Trusting Candice White was the biggest gamble Jerome had ever made in his career.It had clearly played off.

Officer Spencer was completely against the idea. He was in favor of approaching Eva first. Compared to the Eva White who shone with confidence and hope for the future a year ago, the girl in front of them looked unhinge. She had finally stopped thrashing around like a maniac and instead was glaring right at Candice. Jerome felt uncomfortable just at the fringe of the receiving end.

"This can't be true," Eva asked, her voice carried through the busy room like a whisper in the wind. Jerome hated to think what would happen if they had so much as hinted at the truth to Eva White. The entire operation would have been blotched before it even started.Eva's head snapped towards Candice, lurching forward so fast that Eric Goodman didn't have time to catch her. "You made all this up! You use the money you stole and hired all these actors—"

Jerome took another step to shield Candice as Eva White careened towards him. He promised her that she wouldn't be too caught up in it and he intended to do that as best as he could. "Sorry, ma'am, we're going to have to ask you to come with us to give your statement. Please remain calm otherwise we will be forced to restrain you."

Eva ignored him and Jerome caught her before she could weave around him to attack Candice. He made eye contact with Agent Spencer, who finally acknowledge the situation on Jerome's hand and sent two agents to pry Eva off him. Jerome was glad that she didn't recognize him under full tactical gear. It could be catastrophic.

The room emptied out one by one as people were escorted to their safe house for debriefing and detaining. "Wait for me here," Jerome told Candice. She seemed deflated, tired. From the comms Candice was wearing, the confrontation had been one for the books so he didn't blame her for feeling drained.

"Everyone is secured," the comms on his ear told him as he approached Agent Spencer."Copied. Be ready to move out in five," the FBI agent replied and nodded at Jerome. "Well done, Detective Wallace. You have been an invaluable asset to the team."

"As agreed, I'll bring Candice White on another vehicle separately and debrief her," Jerome replied but it was also a reminder. He had never worked with the FBI before but if they could make him dropped the White case before recruiting him, who was to say that they won't change their mind about what they had agreed with Candice?

The agent nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly and the two of them looked at each other for a while. "You have good instincts and stand up for what you think it's right. Perhaps there is some potential in you after all."

Jerome broke into a happy dance in his mind but he tried his best to keep a straight face on to look professional. "Thank you, sir," he said. He even almost saluted him but luckily held off the urge. Becoming an FBI agent was something he had never entertained before but this trip had made him realized that it was what he wanted. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down; it was more of a passing comment as opposed to a 'come work with me'. For now.The room had cleared out and Jerome made his way back to Candice, who had sat down by the window and was watching the outside garden.

"You did great, you help us bring them to justice," Jerome said. Candice smiled, slowly, as though she was uncertain that she should as she tilted her head to face him.

"All of them think they're the one doing what is right," she replied. "My parents, they always told me that family comes first no matter what. But they are the ones who broke that family trust first. Then their parents did. It's just all so ironic."

Jerome knew she needed time to process this, but he also knew that they should get out of the restaurant as soon as possible. They had swept the area and arrested all the hidden bodyguards the White had, but you never know who else might be lurking.

"C'mon, we got to go," Jerome's sense of responsibility won and he directed Candice to the car he left here earlier in the day. He quickly took off the body armor and stowed them in the trunk before starting the drive to their operation base here. Candice's request for being their informant had come with a fair few requests, but it was protocol that had him driving her there separately since all the others went in the same vehicle.

He could only imagine the kind of chaos it would be in the transport van, let alone if Candice were also in there.The made it back to the safe house with no incident and Jerome led Candice to one of their holding rooms for debriefing. He was her handler for the case and knew most of the details, but protocols are protocols.

"We just need you to go over everything that happened today. The information on the thumb drive checked out. But if you have any new evidence or incriminating information, we'd love to have them, too,"

Candice took a deep breath, her body shaking slightly as she started from this morning.

—— 12 hours ago ——

She was up at dawn and had packed everything she needed into two massive suitcases. That was the easy part. After all, she did have practice. Now she was restless and prowling through the entire flat, searching for anything that she missed and paranoid about hidden cameras. She had rented this flat in Merida on her own but who knew if her pseudo-grandparents had bugged this place or not.

Today was the day. The day that she'd bring Viviene and Howard White to justice. Carlos, too. Candice plopped down on the floor, suddenly exhausted. It was the right thing to do, she knew that. Justice. To her this was justice, but to them, they were bringing justice to Richard and Lynette. The White family was messed up and that was why she needed to get away from them.The shrill ring of the doorbell got her back on her feet. She all but ran to the door and checked at the peephole to make sure it was Detective Wallace. She opened the door and smiled at him.

"Delivery for Miss Candice White," he said, holding a parcel. Candice tilted her head at him in lieu of asking what was going on. He was here to pick up her suitcases, not to give her something. The detective held out a small box and on it was a note.

Intercepted the package downstairs. Remember our code word and see you tonight.Candice smiled and nodded. She grabbed the box and flung it to the sofa. It could be the dress she ordered for tonight, a last gift for herself. She was starting to think it was lost. She towed her suitcases out and Detective Wallace's face froze.

She knew it looked excessive, but her jewelry, clothes, and shoes are her prized possession. If she was going to start a new life, she needed to do this fashionably or at least with money.

See you tonight, Detective Wallace mouthed before making an exit with her two suitcases, and almost fell off the staircase. Candice stifled a laugh as he righted himself and hobbled down, one hand hoisting each suitcase. She had to get ready for the day. She found most of the low-level intel that they needed through the mirroring app on Carlos' phone. It felt great to flip the switch on him and that brute never even noticed. Now they needed the rest and this could only be from Viviene and Howard's house.

Inside the package was, indeed, the designer dress she was waiting for. The metallic blue-green fabric was soft to touch and she loved the off-shoulder design. Candice carefully put it back in the box and went to get her day bag. It was time to go to work before heading over to the mansion.

She had started planning tonight for a while. Her goodbye to a year in Mexico and with the Whites. While she didn't come to Mexico for the Whites, she did it because of them. Candice had told Viviene and Howard that she wanted to go out and celebrate as a family and they loved the idea.

It was lucky that her job involved her being on her feet going from restaurant to cafe to hotels. She was in and out of her car, talking to different people, which kept her mind off things. "Thanks, Miss Candice," Rosa said and pressed a bag of their signature churros in her hand. Candice's mouth watered; it was calories she didn't need but her stomach disagreed.

She smiled back. "It's okay Rosa, it's my job to help you," she said but of course Rosa was stronger. She was among the most adamants of those against her effort in helping them turn the place around with online presence but now a believer. Candice hoped that they stick to her advice because it was really turning things around for some of them. Hopefully, they could still run their business as usual after she was gone and Viviene and Howard were arrested.

Candice took a deep breath and got in the car. Breath in, 1-2-3, breath out, 3-2-1. You're doing the right thing, Candice reminded herself. Her hands were shaking on the steering wheel but it wasn't that noticeable.

"Miss Candice," the butler greeted her. He was almost like a copy of Nelson and was even called Benson. Candice often wondered if there were a factory that just spat them out. "Mrs and Mr White are currently on their way back from Cancun but they'd like to let you know that they won't be late and wish to depart together.

Perfect. It was almost like the universe was on her side. "Can you get this dry cleaned for me quickly?" Candice said and handed him her dress. Benson nodded and set off for the servant's quarter. That would give her enough time to check out their study.

She had always had free access to the house but never without someone who could check on her. As she made her way to the study, she looked around to see if there were surveillance cameras. They had plenty of those around the mansion exterior, but the inside seemed clear.Candice had been to the study a couple of times, like when she discussed with Viviene and Howard over her online college choices. It was more Howard's space, hung with family photos and lined with bookcase. Along with his main work computer.

They had given her a thumb drive that would copy everything on the computer, providing it wasn't too highly protected. Candice was also tasked to look for paper evidence, which might be lurking in the study. Should she not find anything, they would simply cancel extraction tonight and it would just be a nice dinner.

She powered on the computer and plugged the drive in, making sure that it was all working before starting to search for hard copies. Candice had fifteen minutes or so, before Benson came to check on her.

As she went from bookcase to bookcase, she suddenly had a flashback from when she was little. Candice had gone into the study and hid under the table, hoping to surprise her father when he came back. Instead, she got too scared to come out because Richard was yelling at someone on the phone. After he got off the phone, he retrieved an SD card from the back of a painting, did something on the computer, then put it back.

Candice ran over to the first painting to check. Nope. The next. Nope. On her fourth try, she finally found one. She pocketed it and put the painting back down gently and stared right into the faces of Richard and Lynette at their wedding.

A shuddered ran through her body and Candice shook her head. Now wasn't the time to think about how messed up this was. She checked the rest of the painting, finding one more SD card tucked behind an old photo of Viviene and Howard in front of the White Falls mansion.

The thumb drive had finished copying the files and Candice quickly unplugged it and powered the computer off. She gave everything a last glance before retreating out of the room. Hopefully, even if something was out of place, they wouldn't have a chance to notice.

Not a moment too soon, Benson appeared a few minutes after she got back to her room. "Miss Candice, your dress will be sent up in an hour. Let me know if there's anything else you need."Candice waited until Benson completely disappeared before grabbing her laptop and locking herself in the bathroom. She was given this one by Detective Wallace, specifically for uploading the content of the drive remotely. They explained the tech to her but she understood nothing, so they completely dumbed down the program to just let her plug in anything and it will automatically upload.

She placed it in the bathtub and plugged the thumb drive in first. It took longer than she liked to finish uploading.

A few minutes later, a text came through on her phone.

All good to go