I looked at the linoleum flooring, wallowing in shame. This was more Jamie’s doing than mine, but I accepted guilt in full. It was always my fault. My mother had rose-colored lenses when she saw her son and dark lenses when it came to me. I knew that and accepted it. Better too much guilt than not enough.

“What happened out there?” she snapped.

I was about to give her an accounting with as little detail as possible, but she cut me off before I could speak.

“Actually, I don’t want to know.” She tossed the rag she’d been wiping the counters with into the sink and turned to leave the kitchen. She made it a couple of steps before turning back toward me. “Your brother asked for you when he woke.”

“He did?”

“He wanted to make sure you are protecting yourself from what’s coming. Do you have any idea what that means?”

What’s coming. Her words dropped like rocks inside my brain. There is danger, and more is coming. Bobbie’s warning.

I shook my head.

“Harrison and Rose will want answers. For the love of Haven Valley, Grace, no more lies.”

And with that, my mother stormed to her bedroom.

TEN MINUTES LATER I WAS SEATED ALONE IN ROSE’S office, the place that had once been my home away from home. It was here I’d been instructed in my role as a woman of the Holy Family, instructed by Rose and some of the books that lined a tall bookcase next to the desk.

Now I felt like an unwelcome sinner, because it was here I’d also copied the schedule that helped Jamie avoid detection each time he ventured out past the perimeter.

The room was cold and clammy, and the ticking clock became a countdown to the judgment that awaited me.

For the love of Haven Valley, Grace, no more lies. My mother’s words haunted me still.

But the warning from my brother and Bobbie haunted me more. Something was coming. What? Or who?

If only they’d let me talk to Jamie before being interrogated. I felt utterly alone in my confusion, without a lifeline or clear understanding.

The door behind me creaked and I stilled. There was no escaping this. Rose stepped in and crossed to the large leather chair behind her cherrywood desk. I sat in one of two smaller chairs opposite the desk. A glass of water sat on the small round table beside me, but I hadn’t touched it.

Rose scooted her chair underneath the desk and placed her palms on the surface. She looked at me as I absently bit the inside of my lip.

“Hello, Grace.”

“Hello,” I said.

“Did you get any sleep?”

“A little.”

She gave me a small smile. I didn’t deserve her kindness.