Lena
The world stopped.
Detective Adrian Cross stood on the stairwell with a gun in his hand.
And suddenly—
Nothing made sense anymore.
Not Coach Hale.
Not Rowan.
Not Ava.
Not any of it.
The emergency lights flickered weakly across Cross’s face.
Older now.
More tired than the photos I had seen online.
But unmistakable.
The retired detective who investigated Ava’s death.
The man who closed the case.
The man who told everyone there was no murder.
My pulse hammered painfully.
No.
No—
This couldn’t be real.
Beside me, Mason went rigid.
His face was drained of color.
Even Hale looked stunned.
And that terrified me.
Because until now—
Coach Hale had looked like the man controlling everything.
But the moment Cross pulled back that hood—
Something changed.
Fear.
Real f
