Page 182 of Hayden's Stalker

27

The Statement

The sun is beginningto set by the time we reach the big building with the limestone facade on University Heights Boulevard that houses the FBI headquarters.

We’re taken inside, and Special Agent McGuire turns to us. “Mr. Vega, we have a doctor who will need to examine you. Miss Swanson, Derek will take you to—”

Fear at the thought of being separated from Tati right now floods through me, and I cut her off. “I want Tati to stay with me. I’m not going anywhere if Tati isn’t allowed to be with me.”

“Of course,” the agent says. “We understand that you’ve been through a lot. As long as you’re comfortable, it’s fine to have whatever support you need right now.”

Relief that Tati will be able to stay with me floods through me, and I say, “Thank you very much.”

We’re escorted to a medical room where the FBI doctor checks me over, my stomach is painful, and he has me take my shirt off. When I do, I look down to see large purple bruises across my body and cringe as I wonder what Sarah would have done when she saw them tonight.

The doctor takes pictures of the bruises as well as some blood tests, then gives me the all-clear, and Special Agent McGuire tells me to follow her to give my statement before she adds, “Miss Swanson, you might as well come with us.”

My stomach churns, and I clutch Tati’s hand tightly as we’re taken through the facility to the room where I’ll have to relive what happened. I don’t know if I’m ready to do this, and I feel ill as memories play in my head on the way there.

We’re seated on plush chairs around a large wooden table in a modern conference room. Special Agent McGuire sits across from us, and our back is to the door, which is probably the reason Tati is sitting so stiffly. She links her arm through mine, and I hold her hand, focusing on the feeling of her warm skin and the sound of her breathing to try and ground myself in the moment because the memories are threatening to overwhelm me already.

“Okay, Mr. Vega, can you run us through your version of the events?” Special Agent McGuire says.

“Sure. I guess you want me to start from when I was taken?”

The FBI agent nods. “Yes, please. If you can tell us everything you remember in as much detail as you can from the soundcheck through to your version of this afternoon’s events, we would appreciate that.”

“Okay,” I agree.

I take a deep breath and start by telling them how Daniel kidnapped me.

“What was the box?” the agent who sat next to Tati in the car asks when I tell them about waking up.

“It was one of our equipment boxes from backstage. Apparently, Daniel shoved me into it and wheeled me out of the backstage area into a van without anyone asking a single question.”

Tatiana groans softly, and I squeeze her hand, loathing the pain she gets from hearing about this. I need her here, but I feel selfish knowing that she’ll have to hear about the things Sarah did with me.

I continue with my statement, but when I reach the part about the charity event, my guilt overwhelms me, and I have to stop talking. I take a long breath, counting slowly to five as I exhale it before I look up at Special Agent McGuire.

“Sorry. I just—this bit is really hard.”

“Take your time, Mr. Vega,” she says kindly. “Do you need a minute?”

I take another long breath and shake my head because I just want to get this over with. I pick up a glass of water from in front of me and take a sip as Tatiana squeezes my hand tightly.

“So, apparently, she tried to meet me several times but failed. Then she heard that we were going to be at a charity function at a hotel in Los Angeles on Halloween. This woman is psychotic. She faked paperwork to get a job there and spent months convincing the hotel manager that they should drug us to get a scandal because the pictures would be worth a fortune. She told me proudly how she managed to get them to do it and have them think it was their idea so she wasn’t even involved.”

Special Agent McGuire frowns at me. “To what end did she want them to drug your band?”

I struggle against the guilt of being the reason Harrison and Heather’s lives were so utterly fucked up and the knowledge of what Sarah wanted.

“So that when I was high on GHB, she could have sex with me, and it would be the start of our beautiful love story.”

The room is silent, and a few of the agents can’t keep the horror and disgust out of their expressions.

Tati gasps next to me, “She wanted to rape you?!”

The memory of the way I found out this information, with Sarah lying next to me in the bedroom as she proudly explained how she’d happily done this for the chance to fuck me, comes to my mind.

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