“I don’t understand,” I say slowly.
“Mrs. Lockwood, the third room contained some concerning items.”
“Concerning how?” Sebastian asks.
Clearing his throat, Chief Turner looks from me to Sebastian and then back again, uncomfortably. “It appears that the room had been set up with the intention of torturing, then potentially murdering you.”
Even though I know exactly what was in that room, I still feel the color drain from my face. “What?”
“Along with a cage, tools, and medical equipment, there was also more bottles of the same brand of Rohypnol that was used to drug you?—”
“Courtney,” I interrupt him. “Courtney planned to kill me?” I choke out.
“Unfortunately, I’m not sure we’ll ever find out exactly what her plan was. We found her DNA on the cage, as well as some of the other items in the room, and her fingerprints inside some latex gloves that she’d attempted to dispose of at the scene.”
“Why?” I gasp. “Why would she do this?”
“At this point, Ms. Ortega is maintaining that she had no idea that you were in the trunk of her car. She says that she had never been to the warehouse before and that she was lured there by Tom Underhill, who was of course in our custody at the time. After seizing her cell phone, we found communication between her and Mr. Underhill spanning several months. We believe that she targeted Mr. Underhill after she discovered he worked for you. Judging by the messages we’ve discovered, she convinced him that he should take incriminating pictures of you and then use them to blackmail you. It seems once she had the pictures and videos, her behavior escalated, and she decided to orchestrate a meeting between you and her, with the intention of integrating herself into your life. After doing a deep dive into her laptop, browsing history, and online presence, we found several concerning things that lead us to believe that she was unhealthily obsessed with you and Mr. Lockwood and has been since she was in her teens. Her obsessive behavior only escalated once she spent the afternoon at your home, which is when her thoughts seem to have become violent. The threatening messages we found on Mr. Underhill’s cell phone and laptop we’ve confirmed were sent by her. We also found messages sent after she drugged you and put you in her trunk. She informed Mr. Underhill that she had abducted you and planned to take you to the warehouse and asked him to meet her there.”
“But she’s denying that?” Sebastian asks.
“She is.”
“Oh my god, she needs help not to be in a cell, clearly she’s not well,” I say, laying it on a bit thick.
“That’s a very generous reaction to finding out she planned to kill you,” Detective Hollins says.
“She was my friend. We were friends,” I gasp as fresh tears roll down my cheeks.
Turning me in his arms, Sebastian presses my face into his chest. “What happens now?” he asks.
“Ms. Ortega has been transferred to a facility to be assessed by a team of medical professionals who will decide if she’s well enough to stand trial. While I’m not a medical professional, my belief is that she isn’t. In cases such as these, when a person is deemed not mentally stable enough to participate in a trial, the criminal proceedings are paused, and that person is committed to a psychiatric facility for treatment until they can be deemed fit.”
“Do her parents know?” I ask, pulling out of Sebastian’s hold just enough to turn my head.
“Yes. Her parents have been informed, and when I met with them, they said that her behavior had become increasingly erratic in the last eight months and that because of that, they stopped all financial support for their daughter. They haven’t spoken to her in over four months and appeared genuinely shocked to discovered that she had been arrested for kidnapping, blackmail, and attempted murder. They have been fully supportive of her move to a secure medical facility and mentioned that they would be petitioning the court for a conservatorship so they could act in her best interest and decide to enforce involuntary psychiatric treatment if and when she is rehabilitated back into society.”
“What hospital is she at?” I ask.
“Her parents asked the judge for her to be placed in a facility out of state,” Chief Turner says.
“So, what happens now?” Sammy asks, speaking for the first time.
“It may take weeks or possibly months for the doctors to evaluate her. Once they’ve completed their findings, she’ll either stay as a patient in that facility or be moved to one more suitedto her needs. If she is deemed mentally stable, then she’ll be arraigned and a bail hearing will be set.”
“She could get bail?” I gasp.
“Given the severity of her crimes, it’s very unlikely any judge would grant her bail. Instead, she would be incarcerated while she awaited her trial. But until we get the results of the evaluation, this is all very much up in the air.”
“So, I have to just wait, worrying?” I question.
“You don’t need us here while she’s evaluated, do you?” Sebastian questions.
“No. If I do need to ask you anything, I’m sure that could be done over the phone,” Chief Turner says.
“Then I think it best my wife and I take some time away. Hopefully the doctor’s assessment is done quickly, so we can try to move on with our life without this hanging over our heads,” Sebastian states sternly.
“Maybe we should all get some time away,” Evan says, placing a hand on Sammy’s swollen stomach. “A babymoon sounds better than worrying about someone trying to kill my little sister.”
