“Because Jane is good at hiding the truth. She’ll twist it so Amy’s the one who suffers, or she’ll show the police the videos of me on their property and convince them I’m lying.”

“Amy is all the evidence they need,” Jay says. “She can bring them Logan. He can speak out.”

“He won’t. It’s too late for that,” I say. “Jane needs to be caught red-handed.”

When Amy explained everything, it made perfect sense.

But, now, with time to think, I’m scared it won’t work. “It’s this or nothing,” I say. “She probably won’t come back to school, anyway.”

Was that the real reason she left St. Gregory’s? Did someone get too close to the truth, and Jane threatened them before enrolling Amy at our school?

“I could speak to her,” Mum says.

“And say what?”

“I’ll tell her I know exactly what it’s like to feel trapped in your own house. I’ll tell her I remember how it feels to be terrified every second of every day. And I’ll tell her I don’t feel like that anymore. There’s a way out. She just needs to be brave and tell the police herself. Jane controls that family. I know what that feels like. But I also know things can change.”

Mum hasn’t been this honest with me for a long time, but it’s more than that. She’s talking about our horrible history differently, now. She isn’t scared of it. She’s in control.

Mum left her old life behind when she married Jay, but she didn’t forget what happened to us. She kept it close, the memories of all the tears and bruises and terror making her stronger somehow. She promised that, if she ever met another monster, she’d win. That’s why we had to tell her, because, if anyone can help us stop Jane, it’s my mother.

“We could figure out a way to get Amy alone again and convince her to speak out,” Nia says. “I’d rather that than risk Aaron getting hurt.”

“It’s not that easy. The house is a fortress. You only get in if they let you.”

“Or you jump over the wall,” Zak mumbles, and I shoot him a look, but he shrugs. “What? We’ve done it before.”

Mum’s look is a mixture of confusion and concern, but she doesn’t criticize me. Instead, she says, “No one does anything else foolish. Tom’s right. If we go to the police without the evidence for them to get a warrant, Jane and Chris could run and take Amy and Logan with them. We need to bide our time and have faith in Amy’s idea. She knows her mother better than anyone.”