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Long pause with the sound of increasingly rapid breathing.
“Slow, deep breaths, Sadie.” Holden speaks softer. “You have no reason to be afraid. This is only a memory you are visiting.”
“I should have gone. Before ...”
“Relax. Loosen your muscles. You are safe. I’m still with you, Sadie.”
Pause. Slower, deeper breathing.
“Now tell me; why were you afraid?”
“Because I knew what he was going to do.”
“What was he going to do, Sadie?”
“He came back to the room, and he just stood there, watching me.”
“Why did you find this troubling, Sadie? What was going through your mind?”
“I should have killed him then.”
Pause.
“But you had attained your goal, had you not? You were inside the compound. You had met Carlos Osorio. Why would you have compromised your cover?”
“Because that was ... where it began.”
“Where what began, Sadie?”
“Me ... becoming invisible.”
9
Tuesday, April 13
8:00 a.m.
Birmingham Police Department
First Avenue North
“I don’t disagree with you, Devlin.”
Kerri searched her partner’s face. They should be working on their assigned case; instead she wanted his thoughts about Tori. He and Tori had talked about what had happened at school over dinner last night. He’d spent a great deal of time afterward just reassuring her. There was no question he’d formed an opinion. But he was holding back.
“We’ve worked together almost a year, Falco. Don’t try faking me out. This is my daughter we’re talking about.”
Feet propped on his desk and hands clasped behind his head, Falco held her gaze a second or two before confessing, “She’s not being completely forthcoming. You’re right. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“We need to know what she’s holding back.” Kerri almost felt as if he was fighting her on this. Maybe not fighting, but definitely too restrained, which was not like him at all.
His feet hit the floor, and he leaned forward. “Does that mean it’s relevant to the actual event—Myers falling—I can’t say. You know how kids are. Hell, they hate a lot of people at this age. They’re also embarrassed by their own thoughts. Maybe she wished Myers would be hurt somehow. The girl hurt Tori’s friend, which hurt her.” He turned his palms up in question.
Kerri made up her mind then and there. “I’ll be back.”
“Dev ... lin,” he warned, drawing out the syllables as she walked away.
She ignored him.
