The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 214

Chapter 193: The News

Bella pov

“Jade made a choice,” he said, his voice quiet and absolute. “Jade, whom we both made an enemy of just by existing and being happy. That is not the same as your fault.” He turned to face me. “You didn’t put Tom in that room, she did.”

“My history”

“Is also the reason he’s in the living room right now reading about velociraptors instead of being lost somewhere we couldn’t reach him,” he said. “Your history is exactly why you knew how to bring him home.”

I looked at him.

“He said he decided to be like you,” Caleb said. “Alone and scared in that room, he chose you as his model. That is not the legacy of someone who failed him.”

I didn’t answer. But I stopped gripping the counter quite so hard.

“Mummy.” Tom’s voice came from the living room, patient and certain. “Can someone come look at this fossil? It’s a really interesting one.”

I looked at Caleb.

He looked at me. “Go,” he said quietly.

I walked to the living room doorway. Tom was on the sofa with his book open across his knees, pointing at a page with one finger. His whole face was arranged in the expression he got when he had found something worth sharing.

“Look.” He held the book up. “It’s a Mosasaurus tooth. It’s really, really big. See the man’s hand next to it?”

“That’s enormous,” I said.

“I know.” He pointed at it with one finger. “It could bite through almost anything.” He looked up at me. “Do you think it hurts when their teeth fall out?”

“I don’t think they felt it the same way we do,” I said.

He thought about this very seriously. “That’s lucky for them,” he said, and turned the page

******

Reyes called at four in the afternoon. Tom was asleep on the sofa beside me, his head in my lap and his current book open and abandoned on his chest. I eased out from under him without waking him and took the call in the kitchen.

“Jade Hart is in custody,” Reyes said. “She was arrested and she attempted to flee-we had her contained before she got far. She’ll be charged formally soon. The additional charges from the operation will be added to what she was already facing. Her legal team is going to have a very difficult few months.”

I stood at the kitchen counter and looked through the window.

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Chapter 192-The News

“When was she arrested?” I asked.

“Last week,” Reyes said. “Wednesday morning.”

I was quiet for a moment. “Last week.”

Claim

“We were planning to inform you sooner,” she said. “But I spoke with Diana Black, who advised that your focus was on Tom – his therapy, his health – and that the timing wasn’t right. She asked us to hold it until you were in a steadier place.” She paused then continued. “I made the call to respect that.”

Looking through the window I exhaled lightly.

“How is he doing?” Reyes asked. “Your son.”

It was the first personal question she had asked me in the entire investigation, and the directness of it, coming from her, caught me slightly off guard.

“Better,” I said. “Slowly. But better.”

“Good,” she said “He was remarkable, Mrs. Black. I’ve worked on a lot of cases. Not many five year olds hold it together the way he did.”

“I know,” I said quietly.

“I’m sorry,” Reyes said. “For not informing you sooner. You deserved to know earlier and I should have called regardless of the timing.”

“Diana was right,” I said. “The timing wasn’t right. But thank you for saying it, so is it over?” I asked.

“The immediate threat is over,” Reyes said. “The network is compromised and the key players are in custody or running. I won’t tell you there’s no residual risk because I don’t know that for certain. But the organised threat – yes. It’s over.”

I exhaled slowly.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Mrs. Black, your son did well. What he told you that information was what confirmed Hart’s involvement beyond reasonable doubt. Make sure he knows that.”

I looked through the kitchen door at Tom asleep on the sofa.

“I will,” I said.

I texted Caleb first: She’s in custody.

His response came in under a minute: Coming home now.

I texted Maya, second. Her response was a string of words I won’t repeat, followed by: I’m bringing food. Don’t argue, who am I to argue at her as I chuckled.

Diana called before I could text her.

“It’s done?” she said, and the way she said it told me she already knew-the question wasn’t a question, it was confirmation-seeking.

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Chapter 193-The News

“Galeh told you.” I said.

“A few minutes ago,” she said. “He called me the second you hung up. Though I already knew.”

“Reyes,” I said.

“Yes,” Diana said. “I asked her to call me directly when it happened.”

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