“Barnes & Noble?” he repeats, writing something down.
“Yes. I bought the book I needed. Then I stopped at Taco Bell to pick up dinner like I promised my dad I would. Then I went home.”
“What time was this?”
“Around six, maybe? I don’t remember exactly.”
“And then what happened?”
“My dad said the hose was broken, and he needed to go outside and fix it. After we ate dinner, he went out to fix it. When he came back inside...” I pause. My throat tightens. “He attacked me.”
The officer’s pen stops moving. “Attacked you? Out of nowhere?”
I nod. “He grabbed me. Threw me at the couch. Then he...” I touch my throat without thinking. “He strangled me until I passed out.”
Silence fills the room.
“Then I woke up,” I continue, voice shaking. “To commotion. I saw my dad attacking Jax. Jax was on the ground. There was blood. So I tried to intervene.”
“Who is Jax?”
“A friend.”
“And then?”
“My dad had a gun.” A tear slips down my cheek before I can stop it. “He was going to shoot Jax. So I stepped in front of him. And my dad shot me instead.”
I don’t tell them about Zephyr. About Zinnia. About anything else.
“Then I woke up here,” I finish.
The officer studies me for a long moment. “Who is Damien Lopez to you?”
I suck in the snot threatening to fall. “My dad.”
“Your dad?” He questions. “Your biological father?”
I blink out another tear. “No.”
“I’m going to ask you again. Who is Damien Lopez to you?”
My chest tightens. “He’s my dad. Not biological. He always told me that blood didn’t matter. That my father is who I’m related to by blood, but he is mydad. He’s the man that raised me.”
They exchange a look.
“Is he your ex-stepfather, Tigerlily?”
I look at them. They already know the answer to the question. Are they trying to trick me? I nod slowly.
“I need verbal confirmation.”
I look down. “Yes. Technically, he’s my ex-stepfather.”
“Do you see how this is confusing to us?”
I stare at my feet near the edge of the hospital bed.Confusing for them?
“You’re claiming he’s your dad, but he’s not even your current stepfather.”
