CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Jenna’s eyes burned from exhaustion, and the taste of stale coffee lingered on her tongue as she guided her car along Trentville’s empty streets.
It was nearly dawn now. Elena Bowers was behind bars, and Brenda Drummond was in the capable hands of Trentville Memorial’s staff. This murder case was officially closed.
Jake had taken Piper home while Jenna escorted Elena to the station, where the woman had stunned her with her calm, almost serene confession.
“I was cleansing the community,” Elena had said as she described wrapping Derek Sullivan in red yarn, Amanda Hartford in green. “Removing the damaged threads from our social fabric. Sophie would have understood.”
Now Jenna wanted to drive by her mother’s house, just to check. If all the windows were dark, she’d continue home to her waiting bed. If not...
When the craftsman house came into view, Jenna saw a warm glow from the kitchen window.
Someone was awake, despite the early hour.
She pulled into the driveway and cut the engine, sitting for a moment as fatigue washed over her.
Her body begged for rest, but her mind still raced with questions—not about Elena or the murders, but about Piper.
About how her sister had known to go to Brenda’s house, about what might have happened if she hadn’t.
The front door opened before Jenna reached it. Her mother stood in the doorway, wrapped in her faded blue robe, her face drawn with worry.
“I thought that must be you,” Mom said, stepping aside to let Jenna enter. “We’ve been waiting up.”
“Both of you?” Jenna asked, following her mother through the familiar hallway and into the kitchen.
Piper sat at the kitchen table, holding a steaming mug. She looked up as Jenna entered. “I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “Not after... everything.”
Jenna sank into a chair across from her sister, accepting the mug of tea from her mother.
“Jake told us you were booking Elena,” Mom said, joining them at the table. “But he didn’t share many details. Is it really over?”
“It is.” Jenna took a sip of tea, gathering her thoughts. “Elena confessed to everything. Derek Sullivan, Amanda Hartford. She was planning to kill Brenda Drummond when Piper showed up.”
“And Brenda? Is she...?” Piper asked.
“She’s going to be okay,” Jenna assured her. “Concussion, some stitches where she hit her head. She was lucky—if Elena had completed what she called her ‘correction,’ Brenda would have ended up like the others.”
“Wrapped in white yarn,” Piper whispered.
Jenna nodded, studying her sister’s face. “How did you know to go there, Piper?”
Piper’s gaze dropped to the table. “The voices woke me up. Louder than they’ve ever been.
Urgent.” Her voice trembled slightly. “They wouldn’t stop.
They kept saying that someone was in danger, that I needed to go to this specific place right away.
So I just walked out the front door and followed their directions. ”
“You walked there in the dark? Alone?” Mom’s voice rose with alarm.
“I didn’t have a choice,” Piper said, an edge of desperation creeping into her tone. “You don’t understand what they do. It’s like... like standing in a crowd where everyone is screaming at you. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t focus on anything except getting to that house.”
Jenna reached across the table, taking Piper’s hand. “You can’t let them control you. It’s too dangerous. What if Elena had—” She couldn’t finish the sentence.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her,” Mom said, her face tight with worry.
“But would you have gotten there in time if I’d stopped to call you?” Piper asked, looking directly at Jenna. “Would Brenda still be alive?”
Jenna wanted to insist that, of course, they would have saved Brenda, that proper procedure would have prevailed. But she felt sure that Piper's intervention, however reckless, was what had saved that woman's life.
“We got lucky,” Jenna finally said. “This time. But Piper, you have to promise me you won’t do that again. Next time, call me. Call Jake. Call anyone.”
“I don’t know if I can promise that,” Piper admitted. “But something did change tonight. Something that’s never happened before.”
Jenna looked up, sensing the shift in her sister’s tone. “What do you mean?”
"When I was in Brenda's house, when I realized Elena was the killer, the voices were still screaming, still overwhelming me.
But for the first time, I talked back to them.
I told them to stop. I said it out loud: 'Stop it.
' And they... listened. They didn't go away completely, but they got quieter.
Enough that I could think more clearly again. "
“You controlled them?” Jenna asked, leaning forward.
“Not completely,” Piper said. “But enough. For the first time, I felt like I had some say in what was happening to me. Like I wasn’t just a passenger in my own mind.”
Mom reached out, squeezing Piper’s shoulder. “That’s a breakthrough, honey.”
“It is,” Jenna agreed, feeling a surge of hope for her sister. “I’m sure Dr. White can help you learn to manage them, even use them constructively.”
“Like you do,” Piper said quietly.
Jenna nodded. “I had to learn too. It wasn’t easy at first, those dreams... they were terrifying. But over time, I figured out how to work with them.”
“Dr. White thinks I can get there,” Piper said. “She said my mind created certain... barriers after I left home. But now that I’m back, now that I know I’m not crazy, those barriers are starting to come down.”
“Frank will help too,” Mom added. “He knows more about this than most people.”
“And Jake,” Jenna said, thinking of her deputy’s unwavering support through her own journey. “He’s been amazing with me. He’ll be the same with you.”
“So you think I should keep working with the voices? Even though they’re connected to violence, to death?”
“I think these abilities are part of who you are,” Jenna replied carefully. “Maybe it’s time to try a different approach to them.”
Piper took a deep breath. “That feels right to me. But what if next time, I can’t control them?”
“Then we’ll face that together,” Jenna said firmly. “You’re not alone anymore, Piper. You have me, Mom, Frank, Jake, Dr. White. A whole support system.”
Mom’s face clouded. “I was already worried enough about one daughter facing danger. Now I have to worry about both of you?”
“Mom,” Jenna began.
“No, let me finish.” Mom interrupted. “I’ve spent twenty years worrying about you both.
Worrying about where Piper was, if she was safe.
Worrying about you, Jenna, putting yourself at risk as sheriff.
But I’ve finally realized something.” Her voice softened.
“You’re both extraordinary women with gifts that most people can’t even comprehend.
And those gifts come with responsibilities that I can’t shield you from, no matter how much I might want to. ”
“So you’re okay with me working with Jenna?” Piper asked hesitantly. “Using what I sense to help her?”
Mom’s laugh was small and slightly broken. “Okay’ might be too strong a word. But I accept it. And I’m proud of you both—terrified, but proud.”
Piper’s eyes welled with tears. “I’ve felt like a stranger in my own skin for so long. Like I was living someone else’s life. Emma’s life.” She looked around the kitchen. “This is the first time since I’ve been back that I truly feel like I’m home. Like I belong here. Like I’m Piper Graves again.”
Jenna felt her own throat tighten with emotion. “You do belong here,” she said. “You always have.”
Mom wiped at her eyes. “And now that we’ve settled that, I think we all need some sleep. It’s been an impossibly long night.”
“You two go ahead,” Jenna said, rising from her chair. “I should get home.”
“You could stay,” Mom offered. “Your old bed is still made up.”
Jenna shook her head. “Thanks, but I need my own space right now. Some time to process everything.” She hugged her mother, then turned to Piper. “You did good tonight. You saved a life.”
Piper’s embrace was fierce. “Be careful driving home,” she said as they separated. “You look exhausted.”
“I’ll take it slow,” Jenna promised.
She left them preparing for bed, Mom fussing over Piper in a way that seemed to comfort them both. Outside, the sun was rising, bathing Trentville in the clean light of a new day.
As Jenna drove toward home, her thoughts circled back to what Elena had said during her confession.
“There’s always darkness waiting in a community.
Always damaged threads that need correction.
” The woman had been deranged, her methods monstrous, but Jenna couldn’t entirely dismiss the core of her observation.
Trentville had seen more than its share of darkness lately, and she doubted Elena’s arrest would be the end of it.
But for the first time in twenty years, she wouldn’t be facing that darkness alone. Piper was home. Piper was healing. And together, perhaps they stood a better chance against whatever shadows might be gathering on the horizon.