Page 77 of Ruthless Regret

“Now we have a chance to figure out what you really saw that night.” His voice softens slightly. “We can’t do that unless you stop running from it.”

My fingers clench into fists. “I’m not running. I was surviving. There’s a difference.”

“Surviving isn’t living, Firecracker.” His words hit harder than I want to admit.

“You can’t force me to go back there.”

“I’m not going to. If you really can’t do it, then we won’t.”

I stare at him. This man wanted to control me, wanted me to fear him. But there’s something else in his voice now, something that makes me pause.

I wrap my arms around myself. “You really think going back there will achieve anything?”

“I think it’s the only thing we’ve got. If you’ve blocked out the memory of your first interview,andyour memory changed from seeing me with a knife to without it, then there might be something else. And the only way we have to try and trigger that is to go back.”

“I don’t need to be in that house to remember. I don’t want to play these games with you, Zain.”

Zain stands up, his movements slow and deliberate. “This isn’t a game anymore. I don’t want to hurt you, Ashley, and I know going back there is going to do just that, but I need you to do this.”

I feel trapped, like the walls are closing in around me. But deep down, I know he’s right. That house, thatroom, might hold the answers I’m searching for.

“I don’t want to go back there,” I whisper, my voice breaking.

“I know.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

ZAIN

Her eyes met mine.She takes a deep breath, and the refusal I’m expecting doesn’t come.

“When?”

“Now.”

“Now?” She swallows. “I … I don’t think I can.”

“The sooner we go, the sooner we know whether there’s anything to find.”

“But now?Rightnow?”

I nod. “Those memories are still in here.” I take a risk, and gently tap the side of her head. “We just need to unlock them.”

“But what if I don’t remember anything? What if going back there does nothing?”

I consider her words. I know it’s a risk, but it’s one I’m willing to take. “Then we’ll deal with it. But this is the best shot we have.”

She looks away. “I don’t know if I can do it.”

“You can.”

“Why can’t we wait? Why does it have to be now?”

I walk closer. “Because waiting won’t change anything. You’ll keep putting it off, find excuses not to do it. And the longer we wait, the more chance there is that whoever is trying to clean uptheir tracks will get ahead of us. For now, no one knows you’re back. That gives us a little bit of time to move without being seen.”

She shakes her head again, then sighs. “I hate this.”

“I know.”

---