“Yes, she does, Gia. She belongs here every bit as much as you or any other of us does, and you know it,” I corrected her.
“I don’t want her here! She ruined everything!”
“What? What has she ruined?” I asked. It wasn’t why I had brought her into the office, but if I could find the underlying cause of what was going on with her and Cara, I was going to pursue it.
Gia opened her mouth as if to start spouting more vitriol, then she seemed to think better of it and clamped her lips closed, looking away from me and down to her hands, which were folded neatly in her lap.
“What did you bring me in here to ask me? Let’s just get this done,” she said instead, more calmly now.
“Fine. Tell me how long you and Jase have been in a relationship?”
“What? Me and Jase? That’s….”
“I told you not to lie to me, Gia. Jase told Cara everything. We know you were seeing him. I’m guessing he was the one who helped you sneak out of the house yesterday, and probably several other times before too.”
“This is Cara again. She hates me. She’d say anythin…”
“Don’t lie!” I roared, slamming my closed fist down hard on the desk between us. I couldn’t listen to her say anything else about Cara. I wouldn’t stand for her accusing Cara of lying when I knew it was all shit.
“It wasn’t a relationship!” Gia cried nervously. “I…I just…I was nice to him so he’d help me…let me out sometimes and stuff. It was nothing. I just…we kissed a few times. I was using him. That’s it!”
“When did it start?” I asked.
“I don’t know. A while ago,” she shrugged.
“Did you know he worked for the Russians?”
“What? No! Of course not!”
“Did ye ever go to his home?” Arran cut in.
“No! Ew! I didn’t even like him that much. He just…he was interested in me and I knew I could use him. I don’t know anything about him except he works…worked for Rafe.”
“So you didn’t talk? Didn’t go out on dates, and get to know him?” I pushed.
“No. God! I just told you. I smiled, flirted. I kissed him a little and he did what I told him to. That was it. I didn’t know anything about him!” I knew she was lying. I could see it in her face. I alsoknew that Gia had been out with Jase enough, that her friends had been aware of him, and called him Gia’s boyfriend when they told Rafe and I about him, when we’d been searching for her. But for now that wasn’t the most pressing point, so I let it lie and went on.
“Tell me what happened last night.”
“I was at a club with some friends,” she began, but I cut her off.
“Which friends?”
“From school. They’re new. You don’t know them. Anyway, two of them had to leave, so I left with them. We were waiting for our carshare outside, and this van came racing up to me. Two men jumped out and grabbed me. I screamed, but no one was around, except for my friends, and they were too scared to step in, I suppose. The men threw me in the van, and then I think they drugged me, because I passed out.”
“What did the men look like?”
“Big. They were dressed in dark colours and they had masks over their faces…like balaclavas.”
“And the van? Can ye describe it?” Arran asked.
“White I think, but I’m not sure. It all happened so fast and it was dark,” she uttered. She’d lowered her head so she was staring at her fidgeting hands again, and she seemed a little shaken now. I didn’t want to push her too hard. She had been traumatised the night before, after all.
“Okay,” I nodded. “Did you wake up in the garage?”
“Yeah. They handed me my phone and told me to ring Cara. They told me they’d kill me if I didn’t get her there. I know Idon’t like her, but I…I didn’t want to drag her into that. I told her not to come!” she argued.
“She came anyway Gia, because she loves you, She put her life at risk to save yours. Don’t you see that?” I pushed, desperate to get through to her.
