Chapter 6
I went to Blackthorn the next morning.
Not with Preston.
Not with Warren.
Domenic and four Marconi guards.
That was enough.
The gates opened reluctantly after years of rust.
Inside, dust covered everything except the main hall.
Someone had been there.
Recently.
Not living.
Visiting.
A vase contained dead flowers no more than two weeks old.
White irises.
My mother’s favorite.
I hated how quickly memory can become clue.
Upstairs, one bedroom was clean.
Simple clothes in the wardrobe.
Books.
No photographs displayed.
On the desk sat a ceramic bowl filled with seashells.
Nothing dramatic.
Then I saw the name written inside one book.
Isolde Wynn.
Wynn.
Her maiden name.
She had been here.
Maybe still nearby.
Domenic opened another door.
Small sewing room.
On the wall were photographs.
Not hidden.
Not secret evidence.
Life.
Isolde younger.
Lucia beside her.
My mother laughing.
A little older.
Then older again.
Pictures spanning years.
My mother had not helped Isolde for two days.
She had protected contact with her for more than a decade.
I found one photograph from eight years earlier.
Isolde standing beside a young woman I did not know.
On the back:
Claire — finally free too.
That worried me.
Not because of Claire.
Because of the pattern.
Blackthorn had not simply sheltered one frightened wife.
My mother had used it for women leaving powerful families.
Quietly.
No publicity.
No “network.”
Just rooms.
Transportation.
Time.
Of course Warren wanted access.
Not for belongings.
He wanted to know whether Isolde had told others what happened inside Hale.
And perhaps whether Blackthorn still held women connected to men who preferred their houses silent.
Then a voice came from the doorway.
“You look exactly like Lucia when you’re angry.”
I turned.
A woman stood there.
Sixty now.
Silver-blonde hair.
Straight posture.
No fear.
I knew immediately.
“Isolde.”
She looked at my wedding-day manicure.
Then at the ringless hand.
Her expression changed.
“Preston finally showed you.”
Not the club.
Not the violence.
May you like
Himself.
That told me she had expected this ending for years.
