A Necessary Evil(51)

“Collin McAllister?”

“Yeah, I guess. I mean, I know that’s his name now, but I didn’t know him at all then. He came up behind me and put his hand over my mouth. He told me to do everything he said or he would kill me right there. I knew I was supposed to fight him. I’ve seen it on enough crime TV shows. But it’s easy to say that when you don’t have a gun pressed into your back.”

“He had a gun?” The detective’s eyebrows raised.

“Yeah. He jammed it in my back and made me climb into the back seat of my car. I didn’t want to do what he said.” Mollie choked back tears and swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. “But he said he wouldn’t kill me if I did what he said. I know that was stupid now. But then…”

“Do you need a tissue?” he asked kindly.

“No, I’m fine.” She pulled her hand back up into her shirt sleeve and wiped the snot that was starting to drip from her nose.

“Go ahead,” he said in a near whisper. “It’s okay.”

“He drove my car for a while. I don’t know how long, but it seemed like forever. We stopped at some rundown grocery store. He said he had to pee, but it seemed like maybe he was looking for something. I jumped out of the car and tried to run so I could call 911, but he caught me and dragged me into the store. When he saw I was trying to call for help, he hit me on the top of my head with my cell phone then threw it down and stomped on it.”

“Yes, we found your phone at the old grocery. That was very brave, Mollie.”

Mollie wasn’t sure whether he was coddling her because he genuinely cared, or because he was trying to play Good Cop. It didn’t matter.

“We got back in the car, and when we finally stopped for good, he pulled me out of the back seat. I tried to fight him then. I kicked and screamed as loud as I could, even though we were in the middle of the woods. It was stupid.”

“It wasn’t stupid, Mollie. It’s called the fight or flight instinct. You chose to fight.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“What happened next?”

“He made me go down into the…the…”

“The bunker.”

“Yeah. That thing. But he called it The Vault. I didn’t want to go, but what was I supposed to do? I was out there all alone, and when I’d screamed before, he’d hit me again with the butt of his gun. That’s how I got this big cut right here.”

She lightly touched the tender, raw wound on her forehead. It had scabbed over by now, but it still hurt like a bitch.

“Tell me what happened while you were down in the bunker.” The detective shifted in his seat and crossed one leg over the other, the same way her grandfather sat sometimes.

She shrugged. “He chained me to the wall.” Mollie could still feel the cold steel shackles on her ankles and the bruises they had left behind. “I don’t know how long I was down there. He spent most of his time sleeping, reading, or yelling at me about—”

Mollie clamped her mouth shut. She had almost said too much. She had vowed to not even mention her grandfather during her statement. There was no way to know how much the detective already knew about what Pops had done to Collin’s father, but by God, it wasn’t going to come from her.

“About what?” He set his leg back down and leaned forward again with his elbows on the table. “Mollie…you were about to say something. What was he yelling at you about?”

Mollie sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. Butterflies fluttered around in her belly, and her heartrate was rapidly increasing. “I don’t remember.”

“Come on, Mollie.” The detective’s tone changed from soft and low to sharp and loud. After staring at her for a beat, his eyes lit up. “Oh, my God. He told you about what your grandfather did to his father, didn’t he?”

“No. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied as she looked away from the detective, who was now staring right at her.

“Mollie, cut the crap. Listen. No matter what your grandfather did all those years ago, it didn’t give Collin McAllister the right to do this to you. Don’t get me wrong. I feel sorry for you. You’re definitely the victim in this whole thing. But don’t try to tell me you don’t know where Frankie took Collin. I know you know more than you’re saying.”

“No, I don’t.” She couldn’t look at the detective. He knew she was lying, but she was afraid if she looked in his eyes, she might be tempted to tell him everything, so she stared at the wall to her right. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The door to the interview room swung open, and Kitty was standing there with a young man who couldn’t have been thirty. In fact, he was kind of good-looking. He reminded Mollie of a younger Ryan Gosling.

“Let’s go, Mollie,” Kitty said.

“Ms. Cartwright, I already told you, I’ll charge you with—”

“You won’t be charging my client with anything. Not today, anyway. Not without proof.”

So, the attractive young man was Kitty’s boss, the attorney. Mollie had never met anyone from the law office where Kitty worked, but she was gladder than ever of her mother’s chosen profession. She glanced at the detective, who looked like he was about to explode with anger. Mollie could tell he wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the right words.