Brooke drove. Ashley stared out the window and tried not to replay the photo obsessively, but it kept coming up anyway.
"Say it out loud," Brooke said, eyes on the road. "Do not let it eat you up, keeping it all in."
Ashley swallowed. "What if the kid is his? I have to be prepared for the worst Brooke."
"And what if the picture was sent to make you think that," Brooke said. "Which is more likely?"
Ashley opened her Messages, thumb hovering over the unknown number. "It didn't even have words. Just the image. This has Maddie written all over it."
"Why her?" Brooke asked, steady.
"The pattern," Ashley said. "She always moves when she senses we're happy. The 'thank you' file she sent him. The targeted late-night texts . The stupid little photos. And the transfers. Every month."
Brooke nodded once. "But Julian has stopped disbursing funds to her and what about the number?"
"Blocked, of course," Ashley said. "Same timing, same hit-and-run style. Throw the grenade, vanish."
