Morris raised her eyebrows. “And after you killed him, I wanted nothing more to do with you, but you kept writing to me, phoning me, and all you wanted to know was why Lester betrayed you. One day I gave in, I did some digging, got close to Hamish, got him to open up to me. He was targeting Lester, using his power to make his life hell, and giving him only one way out. He thought he’d only put Sebastian away for a few years, but your anger gifted him sixteen.”

Sebastian rested his chin on Rory’s head, and murmured, “I can’t take back what I did, but I can punish the guy that made Lester’s life crumble around him. On my last year I wrote to Hamish, I said I’d make his life hell, the same way he made Lester’s. It was supposed to be an empty threat, stir him up, unsettle him.”

Morris nodded. “The letter got him paranoid, worried, and he asked me to work with him. He wanted to know what Sebastian was planning. That’s when he decided to send someone into the prison.” She looked at Rory. “I didn’t know he was blackmailing you. I thought you were just some cocky police officer who wanted to make a name for himself.”

“I didn’t want to be in there.” Rory whispered.

“I know that now, and after you stuck it out for a few weeks, Sebastian and I thought we could use you to get to Hamish.”

Sebastian clutched Rory tighter. “I tried to justify it, tell myself the end result would be worth it, I’d get revenge on Hamish, and you’d leave the prison, go back to being a police officer, put it behind you, but then I got that call in the middle of the night from Morris. She told me about your sister, and I didn’t know what to do.”

“You knew?”

“I avoided you, blocked you out, tried to go back to being indifferent, and waited for the governor to get you, to call you into his office, but he never did.”

Morris stepped closer. “I thought Hamish would tell you, I really did, but he sat there and kept saying how proud your dad would be, and I felt sick. I wanted to tell you—”

“But you didn’t, none of you did. I found out when I read that newspaper. It was like someone had cut out my heart, I couldn’t … I still can’t…” he shook his head and wriggled against Sebastian’s arms.

“I’m sorry.” Sebastian whispered.

“Don’t!”