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“But it’s not done with you yet. Tell me, Meredith, how many families have you destroyed?”
“I—” Tears spilled into her mouth. She swallowed the salt of them. “I try to help.”
Impossible, unspeakable pain seared into her. Her screams were mindless pleas for mercy.
“You’re a cog on that wheel. A cog on the wheel that crushes out the lifeblood. But now it’s turning around to crush you, isn’t it? Do you want to escape, Meredith?”
She tasted vomit on her tongue, in her throat. “Yes. No more, please, no more.”
“Nixie Swisher. Let me refresh you. A girl, a young girl who wasn’t in her bed as she was told to be. Disobedient child. Disobedient children should be punished. Isn’t that right?”
She opened her mouth, unsure. “Yes,” she said, praying it was the answer he wanted.
“Do you remember her now? Do you remember the little girl who wasn’t in her bed? Grant and Keelie Swisher, deceased. Executed for heinous acts. Their throats were slit, Meredith. Do you remember now?”
His voice had changed, just a little. There was a fervor that hadn’t been there before. Part of her brain registered the fact while the rest gibbered in fear. “Yes. Yes, I remember.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know. I swear I don’t know.”
“In the blue,” the other voice reported.
“Jolt.”
She screamed and screamed and screamed as the pain tore into her.
“You reported to the Swisher residence on the night they were executed.”
Her body continued to shudder. Spittle dribbled down her chin.
“Did you speak with Nixie Swisher?”
“Interview, exam. Exam, interview. Standard. No injuries, no molestation. Shocky.”
“What did she see?”
“I can’t see.”
“What did Nixie Swisher see?”
“Men. Two men. Knives, throats. Blood. We’ll hide now. Hide and be safe.”
“Losing her.”
“Stimulant.”
She wept again, wept because she was back, aware, awake, and the dregs of pain still lived in her. “No more, please. No more.”
“There was a survivor of the Swisher execution. What did she tell you?”
“She said . . .” Meredith told them everything she knew.
“That’s very good, Meredith. Very concise. Now where is Nixie Swisher?”
“They didn’t tell me. The cop took her. Against procedure, but she had weight.”
“As her caseworker, you must be informed of her location. You must supervise her.”
