Page 24 of Ashes to New

She nodded.

He explained her rights, but she had nothing to hide.

“I killed him.”

Detective Grady nodded. “Yes, that’s what your brother said over the phone.”

“My foster brother,” she corrected. “We’re not related.”

He made a note on his pad of paper. “He explained, but I’d like to hear from you what happened and why, if that’s possible.”

It was more than possible.

Elsbeth told Detective Grady everything. Officer Naples’ expression paled when Elsbeth detailed some of the sexual abuse. Eventually, she excused herself, but she returned a few minutes later with two glasses of water. Elsbeth took one and continued.

When social services arrived an hour later, she breathed another sigh of relief, grateful for yet another unfamiliar face.

She told the cops what John Snowden had said about paying off her caseworker. She even mentioned the judge. They asked her for names and a description of John Snowden.

Activity picked up in the library. The men brought in empty boxes. More men joined them. There were very few women. And, as she talked, those men packed the boxes with the contents of Clark Preston’s library.

Another group arrived a bit later. They swept in and out, removing the body, and still, she told her story. Detective Grady shifted in his seat during some of the more graphic descriptions, but his pen scratched over the pad, his writing furious to keep pace.

The woman from social services left to speak with Forest and then came back a few minutes later. “Detective,” she said, “it’s getting late, and the kids need to eat. How much longer will this take?”

He tapped his notebook with the tip of his pen. “I think we’re nearly done.” His gaze felt solid, trustworthy, and nestled into her heart. “Do you like pizza?”

“Am I going to jail?”

He glanced at the social worker and then shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”

Those words broke the dam holding back her emotions. Elsbeth cracked, and tears poured down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around herself and rocked as the world disappeared.

It was over. It was all finally over.

But, as much as her belly ached for food, she wanted only one thing. She needed Forest’s hug. She wanted him to say everything would be all right, but he wouldn’t touch her.

Elsbeth cried her agony until she found herself pulled into the embrace of a stranger.

Chapter Thirteen

IT HAD BEENmonths since Elsbeth had taken Clark Preston’s life.

As she dressed for her trial, her mind was blank and empty. Judge Johnson, their old caseworker, and a few others they had named, had been arrested that night. John Snowden had never been found, escaping, no doubt, overseas to avoid extradition.

The night she’d killed Clark Preston, Detective Grady had bought pizza, and she and Forest had eaten their last meal in the dining room of that wretched house.

She never got that hug. Forest still wouldn’t touch her. He couldn’t touch her, but he never left her side. Always, Forest was there, supporting her through the darkest times, except when she needed a shoulder to cry on.

“You almost ready?” Forest walked into her room without knocking. He picked up her bag and swung it over his shoulder.

She adjusted her skirt and pulled at the pink blouse. “How do I look?”

“Like you can take on the world.”

Maybe she could. A sense of becoming something new loomed on the horizon. There was only this one thing to do before she could contemplate her future.

“I don’t know about the world,” she said, “but I’m ready to put this behind me. I hate this. I hate this happened to us…to you.”