Page 2 of Ruthless Intent

“Are you Ashley Trumont?” Jessa-Mae’s voice is gentle.

“Wait! What?” Karla looks from me to Jessa-Mae and back again, then takes the controller from me and whirls to face the television. She turns it back on.

“—wouldn’t have been possible without the tireless work of my team. I’m just glad we were able to get the verdict overturned, and Zain can now try to put all of this behind him. It doesn’t make up for the fourteen years he’s lost, but it shows how one false testimony combined with incompetent police officers can?—”

“Turn it off!”

“Ashley?” Karla’s voice is cautious as she turns down the volume.

“It was my testimony that put him away, Karla.”

“Your testimony?” Karla speaks at the same time as Jessa-Mae.

“You lied to the court?” Jessa’s eyes widen.

“No, I didn’t lie! I saw him. I saw him!” My voice breaks, and I shudder, unwanted images of that night filling my mind. “I need to go home. I need to speak to my mom. I need to warn her, if she hasn’t seen the news already.”

And then I need to run and hide from the attention that’s going to be heading my way.

“Warn her about what? I don’t remember much about it, but I think I heard that he was your half-brother. Different moms, right, but the same dad?”

“His family is one of the founders of the town where my mom still lives. Now he’s free, he’s not going to just hide in the shadows. His family always said he was innocent. But he isn’t. I saw him. And he threatened to come after me, to make me pay. I didn’t think he’d ever get out.”

“It’s been fourteen years, Ash. I bet the only thing he wants to do is celebrate being out of prison. And anyway, he won’t know who you are. We didn’t.” Karla’s voice is calm.

I laugh, the sound high pitched. “Really? You really believe he’s going to be content to just leave everything in the past? You think he won’t already know where I am?”

“I doubt he’s spent all that time in prison plotting your downfall. You were just a kid.”

I shake my head. A mistake when nausea rises. “I’m going to throw up.”

Evading Jessa-Mae and Karla when they reach for me, I dash out of the kitchen, along the hallway and into the bathroom. I make it just in time to lose my breakfast.

I’ve had nightmares about this day. After he was sentenced. I spent weeks planning my escape route if he tried to appeal and won. When time passed, and there was no report of an appeal, I allowed myself to believe that I’d never have to face the idea of him being free. I convinced myself that he’d die before he would ever be released.

On my knees in front of the toilet, I bury my face into my hands.

He’s out. They found something that brought his conviction into question and got him released. He’s free.

How? What did they find?

The last words I heard when he was being removed from court after the jury announced his verdict rattles around my head.

“You’re going to pay for this, little girl. I don’t care how long it takes. The day I get out, you’re going to pay for what you’ve done to me.”

My dad hustled me out of the courthouse, and told me to ignore his threat as the weak lie it was. There was nothing to worry about. He would never get the opportunity to come looking for me.

Except … he’s only been in prison for fourteen years … and now he’s out.

I suck in a deep, steadying breath, flatten my hands against the tiled floor and push to my feet. Turning to the sink, I splash water on my face, then stare at my reflection.

Jessa-Mae isn’t wrong. I’m so white, I look like I’ve just crawled out of a grave.

“You’re a strong, intelligent woman. You’ve moved on from what happened. You share a nice house with your two best friends. You have a life, a steady job, and a boyfriend. You’re not a child anymore.” I say the words, but I don’t believe them. Not for a second.

I haven’t moved on. I just pretend I have to make it easier to get up day after day. I’m not sure I ever will.

I need to know what caused the judge to overturn his verdict.

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