Page 78 of Criminology of a Character

“He really was right about the dog,” Reese said, scratching Cerberus’ head, which wasn’t an easy feat since the pup refused to stay still.

“Who was right?” Bel asked, returning her focus to her family.

“Eamon,” he answered. “He was the one who realized the accident victim wasn’t you. When we didn’t believe him, he brought Cerberus into the morgue to prove it. He ignored the body, and as horrified as I am that the poor woman had to die, I’m glad the dog avoided her. He wouldn’t even look at the body, and seeing him with you proves he knew we shouldn’t worry.”

“You are a good boy.” Bel hugged her pitbull’s neck, and Cerberus plopped all seventy pounds down on her chest. “My best boy. Thanks for telling everyone I was alive.” She kissed his snout as a thought entered her mind.

“Where is he?” she scanned her gathered loved ones, his absence suddenly painfully obvious. “Where’s Eamon?”

“I don’t know, baby.” Reese looked at her with an apology. “No one does.”

Charlie Bleu strodeinto his hotel room without bothering to turn on the lights. He’d had a successful day, if his situation could be called successful. He’d chosen Venezuela because of their limited extradition with the United States, and he’d found a building for sale within his budget. He would start over here after he contacted an old acquaintance. Jax Frost wasn’t the only monster he knew, and it would only be a matter of time before he reclaimed his scalpel from that detective. He wished she’d died in the snow. He hated he hadn’t put a bullet in her brain. It made this next part of his plan difficult, but not impossible. His past had helped him forge many deadly connections. Plenty of dangerous men owed him, and they would be more than willing to butcher that pretty detective for him.

“Charlie Bleu,” a deep and menacing voice interrupted the silence, and Charlie jerked backward, tripping over his feet to crash into the desk. “Or shall I say, Charles Blaubart?” The intruder flipped on a floor lamp, and Charlie gawked as Eamon Stone’s massive form emerged from the shadows.

“You took what belongs to me.” Eamon stepped forward, his movements a death threat. “You tried to kill what I love most in this world.”

Charlie whirled on his heels and charged for the front door, only to collide with a solid wall of muscle. He stumbled back to find Ewan Orso blocking his escape, but before he could aim for the window, Sheriff Griffin stepped out of the closet to block his last hope.

“You took what was mine,” Eamon repeated. “No one takes what’s mine and lives unpunished.” He lunged for Charlie and caught him by the throat with unnerving speed. “Isobel Emerson is under my protection. She belongs to me, and if it were up to me, I would peel your skin off your flesh while you watched. But the sheriff prefers you pay the legal way, so I helped him find you. It doesn’t matter that Venezuela’s extradition is limited at best. I made it my purpose to return you to the States, where the FBI will be waiting. There will be a trial, and you’ll go to prison. I promised Griffin that I wouldn’t kill you before your sentencing, but who knows? Accidents happen in prison, and my reach is wide. I would sleep with one eye open. You never know which day will be your last.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt?”Bel stopped short when she saw Hazel’s parents exit Annalise Sept’s hospital room. Reese was walking Cerberus, and her sisters were at lunch, so she’d seized the first private moments since arriving at the hospital to search out the woman the world believed was Anne Blaubart.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as she rolled her IV to the couple.

“We heard you found Annalise alive,” Mrs. Wyatt said. “As Hazel’s friend, she almost felt like another daughter to me. Life will be difficult for her after she’s discharged, so we came to offer our support. She has no family, and we have no daughter. I think Hazel would want us to take care of her friend.”

“She would.” Bel took the woman’s hand. “When I thought we wouldn’t get off that mountain, I prayed my dad would take care of the people I loved for me. I’m sure Hazel would want the same.”

“Thank you.” Mrs. Wyatt pulled her into a hug, and when they finally parted, she wiped the tears from her cheeks before taking her husband’s hand. “We’re going to lunch, but we’ll be back. Make sure Annalise knows we’re coming back.”

“I will.” Bel watched the grieving parents disappear into the elevator, and then she stepped into the hospital room. “Annalise?” She rolled her IV to the bed, and without adrenaline, it felt weird to call the woman who looked like Anne Blaubart by another name. “Are you up for a visit?”

“I don’t know,” Annalise said.

“That’s okay,” Bel said. “I can come back.”

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

Bel blinked at Annalise’s hostility. She didn’t expect them to become friends, but she hadn’texpectedbitterness from the woman after she’d dragged her through the snow to safety.

“Okay.” Bel nodded. She’d done her part. She’d saved a life, and she wouldn’t remain where she wasn’t welcome. “I just wanted to check on you. I saw the Wyatts. It’s great they want to help. I’m happy for you.” She aimed for the door.

“He was obsessed with you,” Annalise whispered, freezing Bel in her tracks. “My husband.Ever sincewe met you at Wendy Darling’s wedding, he couldn’t stop thinking about you. At first, he just wanted to fix your scars, but when he learned of your personality, he became obsessive. You reminded him of the first Anne, the only one heeverloved, and I tried to make him happy. I was hopelessly in love with him, but after Frost took Hazel, I had no choice. I played by his rules because I loved him. Plus, I didn’t know about the other women or that basement surgery. I only knew about the first Anne, and I trusted him when hepromised the surgeries and his dead wife’s identity would hide me from that madman. I spent three years at his side, but then you came along with your scars and your ‘screw you’attitude and your confidence, and my three years of sacrifice meant nothing. He knew you for two weeks, and he wanted you so badly that he decided to kill me. Because of you, I was going to be murdered.”

“I’m sorry.” Bel couldn’t face her, but she suddenly understood Anne’s hatred for her on the island. She wasn’t afraid Bel would uncover her truth. She was a woman named Annalise who was terrified her husband would murder her so he could replace her with a newer, shinier toy.

“I’m sure you are. Everyone thinks you’re perfect,” Annalise spat. “I gave up everything. I gave up my face, my life, and my dreams to love him, and you came along to steal him.”

“You didn’t sacrifice everything.” Bel whirled on the woman. “He stole everything. He manipulated you, and I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve that.” She unconsciously stepped forward before catching herself. Instinct urged her to comfort Annalise, to remind her that none of this was on her shoulders, but she forced herself to hang back and use her voice instead.

“I didn’t want him,” she continued. “I never wanted him, but I did want your safety. What he did to you was unforgivable, the way he lied and manipulated and stole, but you survived. You made it out, and there’s a beautiful family who wants to help you live the life their daughter can’t. You get to see the future, and for that, I’m glad. And I am not perfect. Charles would’ve hated me one day, too. He was cursed. He was the problem. Not me. Not you. Him.”

“But what am I supposed to do without him?” Annalise whispered. “I can never undo what he did. He remade everything about me and left me with nothing. No job, no money. I don’t even have my real ID anymore. I no longerknowwho I am, so how can I move on? How am I supposed to live without him?”

“But you are still you.” Bel reached into her pocket and pulled out a package of gum. It wasn’t the same brand Annalise chewed. The hospital vending machines didn’t sell it, but they had gum with a blue wrapper, and Bel had managed to fold a rough origami butterfly. “He may have changed you, but no amount of surgery can steal your truth. It was screaming to get out.” She placed the butterfly on Annalise’s chest. “I’m sorry I didn’t put the puzzle pieces together sooner. I’m sorry my presence endangered your life, but this is who you are. No one can rob you of who you are on the inside. That’s yours and yours alone. Annalise Sept is still in there.”

“Pretty words from a pretty girl, but I can’tgo backto her. I can’t be Annalise. Not when I look like six other dead women. Not when I don’t see myself in the mirror anymore.”

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