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Her courage brought the truth home.

Rylie stood in front of it holding a bouquet of wildflowers.

Trigger waited beside her.

His hand rested against the middle of her back.

Not holding her in place.

Reminding her she wasn’t alone.

Elizabeth walked forward carrying a small blue marble.

The same marble from Cabin Nine.

Helen Carver had kept it for her.

Elizabeth knelt and placed it beneath Emily’s name.

“For luck,” she whispered.

Rylie lowered the flowers beside it.

They stood together.

The girl Emily had saved.

And the girl whose forgotten memories had protected her long enough to finish the story.

Sheriff Tate removed his hat.

Emily’s death certificate had been corrected.

The words accidental drowning were gone.

In their place:

Homicide.

The seven women Evan murdered had been honored beside Emily.

Their families finally knew why they had died.

The trafficking investigation had crossed four states.

Twenty-three surviving victims had been identified.

Eleven people had been charged.

More cases remained open.

Truth, my father always said, didn’t disappear.

Sometimes it waited until someone was brave enough to uncover it.

Emily had been brave enough.

Now the world knew.