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“Okay.”
“We’ve interviewed a lot of people in Blackburn. We had two different people talk about a car they saw off Main they had never seen before.” Main was where I was taken. A rush of hope stirs. It’s something, right? “It was a dark four door, late model sedan. Nobody could give us any more description. Does that ring any bells? Can you think back to when you were walking down the road?”
I take my thoughts back to that night. I was singing. Excited. It was dark. The light at the train track was out. I squeeze my eyes shut. Focus, Kali. I glanced around. Saw the lights on the apartments ahead. The trees were still. So dark. No one drove by. Nothing seemed different. I let out a frustrated groan and drop my head. “I don’t remember seeing it.”
“It’s all right. As your brain begins to heal, something might come to you, so keep trying.” God, I hope. “We also talked with Pearl Livingston. She really wanted your phone number to check on you. We, of course, didn’t provide that info to her, but I told her I would pass along that she’s worried about you.”
Oh, Pearl. I miss you. I just need a little more time.
Martinez studies me as the conflict inside me plays out. I shouldn’t be afraid to call my best friend, but something is stopping me. Embarrassment? Fear that she’d want to smother me? Ask all the wrong questions that I can’t handle yet? Or maybe I’m not ready to look back. “I’ll call her. I’m just not ready to talk to anyone.”
“She also has a solid alibi.” What? Why would they question her? I told them she didn’t do it. Why are they wasting their time on her? “Everyone we interview, we ask what they were doing that night,” he adds, reading my irritation.
“Does the mayor have an alibi?” I ask sarcastically. They probably didn’t ask him because he’s the mayor.
His lips press into a tight line, and the hairs on the back of my neck tingle. “Did Mayor Prackett know you won the lottery?”
Shit. I swallow hard, my fingers pinching the bridge of my nose as the memory of my threat surfaces. “I didn’t tell him I had won. But I did tell him I had power now.” I cringe inwardly, realizing how dumb that was. Why did I think provoking him was a good idea? “Did he say he knew?”
It had to be him. He did this to me!
“He didn’t say anything to us about knowing. But when we interviewed Henry Walton, he recalled the mayor asking about you buying a lottery ticket. He’s fairly certain it was the day before you were kidnapped.”
I push off the rail, my hands balling into fists. “He doesn’t have an alibi, does he?”
He lets out a sharp sigh. “He does.” Sensing my frustration, he quickly adds, “He’s not off our radar, just yet. But there are other concerns we have. We can’t really discuss the details though. How well do you know the mayor?”
He’s right, this conversation is frustrating.
“Other than what I told you about his sick obsession of wanting to have sex with a fourteen-year-old…” I feel it’s necessary to repeat that so he understands how horrible he is. “He never let me get close to him. I was with the nanny more than anything.” He asks me her name, and it takes me a moment to remember. It’s been a long time since then. A lot of emotional baggage to dig through.
He closes his notepad, sticks it in his pocket, and pauses. “Kali, we’re going to find who did this to you.”
My eyes water, and I stare up at the sky. A tear falls over my cheek, and I wipe it away.
“I can’t heal knowing he’s out there.” My voice trembles. “Every noise I hear at night, I’m afraid he’s trying to finish the job. He wanted me down there for a reason, and I don’t think it was to be found.”
The front door creaks open, and Dr. Betty steps out.
“Major Martinez, I think we’re done for the day,” she says, sternly.
“Yes, ma’am.” He takes the two steps down and looks back up at me. “Kali, don’t lose hope. And don’t give him control. Fight and take it back,” he says.
I’m trying. But how do you fight a ghost?
“Rusty, that’s not cool,” I snap at the heathen animal, hurling the brush into the bucket. He rolls around in the grass and dirt. Right after his bath. Ever tried bathing an enormous horse? It takes a long time, and then for him to get his ass dirty right after, it’s frustrating. He’s frustrating.
But then he flips over and trots over to me, flashing me all his teeth, reminding me of Ann when she showed up to the diner. I can’t help but laugh at the goon, instantly forgetting how exasperating he can be. And how much I’ve grown to love him.
It’s been a long month of facing my fears. After Martinez left, I wrote down his words, don’t give him control, on a small piece of paper and have it stuffed in my pocket every day. It’s become my daily pledge. I often run my fingers along the paper when bad thoughts creep up.
While the claustrophobic fear might never disappear, I can finally sleep at night without dreaming of dying. Time has helped calm my memories, and being on the ranch, surrounded by a million spiders, I’ve become more numb to those as well. Not saying the first two weeks weren’t torture whenever I’d see one, screaming they wanted to eat me.
Ted is my arachnid-slaying hero.
Dr. Betty has transitioned me to the next phase: self-defense. Work on rebuilding my confidence, a step toward reclaiming my life. Martinez gave me the horrible news a couple days ago that I was losing my officer detail. I bawled like my death was imminent.
They don’t care about my safety anymore.
