“So, what will happen to her?” I asked after we left the police station. We’d all been brought in for questioning, but we were released after we gave our statements. I was so shaken I could hardly get the details right. Had Hester kidnapped me before or after I left the airport? Could I describe how she positioned herself beside the pool? Had she been armed at any point? It was overwhelming, trying to cough up the answers to their list of never ending questions. “Will she be okay?”

“Don’t know, and frankly, I don’t care,” Theo replied. “Probably be declared insane and end up in some mental hospital. Which is far more than she deserves. Thing is, Hester is smart as hell, but she’s also a great actress. Can play crazy on demand and do a damn convincing job of it.”

“So she’s not really crazy?” I asked.

“Well, she was diagnosed with several disorders a long time ago, but Hester knew exactly what she was doing when she kidnapped and tried to kill you. She’ll still probably plead insanity and get away with it though.”

I chewed my lip. Theo had lied to me by omission, and I felt betrayed in the aftermath. “You never told me she was your sister.”

“Far as I’m concerned, she isn’t. We may be related by blood, but that’s about it.”

“How could she be so wealthy, and you so poor? I don’t understand. And why does she have this vendetta against you?”

“It’s a long story,” Theo said, rubbing his forehead. Several wrinkles seemed to have appeared overnight. “A really long story.”

“I almost died. I think you owe me that long story,” I insisted. He wasn’t getting off that easy.

Theo hung his head and lean back against one of the large columns on the portico. “After my dad died of cancer, Mom moved out to Vegas to be with me. I was only eighteen, broke, angry at the world, and wanted nothing to do with her. She ended up becoming a stripper, and that’s how she met Duncan Lancaster, the owner of the biggest strip club in Vegas. She worked for him a year, and they fell in love. He was married though, so they had a secret affair. Mom grew tired of being the mistress and lied about being on birth control, just so she’d get knocked up. Then, she tried to blackmail Duncan, but it didn’t work. Duncan denied Hester and Mom’s existence for many years. Wouldn’t give them a damn penny. They asked me for help, but I was struggling myself and turned them away. Eventually, Duncan got divorced and reconnected with Hester, but it was only a few years before he died. Mom had committed suicide by then, and Hester had been living with a foster family. Duncan and his wife never had any kids of their own, so Duncan decided to take Hester in. When he died, he left her everything.

When I realized my sister was now one of the richest and most powerful women in Vegas, I came to her and asked for help. She turned me away at first, until she decided to start exploiting my desperation. She’d loan me money, but in turn, I’d have to do humiliating things for her. It was her way of controlling me and her ultimate revenge.”

“Why did she say you were the reason your mother left her?”

“Mom was a Vicodin addict. Actually, she’d take any pills she could get her hands. I didn’t know how bad it was. She came to me one night drunk and bawling her eyes out. Asked for some pills to take the edge off. Said she was in so much pain. I gave her some painkillers I had left over from when I was injured my neck in a car accident. I didn’t think she’d mix them with a dozen other pills and commit suicide that night.”

“I’m so sorry,” I stammered. To say Theo had it rough was a huge understatement. I couldn’t imagine the weight of the guilt resting on his shoulders.

“Afterwards, Hester asked to live with me. Said I was her brother, that she was fourteen, old enough to take care of herself and not be a nuisance. I was all she had, but I still said no. I was so torn up about Mom’s suicide, as well as hopelessly lost in my own gambling addiction, and couldn’t do it. I turned her away, and she vowed to get back at me.”

I tried to add up the equation, but each answer evoked more questions. “But if your mom never married Duncan, why did Hester say they were divorced?”

“Mom didn’t want Hester to think she was an unwanted baby, so she lied and said she’d divorced Duncan when Hester was two. She didn’t want to admit that Hester was just a stripper’s last-ditch attempt at blackmailing her sugar daddy.”

“Wow. And Duncan never corrected her?”

“Duncan never knew about that lie. By the time he reconnected with Hester, he already had dementia and his mind was fading fast. Most of the time, he didn’t really know what he was doing.”

I exhaled sharply. “That’s quite the story.”

“I’m a piece of shit, Rose” Theo said. “I regret the decisions I made back then, but I can’t do anything about them now.”

“What will happen to Hester’s estate…her home?” I asked. The mansion that had been my prison hours ago was huge, at least nine or ten-thousand square feet. “Seems like such a waste…”

“She’ll still own it. It’ll probably stay empty, I guess. I feel bad for Caiman, the old butler. He was the only one who cared about anything in that house. He was never cruel to me.”

“Now that Hester is in jail, you can go grab your things. It’s safe now. I’ll drive,” I offered.

Theo nodded grimly. “I’ll grab some clothes and my important documents. Then I guess I’ll sell the trailer, if anyone even wants it. Maybe for a few grand.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

By the time we pulled up to Theo’s trailer, it was mid-afternoon. The front of his trailer was covered in dark black and purple graffiti. The only legible word read, “Fucktard”.

“Was it always covered in graffiti?” I asked, looking around at all the plastic and rotten food surrounding the trailer. It would fit right in at a scrapyard.

Theo nodded reluctantly. “Yeah, this is why I didn’t want to show you where I lived. It’s disgusting, I know.”

“Do you need any help?” I offered, rolling up my sleeves. He couldn’t do this alone. I decided to swallow my judgments along with my germaphobia and shook open a black garbage bag for him. “Just put all your clothes in here and we’ll sort them when we get to the hotel.”

“You don’t have to stay, really. I mean, the worst of it is over. I’ll be okay now,” Theo said, taking the garbage bag from me.

“You think I went through all this just to give up on you now?” I asked, stepping inside his trailer without invitation. “I’m not going back to Northbridge without you, Theo.”

Theo picked up the filthy clothes scattered over the couch and floor and shoved them into the bag. “Really, Rose, you don’t have to— It reeks in here and—”

I bent over and helped him pick up three pairs of pants, most of which were full of holes and stunk of body odor. “Let’s clean up as fast as possible so we can leave.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

It had taken several hours to finish cleaning, and we were celebrating over beers when I realized I was supposed to meet with my boss for a performance review that morning. And not just any performance review, but the annual performance review. The one during which I had planned to ask for a raise and a promotion, something I absolutely deserved. Something I’d been tirelessly working toward for years.

“Shit,” I swore, pinching the bridge of my nose. I looked at the time on my phone. 8:49p.m. Too late to call and ask to reschedule. I’d fucked up. I’d have to take it up with Lapoux the following morning and pray he would understand. After all, there were extenuating circumstances.

“What’s wrong?” Theo asked, crushing his beer can and tossing it into the corner, where a mountain of empty cans awaited recycling.

“Nothing. It’s fine. I just forgot to do something at work.”

“I think after the long day we’ve had, work should be the last thing on your mind,” Theo said, wiping his stubbled face with the back of his hand.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m a workaholic, Theo. What can I say?” I mustered a weak laugh.

“Well, come on, workaholic. Let’s get going. It’s late, and I don’t think you want to crash here tonight, do you?”

“Not a chance,” I replied, peeling off my rubber gloves. I grabbed a heavy garbage bag, and Theo took two others. We spent fifteen minutes loading up the rental SUV with a couple boxes and the rest of the bags. Then, we drove back to the Venetian.

“So that’s your whole life? The things in the trunk?” I asked. “How does it feel?”

“Feels like I’m ready for a change. A new beginning,” Theo said, reaching over and squeezing my hand.

“I agree. I’m proud of you, Theo. Have I thanked you properly for saving my life?”

“I don’t believe you have,” Theo replied with a sad smirk.

“In that case, thank you. Honestly.”

“Does this mean we’re even, Rose?”

“I guess. Yeah.”

I still hadn’t shown up for work, and I’d lost my phone after I was taken, so I had no way of contacting my boss. Ryder, Beck, and Ki had already flown back to Northbridge, and I’d booked Theo and me tickets for the following morning. Once I got home and sorted out my shit, I’d let them know what happened, if they didn’t see it on the news first. What had happened was so bewildering, it was stranger than fiction. Maybe they’d turn this into a movie or something.

“You were really brave back there, Rose,” Theo said as he unlocked the hotel room door. It had taken a few minutes to check in since Rose hadn’t shown up for her original reservation the night before. “You stood up to Hester like a champ, even though she’s bat shit crazy. You got balls, lady.”

“I’ve dealt with my fair share of crazies at work and abroad,” I said. “I’m tougher than I look.”

“Am I an awful human being?” Theo suddenly asked, hands shoved into pockets. “If you hadn’t stopped me six months ago, you never would have been involved in all this. Your life wouldn’t have been in danger.”

“Don’t you dare say that to me again, Theo,” I said, shaking my head. “If you really want to thank me, I want you to live the best life you can and be the best version of yourself. Always. Then I’ll know it wasn’t all in vain.” We walked into the room and I locked the door. “Come on, let’s catch some sleep. We have a flight to catch tomorrow.”