Page 63 of Torment

“I know,” I whispered, looking down.

Her forehead creased. “Do you want to take a break? I know it’s hard to sit here and hear about all these things that were done to you, and then there’s all the pushy questions too.”

“I’m okay.” I forced another shaky smile.

She nodded slowly. “All right. This is another difficult question. Can you think of anyone who might want to hurt you?”

I hesitated for a few seconds before responding. “Yes, I can.”

Beck’s eyes widened. “Who?”

“My father and his Path of the Covenant cronies.”

“Jolie, that’s impossible,” she said. Her brows were furrowed again. “They’re all dead.”

“I used to believe that too, but not anymore. I think they took me and did all those things to me.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Well, you know about the New Eden rescue, right?”

“I’m aware of it, yes.”

“So you know I was the face of it because of that viral video. I betrayed the cult.”

Beck held up a hand. “Okay, I understand that betrayal for a possible motive, but like I said a minute ago, they’re all dead.”

I shrugged. “I used to believe that too. Now I think they faked the plane crash.”

“Several bodies were found around the crash site.”

“I think they were sacrifices. My father must’ve taken his least useful men and sent them on a doomed flight to make it look like they were all dead,” I said, parroting Mason’s theory.

Beck’s lips pressed into a thin line as I spoke. “The plane wasn’t found for quite some time after the crash. That part of the river is a hotspot for alligators. The recovery team members were lucky to have found any bodies at all,” she said, reciting the old spiel.

“I know, but still. I think there were only a few people on that plane. Not all the men from New Eden.”

“Okay, so let’s say they did survive,” she said, lifting a brow. “You think they waited eight years to exact revenge on you for your betrayal?”

I nodded. “It’s possible. For the first few years after their escape, they would’ve been careful to stay in hiding and not draw any attention to themselves. They wouldn’t have gone after me then.”

“Uh-huh…” Beck nodded slowly, waiting for me to go on.

“After that, it would’ve been hard for them to find me because I legally changed my name and had all my records suppressed by the courts. I also moved around a lot. So I guess it makes sense that it could’ve taken them this long.”

“I see. Is there anything else that makes you think it was them who took you?”

“Yes. I was being stalked before I was taken, and it seems obvious to me that it was them due to the nature of that.”

“Could you expand on that?”

I nodded. “I was getting notes sent to me. Threatening notes. Stuff like ‘found you, whore’ and ‘you need to be punished’. I’d find them on my car, in my mailbox, and in my apartment.”

Beck’s brows shot up. “In your apartment?”

“Yes.”

“Did you report this at the time?” she said, shuffling through the paperwork with furrowed brows. “I don’t recall seeing anything about it.”

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