He stared at Carmen.
Then Alexander.
Then me.
He laughed once.
“You think this ends Meridian?”
I held Richard Brooks’s confession.
“No.”
I looked toward Sofia.
“This ends your part of it.”
Thomas Vale Jr. was taken into custody.
So were three of his men.
Carmen did not resist when officers approached her.
Javier stood beside Sofia.
For a moment, he looked like he wanted to touch her.
He didn’t.
“Will you ever forgive me?”
Sofia’s eyes filled.
“I hope someday I stop hating what you did.”
He nodded.
“That’s more than I deserve.”
She looked at him.
“But forgiveness is not the same as coming back.”
His face broke.
“I know.”
Officers led him away for questioning.
Sofia watched until he disappeared.
Then she turned toward Alexander.
He opened his arms.
This time, she walked into them.
PART 7 — THE MAN WHO CAME HOME
North Ridge sat two hours north of the city.
