“Your own choices brought you here.” “All because of that girl.” “No,” I said, and I held her gaze.

“All because of what you did to my daughter.” And Ryan, to his lasting credit, sold his condo, and returned the twenty-five thousand dollars, and apologized to Maya with tears in his eyes.

“I should have asked questions, Maya,” he said.

And it was the very thought I had been carrying for months, the confession at the center of all of it.

I should have asked questions.