Bette motions to take one of the cards from the table. Then she withdraws, as if he’s afraid to get burned by it. She looks up at Dante and I can say that she’s definitely pissed off. Not only she’s scared. She’s also annoyed and seems on the verge of losing her coolness.

“I just can’t understand how they defined our team”, she says flatly.

I take a long sigh and put my arm around Carmen’s waist, who’s sitting on my lap.

“All the people included in that anagram are involved in what happened one year ago…”, I say.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Carmen scratching distractedly the scar on her head. The scar that bullet left on her as a permanent memento. Her gesture makes my heart ache, gives me an abrupt sense of anxiety. Carmen had stopped doing it one year ago, and now… Well, she’s being doing it all the time without even noticing it. She’s uncomfortable, and suddenly I’m afraid of seeing her break down. I’m afraid of seeing John James Sanders hurting my wife again.

I close my eyes for a second before speaking again.

“…We have seven people on that list. And as sure as hell I’m the first one responsible for what happened…”.

“…Shane…”,

Carmen’s voice, weak and worried, warning me between the lines. Telling me that I’m not responsible. But I am. I know, I know that. I know that all the people in this room are involved in this fucking mess just because, one year ago, I was the only one looking for revenge.

“…I am the person who decided to discover who shot my wife. I am the person who wanted to see that man dead. I’m the person who wanted to induce him to kill himself”.

Tina swallows hard and lowers her head, staring at something undefined on the floor. My eyes move from a person to another, fearlessly. I’m trying hard to be emotionally detached as I list the members of our team, as I list who’s involved and how.

“…Marshall is the private eye I hired to find Sanders. The gun I pointed to his head, that night, was Marshall’s. Dante is the man who stopped me…. Tasha contacted Dante. Alice found the case file I was hiding in Carmen’s studio. Bette entered the shed with Carmen, that night. And Carmen… well…”.