Page 36 of Watch Her Bleed
Aurora
I am at a loss for words. In an instant, everything I once knew to be true starts to crumble. I look at Kaia as tears well up in my eyes. I don’t know what to do now. “Oh sweetie,” she says as she hugs me.
“What else do you need from her tonight?” Matt asks.
“Nothing tonight, but we do need to sit down with my team tomorrow. It’s a bit too late to throw all of my questions at her,” Josh says. “I highly recommend she find a really good lawyer. If I'm right, I’m sensing they planned for something like this to happen. They’re not going to give up so easily.
“Okay. Aurora, your phone. Is it connected to them at all?” Matt asks me and I nod. “Okay. Leave it with him and we can get you something new tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I whisper. I’ve given up on fighting. What’s the point?
“So I can start all of this, Kaia. What happened?” Josh asks.
“Last night we were going to have dinner at her parents’ house. She likes to bring me with her because she doesn’t like being alone with them. I never knew why but last night she specifically asked that I try to make sure she was not alone with Enzo. She didn’t say why though. Everything went downhill fast when they learned about her new job and they learned that she’s had a job for the last two years as a server,” Kaia says. “She snapped at her brother and said he hurt her then ran off. Her parents started yelling at me. By the time I realized what they were doing, I couldn’t get past them. Enzo wasn’t in the dining room anymore. I heard Aurora once but then everything got quiet. I was afraid to go near them because Paul made a comment about making me disappear or something.”
“When you got to Aurora, what did you see?” Josh asks.
“Uhm… she was curled up on the bed and was undressed from the waist down. She was sobbing hysterically. I got her dressed and told her we needed to get her bag and leave. Rita tried to talk to her first and I shut it down. Paul told her to come sit and eat but I shut that down too. I may have threatened to hit Enzo when he threatened me, but I got her stuff and we left,” Kaia says.
“Did you see Enzo leave the room she was in?” Josh asks her.
“Yeah. We heard the door open and they moved out of the way so I ran to find her. He was coming out of the room fixing his belt when I passed him.”
“What did she specifically say to you that happened?”
“She said she stopped fighting because he threatened to hurt me and she didn’t want it. She didn’t specify what that was but she kept saying she didn’t want him to do that and she just stopped fighting,” Kaia says.
“Okay, and after this is when she disclosed the prior assaults?”
“Yeah. She told me everything,” she tells the detective.
“Okay. Aurora, I won’t have you make your statement tonight. I do need you to come see me first thing tomorrow. Okay?”
“I’m supposed to work,” I say quietly.
“I think your boss will understand,” Luca says, nudging me.
“Luca, I…”
“Aht. No. We aren’t arguing about this, Aurora,” Luca says. “Not only did you pass out today and end up in the hospital, but now you’re facing your entire life getting turned upside down. We will all end up working remotely anyway. We can compromise and have you help us take notes on a meeting to get your mind off things, but working should be the least of your worries. Okay?”
“Fine,” I sigh.
“Any questions?” Josh asks me.
“Are they all going to jail?” I ask.
“When I get your full statement, Enzo will be arrested. Your parents will be as soon as I validate that any of this paperwork is falsified. We will continue to work to figure out who you are if not Aurora Anderson. Matt, if you come across anything you have to tell us. I urge you to find out legally though or I can’t use it. Okay?”
“Everything comes from a private investigator, so he can provide copies of everything and how he obtained it,” Matt says. “She’ll have a lawyer in the morning, so I’ll get her information as soon as I confirm with her.”
“Wonderful. Okay. Here is my card. You can call or text me if you need me. Just be at the station at say… nine. I’ll have the team ready,” Josh says.
“Okay, come on,” Matt says, taking my hand. I let him lead me back to the car. Milo rides with Kaia and we drop Luca off with my car to bring it back to Matt’s house. I am silent for most of the way but Matt keeps a hold of my hand the entire time.
We pull up to Matt’s house and he looks at me when he shifts the car into park. “Regretting meeting me yet?” I ask flatly.
“No, Aurora. I don’t,” he says.
