Bette maneuvered the car into the driveway and shut off the ignition. It was silent. Bette stayed where she was, hands on the steering wheel, making no move to get out of the car. She felt Tina's eyes on her, but she didn't look around.

Tina placed a hand on Bette's knee, without saying anything. Bette felt frozen in place, so pervasive was dread that filled her. She knew what she had to do. The moment was here. She couldn't run from it anymore.

I can't. I just can't. Bette cursed herself for not telling Tina the whole truth from the very start. It has to come from me, the whole sorry story, Bette thought, her mind racing. She had to tell Tina how Jenny had mistaken what she saw through the window that night, how Kelly had lied to Jodi about what had happened, how she and Kelly had parted ways professionally after a bitter fight. How Jenny had blackmailed her. The video. The video that had been evidence enough to convince Kit. How could she expect Tina to believe her? She closed her eyes, tears of defeat burning under her eyelids.

“Bette?”

Bette blinked rapidly and opened her eyes, looking at Tina. She couldn't have spoken around the lump in her throat even if she had wanted to.

“Bette, are you alright?” In the dim light, Bette could see the concern etched on Tina's face. She looked exhausted, sad. Bette couldn't lay anything else on her tonight.

Bette cleared her throat.  “Yeah. Sorry. This night has been...” Bette trailed off. She unhooked her seatbelt and moved to open the car door. She felt Tina's hand on her arm.

“Listen, do you think we ought to go next door? I see Shane's Jeep over there. I guess they got done questioning her before they were finished with us. What do you think? She might need us.”

“T, I think Shane would rather be alone. You know how she is.”

“That's just it,” Tina said. “I don't think she should be all by herself tonight.”

Bette sighed. “I don't know.”

“What's the matter with you, Bette? We have to at least check on her. Come on.”

Bette wasn't up for the debate, so she gave in. “Alright.” She wasn't really up for facing her friends, who she suspected would be next door with Shane as well.

After the interview at the police station, Bette was still feeling unsettled. She stepped out of the car and shut the door firmly, taking a deep breath and looking up briefly at the stars. She was outside again, free. A relief after being in that small, cramped room at the police station.

It was a clear night. For a fanciful moment she wished that she was up there among the twinkling lights, far from the stark reality here in her world.

Jenny was dead. She had been drowned in Bette's pool, not far from where Bette stood now. An unwanted image flashed across her mind of Jenny, as Bette had first seen her when they met all those years ago. She had been innocent, tentative. Shy as a deer. Still a girl. A shiver ran through her and Bette crossed her arms and rubbed them fiercely, trying to banish the chill in the air.

“Bette?” Tina was standing nearby.

Bette tried to muster a reassuring smile. “I'm fine. Are you okay?”

“Yeah... well, as okay as I could be under the circumstances. I want to go in and check on Angie before we go over, okay?”

Bette nodded and Tina led the way into the house. Bette walked behind her, head down. Her head was still buzzing with the questions the detectives had asked her. They'd asked the same set of questions in different ways, over and over again. Returning to the same points all the time. Bette knew they had been waiting for her to slip up, change her story, reveal something new. She had her story and she'd stuck to it, clung to it. It was only a matter of time before they found out the rest of the story. The real story she'd concealed from them. A juicy little tale of extortion, and extortion of the worst kind at that. Jenny hadn't wanted money. That would have been too easy. No, Jenny had wanted to destroy everything.

It was a motive, a clear one. Bette had the most to lose, didn't she? That video. That damned video on Jenny's phone. It was only a matter of time before the police saw it and came knocking at their door. Hauling them back to the station, putting herself and Tina in separate rooms again. Maybe they'd even show Tina the video. Bette's stomach lurched at the thought. What was she going to do?