She hadn't cried this hard in years. It was just something that she'd trained herself not to do, and now she was doing it, and it felt awful, but at the same time, it was a relief. She still had some sort of emotions left inside of her. She'd lost track of how long this mysterious figure had had her, but she didn't want to count anymore.
Pulling the covers around herself, Rebecca watched, through watery eyes, as her so-called companion got up, and smirked at her.
"Would've thought you'd learned better than to try and leave," he said. She ducked her head, hiding her face in the covers. A muffled sob escaped her and he laughed.
"Better not try it again," he said. "It'll only be worse for you."
She ignored him and kept her face hidden until he was gone. Only then did she allow herself to look up. The room was completely empty except for a bed, a clock, and a bookshelf. The mysterious woman who'd taken her had left quite a number of books, for her to keep herself occupied. Rebecca bit back the desire to snort. It couldn't have been more obvious that whoever this woman was, she'd been following her for a while.
"Hope he didn't hurt you too badly," said a voice, and Rebecca instinctively pulled the covers close around her still-shivering form. Her clothes lay in a heap on the floor, having been forcibly removed from her.
"You're sick," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "What, do you get off watching stuff like that?"
"Who said I watched?" Tara stepped fully into the room, and closed the door behind her. "I told you that you wouldn't like the consequences if you tried to run again."
"You promised I wouldn't ever see that sick bastard again; you lied to me."
"What's to say I didn't have my fingers crossed when I told you that?" Tara asked, coldly. "You'd best learn to do as I tell you, otherwise worse things than that will happen to you."
"I doubt anything could be worse than that," Rebecca mumbled, staring down at the covers. Her hands had somehow clenched into fists. "The police are going to find you."
"Ah, you still believe that someone's going to come and rescue you," said Tara, shaking her head. "I'm afraid that's not possible. See…they have no idea where to find us. No leads, no anything. I'm nothing if not someone who keeps up with the news."
"Maybe they haven't released it to the media yet," Rebecca shot back, unable to keep the tremor out of her voice. "Maybe they don't want you to know that they're onto you."
"I suggest," said Tara, "That you don't speak of things which you know nothing about. Your parents…well, let's just say they're getting everything you deserved. Both of them."
"So you want to ruin all our lives, is that it?" Rebecca demanded, her voice higher than normal. "You want my dad to rot in prison, you want my mom to have to deal with it, and you want me…"
"I want you to serve as leverage, and let's face it, honey, that's all you really are to me," Tara said, cutting her off. "I have your parents where I want them. Your father on trial, your mother a hysteric mess, and you…well, I'm sure that's obvious."
"Either you give us what we're looking for, or you're going to jail. It's as easy as that!"
Nina was quickly starting to lose her patience, and for once, so was Ed. Kelly Monahan sat opposite them, focusing on a point above their heads, a stubborn expression on her face.
"I don't know anything," she insisted. "I haven't talked to Galinet. All I want is my child home, and neither one of you are doing a damn thing about it!"
"We'd be doing more if we knew what you know, and we know that you know something," said Ed, considerably more calmly than her partner. "It's the only reason why you would have been giving us the runaround, and now we want the truth out of you. Has someone been threatening you?"
"No."
Nina gave a frustrated sigh, and looked at her partner. When he nodded, she slammed down the manila folder she was holding. The results had been fast-tracked through the crime lab, because of the nature of the case. Now, they sat in front of Kelly. Nina opened it.
"You see this?" she demanded. "Blood. Your daughter's blood, and one of the books she had on her when she went missing."
The color drained from Kelly's face as she stared at the photos before her. "No," she said, finally, shaking her head. "No, you're lying. This isn't…it can't be Becky's. Millions of people have this book, it's just a coincidence!"
Ed moved the photos around. The next ones showed more of the scene, and the inside of the book. There was no denying it now. Kelly looked away. "I don't want to see it."
"You're going to have to see it," he told her. "The only way we're going to get your daughter back is if you tell us what's been going on that we don't know about. Otherwise, next time, it ain't gonna be a book we're finding."
"I can't." Kelly had gripped the table, so hard that her knuckles were turning white. "It's already bad enough that Jack thinks I'm doing nothing about this; if she turns up dead…"
"You've spoken to him?" Nina asked, and Kelly nodded, hesitantly.
"No one bothered to tell him that she was gone," she said, almost inaudibly. "I didn't think it was right that he was being left in the dark, so I went and told him, and…"
"And he's upset with you," said Ed, finishing where she left off. "It's understandable. But he ain't the only one that's gonna be upset if this goes the wrong way."
"It already has," said Kelly, helplessly. "I didn't expect her to come back, hell, I didn't even think it would be her, and then she sends me a damn text message in the middle of court…"
The detectives exchanged glances, and Nina spoke. "Who?" she asked, slowly, "Galinet?"
Kelly nodded, finally broken, and wiped at her eyes. "She's the one behind it," she said. "Behind it all."
"Wait a minute," said Ed, "Should you really be telling us any of this without her permission?"
"I wasn't acting as her lawyer when I spoke to her. I told her I wouldn't be able to help her if she'd done anything, and then she springs all of this on me, that…" Kelly shook her head, and hid her face in her hands. "I don't know where to find her. I swear, I don't know where to find her, but she…"
"Took your daughter, and told you that you wouldn't like what happened if you didn't cooperate with her." said Nina.
"I had to drop the case." There was definitely no missing the desperate note in Kelly's voice at this point. "She wanted me to screw it up, so Jack would get convicted, but I couldn't do it, so I handed it back to Flynn, and if she doesn't, and this thing ends before you find Tara…"
"Then this isn't going to end well," said Ed, and looked over at Nina. "Someone's gotta let Flynn know about this."
"If she hasn't already heard about it," said Nina, and then, to Kelly, "Have you told anyone else about this?"
Kelly shook her head. "I couldn't take the chance," she said, once more in that inaudible voice. "She called the day you showed up…I don't know what she was doing, but…" She looked at both detectives then, the expression on her face between desperation and misery. "You have to find her."