Page 24 of Save Me
“Yes, Dr. Rizzo has warned me that over my lifetime I’ll remember more atrocities from that time.” She sighed.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly.
She nodded slightly and continued. “She also warned me about false memories. This isn’t one of them.”
“False memories?” He frowned.
“Brought on by triggers. Movies and images of violence can bring on false memories. Dr. Rizzo has explained how to spot them.” Crissy shut her eyes and took several deep breaths. “I’d lost track of the hours. I didn’t know if it was day or night since it was always dark in the container. I didn’t even know I was in a shipping container. I remember waking up when I heard the door open. It always caused a loud squeaking noise when it was opened and shut. That sound still haunts me.” Her eyes opened and focused on a spot across the room. “He came in.”
“Collins?” he asked.
“Yes.” She closed her eyes again and took another deep breath. “He joked about having some new kind of fun. He unchained me from the wall.”
He remembered the huge eyebolt she’d been chained to. Her wrists had been cuffed with four sets of police handcuffs, which had been looped through a thick chain. So thick, he doubted that Crissy had been able to even lift her hands because of the weight. Her wrists were cut deep from trying to free herself, clear down to the bone in places. He glanced down at her wrists now and could see the thin white scars.
“He carried me over to the mattress and chained me to them like he always did, my hands high above my head, cutting off the circulation. But then he stood over me and just looked down at me. When he pulled out a black pillowcase, I thought that this was it.” Her eyes moved to his face. “Finally, I’d be free of him.”
He swallowed the bile that threatened to surface. He wanted to be there, standing in his partner’s home, gun aimed at his chest, firing bullets into his body all over again. How had he allowed the evil creature to fool him? He should have seen it there in the man’s eyes as he joked about finding some new hottie to bang.
He’d always hated how Collins had talked about women, but a lot of men joked like that in the station. Not him. His mother’s face and kindness always reminded him that no one should ever disrespect women.
“What happened?” he asked, knowing that she needed to continue.
“He put the hood over my head. Then…the same thing that he always did when he came to me.” She frowned. “Or so I thought. This time, there were two of them. I’d thought it was some sort of… toy or tool at first.” She closed her eyes and a tear slipped down her cheek. He watched her dash it away as if it was nothing more than an annoyance. “They joked about how to position me so that they could both work on me.” Her eyes met his. “I was twisted and shoved, then eventually bent up almost into a headstand. I stopped fighting after they’d stretched and slapped at every part of my body…” She pulled the neck of her shirt aside and showed him a white puffy scar. “That was when I got this.” Her eyes locked with his for the first time since she’d started the story. “They burned me until I screamed as they laughed.”
CHAPTER NINE
Just trying to go through her normal routine and keep her thoughts away from the darkness was extremely hard that day.
The terror kept sneaking in. She was out watering the plants, a task she loved to do each day, but her mind kept playing over the phone call. Over the memories. Over telling Brock what had been done to her.
She no longer felt ashamed or embarrassed, thanks to her time with Dr. Rizzo.
She was taking a potted plant to the front porch through the side gate when she heard the sound of the rusty hinge on the gate. The resemblance to the door on the shipping container startled her enough that her hands shook. She had to sit on the front porch swing for a full two minutes before she finally got her breathing under control.
Around lunchtime, Brock made her and Emma hamburgers on the porch grill while she read Emma her favorite book. This was the only time during the day where she wasn’t worrying or remembering.
When Emma was down for a nap, Brock asked to speak to her outside.
“Sit,” he said, motioning to the cushioned chairs that sat in the shade of the smaller porch on the back side of the pool house. The porch was surrounded by a jungle of green that separated it from the main pool area and gave it the privacy that she required. She sat down and held her breath, waiting.
“I just got off the phone with my father,” he said, touching her arm. “The call last night came from an abandoned warehouse just outside of Miami.”
She could see it in his eyes before he said it. Knew that something bad had happened. Knew that everyone understood that these weren’t just prank calls any longer.
“And?” she asked, wrapping her arms around herself but feeling the chill seep in.
“They discovered a body.” He took her hand in his. “We’re trying to ID her.”
“Her?” she asked and closed her eyes.
“Yes, from the looks of it, the police think it’s a seventeen-year-old girl that went missing two days ago while walking home from school.”
“Was she… Was it like what happened to me?”
He nodded. “It appears so. There were burn marks. Like…” He nodded to her shoulder, and she felt her stomach lurch. Taking several deep breaths, she willed her body back under control.
She remembered his words last night. “He promised me I’d be his first kill. He said that ship had sailed…” She looked at Brock. “He wanted us to find her.”
