Rosa stared at the table. “Older. Not old. Maybe… late thirties? Forty. Hair short. Always clean. He wears nice shoes. Like he is not from here.”
Not from here.
That phrase always mattered on islands.
“Facial hair or clean shaven?” Rios asked.
Rosa gestured to the center of her face. “Skinny beard here.”
“A goatee?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Does he speak to you?” I asked.
“No, he smiles.” Rosa’s lip curled. “Like he knows something I don’t.”
Rios leaned forward, forearms on the table, posture controlled but coiled. “Did you see him the night you were attacked?”
Rosa shut her eyes briefly. “I do not know. It was dark. He came from behind.”
“Okay.” I kept my tone even. “That’s something, but it doesn’t mean it’s him.”
“It could be anyone.” Rosa’s voice was tight. “That is the point. Anyone can watch you. Anyone can follow you. And no one notices.”
The truth of that ached like a bruise.
“What about your life here?” I asked softly. “Do you have family on the island? A roommate?”
Rosa’s mouth flattened. “No family. I live alone.”
“Friends who check on you?” I asked.
Her gaze lifted, direct and unflinching. “Friends are dangerous.”
I nodded like I understood, because I did.
Friends asked questions. Friends noticed absences. Friends created ties that could be pulled. And for certain groups, that posed a potential threat. Or at least leverage.
“All right,” I said. “Let me ask the question another way. If you didn’t show up to work for a week… would anyone report you missing?”
A beat.
Rosa looked down at her hands again. Her fingers tightened. “No,” she said simply. “They would say I left.”
My chest went tight.
Rios’s hand flexed where it lay on the edge of the table.
“Okay,” I whispered, more to myself than anyone.
This likely wasn’t about Rosa personally but about the place she occupied in society. Disenfranchised. On the fringes. A woman of color. Alone. Someone who likely wouldn’t be missed. My gut screamed all of this spoke to scope.
Someone had potentially nabbed Priya, believing her to be Rosa. A mistake. But there’d been no body found. So maybe they believed she’d “do” for their purposes.
What was the likelihood that she’d been the only one?
Slim, to my mind.
