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“So I’m sorry, Max, but if you want me to feel sorry for them, I don’t.” Her voice hardens. “I believe in justice. And in my eyes, you carried out that justice. It took ten years, but it’s done.”

“People are dead, Sienna.”

“I know.”

“Because of me.”

“I know that, too.”

“Then how can you stand there and defend me?!” I yell, a fresh batch of angry tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Because somebody fucking has to!” Her voice echoes down the empty corridor, leaving a heavy silence in its wake.

Sienna draws in a breath, visibly trying to rein in her temper.

“Don’t shed another tear for them, Max. We both know they wouldn’t have shed one for you. Hell, they didn’t shed one when they thought they’d killed you the first time.” She shakes her head. “The only person standing in this jail who deserves my sympathy is you.”

I let out a humorless laugh. “I’m pretty sure the rest of the world would disagree with you.”

“Then the rest of the world can go fuck itself.”

Despite everything, the corner of my mouth twitches.

She notices but doesn’t smile.

“If Chief Neptune had done his due diligence back then, if anyone in this godforsaken town had bothered to listen to you instead of protecting their precious golden goose, none of this would have happened.” She tightens her grip on the bars. “You could have gotten on with your life. Gone to college, become a writer, fallen in love. All the things you were supposed to do without having to spend every waking moment thinking of what was and what could have been.”

“I did become a writer,” I remind her weakly.

“Yeah. You did.” Her eyes glisten. “And I’m so fucking proud of you for that. But don’t pretend it didn’t cost you something to get there.”

I look away, my throat tightening.

“As I see it, they stole your future twice, Max. That night at the mill, and now.”

The way her voice trembles on the last sentence makes me tilt my head up to look at her again.

Sienna Hartley, who has never shown an ounce of vulnerability for most of her life, is standing on the other side of a jail cell, fighting back tears.

“Do you have any idea what it’s like to stand here and look at you behind these bars?” she asks. “After everything you’ve survived? And knowing I’m the one who put you here?”

“Sienna…”

“No. Let me finish.” She swallows hard. “I’ve spent my entire career believing in the justice system. Believing that if you work hard enough, follow the rules, and do your fucking job, the truth will eventually win out. But standing here, looking at my best friend locked up while the people who destroyed her life got to spend ten years living theirs without consequence.…” She shakes her head, a tear slipping down her cheek. “It’s the greatest injustice I’ve ever been a part of.”

I get to my feet, crossing the few steps separating the cot from the bars.

“Sienna, you didn’t do anything wrong,” I say, wrapping my hands over hers on the iron bars.

“Didn’t I?” She gives me a sad smile. “I ask myself that question a lot. Maybe I could have done more. Maybe if I’d known I could of he—”

“You couldn’t have known what my intentions were. You did your job. And you did it well. If anyone had to take me down, at least it gives me some small comfort knowing it was you.” I squeeze her fingers.

For a moment, neither of us says anything else. We simply stand there, separated by cold iron and all the things we can never take back.

Eventually, Sienna releases my hand and takes a step back.

“I should go,” she says quietly.