Chapter 7
I walked into the police station the next morning with Ray by my side, all the evidence in a duffel bag over my shoulder.
The detective on duty, Detective Carter—no relation—listened to the recording, read the texts, looked at the bank records, and his face went white.
“Your own sister,” he said, quiet.
I nodded.
He put out an APB for Lila and Jake that afternoon.
They were arrested three hours later, trying to board a bus to Mexico with fake IDs and $50,000 in cash.
I was in the police station when they brought them in.
Lila’s hair was a mess, her face streaked with dirt.
When she saw me, she screamed, lunging against the officers holding her.
“You bitch!” she yelled.
“She was just a stupid kid! You didn’t need that money! You had everything! I deserved it more than you!”
Jake didn’t say a word.
He just stared at me, his eyes cold, no remorse at all.
The officers dragged them away to holding cells.
Detective Carter put a hand on my arm.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I shook my head.
But for the first time since Mia died, I didn’t feel like I was drowning.
I felt like I could breathe again.
The preliminary hearing was two weeks later.
Lila’s lawyer tried to say the recording was fake, that Dr. Hale was a liar with a grudge, that I’d planted the evidence because I was jealous of Lila.
But the proof was overwhelming.
The voice analysis matched Lila and Jake perfectly.
The digoxin in the vial had Lila’s fingerprints on it.
The texts were traced directly to their phones.
The judge ordered them held without bail, pending trial.
As I walked out of the courtroom, Ray was waiting for me by the door.
He handed me a coffee, his hand brushing mine.
“You did good,” he said.
“Mia would be proud.”
I leaned against him, letting myself cry for the first time in weeks.
He wrapped his arms around me, gentle, like I was something fragile he didn’t want to break.
For the first time since my husband died, I didn’t feel alone.
I had Ray.
May you like
I had justice for Mia.
And I was finally starting to believe that maybe, one day, I’d be okay.
