She rested her hand on my forehead and moved my hair to the side. “I’ll get you out of here alive. I promise, Addison. I’ll do it for Liam.” Her voice grew watery. “I have to make my son proud, because I know he’s ashamed of me. He has to be. I would be. I am.” Her eyes grew fierce. “I swear I had no idea why they wanted me to watch you. They never said a word. I was just supposed to report if something weird happened, and you moving to The Mauricio was weird. That’s when I found out.”

Found out what? My mouth opened. I tried speaking. Still nothing.

“They think Liam—no, they know Liam had a Bertal as a patient. It was before they realized Liam was estranged from us. Everything went to the shitter after that.” She met my eyes again. “There was a war going on back then, and they couldn’t determine whose side Liam was on.” She swallowed before adding, “The trouble started when Cole Mauricio came back. There’d been peace for a while, but he killed four of our men. That was it then.”

I remembered what Cole had said. “They sent four men… They died. I lived… I came back, and I killed more.”

“We got pulled into a war we didn’t want, not at first. We were pissed. Oh yeah. They were pissed. And more of our men died. That Carter Reed, he killed almost all of us. The families all thought he was coming after us, like—”

–like they had for Cole’s family. They killed my dad first… My mom was the next week. Then his three brothers. His older sister. His two younger sisters, the twins. One after another, week after week.

I wasn’t crying, not for her. Her hand went to my neck, and she began to wash there. The tears that slid down and fell on the top of her hand were for Cole, for the man whose family she’d helped murder.

A seed started to grow in me. It was small, but it was powerful. It was my hate for this family, the one Liam came from.

“Anyway.” She huffed, clearing her throat. Her hand lingered on my collarbone, but I didn’t think she really saw me. “They’re worried now that you told. That’s why we sued you. I didn’t want to. We knew Liam bought that home with his inheritance. We had no say in that money. Bea made sure of it. But they needed access to your bank accounts. That was the whole reason, and they have computer guys. I don’t get it. They tried to explain it, but none of it made sense to me. They just wanted your bank statements, see if you got paid off by Mauricio, if that was why you were living in his building.”

Who was they?! I wanted to know their names, their positions. I wanted to know everything.

“They couldn’t find anything, said there were no suspicious transactions.”

What? No. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t defend myself. Instead my hands curled into fists, and my nails cut into my skin. The pain lessened some of the other pain. I kept digging them in.

“I kept telling them no,” Carol said, pleading now. “I know you have every right to hate me, too, but I still love my boy. I wouldn’t have done that to you, but they made us. They threatened us, threatened the rest of our kids. We had to. I’m so sorry, Addison. We had to.”

She sat back, her hand falling to her lap. She held the washcloth, and it formed a wet spot on her pants. She didn’t seem aware of it. “When they couldn’t find any incriminating transactions, they went through the house. I tried to tell them there’d be nothing. I knew you took everything personal with you, or it went to your parents.”

New horror filled me. I opened my mouth, trying to ask if she’d told them that, but only a whispered scream burst out.

She looked up. Her eyes rounded, and she shook her head. “Oh, no. I didn’t tell them that. Just that the dog went to them. They wanted to know, but no way. I wouldn’t put your mother in harm’s way like that. I told them you put your stuff in storage, but I didn’t know where. That’s what they were looking for. They wanted to find a key or where you stored it all. They didn’t find anything, like I knew they wouldn’t.”

A lost look entered her eyes. “And when they couldn’t find anything, they said there was no other option.” She looked at me again. “That’s why you’re here. They made me get close to you. No one else could, and I knew I only had a little window. You were going back there to stand next to Mauricio himself. He put guards on you. They’ve been watching you for a while, but always at a distance. Did you know that?” She nodded to herself. “They blended in, but we figured out who they were. For once, none of them were by you. I had to move, or it wouldn’t have worked. I think maybe it shouldn’t have worked. I should’ve taken the needle myself, made something up, said you overpowered me, but I knew it wouldn’t work. They would’ve just killed you if I hadn’t helped them take you this way.”

She put the washcloth in the bucket, and her hand covered mine. She leaned close. “I’ll get you out of this. I’ll fix it. I promise. But, Addison, you have to tell me—what did Liam say to you?”

I shook my head.

“He must’ve said something. Why did you move into The Mauricio? Of all buildings, why that one? There was a reason. You went there on purpose. You have to tell us why. What did Liam tell you about the Bertals? What don’t I know?”

I had no response. Even if my vocal chords had worked, I still wouldn’t have told her a thing. There was nothing to tell. I lifted my shoulders and tried to shake my head again, side to side.