Page 121 of He Sees You
My father is smiling.
In the background, three other men are watching me. "I remember this party. Richard gave me a special present—a necklace with a silver unicorn. Said I was pure and perfect and should stay that way."
"Grooming," Cain says flatly. "He was marking you as future inventory."
"But then Mom left when I was ten. Dad stopped bringing me to events. Kept me locked away instead."
"Your mother knew," Cain says suddenly. "That's why she left. She found out what your father was planning."
The realization hits like cold water. "She didn't abandon me. She tried to take me with her."
"But Sterling wouldn't let her. A custody battle would have exposed everything."
"So she left to save herself, hoping to come back for me later."
"And Sterling made sure she couldn't. What did he tell you about her?"
"That she was unstable. Mentally ill. That she abandoned us for another man."
"All lies."
My hands shake as I trace my childhood face in the photos.
Innocent, trusting, unaware of the danger surrounding me. "I need a moment."
I lock myself in the bathroom and vomit until there's nothing left.
Then I sit on the cold tile floor and let the truth sink in: my entire childhood was a lie.
Every happy memory is contaminated.
Every moment of feeling safe was actually a moment of being in terrible danger.
When I return, pale but determined, Cain and Juliette have laid out all the weapons on the table.
"We're going to kill them all," Cain says simply. "Every buyer, every facilitator, everyone who touched those girls."
"That's a lot of bodies."
"Eight confirmed buyers, plus Sterling. Nine bodies."
"In one night?"
"We'll have help," Juliette says. "Thalia's network will handle the girls. We handle the monsters."
We spend the next four hours planning.
The wedding will be simple—candles, vows, rings.
Juliette will officiate using an online ordination she got years ago as a joke.
Then we'll change clothes, arm ourselves, and head to the cabin.
When the shipment arrives, we'll be waiting.
I try on Patricia's dress while Juliette makes alterations. It fits almost perfectly, like it was waiting for me.
The woman who wore it to marry a monster is dead.
