Page 81 of Tiny's Testament
Derange crouches beside me, eyes tracking the bruises. “Somebody put hands on her before the needle ever came out.”
Trigger pushes into the bathroom, face twisted with a disgusted grief he’d never admit to. “This wasn’t an overdose. This was a warning.” He scrubs a hand over his face, jaw clenching hard. “I bitched about her. Hated half the shit shepulled, but she didn’t deserve this.” Trigger turns slightly away, fighting something he doesn’t want us to see. “Damn it, Pearl.”
Aloiki lets out a low whistle, anger simmering beneath his island drawl. “She get choked, Brah. This no OD. This punishment.” His dark eyes meet mine. “I called them.”
I nodded my head in understanding. Aloiki might come off as a dick, but he will always have his brother’s backs and right now, he has mine, calling in backup.
The Twins hover silently near the bathroom doorway, unusually quiet. One finally says, “She fought.”
The other adds, “And she lost.”
A cold wave of nausea rolls through me.
“I knew she was spiraling,” I murmur, staring at her face. “But I didn’t know she was scared.”
Capone’s gaze sharpens. “Scared of what, Tiny?”
I swallow hard and reach for the folded note on the nightstand. The paper shakes in my hands. Pearl’s handwriting is uneven, desperate.
I didn’t mean for her to get hurt. I tried to fix it.
I’m sorry, Tiny.
—Pearl
My stomach drops.
Trigger steps closer. “Hurt who?”
I don’t answer. Instead, I kick aside a fallen pillow on the floor, and that’s when I see a sliver of light beneath the bed frame. I crouch down, reach into the shadows, and pull out a burner phone, its cracked screen still lit.
One message sits unsent:HE HAS HER. SOUTH SHELTER. OLD COUNTY BUILDING. JAGGED L MARKED ON THE WALL. TELL TINY I’M SORRY.
A buzzing starts in my ears.
Aloiki peers over my shoulder. “Lattimer.” He spits the name like poison.
Blayze paces behind us, fury radiating off him. “That sick bastard used her. Manipulated the one woman in this place desperate enough to be useful.”
Torch kicks a dent in the wall.
“Look,” Derange says sharply. “Deleted messages.”
My vision blurs as I scroll.
Screenshots of the compound’s blind spots. Syvannah’s walking path. The south gate malfunctioning. Photos of me leaving at night. Red’s driving patterns. The timing of Nadia’s shifts at the dance studio. A list of who guards what, and when.
Pearl had been feeding Lattimer intel.
Trigger swears under his breath. “She sold us out.”
“She didn’t know what she was doing,” I snap, voice rough. “She wanted me to look at her the way I look at Syvannah. She thought helping him would make her matter.” My throat closes. “She was wrong about everything, but she didn’t deserve to die for it.”
Capone grips my shoulder. Hard. “This isn’t on you, Tiny.”
“Bullshit.” I pull away. “I should’ve paid attention.”
Aloiki steps forward, eyes steady. “People make their own choices, brah. And some choices choke you hard.”
