Everything in my body was hot with anticipation as we waited to enter the prison grounds. All my mind could focus on were the two unregistered handguns in my backseat. I felt my hands shake against the steering wheel.

"Everything's gonna be fine," Melissa reassured. "Just be cool."

"I am being cool."

"Well, be even more cool."

I rolled up to the guard waiting in the booth.

"Who are you visiting today?" he asked.

"Dave Stanley," I stated.

The guard checked his list and then pointed. "Take a left at the fork. He's in low-security so you'll just need a valid ID."

My heart sighed in relief.

"Thank you."

I pulled forward and rolled up my window. Okay, things were going well so far. I was basically halfway there already.

When the car was parked, I looked at Melissa.

"Is this a stupid idea?" I wondered.

A sympathetic look crossed her features.

"It wouldn't hurt to try."

I exhaled and nodded before I exited the car.

The dry cold touched my skin as the warmth from the car left my body. I shivered and pulled my jacket tighter against my back.

We let ourselves into the building, following the lead of the people in front of us. If we blended in and acted like we were supposed to be here, no one would become suspicious. I tried to calm my heart rate as I walked up to the desk.

"Who are you visiting today?" the woman asked.

"Dave Stanley," I answered.

My fingers played with my ID nervously.

"And you are?"

"Paige Stanley." Chill, Alexa. "His daughter."

"Do you have your ID?"

I revealed the card and slid it over the counter. The night Alvin had given it to me I had studied it endlessly. There had been no clear indication it was fake other than the knowledge that it was.

The woman studied it a little longer than what I was comfortable with. Was there something I had missed? Did she know I was a fraud?

I looked back at Melissa nervously.

"Alright, Miss Stanley..."

I focused back on the guard behind the window.

"Here's your name tag." She slid me the clip-on. "The inmates are already in the visitation room. You'll have thirty minutes."

My eyes found Melissa again as she gave me an encouraging smile and nod. I allowed my shoulders to relax as I followed a few people into the visiting room.

Tables and chairs were filled with people talking with men in orange jumpsuits. My eager eyes scanned the room for the man I hadn't seen in months. I wondered if he still looked the same or if he was a bit rougher around the edges now that he was here.

Then I spotted him.

He hadn't noticed me yet, but I knew it wouldn't be long. Would he cause a scene? Flip a table and try to attack me? Would he reveal my real name? Or would he be willing to hear me out?

I paced towards his table and sat. His dead eyes looked up, and when they did it was like he was staring at a ghost.

"How the hell-?"

"Good to see you too, Stanley," I interrupted. I leaned forward. "Did you miss me?"

He wanted to reach out and strangle me. I could see it. His hands twitched against the table as they clasped together. His jaw flexed at my comment. But he never made a scene.

"I thought you were dead," he claimed through clenched teeth.

"Is that what Paige told you?" I wondered.

His brow furrowed. "Paige? My daughter?"

My heart began to speed up. Why did he seem so confused? Hadn't Paige come here to tell him the good news? That she had teamed up with one of Malvardo's men to murder me? Because if she hadn't... who had?

My expression hardened. I folded my hands on the table.

"Don't play stupid with me, Stanley," I demanded.

"I haven't seen Paige in months," he hissed. "Now get the hell out of my face before I make a scene."

"Why would you wanna do that?" I teased. "You would only be hurting yourself at that point."

He knew I was right, but his ego was hard to ignore.

"Paige kidnapped my sister..." I revealed. "...After she tried and failed to kill me at camp."

This seemed to resonate with him for some reason. Was he feeling sympathetic for me or for other reasons I wasn't aware of? Why did he look so mortified?

"She what?" he whispered.

It was becoming clear that he had no idea what Paige had been up to. My plan was starting to crumble.

"Paige teamed up with one of Malvardo's men." I watched his expression. "They tried to kill me over a month ago but failed. She told me it was revenge for putting you in jail. Then, a week before Christmas, she kidnapped my younger sister."

The look in Stanley's eyes started to worry me. There was something he knew, something important, but would he tell me? He seemed unsure, as if deciding whether I was telling the truth and if he should do the same.

"The last time I talked to Paige was right after I had been arrested," Stanley claimed. "She wanted to know everything, so I told her. That's the last time we spoke."

"And you told her about me?"

"I told her of you," he said. "But I didn't know who you were. Only that you were somehow involved with the NIA."

I concluded that when Paige found out about her father's arrest, she had done some research. If she asked around the GIB, there was a possibility she had heard about me and my friends because of Melissa. At the time, she had been working with them to turn me in. So, when I was arrested, she thought she had won, but then I disappeared again after being broken out of prison.

I slid the note Paige had left me across the table. I gave Stanley a minute before initiating conversation again.

"Have any idea why she's sending me to Myrtletown?" I asked.

I watched his fingers glide over the quote before he pulled away and looked at me. His hard exterior was crumbling, but he was trying hard to hide something. He was trying hard to hide something from me, and that wasn't going to fly.

"Ten minutes left!" the officer advised from the desk behind me.

"Stanley," I coaxed. "I need to know why she's doing this."

He wasn't cracking.

I leaned forward. I could feel the anger burning through my veins as I tried not to use physical force. If I lost control, I would never get any answers.

"Having something out for me is one thing." I moved my face in closer. "But an innocent girl is suffering because of your daughter. And if anything happens to my sister, that's on you."

This at least got him to look at me. I squeezed my hands together.

"Why is she doing this?" I pressed.

Then he broke.

"Paige has... issues," Stanley said.

"Diagnosed issues?"

"No."

I stared in confusion.

"She doesn't have a mental disorder..." He looked at his hands. "She just has issues she's never been able to deal with, and I'm partially to blame."

I was becoming impatient. There was no time for him to reminisce on his failed parenting. I needed to know what the hell Paige wanted and what was in Myrtletown that she wanted me to find.

I pointed to the note. "What's in Myrtletown?"

"It's where she grew up," he revealed. "Her mother is buried at the Sacred Heart of Isaiah."

Her mother. Her mother was dead? Did she want me to pay her grave a visit? What the hell was that going to prove?

"That quote is engraved on her tombstone," Stanley finished.

I shook my head. "Why does she want me to go there?"

Before Stanley could attempt to evade the question, the guard announced time was up.

"That's time! Please gather your things and exit..."

I leaned forward. "What does she want me to see, Stanley?"

But he leaned back in his chair. He was done. That's all I was getting from him.

"Ma'am," the officer called.

"I'm coming," I responded while staring at Stanley.

I turned to leave, but realized I wasn't done. Not yet.

I faced him again.

"When I find your daughter..." I whispered. "I will kill her."

Then I turned and left the visitation room. My skin was hot as the blood in my veins tried to burn its way out. I was just so angry. This whole family was insane and Anna should've never been involved in any of this! It wasn't fair!

Melissa grabbed my arms. I realized I would've walked out without her if she hadn't. I was just so blinded with rage.

"Alexa? Hey, what did he say?"

"We'll talk in the car," I demanded. "But we need to go. Now."

She followed me back towards the parking lot in silence. I knew if I opened my mouth bad things would come out. It was enough I had threatened his daughter's life in a prison. I just needed to get far away from this place before I did anything stupid.

But when I spotted my car in the lot, I noticed there was a man leaning on the hood. His arms were crossed as those familiar dark eyes locked with mine.

It was my father.