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“Because she confessed. And the charges against her are significant. Arson, attempted murder, reckless endangerment… just to name some of them.” Cole holds my gaze. “And I have contacts in the police department. The local courts. The district attorney. No one is going to let her out of jail.”
“And she’s a flight risk,” adds Leo, a tiny smile appearing on his rugged face. “She was researching travel out of the country.”
“She was?”
“That’s what her computer says.” And he gives me a meaningful look.
Oh. I get it.
“But… She confessed? Really?”
Cole nods. “Yes. Surprising, but it’s the best outcome we could have hoped for.” He pauses. “Well. Aside from it not happening at all.”
“What… what did she say? Was it… All because of Liam? But why now? It’s been fifteen years. Is it… the memorial she wants to do?”
Silence falls over the room. Cole exchanges a quick look with Ben, a silent message passing between them. Deciding who’s going to tell me the bad news, I’m guessing.
Cole draws the proverbial short stick, because he finally says, “It was when she realized you lived in Sleepy Hollow. That you were happy.”
Ben makes an angry noise beside me.
“She saw you in town, leaving the library,” Cole explains. “You were talking with someone. Laughing. According to what I heard from my contact at the police department, she was furious. She had always—” His features go dark, his brow coming down. “This part is rough, Thea.”
“Tell me.” I feel Ben’s arm slide around my shoulders, and it gives me courage to face the worst of it.
“Stella always hated you, Thea. Blamed you. But when she discovered that you moved back to Sleepy Hollow, that you had a good job, friends, your own home…” Cole looks at me apologetically. “She lost it. In her mind, you had everything Liam should have. What she thought you stole from him…”
Ben’s arm goes rigid around me.
“She didn’t want you to have a good life if Liam couldn’t. In her words”—Cole glances down at the papers in front of him, wincing—“you took away Liam’s chance to have a life. A family. Stella decided the only way to make it fair was to eliminate you.”
I can’t stifle my gasp. It hurts. Like I’ve been physically punched in the chest.
She hated me that much. Blamed me for that long. Really and truly wanted to kill me. Eliminate me.
I feel carved out. Empty.
All my life I’ve tried to be good. Kind. I like people. I try to help them. But this?
“I’m sorry, Thea.” Cole’s dark eyes are pained. “I know it’s hard to hear. And I’m sorry to be the one who tells it to you. But one good thing is she’s in jail.”
“What about the car accident?” Ben speaks up, asking a question I’d almost forgotten about.
“Her attorney showed up before the police could get to it. And he wouldn’t let her say anything else.” Cole shakes his head, frowning. “But they’ll keep questioning her.”
“It has to be her.” My voice doesn’t sound like my own—weak and wobbly. “There can’t be two people that hate me that much, can there?”
“Oh, no, sweetheart.” I’m hauled into powerful arms and pulled onto a hard lap, but Ben’s lips are soft as he kisses my head. “No. She is crazy. You did nothing wrong. Nothing.”
Leo chimes in. “Ben is right. You didn’t do anything to deserve this.”
Ben hugs me—somehow I’m fully on his lap, tucked into his arms, my head tucked under his chin. “Thea, baby, you’re amazing. Everyone here, all your friends, people in town, at the library, they all love you. Even Mrs. Plimpton loves you.”
“And sweetheart.” He tips my chin up and gazes at me, emotion darkening his eyes. “I love you. More than anything.”
Chapter 19
BEN
