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“All right.” Torres cleared his throat and folded his hands together. “I’m afraid I have some very difficult news for you, Ms. Prescott. Your father passed away this afternoon.”
Piper’s face went blank. “What?”
“Your father passed away,” Torres repeated. “He was in an accident.”
“What sort of accident?”
“He fell from a steep rock on the beach behind your property.”
Piper slowly shook her head, hands fisting the sheets in front of her. “I don’t understand,” she said in a low voice. “Why would my father be at the beach on a day like this?”
“It seems he and your mother were attempting to hide out in the sea caves that run along the coast. The rocks were wet from high tide, and he slipped.” Torres paused for a beat and tilted his head slightly downward. “I’m very sorry, Ms. Prescott. I know what a shock this is for you to hear.”
“So… you’re actually being serious?” Piper blinked rapidly, head shaking with disbelief. “My dad is really dead?”
Torres nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
I reached over to pat Piper on the arm. “I’m so sorry,” I murmured. “I know I wanted your dad gone, but I didn’t want him dead.”
She closed her eyes and drew in a long, shaky breath. “It’s not your fault,” she finally said. She set her jaw and looked back up at Torres. “What about my mother? Do you know where she is?”
“Yes. We have her in custody right now,” he replied. “She called 911 to report the accident with your father. On that same call, she also confessed to all of the crimes that you and your friends wrote about online, so we placed her under arrest as soon as we arrived at the scene.”
Piper’s eyes widened. “She turned herself in?”
“Yes. I actually spoke with her not too long ago. She’s fully cooperating with us.”
“Did she say…” Piper trailed off and chewed on her bottom lip. Then she took a deep breath and spoke up again. “Did she do it because of me?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean… did she finally do the right thing and turn herself in because I made her feel guilty? With the exposé?”
Torres shook his head. “I’m afraid not,” he said gently. “She’s made it quite clear that she’s hoping to get a deal offered to her in return for the buyer names. She’s directed our officers to a location at the farm where the records are hidden.”
Piper’s shoulders sagged, and she cast her eyes down to the bed. My heart lurched as I watched her face contort with sadness. In those fraught seconds, I felt like I was really seeing her for the first time.
At her core, she’d always been a lost little girl desperately seeking her mother’s love and approval. Approval that never quite came, because Zara’s loyalty to the Rosmerta Society superseded everything else, including her own family.
“Will she actually get a deal?” I asked, looking back at Sergeant Torres.
“I can’t say for sure, but I seriously doubt it,” he said. “At best, I think she might get a reduced prison sentence once all of this goes to trial. But it would still be a lengthy sentence in the end, so there’s no need for you to worry.”
I breathed a small sigh of relief. Piper’s head jerked back up again. “Hold on,” she said. “How do you know my dad actually slipped? What if my mom pushed him? That way he could never try to get a deal over her. Or maybe she’s hoping to pin most of the society stuff on him, because he won’t be around to defend himself now.”
Torres shook his head. “That’s not possible. A witness at the scene confirmed that it was definitely an accident.”
“How do you know the witness is reliable?” I asked.
“It’s actually a friend of yours. The one who helped you two with the exposé.”
My eyes widened, and I sat up straight. “Jensen?”
“Yes,” Torres replied. “I actually just spoke to him before I came in here. He should be coming to visit you quite soon.”
“Oh my god,” I said breathlessly, one hand fluttering at my chest. “He’s really okay.”
“Thank god,” Piper muttered. “We thought he might be dead.”
