“She’s coming with me,” Lily said, her tone surprisingly defiant. She stopped to look at Abby. “Unless you don’t think you can? After yesterday…”
“No. I’m fine. I want to be there for you, Lil, but I don’t want to ruin anything. I’ll just wait here.” Lily turned back to the agent.
“Then I want Abby with me.”
The agent was calm but firm.
“Lily, we understand where you’re coming from, but…”
“I said I want Abby with me. Or you don’t get your interview.”
Lily stared at them, a sense of pride welling up inside. With Rick, she’d never talked back, never considered defying him, especially once Sky was born. But she wasn’t going to let anyone tell her what she could do. This is the new Lily, she told herself. Remember this when anyone tries to break you.
“I see. Can you give us a moment?”
“Of course.” Lily watched as Agent Stevens and Dr. Zaretsky conferred privately. Lily knew they would give in. They had to. Catching Rick was too important. She hated being difficult, but Lily simply couldn’t stand to have anyone else telling her what to do. Dr. Zaretsky returned moments later. “If you’re ready, let’s get started,” she said, and gestured for both girls to follow her.
Still holding Abby’s hand, Lily entered the conference room filled with floor-to-ceiling windows and a giant open space. It was twice the size of Lily’s former home, but Lily couldn’t think about that now. It would be dangerous to constantly compare her two different lives.
As Lily settled into one of the hard-backed chairs, the other agents slipped out of the room. Agent Stevens settled into another chair nearby while Dr. Zaretsky closed the door. Lily had to fight the urge to make sure it wasn’t locked, make sure that she could leave anytime she wanted.
“Lily, we cannot express how sorry we are for what you and your daughter have endured. But we are so glad you are here and that you escaped. We want to make sure the person responsible for your abduction is punished,” Agent Stevens said sympathetically.
“We’ve located Rick Hanson’s cabin, and we’re collecting evidence, but we need your statement. Making this case stick means we have to act fast. We can take breaks if you need to, but—”
“I’m ready. I’ve been ready.”
Dr. Zaretsky took over.
“I’m a child and adolescent forensic interviewer, or a CAFI for short. I consult with the FBI on cases in which children were abused or kidnapped. I have a background in social work and a private practice in upstate New York where I work with victims of abuse. Do you have any questions about my role in your case?”
“So your job is to interview people like me, to hear our stories about what people like Rick do?”
“Yes.”
“And are there a lot of people out there like me? People who’ve been through what I’ve been through?”
Lily could see Dr. Zaretsky’s wheels turning, trying to assess the right amount of information to share.
“There are a lot of sick people out there. But there are also a lot of very brave children and young women like yourself.”
The answer was appropriately sympathetic. What a terrible job, Lily thought. Listening to people recount their most degrading experiences day after day.
“My job is to listen and to make sure that the courts and the lawyers have your testimony on record. If at any time you need to take a break or you have to stop, all you have to do is say the word. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“If you were to start from the beginning, to think about Rick Hanson and how it all began, what do you first remember?”
Lily thought back to ninth grade.
“Rick was my English teacher freshman year. He was one of those teachers that made even the most boring subjects fun. Like if he were talking about Chaucer, which is just weird, you know, he’d make it fun. And he’d always compliment me, ‘Wow, Lily, blue really is your color, isn’t it?’ Or, ‘With a smile like that, who needs the sun?’ He’d rave about my book reports, always telling me that I was one of his smartest students.”
“And you liked it when he said those things?”
Lily’s cheeks flushed, remembering how much she’d enjoyed his attention.
“Before I started dating Wes—” She paused, realizing that no one here besides Abby knew anything about Wes. “Before I started dating my boyfriend Wes, I used to imagine what it might be like to date Mr. Hanson, to hold his hand and have him tell me I was pretty. I mean, that was before I had a boyfriend. It was a silly crush, a distraction from school.” Those fantasies made Lily sick now, but it wasn’t like she considered Rick as an option. “All the girls had crushes on him. We’d wear lots of makeup to his class and we’d fight to sit in front. He was cute, I guess, if you like that type.”
Dr. Zaretsky interjected, “When you say ‘that type,’ Lily, what exactly do you mean?”