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Right now, the families of the victims had no doubt been told, just as she had been, that Tho freed in a very short tile ee Sorrow Grief A deep sense of injustice They had likely lost all faith in the justice system sworn to uphold the law and sworn to punish those who broke it But they were helpless to do anything about it They would dreae and retribution Of justice But Eliza would serve it cold
And this here Eliza differed fro Tho about it She would do so about it even if it o when she’d realized just how stupid and very na&iuuilty and complicit in the ive herself for the atrocities committed Yes, she had died and been reborn another wos She’d become Eliza and had embraced a new chance The opportunity to start over To make a difference To help protect those who needed protection To seek justice for those who couldn’t And soed to buy into her new-but-not-real new identity What a fool she’d been to ever think she could atone for her sins and outrun her past Death could only be delayed, not avoided
In soht as it floated through her mind before she could call it back Her heart pounded and her palreeaty as she tried to open the door to her car But she realized that thought had been there since theof the phone call In the instant she’d nored it, refusing to give voice to it Refusing to acknowledge it because it ain
But she had deserved to die with Thomas And now, she was fully prepared for her death It was her punish served, finally, to the fullest Thomas had been the only one who had paid when he’d been sentenced to life in prison She hadn’t But she’d deserved the same punishment and now that she’d sentenced him to death by her own sense of justice, not only was it likely she’d die taking him down, it was no less than she deserved She eer would she try so hard to avoid the inevitable Maybe then she would have a serant mercy on her soul for the sins she’d coainst the manipulation of an older more experienced man No, not htmares and horror htmare He wasn’t fiction, some book or movie He was very real
She yanked open her car door and threw herself inside, backing fro just as she saw Dane exit the building She made certain she didn’t make eye contact with him, but she watched from the corner of her eye as he waved in ain his direction, she could plead ignorance when he asked her--and he would--why the hell she’d ignored hi When she faced Dane, she had to have her shit together and her best game face on She accelerated a little too sharply, her tires barking in protest as she barreled froe No doubt her esteemed leader, partner--Dane filled ate her and that was the last thing she needed She had seen the looks Dane and the rest of her coworkers cast her hen they thought she wasn’t looking They were all filled with concern, ain They all knew so was up and that she wasn’t herself, but Dane would know better than anyone She and Dane had worked together far too long and Dane nevera person squirm with a look No words were necessary All he’d have to do is stare at her and she’d be blurting her confession with no pro whatsoever and then he’d lock her up if he had to No way he’d let her fulfill what she now considered her sacred mission Her last mission A mission that was more important than any other she’d ever undertaken
She chanced a glance in her rearviewin the e, a frown on his face as he stared broodingly after her
She couldn’t avoid him forever but until she was ready, until she was coest--only--lie she’d ever told her most trusted friend, she would continue to brush him and the others off and run like a bat out of hell anytiet her alone
Just a few more days, she promised herself A few ather everything she needed and give her carefully orchestrated lie to Dane and then she’d be on her way
Sorrow gripped her and she briefly closed her eyes before pulling into traffic It would be the last time she saw any of them, which is why she’d approach Dane after the "state of the union" iven the first of every month by either Caleb Devereaux or his brother, Beau, in the offices of DSS
It would give her one last opportunity to see the people who’d grown so io to the wall for each and every day People who did the saret was that she wouldn’t see the Devereaux wives and Zack’s wife, Gracie, before she left
She inwardly flinched because she knew she’d hurt Gracie’s feelingsher every time Gracie had been around Eliza Eliza had promptly fled when Gracie appeared, and it had been obvious to the other wo in the world Eliza ever wanted to do was hurt Gracie
Gracie was the epito life She was shy and still struggling with her confidence Eliza was so very happy that Gracie and Zack had found their way back to one another after over a decade of misery for both of them, but especially Gracie Eliza dearly loved all the wives Ramie, Ari and Gracie And Tori Devereaux, Caleb’s, Beau’s and Quinn’s baby sister, who like the other woreatly at the hands of a madman She had been brutalized by a serial killer and was still recovering from the horrific attack Perhaps she’d never fully recover but then Eliza could hardly blame her