Page 19 of Haunted Prey

I shook my head. “Does she have them every night?”

“Oh, no, no, it’s just every so often, it will pass.”

“Her eye. It was…”

“Nothing to worry about, we’ll have her fixed up.” Jackie was trying to lead me back to my room, but I refused.

“I don’t want to go to sleep,” I said, yanking my arm away when she tried to hold it.

“Of course, if you need anything, let me know.” She smiled and then left for the main lobby.

What the hell?

I stood there for a moment, looking back toward where they took Jonsei. I hoped she was okay.

I went back toward the main lobby as well, trying to understand what just occurred, then stopped again when I saw Tyler in the art gallery, with Jackie saying something to him. He nodded, and she left. He turned and saw me and the somber look on his face lifted immediately.

“Hello, Eve,” he said as he approached me. He was still in a fine suit except I noticed it was unbuttoned at the collar. “I didn’t think you’d be out. How ‘s everything going so far?”

“It’s fine,” I said, not sure how else to answer.

He looked me over. “I’m glad I ran into you actually.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“It’s something that needs to be done. The FBI needs your statement. They’ve been bugging me about it for some days now but I wanted to give you time.”

I looked away from him, hoping he didn’t see how annoyed I was. Already I was sick of cops.

“I know it sucks. But the longer you wait, the more you won’t remember. Trust me, they are a pain in the ass, but they need something for their records. So they can be clear about everything.”

I wanted to say,“Too bad, so sad. They can go fuck themselves.”But I knew that wasn’t going to get me out of it. Then it dawned on me—if I had to recount those days, I could also tell them about the weeks that followed. The discoveries I had made about Emery’s past. About the warehouse. I could give them my full statement. And if it meant being tortured through the memories to seek that justice for those victims once again, then so be it.

“All right,” I said. “When?”

“The day after tomorrow, so you can prepare. I’m going to take you myself. And your uncle’s lawyer will be there as well.”

“They aren’t coming here?”

“We have a policy that law enforcement can’t enter the premises unless it’s an emergency or they are bringing in a patient. If it’s for questioning, they need to give us an advanced notice. They don’t want to wait that long.”

Great. “So people will have to see me?”

“It will be very brief and I’ll have my own personal security to escort you. Will make it as easy as we can.”

Anxiously, I nodded.

“Will go after breakfast in the morning. Hopefully, it won’t take all day.” He put a hand on my shoulder, and I flinched. “We’ll get through this, Eve, don’t worry. Just one step at a time.”

CHAPTER FIVE

EMERY

A week.

Seven days, five hours, three minutes.

That’s how long we’ve been separated. How long Eve has been gone and I don’t know where. How long she hasn’t been in my arms, been mine entirely.

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