She deserved that, after all. Everyone deserved to be happy.
Scarlett glanced back at Olly once more, wondering where they would be going from here. But when Agent Killion took command of the room, she was once more reminded of where they were…and why they were here.
“This video alone will put Paul Ethridge in prison for the rest of his life.” The tall, salt-and-pepper agent’s deep voice bolstered confidence. “Him and the other two with him.”
“What about Victor Manning?” Olly’s voice sounded almost rough with anger.
She couldn’t blame him. The video’s content enraged her, too. As it should any sane person who witnessed such an evil, senseless act.
“Him, too.” Agent Killion nodded. Running a hand over his neatly trimmed beard, he sighed. “If I had to guess, I’d say the District Attorney will push to have both men sent to ADX.”
“ADX?” Scarlett asked.
“It’s a supermax prison two hours west of here, in Florence.”
She’d heard about supermax prisons in one of the true-crime podcasts she liked listening to. They were supposedly the most secured prisons in the country. Virtually inescapable.
Sounds like the perfect place for assholes like the ones we’re discussing.
Agent Crenshaw pressed a button on the remote still held securely in his hand. The screen went black, and as far as Scarlett was concerned, it was none too soon.
Almost instinctively, she looked to Rose who also looked relieved to no longer have to face the reminder of her own personal nightmare. Her heart physically hurt for the pain she knew her sister had to be feeling.
The pain. The grief. The guilt.
Not that Rose had done a damn thing wrong. She’d survived. That was her only crime. But Scarlett knew the fact that Rose had been forced to watch other women be filtered in and out of that club as if they were cattle had left its mark on the poor woman’s soul.
She just prayed her sister could eventually find a way to accept that those women would’ve been taken and sold no matter what Rose did. And if she had tried to intervene sooner than she had, there was a good chance others would have been killed.
Including Rose.
“A.D.A. Umbridge is already on her way over. Once I show her this and you give your official statement”—he looked to Rose—“she will issue a warrant for both men’s arrests, as well as a search warrant that will no doubt shut The Mystique down for good.”
“Thank God,” Scarlett muttered more to herself than anyone.
Rose turned to her, her weary gaze pulling hard on Scarlett’s heartstrings. But then the woman tipped her chin just slightly, letting her know she shared the sentiment.
“I have to ask…” Wade Crenshaw spoke up again, his attention locked on Rose. “You said that video was taken two weeks ago?”
Rose nodded. “Yes.”
“And you got back to Denver five days ago?”
Another nod. “That’s right.”
“Why didn’t you bring the flash drive to us as soon as you got back into town?” The man’s intelligent gaze slid from Rose to Olly and back again. “And why break into Mr. Garcia’s apartment?”
Scarlett’s stomach dropped. Surely they weren’t thinking about charging the poor woman with breaking and entering. Not after all she’d been through.
“Olly isn’t pressing charges,” she couldn’t help but come to her sister’s defense. “And you wouldn’t have the evidence against Vic or Pauly if not for her, so if you’re thinking about slapping her with some sort of BS charge just because she?—”
Agent Killion raised a palm to stop her. It worked.
“We’re not charging your sister with anything, Miss Hathaway,” he assured her. “My partner was simply asking the last of his questions so we can go to the D.A. with everything in its entirety. That’s all.”
“Oh.” Scarlett felt a rush of heat crawling into her cheeks. “Well good.” She swallowed. “That’s…good.”
When she slid her attention in Rose’s direction, she was surprised to find the other woman staring back, a ghost of a smile lifting her full, bow-shaped lips. To Olly, Scarlett silently mouthed the wordsorry.But Olly…