“That's it?”
Biting my tongue, I gave him a sour look. Spreading his hands in the air, he said, “Sorry, sorry. I just expected it to all come rushing back to you. Maybe you could try to focus harder,” he suggested gingerly. “Walk around. Do you remember where it happened?”
My eyes tracked the room, sliding over the customers, the bank tellers, the shining floors and the velvet ropes. “Not really.”
“Let me try and remind you, maybe we have to jump start your memory a bit. It was there.” He pointed a thin finger at a spot across the way.
When I looked, I wavered on my feet unsteadily. “I... I guess it was over there.” The long wall of faces behind computers was giving me vertigo.
Nodding, he motioned for me to follow him. Hesitantly, I did, my knees creaking like old wooden boards in a house. “That's good. Okay. So you were over here when the robber grabbed you?”
His question was funny. I didn't remember being grabbed at all, so why would I know if it had happened here or... My thoughts trailed away as I looked down at the floor. There was a spot there where the light was hitting just right.
“I remember that,” I whispered.
“What?” he asked excitedly.
Ignoring him, I knelt down and touched the hard surface. The light bounced into my eyes, causing me to wrinkle my nose. Too bright, I thought. Just like back then. Across from me, the walls reflected my image like a mirror. I remembered that, too—how I'd been standing here, watching myself and thinking... What was I thinking?
How cute my dress was. I covered my mouth and gasped into my palm. That's right. I... was here to take out money for my trip out of the city.
For my future.
Colors and images pranced behind my eyes. The memory stabbed into me, fish-hooks that sank into my veins and tugged until everything came tumbling down.
On the fringe of my memories, I started to see something. People... a gun pointed my way... a low, rich voice and firm hands and the realization that everything was ruined and broken and... and...
“Miss Willow?” Roose asked. “Are you—Miss Willow!”
I was already running.
- Chapter Fourteen -
Alexis
I heard Roose calling my name.
I didn't look back.
The fear was real... tangible. It choked me and blurred my eyes. I felt my purse rumbling, knew it had to be the detective calling me over and over.
I can't go back. I won't put myself through that again!
Those memories sickened me, clawing and twisting until I'd been living the terror all over again. The trauma had allowed me to bury it deep. Therapy hadn't even brought it to the surface.
This had come close.
Except I'd stopped it. I'd thrown my hands up over my eyes and insured I couldn't see the ghosts of my past. There was no reason to remember, nothing good could come from it.
I knew just enough about the Old Stone robbery, as much as any other person did or needed to. The sanitized version from the News channel had spelled it out.
Someone had stormed the bank.
They'd held everyone hostage... they'd hacked the systems on site...
And then they'd vanished.
What the hell mattered beyond that?
Why did that day wreck your world? No. Fuck wondering. I didn't need that answer. I just needed to move forward.
I felt like I could run forever.
Bending over at the first crosswalk I came up against, I hung my head and heaved. Great gulps of air filled my lungs. I was so disoriented, it took me a long while to notice my phone was still buzzing.
When it didn't stop, I brushed the sweat from my eyes and grabbed it. It's Roose, I told myself, trying to work out an excuse for why I'd fled so suddenly. But the number flashing on my screen wasn't the detective's.
Like I was in a dream, I pushed my thumb on the green icon. “Hello?” I asked.
“Finally,” Silver breathed into the device. “Why weren't you picking up?”
All at once, every negative feeling I'd had towards this man washed away. His voice was comforting, even if it sent prickles up my skin. His flat confidence grounded me. He helped melt the terror from my heart.
Shivering, I heard my voice breaking. “Sorry, I was busy.”
“What's wrong?” he said quickly. “You sound out of breath.”
Hesitating, I backed away from the crosswalk as it blinked with its tiny white signal. “It's nothing. I'm just having a weird day.”
“Where are you right now?”
Shit, he sounded really concerned. Again, I reminded myself that I'd been pissed—and confused—because of him. Silver had scared me the other night, and I still didn't know what he'd meant by threatening that I belonged to him. I belonged to no one.
But the surety in his tone... it warmed me.
“Pet,” he demanded. “Tell me where you are.”
“Just down by Heagan street.”
“I'm coming to get you.”
“What?” I lifted my head, scanning the roads like he'd appear from thin air. “That's not necessary.”