POV: Yessica | Location: Edinburgh
She called Pippa at noon.
Not because she was ready. Because waiting longer wouldn't make her more ready, and the thing about grief was that it didn't actually get smaller if you fed it time. It just got heavier.
Pippa answered on the second ring.
"Yess! How are you feeling? I've been thinking about you all morning."
The warmth of it. Perfect, practiced, the exact frequency of a woman who had known Yessica long enough to know exactly what she needed to hear.
Three months ago it would have worked.
"I need to ask you something," Yessica said.
A beat. Small. Almost nothing.
"Of course. What's wrong?"
"When did Catherine Sterling's solicitor first contact you?"
Silence.
Not the silence of someone confused. The silence of someone caught.
Three sec
