The hotel room door clicked shut behind Isabella, locking out the hallway noise and the memory of the police station with it. She didn’t waste any time in kicking her heels aside, taking off her clothes, and heading straight into the bathroom. She needed water and silence, and she needed a moment where nobody was looking at her like she was a victim of some grim misfortune.
She turned on the shower without even testing the temperature and stepped under the stream, exhaling as the heat blasted against her skin, sharp enough to sting. The water went over her face, rolled down her neck, and soaked her hair completely, taking along all the grime of the day with it. She let it run long enough for the steam to fog the mirror outside, and when she finally stepped out, she wrapped a towel around
