“Sure.”Charma took his hand and held on.
Officer Turlington pulled out one of the chairs and sat, then opened his notebook.“Do you know who kidnapped you?”
“Yeah.Well, not exactly.I don’t know who the three guys who did it were, but they were doing it for my folks.They talked about their pastor and the conversion camp that my parents have tried to send me to in the past.”
Turlington looked up from his notebook.“Your folks had you kidnapped?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure they did.”
“And the guys they hired did that to your face?”
“Yep.”
Turlington shook his head.“Just when I forget what assholes people are, they go ahead and remind me.”He wrote something down, then asked, “What’s the location of this camp they were taking you to?”
“Idaho.”
“So not only out of the city—and therefore out of my jurisdiction—but across state lines.If you want to prosecute them for what they’ve done to you, it’s going to be a little convoluted, but it can happen.”
“I’m not sure I want to deal with convoluted,” Darcy admitted.He just wanted this in his rearview.
“Well, I’m going to suggest that you come into the station at some point in the next few days and make a formal statement for us to add to the file on your kidnapping.That way, if anything further happens or if you decide you do want to pursue it, we have all our ducks in a row paperwork-wise.”
“That sounds fair.”Especially the part about being able to wait a few days to deal with it.
“All right.”Turlington pulled a card out of his pocket.“Give me a call when you’re ready to come down to the station and we’ll arrange a time that works for both of us.”
“Thanks.”Darcy handed the card to Charma because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to find it again if he took it.
Turlington stood and held out his hand.Darcy stood too and shook it.
“I’m really glad things turned out the way they did.”
“Us, too.”Charma nodded vigorously.
“Take care of yourself.See you soon.”
“I’ll show you out,” Mom suggested, going with him.
Darcy closed his eyes.“I’m not sure how much more I can take.”
“Then let’s go home so you don’t have to take anything else.”
That was the best thing he’d heard in a long time.Darcy took Charma’s hand and squeezed it.
Charma kept hold of Darcy’s hand the entire way home.He could feel how on edge Darcy was.It was time for them to just let everything go and hold onto each other.
They pulled up in front of their building and Darcy got out, Charma shifting along the seat to follow him.
“I can come up,” Nik suggested.“Make sure everything is safe.Stick around a bit even if you want.”
“We don’t want.No offense, Nik, but I know Mom put you up to this and we just need to be on our own now.Tell her I’m turning off my phone and I’ll call when we’re ready to face the world again.”
Nik didn’t look the least bit put out, which only confirmed his suspicion that the offer had been prompted by Mom.He gave Charma a little half salute and had pulled back into traffic by the time they reached the door.
He closed the door to the street firmly and they made their way up the stairs and then in.Charma locked the door with deliberation, and added the chain, helping to isolate them from the world.
“Shower or bed?”Charma asked, knowing he wanted both of those thing and he hadn’t been the one kidnapped.
