Chapter 14 · The Woman on Tape

Jessa's apartment smells like burnt coffee and old cigarettes. I don't remember it smelling like this before. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention.

"You could've called," Jessa says. She's leaning against the kitchen counter, arms crossed. Her eyes flick to Rowan, who's standing three steps behind me like she's guarding a perimeter.

"I did call." I don't sit down. "You didn't pick up."

"Yeah, well." Jessa shrugs. "I've been busy."

Rowan shifts her weight. I can feel her gaze on the back of my neck. She hasn't said a word since we got here, but her presence fills the room like static before a storm.

Jessa notices. "She always like this?"

"Like what?"

"Intense."

I don't answer. Rowan doesn't need me to defend her, and Jessa doesn't need to know how many nights I've woken up to find Rowan sitting at the foot of my bed, staring at the door like something's coming.

"I need the files," I say.

Jessa's expression doesn't change. "What files?"

"Don't do that." My voice comes out sharper than I meant. "You know what I'm talking about. The Halo Project. My mom. Whatever you've been sitting on for the last two years.