I forced myself to focus on Cady’s voice. On the other end of the gun, Ness looked at me, the oddest expression in her eyes. “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” she asked Cady softly. “How much you can love a child?”

Ash. I struggled to form the name in my mind. She’s talking about Ash. Not me. Not Jude. We don’t have anything to do with this.

But there was a gun pointed at me, and Jude was…

“Unconscious,” Cady told me. She latched a hand around Saskia’s collar. If Saskia attacked, Ness might shoot me.

And if I attack… That was the reason Cady had told me that Jude was unconscious. He wasn’t dead, and I was able to keep a whisper’s hold on myself.

“You brought me back here.” Cady did what she could to draw Ness’s attention. “I came.” Her voice vibrated with intensity. “I’m here.”

“And if I lower this gun,” Ness countered, “you’ll leave, and whatever you know, whatever secrets you’re keeping—they’ll walk out of this park with you.”

What secrets? I wondered, but deep in my mind, the question was lost under the cacophony of others. I wondered what it would sound like if Ness pulled the trigger. I wondered what it would feel like. I wondered if I would feel anything at all.

“What about your secrets, Ness?” Gabriel’s voice snapped me into the moment. “What about the things that you’ve been keeping from me?” Gabriel was smiling, but the curve of his lips was utterly out of place on his face. His eyes glittered dangerously in the scant light. “The bodies,” he clarified. “The ones the FBI found. You can’t think of any reason I might have a vested interest in how that turns out?”

Ness wavered, just for a moment. The gun never moved, but her gaze flicked toward Gabriel. Beside me, I saw Mac shift his weight ever so slightly.

“Nature can be merciless,” Ness told Gabriel. “I gave them what mercy I could.”

Mac eased toward Ness—toward the gun. Her head whipped toward him.

Don’t push her, Mac. My pulse jumped in my neck. Saskia strained against Cady’s hold, but Mac didn’t so much as tense.

When he spoke, it was with the same tone he’d used with me when I was in shock. “You buried the dead. You gave them peace.”

For a split second, I was sure that she’d recognize the slight shift of his weight, that she’d react—that I’d pay the price. But instead, Ness pressed her lips together. “I couldn’t bring them back, but I could put their bodies to rest. Honor them. Remember them. Mourn them.”