Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men #9)(117)

But they paused when they realized she was tagging along.

“Ma’am,” they told her as if ordering her to let me go. I tightened my grip on her fingers.

She tightened hers on mine right back. “I’m his legal guardian,” she said, letting them known she wasn’t about to leave my side without a fight.

Surprise filled Detective Wilson’s face. “You’re under eighteen?”

I shook my head. “I am eighteen.”

“Oh.” He sent my sister-in-law a regretful wince. “You’ll have to wait out here, ma’am.”

She looked up at me, and I knew she didn’t want to leave me alone with them. I kind of wanted her by my side too, but if doing this alone got me answers sooner as to where Julianna was, I’d do whatever I had to.

“It’s okay,” I told her, leaning over to kiss her hair. “Thank you for being here for me.”

She nodded and regretfully let go of my hand.

I followed the two detectives back to a soundproof-looking room with nothing on the walls. It was only large enough to hold a folding table and three chairs, one in the corner with the back against the wall, the other two nearest the door. When I glanced up at the camera in the top corner, I started to get a little uneasy.

“Take a seat,” Detective Wilson offered, motioning me to the side where my back would literally be against the wall. Then he sat off to the side instead of taking the chair directly across from me, letting me know the other guy, Hall, was going to be in charge of “questioning” me.

We waited there for nearly half a minute in silence, enough time for me to rest my forearms against the corner of the table and clasp my hands tightly while my knee began to jiggle erratically.

The door opened again, and Detective Hall entered, carrying a clipboard with a clear bag that said Evidence at the top with a form looking thing below it. As he sat and placed the clipboard on the table in front of him, my gaze strayed to the bag. Through the plastic, I noticed a set of keys and cell phone. From the key ring hung a small silver dream catcher, a brown rabbit’s foot and a small bottle of breath spray.

“Those are Juli’s,” I said, sitting up in alarm. My gaze went to the phone. That was her phone case. And the screen was broken.

I guess now I knew why she hadn’t returned any of my calls.

Doom settled hard in my gut. I blinked at the evidence bag one more time before lifting my gaze to the detective. “What…?” I tried to ask but the words stuck in my throat. I honestly couldn’t remember being this afraid in my entire life.

“When was the last time you saw Julianna Radcliffe?”

My hands immediately went to my mouth as I tried to keep myself together. Mind racing with what could’ve possibly happened, I shook my head and blinked rapidly. “This morning,” I was finally able to choke out. “Just…just a few hours ago. I needed to go home and shower and change before class. We were supposed to have philosophy together at ten. She didn’t show. I thought…” I wasn’t sure what else I wanted to say. I wanted to demand answers, but I was also too afraid to hear them.

“So you stayed the night with her?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“And what did you do all night?”

“Uh…” I shook my head. “Slept mostly. Are you asking if we had sex?”

The detective sent me a dry glance before saying, “Did you and Miss Radcliffe have an argument?”

“What? No! Not at all. We parted on good terms, great terms. She smiled and kissed me and told me she’d see me in philosophy class. What the hell happened? Is she okay or not? Can you at least tell me if she’s…” I had to pause a moment and blink rapidly before rasping, “Is she still alive?”

The detectives shared a glance. What the hell did that mean? Did that mean no? Did it mean yes?

Oh my God, was she alive or not?

My breathing went all kinds of crazy. My hands shook and I started to rock back and forth in my chair while my eyes got a little wet.

“Ms. Radcliffe’s father said you guys had an argument last night,” Detective Hall pressed.

I gulped and tried to swallow down my fear before answering, but my throat was so dry only a croak emerged.

“Do you need a drink, Colton?” Detective Wilson asked.

When I squeezed my eyes and nodded, I heard a chair scrape when one of the men stood to leave the room. I opened my lashes and leveled a look at Detective Hall.

“Why can’t you just tell me what happened?” I asked from a crackling, dry throat.

The other man let out a breath before picking up the evidence bag and setting it to the side so he could reach for an eight-by-ten photo underneath. Turning it around so I could see it, he said, “Miss Radcliffe’s roommate left her apartment this morning to find this outside in the parking lot.”

“Holy shit,” I whispered.

It was a picture of Juli’s car, mostly just the driver’s side door, which stood wide open. Juli’s keys and broken cell phone lay on the ground just outside the opened door. Julianna, however, was nowhere in the shot.

“No one’s been able to locate her since,” Hall explained.

“So, what? She just…vanished?”

Hall lifted his gaze, which I took for a yes.

I shook my head. This…it didn’t make any sense. Someone had taken Julianna?