Page 32 of Marked

He lifts a shoulder and wipes his hands on the paper napkin. “Even good apples can have a few bruises.”

A ring of the bell over the front door draws my attention.

“It’s her.” I sit up straighter, taking a deep breath.

“It’s all right. You remember what to say?” he asks, moving his things to my side of the table and sliding into the seat beside me.

“Harley. Hi.” Special Agent Laurens smiles when she steps up to our table. I scoot out of the chair and greet her with a short hug. It’s how I’ve always greeted her. Changing now would be weird.

“Hi. This is my friend, Zack.” I gesture toward Zack who is watching her with an interested eye, but he schools his fierce expression into a warm grin.

“Hi. Nice to meet you.” He stands up and offers his hand.

She shakes it, keeping her eyes trained on him. An FBI agenthasto know when someone’s lying to them.

How am I going to get through this without her calling me a liar?

“I’m sorry I’m so late. Traffic was heavier than I expected getting out of the city.” She drops into the chair where Zack had been sitting.

“Not a problem. Do you want a sandwich?” Zack offers in the gentlest tone I’ve heard him use.

“No, no, thanks, though. I have to get back. It’s a bit hectic. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble meeting here.” She smiles at me, folding her arms so her elbows lean on the table.

“No. No trouble,” I assure her. “Thanks for taking the time. It’s nothing mind blowing, but I thought you should know about it.”

She nods.

“Of course. Anything you can remember would be helpful.” Her eyes wander to Zack. “I assume she’s told you about what happened?”

“She has.” He lays his arm over the bench’s back, behind me. “Horrible.”

Special Agent Laurens nods. “It was.” Her lips pinch together. “Whenever you’re ready. Take your time.”

I nod. We’ve been through this before. Usually, I have nothing for her, and we spend a few minutes talking over what’s been done so far. Then we end it, and she leaves.

But today is different.

“The nightmares started up again a month ago.” They never completely stop, they just leave me alone for a little while before thrusting their ugliness into my life again.

“All right.” She leans forward, really paying attention. She’s always given me the sense that, no matter what’s happening around us, she’s completely homed in on me. She never gets distracted by a phone call or some other conversation. I’m the only one she’s listening to.

“Well, when I woke up from one the other night, I started thinking about things and…” I blow out a breath. Zack rubs my back with his hand. A simple touch that transfers his strength right into me.

“I remembered a name,” I say. “Artie.” The name pops out of my mouth before I can stop it.

Zack’s hand freezes.

This isn’t the information he wanted me to feed her. But it just came out.

“Artie?” Special Agent Laurens sits back in her chair. “Just that name?”

I nod. “Yeah. Just Artie.”

She stares at me a long moment, her expression unreadable.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s not much.” My shoulders sag. It’s too late now to tell her the lie I was supposed to tell her. It won’t make sense, and she won’t believe me.

“No. No it’s good.” She pulls her phone out and taps away on the screen. “A name is more than we had before.” She smiles up at me. “I’m gonna make a note here, and then when Iget back to the office, I can go through the file again. Maybe there’s something there.”

---