She nodded her head a little and bit into her lip the way she does when she’s thinking hard about something. One of those cute affectations that I’d missed.
It was obvious that she responded better and more favorably to Borelli so Anderson kept his trap shut for once. I didn’t know he knew how. Asshole!
“Yes, they always spoke of this other person that I never saw and I got the feeling it wasn’t the man who’d taken me but someone else.”
She folded in on herself at the mention of him and I felt my gut twist. “Did he hurt you?” Her eyes flew up to mine and I saw understanding in them. That was good because I couldn’t bring myself to say the words.
“No, nothing like that happened to me. I don’t think he ever came again, at least I never saw him there or heard his voice after that first night.”
“At night I was drugged and placed in the box and during the day there were chains on my hands and around my ankles.” Drugged every night for two years? What the fuck?
“I could walk around the small room and go as far as the bathroom but nowhere else. I never saw the other rooms in the house but I knew there was at least one other bedroom because the couple stayed there.”
“When I got too big to fit in the box I was allowed to sleep on the bed though they kept drugging me. I was worried that the drugs might hurt the baby but the woman once told me that they wouldn’t.”
“I got the feeling that she was a nurse or had some kind of medical training.”
“This woman, what did she look like?” He took down notes as she gave him a very in depth description of her captor.
“Why did you say you didn’t know who took you? This is pretty good.”
“I didn’t see the face of the man who took me, only those two.”
“We’ll get a sketch artist in and have him draw this up. You’re doing very well, this is at least a start.” I could hear the restraint in his voice, but unlike his partner he seemed to understand the need to give her time, to not push her too far too soon.
She literally wilted in my arms and I asked them to leave until later that day. I didn’t know how long the doctor was planning to keep her here, didn’t know if this line of questioning would set her back.
“Okay then, we’ll come back later with the artist. One last thing, is there anything you can tell us about the babies? Hair color, anything.”
I sensed her excitement as she grabbed my hand again and dug her nails in. “Yes, they have your birthmark Cade, the crescent moon behind their left ear. One boy, one girl; we have a son and a daughter.”
I felt all the air leave my lungs and my body went weak; a son and a daughter. I didn’t have time to dwell as the detectives pounced on her statement with the first sign of real interest.
“Do you mind if we have a look at that mark McClintock?” They took pictures of the mark that was well hidden behind my ear, visible only to those who got really close.
“Would you say the children’s are in the same place as their father’s?”
“No, theirs were a bit lower, more exposed.” She rubbed a spot just behind her lobe and looked deep in thought before tears gathered in her eyes and fell.
“I only got to see them for a few minutes before they were taken away. I didn’t even get to feed them….” Her hand trembled as she wiped her tears away.
The next words from her lips made what was left of my heart bleed. “I’m sorry I didn’t protect them Cade….” I pulled her head into my chest and let her cry herself out while ushering the two men out of the room quietly.
Lying back on the bed I pulled her down with me and held her until she was too exhausted to cry any more tears. When her breathing evened out in sleep it was my turn to release my own pent up breath.
I thought the feelings of despair and sheer hell that I endured when she was gone were bad, but nothing could’ve prepared me for this new feeling of terror in my gut.
My innocent children were in someone else’s hands. I fought back my anger, it was of no help to me here. I have to keep my mind clear and focused for the fight ahead. And there’s going to be one hell of a fight.
There was a knock at the door and I turned my head to see the P.I I’d worked with before peep into the room. I acknowledged him and he eased back out to wait for me.