Chapter Eight

Rhea

One Week Later

The last week has been a battle, but I am managing to stay positive. Ever since my stepfather tried to drown me, I’ve been having nightmares. I have found that I panic if someone comes up behind me while I’m at the sink. It doesn’t matter who it is or if I know they are coming. Rowan accidentally bumped into me while I was washing dishes, and I damn near had a heart attack. It was entirely involuntary the way I hit the floor and screamed. Rowan felt awful for scaring me. By the time everyone else got to us, he had me sitting in his lap, gently rocking me because I was losing my fucking mind.

Theo doesn’t necessarily want anyone to go out of their way to not trigger me, but he has asked that people are mindful, and at a very minimum, to let me know where they are if they are behind me. Quinn has taken this as not letting me go near the sink just to be a smart ass. Last night, he pinned me on the couch because I said I was going to rinse my plate off. I managed to get away from him and get to the sink. I was so distracted by him being silly that it didn’t even register that he was behind me with his arms wrapped around my body while I washed my dinner plate until Theo said he was proud of me.

I am standing at the bathroom sink washing my hands when Quinn walks into the bathroom. “I’m here,” Quinn says.

“I see that,” I laugh.

“I’m walking behind you,” he says with a playful tone.

“You’re a smartass, Quinn.”

“I’m behind you,” he says softly, resting his hands on my waist. I am looking at him in the mirror and it helps significantly.

“You don’t have to announce your every move, Quinny,” I laugh.

“I think it’s best, considering what I’m about to do to you,” he says with a cheesy grin.

“Oh, God.”

“Trust me, Little Star?” he whispers in my ear.

“With my life.”

“Good,” he says before pulling my skirt up. He laughs and smacks my ass when he notices. “Girl, you don’t have any panties on.”

“You are really fucking predictable, Quinny. You people have torn enough of my pretty lace underwear,” I say with a sweet smile. I know he asked Theo if it would be a bad idea to bend me over the sink and fuck me. Theo basically told him that he shouldn’t sneak up on me, but to just pay attention to me and I’ll be okay. He’s right though. If I can see him, I’m okay.

“How much do you trust me, Rhea?” he asks seriously.

“You better not drown me, Quinny. I’ll come back and haunt you,” I say sweetly.

“Deal,” he smirks. Quinn reaches past me and pulls the lift rod to plug the sink, and it start to fill with water. My entire body is shaking and it is fear that is causing it. I am watching the water, but Quinn forces me to look up at him in the mirror. “It’s just you and me, Rhea. I won’t hurt you.”

“I know,” I say. “My anxiety is trying to convince me that you could hurt me by accident, but it’s not logical. I know I’m safe.”

“No one is forcing you to do this,” he says.

“I know.”

“Do you know why I am?” he asks.

“To help give me a positive experience to think about, rather than being plagued by what he did,” I reply.

“Exactly. Is it conventional? No. Do I know you well enough to know what you can handle? Absolutely,” he says as he bends me over so that I am inches from the water. “Put your hands on the side of the sink. You have the ability to pull yourself out of the water, Rhea. Don’t wait for me to save you.”

“Yes, Sir,” I say with a shaky voice.

Quinn slowly eases his cock into me, and I groan as I push my hips back. I desperately need something brutal for this. “My sweet, needy little whore,” Quinn sings. “Always wanting more.”

“Please,” I whisper.

“Please, what?” he asks.

“Quinny,” I whine.

“Say it, Love.”

“Fuck me harder,” I ask quietly.

“Louder, little slut,” he says, slamming his cock into me harder. “Tell me what you want.”

“Fuck,” I sigh.

“Say it!”

“Fuck me like I’m worthless,” I say louder.

Without a word, Quinn gives me exactly what I want. He rails into me so hard that my belly immediately starts to ache. He has so much leverage to fuck me, and I push my hips back to meet his. Quinn grabs a fist full of my hair and I take a deep breath as he shoves my head under. His movements gain speed, and I am quickly edging an orgasm.

I start to get dizzy and desperately need air. As soon as I start to panic and fight him, I realize that he was never forcing me to stay under. I gasp for air, and he doesn’t stop his relentless thrusting. After a few seconds to get the oxygen back to my brain, he pushes my head back under. We go through a cycle of him pushing me under and me coming up for air on my own. When we are both dangerously close to coming, I decide to hand over control.

“I want to come under water,” I whimper. “Fuck, please.”

“Better come fast then, Little Star,” he obliges and pushes me under. As he rails into me and my body is begging for release, I start to get dizzy. I push up on the counter, but he keeps me under like I begged for. The sudden rush of panic forces my orgasm to surface, and it violently rips through me, forcing my arousal to flood out of me. Quinn’s rhythm falters as he finds his release and pushes deep inside of me to come. He pulls me out of the water and I am gasping and coughing as the tremors of my orgasm still shake through me.

“Holy hell,” I pant. “What the fuck?”

“Good?” Quinn laughs.

“You two are the messiest people I’ve ever met,” Jace says from the doorway.

“He’s jealous I almost got to drown you,” Quinn jokes as he turns me around to softly kiss me.

“We did make a mess,” I say with a grin.

“Casey is here,” Jace says as he takes me from Quinn to hug me. “You did well with that. Good job, baby.”

“I almost panicked, but then I realized I wasn’t being forced to stay under,” I remark as Quinn lets the water out of the sink and lays a towel on the floor to soak up our mess. Jace grabs a washcloth and wets it before cleaning me.

“Why is Casey here?” I ask.

“I don’t know. She said she wanted to talk to you. I told her you were getting fucked in the bathroom sink, but you’d be up soon,” he says.

“Poor Casey. She didn’t sign up for this chaos,” Quinn laughs.

“Well, let’s go up,” I say. “I should change, though. My clothes are soaked now.”

“My bad,” Quinn shrugs. I laugh and shake my head at him before going into the bedroom and changing. When I am ready, we go upstairs to meet the others.

“Hello,” I say cheerfully when Casey smiles at me.

“You’re in a chipper mood,” Theo remarks.

“Ask her why,” Quinn laughs.

“Don’t subject Casey to our shenanigans,” I laugh. “You wanted to talk to me?”

“Yeah,” she says with a heavy sigh.

“Uh oh. I don’t like that,” I say.

“Come sit and talk with me,” she says. Theo pulls me into his lap and tightly bands his arms around my waist. I notice there is a man here by the door.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“That is Detective Logan Fallins,” she says. “He’s my partner.”

“I’m about to get bad news, aren’t I?” I ask. “Will you sit, Logan? You make me nervous standing over there like a creep.”

“You’re good,” Casey says to Logan. He nods and moves over to sit next to her.

“Why is he here?” I ask.

“Because I’m not sure how you are going to take this,” she says honestly.

“Do the others know?” I ask.

“No,” she says. “The only ones who know right now are me, Logan, and a lab technician.”

“Okay. What’s going on?” I ask.

“So, if you remember, I collected your DNA. I also collected DNA from anyone connected to Marvin that was willing to provide a sample. This included everyone here, others he worked with, family, and your stepfather when he was arrested,” she says. “Because Marvin is suspected of serial crimes and because you had mentioned hearing other men in the house when he was bringing other women in, we have the FBI involved so that we could rush the DNA.”

“Okay,” I say slowly.

“Your DNA was put into the system so that it could be ruled out with the… tools… that you surrendered,” she says. “It came back immediately for a missing persons case.”

“Yeah, I know. Mom and…”

“From twenty-seven years ago, Rhea,” she says. I stare at her, understanding, but not wanting to believe her.

“I’m sorry,” Quinn says. “From when she was a baby?”

“Yes,” Casey confirms.

“Ma’am, Jace and I knew her as a baby,” Quinn says.

“How old was she when you met her?” Logan asks.

“About seven months old,” Jace says.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“Very,” Casey says. “They ran it three times.”

“Who am I then?”

“You were reported missing by your biological father at six months old. He went to pick you up from daycare and found that they had released you to your biological mother. She had lost her parental rights a few weeks prior when she was deemed unfit. He gave the police numerous samples of your DNA, every picture he had of you, a hair sample, and eventually even your blanket for cadaver dogs. Your birth name is Rachel. Your birthday is accurate, but your mother has been living under a fake name as well. It appears that Marcus was able to help get the two of you a new identity when she ran with you.”

“Where was I taken from?” I ask.

“Here,” she says. “Your biological father lives in the same home that he moved you two into. You grew up about ten miles from him.”

“Does he know I’m alive?” I ask.

“No, we wanted to tell you first,” she says. “Your mother is living under Rita Langston, but her real name is Debby Jones.”

“So that’s my last name?” I ask.

“No, you have his last name,” she says. “Debby is currently in custody. She was charged with accessory to child rape and eighty-six counts of child pornography as the pictures and videos were found on a computer they shared. She does not know we are aware of her identity, so she is booked under Rita Langston.”

“Do you want to know who your father is?” Logan asks.

“Yes,” I say without hesitation. “Of course. Yes, I want to know who he is.”

“Arthur Genesis,” Casey says.

“Backup,” Rowan says, sitting up. “Arthur? I have known him since I was nineteen. I have never heard him mention having a daughter, let alone a missing one.”

“I’d imagine that would be painful to talk about,” I say. “Can you call him, Rowan?”

“Don’t tell him over the phone,” Theo says.

“He will know the moment he meets her,” Quinn says. “She looks a lot like her mother.”

“I don’t know how I feel about you saying that,” I remark.

“I’ll just tell him to come over,” Rowan says as he puts his phone to his ear. “Hey, Arthur… Do you have time to come by the house? … No, It’s important… No, the detectives are here… Yeah… Okay… You know the gate code… Bye.”

“So?” I ask.

“He was driving home from the office, so he was about to pass by in a second anyhow. Are we completely sure about this?” Rowan asks.

“Yes,” Logan confirms.

“Was I declared dead?” I ask.

“No. It was offered to him, but he refused,” Casey says. “He wanted your case to remain open so no one would stop looking for you. There are some cold case detectives that picked it up last month, so this was probably on it’s way to being discovered anyhow.”

“Do I have to go by Rachel now?” I ask.

“You can go by whatever you want to,” Theo says, and I nod.

“We wanted to let the two of you know first, because she is being charged with kidnapping as well as a whole host of other charges related to your abuse,” Logan says. “The moment she is charged, it will hit the news. It was a big story back then and it will be even bigger now. We didn’t want you to find out that way.”

“I appreciate it,” I say. I get nervous when I hear Rowan’s phone go off to indicate that the gate was opened. When we hear a car door shut, we all stand up.

“Hey,” Theo says, taking my face between his hands. “Are you okay?”

“I… I am so relieved, and I don’t know why,” I say. “I feel like… Like I am getting a piece of myself back that I never knew was taken from me.”

“Just pace yourself,” he suggests. “Don’t force yourself to have a relationship with him if it doesn’t feel natural.”

“Okay,” I say softly.

“Hey,” Arthur says to Rowan when he comes in. He shakes his hand before turning to do the same with Casey and Logan. He hasn’t looked at me yet. He greets a few others before his eyes lock with mine. He freezes and you can see the thoughts running though his head.

“This is Rhea,” Rowan says. Arthur says nothing. He just keeps staring at me. I can see decades of pain surfacing as he starts to realize.

“Arthur,” Casey says, grabbing his attention.

“Is she…”

“She provided DNA to rule her out of some items that were surrendered. That is the same reason we have yours, to rule you out as a potential suspect,” Casey explains. “Her DNA came back as a positive match to Rachel Genesis.”

“No,” he says tearfully. “That means she… Oh God.”

Arthur turns to me, and I can see that he is trying not to come to me, but he is falling apart. I glance at Theo to see if I’m about to make the right decision. When he nods, I take a small step toward him, and he rushes across the room to wrap me in a hug. Emotion crashes down on me when he starts sobbing and I am dragged down with him. Someone leads us over to sit on the couch and Arthur pulls away to hold my face between his hands.

“I’m so sorry, Rhea. I tried so hard to keep you away from her. I tried to find you. They shouldn’t have let you go with her,” he says tearfully. “I should have been there to protect you.”

“It’s not your fault,” I say, sniffing back my tears.

“She hurt you,” he says. “That asshole hurt you. He hurt my little girl.”

“He’s in jail now,” I say. “She’s in jail too.”

“For kidnapping?”

“No. Accessory to rape and eighty-six counts of child porn,” I say. “She will get the kidnapping and probably abuse charges later.”

“Child porn?” he asks. “Did she…”

“No, Marcus was the one taking photos and videos. It was on a shared computer, so they got her for it,” I say before looking at Casey. “Can I see her?”

“Uh… Yeah,” she says. “May I ask why?”

“Because I want her to hear it from me that she didn’t get away with this,” I say. She glances at Logan, and he shrugs.

“Okay,” she says. “I will allow your dad there if he wants to come. You can have Emma because she is your lawyer, and Theo because he is your psychiatrist. The others cannot come back.”

“I understand,” I say before turning to my father. Thinking of him as my father feels normal. He looks like a dad. He is comforting. This is nice. “Do you want to come with me to tell her to get fucked?”

“I’d love nothing more,” he says with a smile.

“You know…” Rowan says. “I see it now… You have the same weird habits.”

“Rude,” I say. “Don’t insult him by comparing me to him.”

“You're lucky your father is in the room,” Rowan frowns.

“That sentence doesn’t scare me like it would have a week ago,” I say. “Well, let’s do this.”

“Ride with us,” Quinn says to my father.

“I’d love to,” he says.

“You two have the same morbid sense of humor,” Anika says.

“Trauma,” Dad and I say at almost the same exact time.

“Freaky,” she laughs.

When I stand, Dad hugs me again. “I’m so glad I have you back, baby girl,” he says softly. “I’m going to fucking kill Marvin.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Casey says with a smirk.

“You can hear it,” he says. “You better hope someone else finds him because if I do or if that fucker Marcus gets out, they’re dead. I’ll smile in my mug shot.”

“Can I take your office?” Anika asks with a grin.

“You good?” Theo asks me quietly as the others start toward the door.

“Great,” I smile. He kisses me softly before we go to the door.

“Alright,” Casey says. “Ready?”

“Yeah,” I say as we stand outside of the room that my mother is in. This is the first time I will be seeing her since I turned eighteen.

“I want you to remember that she knew everything,” Casey says.

“What?” I ask.

“She was aware of what Marcus was doing to you. She knew you were with Marvin. She knew all of it. Marcus was about to run for office and if you were still around, she would have been caught,” she explains. “I need you to understand this because her lawyer is going to try and get you to testify for her to get her out of this.”

“Fuck no,” I snap. “She starved me. She beat me. The first time she hit me so hard that I passed out, I was six-goddamn-years old. That bitch can rot in here for all I care. I promise you; they do not want me getting on that stand to defend her.”

“That’s what I told them,” she says. “Her lawyer is with her, but she isn’t allowed to talk to you. If she wants to, she knows she must go through Emma.”

“Ready?” I ask the others. They nod, so I turn and open the door. Mom looks up and she looks worn out. She is dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit and is shackled to the table. “Rhea,” she says happily.

“Don’t you mean Rachel?” I ask. “You weren’t very creative with my name.”

“What?” the woman asks Casey. “What is this about?”

“Debby Jones, you are being charged with the following,” Casey says, glancing at her paper. “Kidnapping. Felony child endangerment. Felony child abuse, Violation of a protection order, Accessory to statutory rape, eighty-six counts of possession of child pornography with intent to distribute, filing a false police report, and human trafficking. You are not booked under the name Debby Jones, so your court appointed lawyer will receive updated documents. This meeting was called by Rachel Genesis. This is not an interview, but it is being recorded. If you have any questions, we will allow you to ask those once Rachel is not present.”

“Why is he here?” she scolds, not looking at me anymore.

“Because his daughter requested his presences,” Logan says coldly. “With her is her lawyer, Emma Rivers and her psychiatrist, Theo Dache.”

“What’s wrong, Mom?” I ask, sitting at the table in front of her. Dad and Theo take a seat on either side of me.

“What do you want from me?” she asks bitterly. “You want me to apologize? I never fucking wanted you.”

“Then why the fuck did you steal me away from someone who did?” I ask, laughing dryly. “Oh, right. It’s because Marcus wanted a little toy to play with, and you wanted to make him happy.”

“I wanted to hurt him,” Mom say, nodding in my dad’s direction.

“How is that working out for you?” I ask. “I’m free and you are in here.”

“For now,” she says. “You’re free for now.”

“Oh, let me guess. Marvin is looking for me?” I ask. “Please… I’m not concerned about him. Let’s talk about you, Mom. Let’s talk about how you were so fucking stupid to not only kidnap me, but to keep me ten miles from him. You fucking sold me off to a man who worked for him, and then that idiot took me to a club run and frequented by not only the employees of the man you stole me from but also the two men who took care of me when you didn’t.”

“What?” she asks.

“Oh, didn’t know?” I ask. “Quinn and Jace are the ones who saved me from Marvin. Quinn and Jace were the ones who fed me and basically raised me because my piece-of-shit mother and her sick husband had other priorities.”

“Marcus loves you,” she snaps. “Do not sit there and act like…”

“Act like what?” I yell. “Act like he didn’t make me jerk him off at six? Like he didn’t force me to suck him off at ten? Oh, or should I not act like he didn’t rape me for the first time when I was twelve? How about all of the times he told me that it was our little secret because Mommy would be jealous. Yeah, he may not have hit me. He might have never endangered my life until last week, but he raped me over and over and over. But you knew this. You knew what he was doing to me. You hated me because he would rather fuck me than you, and you couldn’t fucking stand it. You couldn’t stand that he wasn’t interested in you. You know how many times you could have helped me? How many times you could have given me back to my father. You stole twenty-seven years away from us. You stole my entire fucking childhood. For what? What did you gain? You didn’t want me. You didn’t want Marcus to want me, so why?”

“Because I wanted to be a mother,” she says quietly.

“You are fucking disgusting,” I laugh dryly as I stand up. “Understand this right now, Debby. If you try to put me on that stand to defend you, I will make sure every motherfucking person in that courtroom knows what you allowed Marcus to do to me. They will all know you failed to protect your daughter, and then you can go to jail where all of those prisoners will learn about what you did to me. Oh, and the fun they will have with you will make what you put me through look mild. So please, call me to testify. Put me on that stand so I can tell everyone the stories about how you’d force fed me, and then shoved your fingers down my throat to make me throw it all up. I’ll tell them all about how you’d whip me with an extension cord for wetting the bed at seven because I was too afraid to get out of bed and have Marcus take me back to my room.”

“I am your mother, Rhea. You owe me…”

“I owe you nothing,” I snap. “Fuck you, Debby. I sincerely hope that you suffer for the rest of your miserable life.”

I am seconds from crying, so I turn to leave, but my father wraps me in his arms and hugs me tightly. Mom is dead silent as he holds me. “I’ve got you,” he says softly.

“Can we go?” I sniff.

“Yeah, baby. Let’s go,” he says with a soft smile. He looks up at Mom for a moment before speaking to her. “I hope you are happy with where life has led you, Debby.”

We leave the room, and I turn to Casey. “Is he here?” I ask.

“Yes,” she says slowly. “Why?”

“I want to see him,” I say.

“Are you sure?” Theo asks.

“Yes,” I say. “I deserve to say my peace.”

“Okay, but I need a promise that no one is going to try and go after him, even if he does deserve it,” Casey says. “He’s with his lawyer right now.”

“Why?” I ask.

“His lawyer is trying to get him to plead guilty. He is determined to take it to trial,” Logan says.

“He thinks he can manipulate me,” I say. “He thinks I will defend him.”

“Yeah,” Casey says.

“Well, I can clear that up for him real fast,” I say.

“Let me go over and talk to his lawyer,” Logan says. Casey nods and he walks away.

“How am I supposed to address him now?” I ask. “I’ve only ever known him as my dad, but he’s not. It’s…”

“First of all,” my father says turning me to face him. “I don’t care what you call me, but he is not your father. Fathers don’t hurt their little girls. They don’t let anyone hurt them. They protect them. He is not your father, Rhea.”

“I just… I want to call you dad,” I say. “You are my dad. You wanted me and you fought for me, even when you couldn’t find me. That is more than either of them did. If it weren’t for Quinn and Jace, I wouldn’t have survived childhood. I know if I had you, I would have been safe and loved. I wouldn’t have suffered like I did.”

“Want to hear something I’ve never told anyone?” he asks.

“Yeah.”

“I still have your room set up,” he says. “It stayed as a nursery until your second birthday, and then I changed it all out for what I thought a toddler would like. When you turned five, I changed it again. I did that on your birthday almost every year and updated it to what I thought you’d like… Right now, it looks like a teenager’s room. The rocking chair I held you in the morning before she stole you, it’s in there. I sit in it every night and read. When you were little, I’d read children’s books out loud. It felt nice to pretend you were curled up in bed listening until you fell asleep. As you got older, so did the books.”

“That’s heart-breaking, Dad,” I say. I catch myself saying it, but it feels natural.

“She’s an author,” Emma says.

“I’m a writer. I am not an author,” I say.

“Anika is going to help her publish,” Theo says. “You two have a lot in common.”

“That’s wonderful,” Dad says. “We’ll get you set up when you are ready.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I say.

“But I’m going to. I didn’t get to be a dad to you growing up, but I can be one now, if you want,” he says. “Dad’s go above and beyond for their kids. I want to do that for you.”

“Did you ever have any other kids?” I ask.

“No. It would have felt like I was replacing you. I didn’t want a replacement, I just wanted my little girl back,” he says. “I’ve not even dated anyone.”

“You should change that,” I say. “Oh, you know what.”

“What?” Theo asks.

“Jace’s Mom is single. Jace has been trying to force her to date lately. You two should meet,” I say to him.

“Rachel,” he sighs. “I mean, Rhea. That’s going to take a bit to get used to.”

“You can call me whatever you want,” I say as I hug him.

“Okay,” Logan says. “He’s agreed to talk to you, but he said he will only talk to you. He knows others will be there, but he stated he will call it off if anyone else besides the detectives talk.”

“Okay,” I say. “Let’s go.”

“Quinn and Jace are going to be jealous they missed this,” Theo laughs.

“Yeah… They aren’t allowed in the same room as Marcus,” Logan says.

I follow the detectives across the hall into another room and I see Marcus through the one-way mirror shackled to the metal table. Casey opens the door and Logan goes first before I walk in behind him.

“Don’t get close to him,” Casey says quietly to me, and I nod.

“Rhea,” Marcus says sweetly. “You came to see me.”

“I did,” I say. “I just went and saw Debby first.”

“I’m sorry?” he asks. “Who?”

“Cut the shit, Marcus. You got her and I fake identities,” I say. “I just wanted to introduce you to my father.”

“I am your father,” he frowns. “I raised you.”

“No, you fucked me. You didn’t raise me,” I say.

“The things we did… That was special,” he says. “I care about you, Rhea. Don’t you see that? All of this is a big misunderstanding.”

“I’m trying to figure out if you are trying to gaslight me or if you are truly that delusional,” I say. “Anyway, this is my dad. His name is Arthur. You want to know a few fun facts about Arthur, Marcus?”

“Sure,” he says flatly.

“Well, he owns Genesis Press, for one,” I say. “He was Marvin’s boss. He is Rowan, Mia, and Anika’s boss. He lived ten miles from us when I was a kid. Did you know you sold me off to a man who worked for my dad?”

“No, I… I didn’t sell you. You married him of your own free will,” Marcus says.

“Oh, so you didn’t gain anything out of that?” I ask. “I hear you are going to try and fight this in court?”

“I didn’t do anything you didn’t want,” he says firmly.

“Oh, so I wanted you to try and drown me while fucking me in the middle of a coffee shop?” I ask. “When did I ask you to kill me?”

“You didn’t, but…”

“But nothing,” I say. “Like I told Mom just now, You can put me on that stand, but everyone will know what you did to me. They will know what you let Marvin do to me. They will know about all the times you sat by and watched her hurt me. Put me on the stand and I’ll make sure everyone knows. You’re a judge who raped a little girl, how do you think you will fair in general population during the trial?”

“What do you want from me?” Marcus asks. “If you don’t want to help, why are you here?”

“I just wanted to see what you looked like tied to a table,” I say with a smile. “I wanted you to see what a father should be.”

“I’m done,” Marcus say to the guard. “Take me back.”

“Don’t drop the soap, Marcus. I hear they love low lives who hurt little girls,” I say as the guard takes him out of the room.

“I will talk to him,” his lawyer says to Casey and Logan. “I think I can get him to plead.”

“Or don’t, and I get to tell my story in court. His choice,” I say.

When we walk out of the room, Emma laughs. “That was shorter than I expected.”

“Like his dick,” I say. Everyone is wide-eyed, but my dad chuckles. “At least someone understands my humor.”

“It’s heartwarming to know how similar the two of you are,” Casey says with a smile.

“Thank you,” I say to her. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome,” she smiles. “Would you prefer we continue calling you Rhea?”

“Uh… Yeah. I might not respond to Rachel,” I say. “I’d like to go home now.”

“Let’s go home,” Theo says sweetly.

As Casey is walking us to the parking lot where the others are waiting, a woman sprints over to us and drags the detectives aside.

“Hey,” Quinn says, kissing me. “How’d it go?”

“She was a badass,” Emma says.

“What’s that about?” Anika asks, pointing to the detectives.

“No idea. That woman just came out of nowhere and pulled them aside,” I say. “Here they come.”

“Okay. I’ll give you a very brief update, but I would like for you all to go straight home,” she says.

“Okay?” I say.

“DNA on the tools came back. There is a match to an unsolved murder from right before you married him. We will be issuing a warrant for Marvin’s arrest in just a few minutes,” she tells us.

“Oh my God,” I sigh. “Finally.”

“We will let you know when he is in custody,” Logan says. “Go straight home.”

“You can come to the house,” Rowan says to Dad. “It’ll give you two a chance to talk.”

“We have a bunch of pictures that Jace and I took over the course of her childhood. It’s a lot of random shit, but I’m glad we had the wherewithal to know to document these things,” Quinn says.

“That would be amazing,” Dad says happily.

“We need to go,” Casey says. “Call if you need anything.”

We wave them off and Quinn wraps me in a tight hug before kissing me. “Did you get to say your peace?”

“I did,” I smile.

“Good girl. I’m proud of you,” he says.

“I also got to say my peace to Marcus,” I add.

“Aw. I totally would have loved to be in the room with him,” Quinn says.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I laugh. “Good riddance to all of them.”