Salt for the Wound

The first sign was the silence.

Not the gentle kind that draped over morning coffee or curled around skin after sex — this was something colder. Harsher. An absence of breath.

Claire woke to it. Nina's arm was still slung across her waist, warm and grounding. But Claire's chest was tight.

It was too quiet. The wind outside the cabin had stopped. The hum of Margot's white-noise machine had gone dead. Even the small clock on the fireplace mantel no longer ticked.

Nina stirred beside her. "Something's wrong."

Claire rose, heart racing. She padded out into the hallway, barefoot and breathless.

Gloria's door was open.

Margot's bed was empty.

Thirty minutes earlier

Margot moved quietly through the trees, flashlight bouncing in her fist. She had woken to the sound of gravel shifting. A car. No engine. Just the unmistakable whisper of rubber turning slow on wet stone.

She hadn't told anyone.

Some instincts never fully died.

As she neared the cabin's edge, she saw it — a black SUV parked just beyond the bend. Windows tinted. No plates.

She turned to run—

But a shadow stepped in her path.

And Evelyn's voice coiled around her like silk dipped in venom.

"You've been very busy, Margot."

Margot's scream never made it past the back of Evelyn's hand.

Now

Claire gripped the front of Veronica's coat.

"You told me you were done."

Veronica didn't resist.

"I was," she said. "But Evelyn knew. Before I even made it back to Portland. She burned my accounts. Shut me out of everything. I was a loose end."

"Then why come back?" Nina asked.

Veronica's gaze flicked to Claire. "Because the only thing worse than being broken… is watching someone you loved be punished for it."

Claire let go of her. Barely.

"What did you bring us?"

Veronica held up her phone.

"She's moving tonight. Evelyn's flying to a private estate outside San Diego. It's where she launders everything — funds, reputations, threats. She's going there to wipe out whatever evidence is left."

"And Margot?" Gloria asked, voice trembling.

"She's bait," Veronica said. "Evelyn knows we'll chase her."

Nina took Claire's hand. "Then we go."

Claire nodded. "We go."

At the estate — San Diego

It looked like something from a fashion magazine — all sharp angles, white stone, fountains that whispered instead of gushed.

Inside, Evelyn stood in a white robe, brushing her silver-streaked hair. She looked like a widow who had mourned everyone but herself.

A woman entered — young, tattooed, silent.

"She's ready," she said.

Evelyn nodded.

"Put her in the glass room."

The girl hesitated. "She's not speaking."

"She will," Evelyn said. "When she sees what silence costs."

The drive south

Claire sat in the back seat of the rental, eyes closed, trying to rehearse what strength would feel like. Gloria drove, focused, knuckles white. Nina dozed with her head against the window. Veronica sat beside Claire, occasionally glancing at her.

"Do you hate me?" she asked softly.

Claire opened one eye. "More than I want to. Less than you deserve."

Veronica chuckled. "Still poetic."

Claire turned. "Why did you give her the tapes? Really?"

Veronica looked down at her lap. "Because I wanted to see if you'd come back for them. Or for me."

Claire didn't answer.

She just closed her eyes again.

At the estate — midnight

They split up.

Gloria and Veronica went for the surveillance hub. Claire and Nina headed toward the back of the house, where Margot was reportedly being held.

The house smelled like roses and bleach.

Claire crept through the corridor, heart thudding. Nina's breath was steady behind her.

Then—

A scream.

Claire ran.

Glass room. White floors. One chair.

Margot sat in the center, her wrists bound, her mouth gagged.

Evelyn stood behind her, calm as still water.

"So predictable," Evelyn said. "So gorgeously tragic."

Claire stepped forward. "Let her go."

Evelyn didn't move. "You think this ends with me in handcuffs? You think there's a world where you get justice and I get punished?"

"I think there's a world where you're afraid," Claire said. "And I'm done being afraid of you."

Evelyn's smile thinned.

Nina circled to the other side, unlocking the glass door with the key swiped from Veronica.

The second the door clicked open, Evelyn struck.

A knife — hidden in her sleeve — slashed across Margot's cheek.

Blood. Screams. Movement.

Claire lunged. The blade tore across her palm as she grabbed Evelyn's wrist.

Nina tackled her from behind.

Evelyn fell, hard, shrieking. "You think you've won?"

Margot collapsed into Claire's arms.

Veronica entered, panting. "Gloria's calling it in. It's done."

"No," Claire whispered, holding Margot. "This isn't done. This is the beginning."