed in every line of her body. “I also know why you did it.”

He glanced toward the dining room as though checking who might hear. Meredith saw the movement and shook her head.

“I’m tired of you deciding when I’m allowed to speak.”

Gavin’s jaw tightened. He looked toward me, then Georgia, then back to Meredith without answering.

Meredith held his gaze. “It is exactly what you’re doing, Gavin.”

The words were not loud, but they stopped him more effectively than anger would have. Warm air rolled through the hall when the kitchen door opened farther down, carrying browned butter, roasted meat, and cinnamon before the door swung shut again. Someone behind the bar called for fresh glassware. The party went on close enough that the contrast made the four of us feel even more isolated.

Meredith came another few feet closer. Her eyes were wet now, and she looked only at Gavin. “You told me seven years ago that you could handle what happened to you better than I could handle what would happen to me. I let you believe that because I was terrified, and then every year that passed made telling the truth feel worse.” She pressed her lips together before continuing. “But I watched Georgia find you. I watched you come back knowing you could lose your freedom again, and you are still standing here trying to protect me from my own decision.”

Gavin exhaled slowly. “You have a husband. You have kids.”

“I had people who loved me then too.”

That silenced him.

Meredith rested both hands over her stomach now. Her breathing was uneven, but she did not retreat when the front door opened somewhere beyond the dining room and a gust of cold air briefly sharpened the scent of wet leaves against the warmer restaurant air.

“I killed Brad.”

Georgia’s fingers closed around my sleeve.

Gavin shut his eyes.

Meredith said it without raising her voice. The words landed almost flat in the bright service hall, but her hands tightened over her stomach. When Gavin looked at her again, the guarded hardness he’d worn since I approached him was gone.

“Meredith, the police are already coming. Get an attorney before you say anything else.”

She gave a small shake of her head. “I will get an attorney. I’m also going to tell Georgia what happened before you disappear into another part of this that none of us can control.”

Georgia moved closer. “You don’t owe me the whole story in a hallway because you’re scared they’re taking Gavin.”

Meredith finally looked at her, and gratitude flickered through the fear.

“I know. I’m not doing it because you’re forcing me.” She drew in a careful breath. “I’m doing it because I should have told the truth a long time ago.”