“Sir—”
My father rounded the desk and sat back down in his chair, his hand raised in Riviera’s direction. What a silent and polite way of saying: shut the fuck up and don’t question me.
“A brick wall.”
“What color were the bricks?” My father barely let me finish my sentence.
“Red,” I responded quickly, knowing that he was counting down the milliseconds of my hesitation.
“What floor were you on?”
“I don’t know. The window had metal grates. I couldn’t look down.”
There was another pause, as everyone seemed to just take a breath, but not my father. He stared me down, promptly launching into it again. “Did you hear voices? Sirens? Birds? Cars?”
Fuck, he was relentless. I wondered what to say. I would be too suspicious if I said I heard nothing. “Voices. I heard voices. No sirens.”
My father stilled, narrowing his eyes at me. He was the hawk up in the air, and I was a tiny field mouse, desperately trying to find an escape from the shadow above. Trying to shield myself from the talons of the hawk who would inevitably swoop in and trap me.
“What voices? Tell us exactly what you heard.”
“I didn’t hear any words,” I murmured, pretending to remember. “There was mumbling. Low conversation outside the door. But not often. I heard it for the first day and then again for the last few days.”
Everyone in the room was looking at me. Waiting. Waiting for me to keep talking, contradict myself, or make a mistake.
But I held out.
Both Collins and Riviera had given up, neither one of them asking any questions. My father stood again and began pacing the room, his next question sounding abnormally quiet.
“Did they hurt you?”
Yes. Alex pulled my hair as soon as I met him. Yes, Alex ordered to zip tie my ankles. Yes. All that pain was pleasure in comparison to being back home.
“No. Whatever was on my wrists and ankles hurt, but otherwise, no.”
“Did they…” my father trailed off, taking long strides up and down the room. “Touch you? Violate you?”
Collins breathed in sharply, exchanging glances with Riviera, but I kept my eyes on my father. This was awkward, but I was ready for it.Used to it.Used to having to reveal private parts of my life.
“No,” I responded simply. “Nobody touched me. I didn’t see anyone this entire time.”
My father stopped and stood behind Collins, burrowing his eyes into mine. He was unsatisfied with how this went—I could tell based on years of experience.
“I think, maybe let’s finish off for today.” Special Agent Riviera found her authority and threw me a sympathetic smile. “Miss Moretti, we’ll need you to come in again. Tomorrow at ten in the morning?”
I sighed with relief…but not too much. “Okay.”
Eager to get out of there, I pushed my chair back, just like Collins and Riviera, but then—
“Jade. Stay.”
I didn’t have to look up to know who commanded that. I plopped my butt back on the chair while the two agents exited.
“Jady, come here. Come here.” My dad walked up to stand right beside me, stretching out his arms. Another awkward hug. “I’m so happy you’re back safe and sound.”
I pulled back and nodded, forcing a smile. He lost weight, like the separation took a toll on him. The guilt came back—he was worried while I was tanning on the beach and falling in love.
“But you have to tell me the truth. Where were you these weeks?” And the illusion shattered at once. I blinked up at him, refusing to acknowledge that he didn’t believe me. “I’ve talked to Xavier, he said he received an anonymous tip. No phone call, no text, nothing. Just a note on his car. How did thesemen—”my father used air quotes, “—find him?”
