Page 145 of Beautiful Exile

Trace no longer wore the expression he used to hide his fury. Instead, everything in his demeanor read resignation, maybe even a little sadness.

Linc’s arm went around my shoulders, pulling me to him. “What’s the update?”

Trace sighed. “Hannah was transported to county holding a few hours ago. We’ve been executing searches on her apartment and studio space. We found the mask she used in the break-in and her little brother’s football pads to make herself look bigger in the video footage. It took us a little while to find her vehicle, but when we did, we found a rifle in the trunk. Matches the caliber of bullet found at the campsite.”

My gaze moved to Anson. “Did you talk to her?”

If anyone could put together the broken pieces of Hannah’s mind and understand her motivation, it was him. And Ineededto understand.

Anson gave me a slight nod, and all the eyes in the room moved to him. “I haven’t spoken with her long enough to diagnose her—even if I did still have my credentials. But Hannah’s life hasn’t been an easy one. She hasn’t been shown a lot of kindness.” He glanced atIsaiah. “You were kind to her after an especially nasty dustup with her parents. She latched on.”

A war of emotions flashed across Isaiah’s face. “I wasn’t the only one who was kind to her. So were Farah and Arden, even Denver.”

“It’s not always logical,” Anson explained gently as his focus shifted to me. “Just like it’s not logical that she blamed you for not getting what she wanted. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a root.”

“And what’s the root here?” Shep asked, leaning forward as Thea rubbed his back.

“Isaiah represented kindness and respite when Hannah didn’t have much of that in her life.” Anson cast a quick look at me. “Arden had so much of what she wanted but didn’t have. More acclaim and notice for her art. A family that loved and supported her. Isaiah’s attention.”

I curled closer to Linc, wishing I could disappear into him. His lips ghosted over my hair. “It’s not your fault.”

“He’s right,” Anson agreed. “It isn’t on either of you. It’s not even on Hannah’s shoulders. That’s what makes it so damn heartbreaking.”

Farah’s eyes flashed. “You guys are being a little too kumbaya about this. She’s been stalking Isaiah. SheattackedArden. And who knows what else?”

I suddenly felt so exhausted I could barely keep my head up. “She’s sick, Farah. And that’s nothing but sad.”

Farah made a disgruntled noise in the back of her throat. “Leave me to my angry-girl ways.”

One corner of my mouth kicked up. “We all have our methods of processing.”

Trace shifted, his arms crossed over his chest. “The prosecutor will want to know how hard you want to press.”

If only I had been hurt, I’d be begging for the least possible punishment. But it wasn’t just me. She could’vekilledLinc. I looked up at him, those swirling hazel eyes gazing down at me with so much love.

“She can’t hurt anyone else,” I whispered before forcing my gaze away from the man who held my heart in his hands. “She needs help, but she also needs to be somewhere she can’t do any more damage.”

Trace nodded. “I’ll talk to the prosecutor about requesting a secure mental health facility as opposed to prison.” He glanced at Linc. “You good with that? You’re the one she shot.”

Linc held me tighter. “I’m good with whatever Arden wants.”

“And what she is too nice to tell us all right now is that she wants some alone time with that hunk of hers,” Lolli said.

Kye made apshnoise. “Arden isn’t too nice about anything.”

Fallon smacked his arm. “She is too nice. You should know that by the fact that she let you slide with that sloppy takedown the other day.”

Kye whipped around in Fal’s direction. “My takedowns are never sloppy.”

Fallon arched an amused brow at him. “Yousureabout that?”

He frowned. “I want a replay.”

“Sure, you do, fight boy,” Fallon said, pushing to her feet and dragging him with her.

Everyone slowly began making their way to the door. Cope squeezed my shoulder. “You sure you’re okay with us leaving tonight?”

“I’m sure. I’m going to take a bath and go to bed. I need to sleep for a week.”

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