I couldn’t help but smile at the sound of her voice. Even though it trembled with fear, it sounded the most put together out of all of them. This girl wasn’t high, and right now I felt she was the break in the case that I’d desperately needed. She was more alert than any of them had been. M would be what I needed to expose Sebastian.
“You’re shaking,” I commented. “Are you cold?” I asked, knowing fair well that she was terrified rather than cold, but I wanted to see how she’d reply.Come on, girl. I am right here, but you have to tell me what I need to hear.
“A little bit, yes.”
I began to unbutton my shirt at the cuffs. When I stood to pull my shirt out of my pants and finish undoing the buttons, she flinched.
“Don’t be afraid of me. I’m not going to harm you.” I pulled my shirt off and, without moving my feet, bent at the waist to lean toward her. I held out my long-sleeved black dress shirt to her. She hesitated but reached out and took it. I smiled at her and then sat back down. “You can put it on and wear it until our time is up.”
She draped it around her shoulders and pulled it closed in the front. I wanted to go to her and offer some form of comfort other than giving her my shirt.No touching,I reminded myself.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Say—”
Say? That doesn’t sound like the M they are calling her.She caught herself just in time, because she almost gave me her name that easily.
“Say?” I prompted.
“I’m M, I meant to say.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yes. Yes, I’m sure.”
“How old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she said confidently.
“Do you want to be here, M?”
Her jaw closed, and I could see her nostrils flare as her lips quivered. Again, I was drawn to her. Her presence silently screamed at me, begging me to help her.
“Yes.” Her voice quivered. Tears ran down her face.
She was scared and didn’t want to be here. If I could tell her that I was with the FBI, I was almost certain I could get the truth out of her. But I still wasn’t one hundred percent sure she wouldn’t mention it to the wrong people. I had never been so close to breathing a word about who I was as I had been in that moment. I didn’t want to leave her here to be brutalized.
“Are you friends with the others?” I asked. When she nodded, I pressed her for more info. “The other three girls and two boys?”
She turned her head slightly to the left as if thinking or trying to recall.Come on, give me something!
“There are two other girls and one other guy.”
Fuck!I didn’t know if I was angrier by the fact that she hadn’t seen them, or at the reality that I believed she was telling the truth.
“You haven’t seen another girl who goes by A or a boy by B?” I questioned for clarity to make sure she hadn’t misunderstood me.
“I haven’t seen them,” she confirmed.
My mind ran wild with possibilities of scenarios surrounding the missing girl and boy. M sat quivering; I was sure with her thoughts spinning. I realized I needed to draw her attention away from me being concerned about the other two. There most likely were times when they’d be asked what they did behind closed doors. The last thing I wanted her to say was “nothing” or “he only asked me questions.” Both would put the Octopus operation at risk, and I had never been so close to getting something usable out of one the captives.
“A and B are my favorite. They make my trip here worthwhile. I like to watch them,” I told her.
I felt like I had to say something like that to keep her from thinking I stood out from the others. Of course, there would be one glaring difference to her—I wasn’t hurting her. In fact, I wasn’t touching her at all.
