Page 71 of One Step After Another

She would soon learn.

An image of a New Jersey senator flashed on the screen and the woman behind the desk smiled behind her painted mask of television makeup. “Senator Gilles Tracey has announced his engagement today. We were expecting a different announcement from the senator’s team this week—something like a presidential run in the upcoming election—but we were assured that was still on the table.”

Penny blinked.

The image changed.

Her throat closed.

Two little girls—the caption said their names were Jennifer and Jules, twelve and ten years old respectively—stood in front of their father, the senator, and another woman. A familiar face. The same face Penny had been staring at for minutes without being able to look away just moments before when the pyramid of Elite members had been plastered across the screen.

“Senator Tracey provided little details about the engagement but stated he planned to marry Allegra Hatheway within the next few months in a private ceremony.”

She was different, now.

Her last name had changed. The white-blonde hair was now a caramel wave that fell over her shoulders in soft curls. She still looked entirely fit for her position as a trophy wife standing beside a rich and powerful man.

“Do you want me to let it keep—”

“Shut it off,” Penny said through clenched teeth.

Dare did.

Beside her, Cree reached over to clasp her shoulder in his large palm. She side-stepped the touch, not wanting anyone too close. He didn’t seem offended, but he did pass Dare a knowing glance.

“The report continues,” Dare said softly. “It glosses over her previous husband and life. Probably because a lot of that happened years ago, and the senator has more money than he knows what to do with. I’m sure he doesn’t want his future wife’s dead husband’s misdeeds staining his family’s pristine reputation or ruining his potential run at the presidency when—”

“Is he in any way connected to anything we’ve gathered around The Elite?” she asked.

“It appears not.”

But he had two girls.

That woman had access to two girls.

The screen switched back to the image of the pyramid and faces when the video player eventually minimized itself like it did when videos were paused for too long. Penny would have preferred to keep staring at the reporter doing her job than the face of a woman that had haunted her every waking moment since the first memories of her life. Every monster that had ever done her harm came from the permission of that woman.

Allegra Hatheway was Allegra Dunsworth.

Penny’s mother.

Her image sat at the top of the pyramid alongside a man that had been an accomplice in her abuse and trafficking for years with her mother and father—her grandfather. Allegra’s father. The whole family tree was rotten, and it started in the fucking roots.

She could still hear Dare talking—trying to explain things. It all felt like she was underwater, and everything was muffled around her.

“This is going to be a lot more difficult and messier with Allegra coming back to the spotlight in this way,” Dare said from where he had moved to sit behind his desk. “It is possible that this move was purposeful; maybe even meant to hold off what’s been happening to members of The Elite, but we’re not really—”

“I need a minute.”

Her words came out short.

Sharp.

Even to her own ears.

For a man who had been quick to say he needed to stop caring about the emotional needs of the people he controlled at The League, Dare didn’t hesitate to nod and say, “Whatever you want. Just know, Penny ...”

She had already turned to leave, and while walking away, she heard him say, “You’re to do nothing right now—not until we know their next move. Since you brought that man with you, staying at the complex is off the table, but we can just as easily keep an eye on you at the hotel. Go ... there. I won’t say home because I know that isn’t what it is for you. Either way, go there and stay out of sight. Do not force my hand. This is for the best.”

Right.

The best.

But all she could think about?

Those little girls.