[Jake's POV]
The SUV tore down the private road with two cars behind us and Sofia's photograph in my hand.
For a few seconds, no one spoke. Not because there was nothing to say, but because every word felt too small beside the image in my lap. Sofia Aldridge sat in that chair with her wrist restrained, calm enough to make the room around her look weak. Whoever had taken the photograph wanted me to see captivity. What I saw was refusal.
That was Sofia.
Even trapped, she looked like she was judging the quality of the trap.
Claire turned from the front passenger seat, her face pale beneath the passing flashes of moonlight. "Show me."
I handed her the photograph.
She took it carefully. The moment she saw Sofia's wrist, her jaw tightened. She did not gasp. Claire rarely wasted breath on things that did not help. But her eyes changed, and that was worse.
"She's alive," Ethan said quietly.
"Yes," I said.
