Chapter Twenty-Three
Cason took her hand and led her back into the room. The two guys sat in the two chairs in the living room, so he sat them on the sofa facing the men. The rest of the men stood back out of the way but close enough to listen.
“All right, Mrs. Buchanan. My name is Hayden, and this guy next to me is Marek. Can you tell us the first time you met Nasir Dahar-Akrahm?”
Cason felt her stiffen and held her tightly against his side.
“It was about two years ago, I think. It was during the Christmas break from college. My mother called me down from my room, and he was there.”
“Was he alone?” Hayden asked.
She shook her head. “No. It looked like he had servants with him. There were about six, I think. One of them stood directly behind him the whole time, and he told the other men what to do.”
Marek raised a hand. “Would you be able to describe them to an artist?”
“I could try.”
“Okay, we’ll set something up.”
“They’ll have to come here,” Cason informed them.
Hayden nodded. “We can do that.”
“What happened when you came into the room?”
“They looked at me like I was a unicorn or something.”
The men laughed.
“The monster said something harsh, and then all but the monster and the guy next to him stared at me. Nasir came toward me and grabbed my hand when I tried to pull away. I glanced at my mother, and she just stood there looking bored. He touched my face, held it between his hands. I slapped it away, and he looked really angry and said some gibberish to his friend, and he came and stood behind me.”
She started crying and looked up at him. “I don’t like talking.”
“Shhh, I know, baby,” he whispered and pulled her into his lap. “Everything is going to be fine. I’ve got you.”
She settled a bit and turned back to the men. “The man behind me grabbed my shoulders and held me steady. When I tried to jerk away, he told me it would be best if I stood still, or the inspection could turn painful.”
“You understood his English?”
“Yes. Very well. He had an accent, but I would guess he’d been in America longer than where he came from.”
Hayden wrote something down. “Good. Can you tell me about the inspection?”
“He looked in my mouth and then studied my eyes for a long time.”
“Probably to see if you were wearing contacts,” Marek said.
“I never thought of that. Something was said between him and my mother…”
Hayden interrupted her. “She understood his language?”
A frown puckered her brow. “Yes, now that I think about it, she sounded fluent in it.”
“Okay, go on.”
“Well, it sounded like they both got mad at each other, and then the monster backed off. My mother sent me away. The other time he came, he made me sit on my knees on the floor in front of him and between his legs. I hated it. I started to struggle again, and the same guy crouched behind me and gave me the same warning.”
“What did Nasir do?” Hayden asked when she stayed silent.
“He touched all over my head, neck, and then he….” She turned to Cason.
He caught the panicked look in her eyes and pulled her against his chest. “Did he touch your breasts, baby?”
She nodded and started crying. “He hurt me there, and then he and my mother started arguing again, and the man let me go, so I ran up to my room and locked the door. That night is when the maid came to see me.”
“Tell us about that.”
“She told me she overheard my mother and the monster talking. Emma, that’s the maid’s name, said that my mother asked if I would be hurt, and the man said yes, most likely every day until I obey him and learn my place.”
She started shaking in his arms, and he just wanted to howl at the pain he knew she was feeling at that moment.
“Emma didn’t hear what my mom said, but she didn’t sound upset. The man would come back in a few days, but she couldn’t hear what for. That’s when the maid said that I needed to leave and that she’d help me. She didn’t want to come back to the house because she was afraid, but she would if I wanted her to help me escape. I told her to come back for me the next day, and that night, when my mother left, I snuck down to her office. I was never allowed in. I found a file in the top drawer, and my name was in it. I took pictures with my phone, but I didn’t want to take any more time downstairs. I packed a small bag and waited for Emma.”
Cason could see the toll this was taking on her, but they all needed her to finish.
“She got me into her trunk, and then we drove through the gate. When we were out of sight of the house, the plan was for her to pull over and let me up in the front. Thankfully, we could talk to each other because she thought we were being followed, and so we took a few turns and stopped behind this building. She popped the trunk, and I jumped out. She said to hide, and she’d try to come back for me. I never saw her again.”
She looked up at him. “Can I go, now?”
Cason looked at the two men. “Anything else you need?”
“Can we have her phone?”
Cason shook his head at Hayden. “Not until we download it first.”
Marek scowled. “How about we download it now, and you send a copy to our email?”
Cason looked at the men behind them, and they nodded.
“Fine. I’ll get her phone, but I’m going to lay down with her for a bit. These guys will take care of it and come get me if you need anything.”
Marek nodded and looked at Lacey with concern. “That’s fine.”
Cason picked her up and carried her into the bedroom.
He laid her down on the mattress, pushed his shoes off, and lay down beside her. The moment he had her against his chest, she started crying.
“That's it, baby. Get it all out.”
She was already tired from the ordeal, so she hiccupped and became silent within a few minutes.
He kissed her forehead. “We’ll get you taken care of. You’re safe with me.”