Page 3 of Toy

“There’s a room down one of those halls which looks a lot like the Penance Rooms back at the New Eden commune. Stone walls, racks, chains and so on. There’s also a door down another hall with a serious electronic locking system on it. We can’t get it open to see what’s behind it, but something tells me it’s not exactly a wine cellar. Are you aware of any of this?”

I put my head in my hands. I should’ve known they’d go through the whole house. It was a crime scene, after all. “Yes.”

“How do you explain it?”

I chewed on my bottom lip as I mulled over my options. “Look, I’m sorry, but I wasn’t entirely honest with you before,” I finally said, staring at my blood-splattered shoes.

Beck’s forehead wrinkled. “How so?”

I looked up again. “Mason and I aren’t just friends. We’re…” I hesitated. “I guess you could say we’re lovers.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Lovers?”

“Yes.”

“Well, thanks for the honesty, but what does that have to do with what I was saying?” she asked.

“It’s relevant, trust me,” I said softly. “That room you were talking about—Mason built it for me.”

“Why on earth would he do that?”

I tried my best to fake a nonchalant shrug. “I don’t know if it’s some sort of throwback to the way I was raised, but I have some tastes that you might consider to be…” I felt my face flush. “Different.”

“What?” Beck’s eyes widened incredulously. “Are you saying Mason went to the trouble of designing and building a replica of the Penance Rooms at New Eden as part of some sort of… kink? All for your benefit?”

“Yes.” I swallowed hard and concentrated on my shoes again.

“If you two are that serious about each other, to the point where he’d spend that much money and go to that much effort to please you, why did you both claim to simply be friends? Why did you continually lie to me and hide the fact that you’re actually lovers?”

I licked my dry lips. “We just worry that people will think it’s weird. Age difference and all.”

“You’re twenty-six and he’s thirty-five. Bit of an age gap, sure, but most people would still find it relatively acceptable. I’d hardly consider that a valid reason to lie to a detective.”

“Well, it’s not just that,” I said. “The way we met makes things kind of strange too. So we figured we’d hide it until we’re ready to tell everyone. I’m sorry for lying, okay?”

Beck let out a long sigh. “Are you still lying to me now?” she finally asked.

“No.” I shook my head indignantly.

“Jolie, that room down the hall is clearly a torture chamber. There’s knives and whips and all sorts of other torture instruments.”

“I know, but it’s an exact replica. That’s what they had at New Eden. I wanted it to look the same and feel the same. To me, those things are just... toys.”

“I see,” she said stiffly. “Has Mason ever hurt you with any of these toys?”

I bit the inside of my cheek until the metallic taste of blood rolled around my mouth. “Not in the way you’re thinking,” I finally replied.

Beck’s gaze turned steely. She knew I was lying again, but she couldn’t prove it. “So he’s never been violent with you?”

“No.”

I wished she would stop asking about this subject, but she wasn’t that kind of person. Once she sank her teeth into an idea, she obviously wasn’t keen to let it go. Especially when she sensed deep down that she was right. And she was. Mason had hurt me in the past. He’d done every single thing she thought he was guilty of. I just couldn’t tell her why, or try to convince her that he was forgiven. She wouldn’t understand.

“So he didn’t take you and carve that letter into your stomach to mark you as his property, or anything like that?” she asked, still not relenting.

I shook my head. “Why are you still asking me about all of this? You already know who took me. It had to be the men from the Path of the Covenant,” I said, setting my teacup down on a nearby coffee table. “They’re clearly back, just like I told you. They’re the real criminals. So why aren’t you focusing on finding them? Why are you still acting like Mason is the only one who deserves your suspicion?”

“Because nothing about any of this has added up to me from the very start,” Beck replied. “And as you may have noticed, I don’t like to settle for convenient answers. The cult may very well be alive and kicking out there, and it may very well have been your father who ordered Tom Anderson to take you hostage today. But I still don’t think it was them who took you in November.”

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