Chapter 20 · Untitled Chapter

"How long?" I had a fistful of Julian's jacket, and the ledger photo shook between us. "How long have you known my mother didn't burn?"

Julian didn't pull away. Blood soaked through the shirt where he'd taken the bullet for me an hour ago.

"I found the transfer record two weeks ago," he said. "I didn't know it was her. I swear to God, Mara, I didn't know the name."

"You knew someone walked into city hall three days after the fire that killed my whole family. And you said nothing."

"I told you I'd find who did this. I never said I'd found everything."

"That's not the same as the truth."

His jaw tightened. "No. It isn't."

"Guys." Nia's voice cut through us. She was already at the stolen car, laptop open on the hood, a cable running to the portable dish she'd stolen from a news van two blocks back. "I hate to interrupt the emotional murder happening over there, but I've got sixty seconds of clean uplink. After that, their security finds us."

I let go of Julian's jacket. My hand kept shaking. "Use it for what?"

Nia turned the screen toward me.