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“I understand that,” Detective Mosse says, brushing invisible lint off her knee. “What I don’t understand is why you didn’t report it at the time.”
My lips part and I short-circuit for a few moments. “Well I…I was really nervous and I felt really foolish. At the hospital, they said I was fine, so I did begin to think that maybe I had just stumbled home on my own, but this, this proves that isn’t the case.”
“There’s a hospital report?” Detective Anderson glances back at his partner. “Okay, we’ll take a look into that.”
“So, Miss Pierce, what is it exactly that you want to report?” Mosse asks.
Frustration builds in my chest and a hot sense of foolishness prickles over my shoulders. “I was drugged. And someone took me from that club and brought me home. Someone was in my apartment. A stranger. I thought I was sleepwalking this entire time but?—”
“You sleepwalk?” Anderson asks. Suddenly, what little interest he has in what I’m saying seems to vanish completely.
“Recently, yes.”
“And you’re sure it was a stranger and not just your own reflection in the mirror?” Mosse presses further.
“Yes. I know my friends, and none of them tower over me like the person in the footage. And mirrors or not, it’s all here on this pen drive.”
“Are you sure about that?” Anderson’s eyes slide to Finn, who stands a little taller next to me.
“What are you trying to say?”
“Nothing.” Whatever accusation lingers in Anderson’s eyes doesn’t ever get spoken aloud. He finally reaches across and takes the pen drive from me. “Thank you for the footage. We’ll check it out.”
That seems to be their cue to leave as Mosse suddenly stands. “Given that you weren’t physically harmed and there haven’t been any incidents since, we can hope this was just a random act of kindness.”
“After a random drug spiking?” Finn remarks sourly.
“Exactly.” Anderson pockets the drive. “We’ll be in touch, Miss Pierce.”
“Thanks.”
After showing them out, I return to the lounge where Finn is busy on his phone.
“Sorry,” he murmurs, “just filling in the group chat. Are you alright?”
“I don’t know. I thought they would take it a bit more seriously than that. It’s like they didn’t even care, and as soon as I mentioned sleepwalking, that was it. Over.” Sliding one hand into my short hair, I catch strands between my fingertips and tug. “Is this my fault? Did I fuck up by not reporting this sooner?”
Finn sets his phone aside and approaches me. “No, I don’t think you did. Honestly, you had more to give them now than you did at the hospital and I think that’s okay. You did what you were comfortable with at the time. Now we know that there was someone around you and…well, if I’m honest, I don’t know if they will catch him but it’s a start.”
“Thank you for being here.” Catching his hand, I lightly thread our fingers together and focus on the warmth. Palm to palm, I’m soothed. “I know I said we should all avoid each other but you came with me to the hospital and everything so I just…I wanted someone here.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself,” Finn says softly. “You need me, I’m here.”
“Oh really?” I look up and Finn fixes me with a warm stare and a small smile.
“Really.”
“Thank you.” I squeeze his hand, then step away and flop down onto the couch with a groan. “Why do I feel like I’m the bad guy? Like I’m wasting everyone’s time.”
“Because they were assholes,” Finn replies, settling down next to me. “People like that shouldn’t even be cops.”
I hum out my agreement and watch Finn as he lounges back. His entire aura is open and warm. I want to crawl into his arms but is that appropriate after I asked for space?
Then again, I didn’t give Asher much space.
“Emma?”
“Mm-hmm?”
