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THE APARTMENT WAS JUST as ratty and rundown inside as the building had been on the outside. The paint needed serious maintenance, the furniture looked like it had been through several owners, and there were takeout boxes strewn over the coffee table and on the floor next to it.
“You can sit down,” Brianna said listlessly. She pointed at the other couch, positioning herself in the middle of the one that Jamie so that no one could sit down next to her. She was clearly trying to put distance between her and the two of them.
When she sat down, she shrank in on herself, seeming even smaller. Jamie almost felt sorry for the girl. It had to be intimidating to be approached by a police officer and your former employer.
But Jamie couldn’t find it in herself to feel completely sorry for her, if she was correct, Brianna had been involved in Markie’s kidnapping, after all. And now, in harassing Jamie and her family, she was making them feel unsafe.
She just couldn’t feel bad for her.
As Jamie looked at the nanny, her gut squirmed with unease. This woman had watched her children for so long. She had put her trust in Brianna. She was so thankful the twins and Markie, and even baby Rosie, were safe with their father, at home, far away from this woman who had brought so much pain into their lives.
She studied Brianna’s face. The girl had averted her eyes, and she was rolling her lips constantly as if she had just put on lip balm. She had pulled up her shoulders into a permanent shrug, and she sat hunched. She looked like she was trying to disappear into the couch.
She’s guilty, Jamie thought, looking at her. She glanced at Halloway, hoping the officer was on the same page as her. So far, they had worked together very well as a team. She felt an ally in the officer next to her, and she was hopeful that they would be able to handle this.
Jamie didn’t have any experience pushing someone for an answer. But next to her, Halloway took the lead.
“How long have you lived here?” she asked. “How old are you? How long did you work for the Reid family?” The questions were standard, and Jamie imagined that they were set up to make the nanny talk, to give her easy questions to answer so that when the hard ones came, she was already rolling.
“Okay,” Halloway said after Brianna had answered the first couple of questions without a hitch. “Someone has been harassing Jamie and her family. Again.”
Brianna shook her head. “I don’t know anything about that,” she said stiffly. “It’s not fair of you to assume that I am involved just because I worked for them. What about all the people who work for Mr. Reid?”
Technically, the nanny had a point. But Jamie wasn’t going to give it to her.
“Are you sure?” she interjected. “Because you seem like the exact person who would know all about this. You helped my mother last time, didn’t you? Maybe you came back to finish the job?”
Brianna shook her head again furiously. “There is absolutely no proof of that. I know you think I did it, which is why you fired me. But you yourself told me that I could relax, that it was okay. Don’t you remember? What happened to that woman? The one who believed that I could be trusted?”
“What happened to the nanny that could be trusted?” Jamie fired back. “What did I ever do to you? Why do you hate my family so much? Why did you help my mother in the first place?”
Jamie could feel her anger pushing up in her throat and it felt like it was going to overthrow her. Next to her, Halloway allowed her to speak, not interrupting her aggressive questioning. Jamie was relieved. She knew that no one else would be so understanding. Jamie balled her hands into fists. She didn’t know how to control her anger. And the officer seems to pick up on it – she reached across and put her hand gently on Jamie’s arm.
Brianna had her eyes on Jamie’s hands, too. She looked nervous. “I’m not going to talk to you about any of this. Not without a lawyer,” she said.
Jamie barked a sarcastic laugh. “A lawyer?” She shook her head. “You’re scared, and all we’re doing is sitting here talking. I can practically smell the guilt on you.”
Jamie leaned forward. She didn’t know where this primal fury had come from. It was unlike anything she had ever felt. Maybe she had been pushed too far. Maybe they had tried for too long to fuck with her and her kids. This was enough; she wasn’t going to take it any longer. Children were off limits for anyone to mess with and this woman had already done it once.
“Did you think I wouldn’t assume it was you?” she asked. “Did you think you could get away with it again? I know you’re behind this, Brianna. I’m not an idiot. I know you’re trying to scare me.”
Brianna was shaking her head. “You don’t have proof about any of this. You’re just throwing around accusations. You can’t say that it was me, not without something – footage, a photo, something.”
“What I want to know is why,” Jamie continued as if the girl hadn’t said anything. “Is it because you’re desperate for my mother’s approval? Because believe me, I know what that feels like. I used to do stupid things all the time because I wanted to win her favor. But you? You’re doing evil things. And she doesn’t even know about it, because you can’t have contact.”
Brianna’s lip trembled. “I’m not,” she said.
She wasn’t what? Trying to win her mother’s approval? Doing evil things? Jamie didn’t know what she was responding to. But it didn’t matter, because she knew that both those things were true, no matter what she was trying to deny.
“Liar,” Jamie snapped.
Brianna shrank back as if Jamie had physically punched her. She continued to taunt the girl, even though she felt like this wasn’t her at all. Jamie didn’t recognize this side of herself.
“You called me,” she said anyway. She was going to follow this through until they got to the end of it. This was the last time she was going to be messed with. “You taped the picture to my car. You paid for my coffee today, and then I bet you followed me to the precincts and ran back here like a dog with your tail between your legs when you realized I wasn’t going to mess around and not get the police involved. You thought I would curl into my shell like last time.”
“I didn’t put the picture of Alex on your car!” Brianna cried out.
Jamie stopped talking and the room fell silent. So silent you could hear a pin drop. Tears ran over Brianna’s cheeks and she started sobbing, burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking. Before, when she had worked for Jamie, Jamie would have tried to console her. She would have reached out to her in a motherly fashion.
Now, when she looked at the girl falling apart, she felt nothing but disdain. Loathing. Hatred. Because this woman had done everything in her power to ruin Jamie’s life, even after her mother had been thrown in prison.
Jamie leaned back against the sofa and crossed one leg over the other. She glanced at the officer next to her, who had sat there with the same expression on her face that Jamie had worn when she had watched Halloway intimidate her way into Brianna’s apartment. Jamie had been in all of the woman and her authority, then.
Now, Jamie felt like she was that woman.
“Officer Halloway,” Jamie said in a steady voice. “I don’t recall saying anything about the picture being of Alex. Do you?”
Halloway shook her head. “You know what? I really don’t.”
The two women looked back at Brianna, who had stopped crying and looked at them both with large eyes, barely blinking. Maybe she knew that she had talked herself into a trap. Maybe she didn’t have any idea what was going on at all. Either way, she was toast.
Your ass is mine, Jamie thought smugly.
Halloway stood, putting her hands on her belt. “On your feet, miss. I think we have more to talk about. And we’re going to have to continue this conversation at the station.”
“No, no, no,” Brianna pleaded. She looked like she was falling apart, coming undone at the seams. Jamie watched it and she knew exactly what it felt like. She had been there a year ago, unable to hold it together. But it had been different then. Back then, Jamie had been the victim. And Brianna had been one of the villains.
Now, Brianna had been caught red-handed, so to speak. And Jamie felt like a hero.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Halloway said. She put her hand on the cuffs that were attached to her belt. “We can walk out of here with you keeping your dignity intact, or I can cuff you and drag you down the stairs.”
Brianna hung her head. She was defeated. Maybe she felt shame. Either way, she was going to be taken to the police station and this case – the one that was still open – would finally be closed. They had finally found the missing piece to the kidnapping.
Jamie had finally brought this to an end.
Brianna stood, nodding, ready to go to the police station without putting up a fight. Halloway followed her closely to the door, making sure that she didn’t make a break for it. But the nanny didn’t look like she was going to try to escape. She looked like she had been caught, and she knew it. She knew that it was over. It was just a matter of going through the motions, now.
Jamie follow the two of them out of the apartment. They walked down the stairwell, and Jamie wondered if Brianna even smelled the stale urine or if she was so used to this lifestyle that she didn’t notice it anymore.
Jamie reflected on how lucky she was that she had found Alex, that her life was so perfect. After all, he had given her a fairytale, a life that she got to live every day that she absolutely loved. She would have hated to live in a place like this, to live in conditions that were so rancid.
Her heart went out to Brianna in that case. Not because the nanny had been pushed into doing something wrong, but because it was sad that she had lived in these conditions.
Well, whatever happened now, she wouldn’t come back to this apartment for a while.
Jamie didn’t feel sympathetic about that. Brianna had made her choice and she had to live with it. And Jamie could finally go home and sleep easy, knowing that her kids really were safe now.
When they reached the police cruiser and Halloway had tucked Brianna into the back seat, the officer turned to Jamie.
“Thank you for helping me,” Jamie said. She gave the officer a spontaneous hug. Halloway froze in surprise for a moment before she hugged her back.
“It’s a pleasure,” Halloway said. “I’m glad that this is over for you. I’m glad that you can finally rest.”
Jamie nodded. “Finally,” she breathed.
Together, they rode back to the police station. Brianna didn’t wear handcuffs in the back and the officer hadn’t switched on the blue and red flashing lights. It was all very tame. There was no drama, no theatrics.
But it wasn’t necessary. Everything that needed to be done had been done. This was the happy ending to Jamie’s story.
For Brianna, it was a different thing. But she had gotten what she deserved.
That was what happened when you fucked with her family, Jamie thought. And let it be a warning to anyone else who would want to try in the future. Jamie felt empowered. She would never back down again.
