Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Claire sat across from Dr. Montgomery in what the Shadow Point team called the ‘interview room.’ It looked more like a therapist’s office than an interrogation space—comfortable chairs, soft lighting, a box of tissues on the side table.
A pair of bonded parakeets trilled every once in a while, lending a touch of beauty and lightness to the room.
But Claire knew that was exactly what this was—an interview. A psychological profile. An excavation of her worst memories.
Wolf stood behind the one-way mirror in the observation room. She couldn’t see him, but she felt him there. Watching. Listening. Learning things about her she’d spent fifteen years trying to forget.
“Take your time,” Vivi said gently. “I know this is difficult.”
Claire wrapped her hands around the mug of tea someone had given her. “What do you need to know?”
“Everything. Start from the beginning. The night Lily died.”
The night that divided Claire’s life into before and after. The night that made her who she was. The night she’d relived a thousand times in therapy, in nightmares, in the quiet moments when her guard was down.
Detach from the trauma. Report the facts. “We went to see a movie,” Claire began. “It was a Friday night in September. We were fourteen. Lily’s mom had dropped us off at the theater at seven. We were supposed to call when it was over for a ride home.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No. We decided to walk. It was only a mile. We’d done it before.” Claire stared into her mug, seeing a different time and place. “It was warm that night. We were laughing and talking about the movie. About boys. About nothing important.”
The doctor’s pen scratched on her notepad. “What happened next?”
“A car pulled up beside us. A man asked for directions.” Claire’s hands tightened on the mug. “We stopped. We were stupid, naive fourteen-year-old girls who didn’t think anything bad could happen to us.”
“You weren’t stupid,” Vivi said quietly. “You were children.”
Claire had heard that so many times it didn’t mean anything anymore. “He got out of the car. I remember thinking he was too close. Something felt wrong. I grabbed Lily’s arm, told her we should go.”
“Did she listen?”
“She started to, but he moved so fast. He grabbed me. I hit him, screamed, fought.” Claire’s voice cracked. “He twisted my arm and hit me in the head with a rock. Everything went gray and fuzzy. I vomited.”
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Lily screaming my name. And me on the ground. I tried to get up. Tried to help her. But everything was spinning. I couldn’t make my body work.” Tears burned behind Claire’s eyes. She blinked them away. “I heard the car drive away. Heard Lily still screaming. And then... nothing.”
“You lost consciousness.”
“When I woke up, I was in the hospital. My parents were there. The police.” Her voice hitched. “ And Lily was gone.”
Vivi leaned forward. “According to the hospital report, your skull was fractured.”
“I was in the hospital for a week.”
“And your memory of the attack?”
“Fragmented.” Claire finally looked up and met Vivi’s eyes.
“I gave the police a description of the man. White male, thirties or forties, dark hair, average height. But it was dark, and after he hit me, all I wanted to do was get away. They showed me photo lineups. Sketches. I couldn’t identify him with certainty. ”
“That must have been frustrating.”
“It was torture.” Claire’s voice was raw now.
“They found Lily three days after I got out of the hospital in a field twenty miles from the abduction site. The medical examiner said she’d been alive for at least thirty-six hours after she was taken.
Thirty-six hours that I could have saved her if I’d just remembered his face.
If I’d been stronger. If I’d fought harder. ”
“You have to quit blaming yourself.”
“I failed her.” The truth that lived in her chest like a stone. “I was supposed to protect her. We were best friends. And I let him take her.”
“Why do you think Brands didn’t take you?”
She’d been over that thousands of times in her mind. “Because I fought back? Because he didn’t want to deal with a damaged girl with a broken arm and a concussion?” She shrugged. “When they caught up to him, he committed suicide by cop, so they couldn’t get answers.”
“Tell me about Lily,” Vivi said. “Not the night she died, but who she was.”
Claire’s throat tightened. “She was smart and sarcastic. She wanted to be a marine biologist. She loved the ocean. We’d planned this trip to California the summer after we graduated high school. We were going to drive up the coast, see the redwoods, and visit Monterey Bay.”
“You loved her.”
“She was my sister in every way that mattered.” Claire’s voice broke, and a tear slipped out of her eye. She hurriedly wiped it away. “I didn’t have any siblings, and she had a brother, but he lived with their dad. I only met him once or twice when he came to visit.”
Claire paused, trying to pull up the memory.
It was hazy, distant. “I saw him at the funeral. He looked...destroyed. Like part of him had died with her. I wanted to say something to him. Tell him I tried to save her, but all I could get out was, ‘I’m sorry.’ I was broken, and I didn’t know what to say to the brother of the girl I couldn’t save. ”
The doctor’s pen did more scratching.
Claire closed her eyes. “Lily talked about him sometimes. Said he was in trouble a lot as a kid, but was getting his life together. He called her every Sunday night. She wouldn’t go anywhere, always waiting for that call, but that weekend, he couldn’t.
He told her he was going out with friends.
She’d been devastaed and I’d suggested the movie.
” She blew out a deep breath, her lips vibrating from it.
“If only he’d kept to the schedule, or I hadn’t convinced her to go out…
” If onlys had tormented her all these years.
“But my memories of him are vague. Just... a tall kid at a funeral who looked like his world had ended.”
She’d known exactly how he felt. Her own world felt the same way and—
Her vision tunneled. Her lungs froze. She tried to breathe. Couldn’t. Her chest was too tight. The air too thin. The walls too close.
“Claire?” Vivi’s voice came from far away. “Claire, look at me.”
But she couldn’t. She was back there. On the ground. Watching Lily being dragged away. Screaming her name. Failing. Failing. Failing.
Her vision narrowed even more, spots dancing at the edges, closing in. Her hands were numb. Her heart was racing so fast it hurt.
“I can’t—” she gasped. It was a panic attack. She hadn’t had one in years. The therapy had fixed this, taught her how to control her emotions. “I can’t…breathe. I can’t—”
The door burst open. Wolf dropped to his knees in front of her. “Claire. You’re okay. Look at me.”
She couldn’t. The room was spinning. Lily was screaming. Bobby was at the funeral. The man in the car. The bracelet. The countdown. Three days until the anniversary. She’d failed. She’d failed. She’d—
“Claire.” Wolf’s voice was firm, grounding. “Eyes on me. Right now.”
The command cut through her spinning thoughts. She forced herself to focus. His green eyes were so steady. Calm. Alive.
“Breathe with me,” he said. “In for four. Hold for four. Out for four. Can you do that?”
She tried. Failed. Gasped.
“You can do this.” His hands found hers, solid and warm. “In. Two. Three. Four. Hold.” She did it. Not as smoothly as his voice coaxed her to, but as best as she could. He squeezed her hands in encouragement. “Two. Three. Four. Good. Now, out. Two. Three. Four.”
Vivi’s voice joined his, softer. “You’re safe, Claire. You’re in Montana. You’re at Shadow Point. The man who took Lily is dead. You’re safe.”
“In. Two. Three. Four.”
Claire’s lungs found rhythm following Wolf’s voice. His hands warmed hers, his eyes anchored her.
“That’s it. Again.” He breathed with her, exaggerating his inhale. “In. Two. Three. Four.”
The room stopped spinning. The dots receded. Her heart slowed its frantic race.
Wolf was so steady. So calm. “Keep breathing. You’re doing great.”
Vivi stood. “I’m going to get you some coffee and sugar. Be right back.”
The door closed. It was just Claire and Wolf, her hands still in his. His eyes continued holding hers.
“I’m sorry,” Claire whispered. “I haven’t had a panic attack in years. I thought I was past them.”
“Trauma doesn’t work like that.” His voice was rough. “It waits. Hides. Sneaks up on you when you’re not looking.”
“It’s snuck up on you, too, hasn’t it?”
Something flickered in his eyes. “More times than I care to admit.”
Claire realized she was still gripping his hands. She should let go. Should pull back. Should re-establish professional distance.
She didn’t.
“Can you stand?” Wolf asked.
“I think so.”
He helped her up, his hand on her elbow. Steady. Strong. Safe. “I can take you back to your room.”
Claire’s hands fisted in his shirt. She couldn’t let go. Didn’t want to let go. She needed him close. Needed his strength because hers was gone.
“Claire?”
“Please.” Her voice broke. “Just... Stay with me right here for a minute. I need something to hold on to.”
Wolf tensed, his discomfort radiating through him, but he didn’t pull away. “I’ve got you. You’re okay.”
She believed it. Something deep inside her let go of the tension. “Thank you for understanding. For not…you know.”
Slowly, carefully, his arms came around her. One hand on her back. One on her head, cradling her against his chest. “I do know. You’re incredibly strong and brave, but it’s okay to acknowledge you’ve been through a trauma.”
Yes. It was nearly impossible for her to do, but she knew he was right. Her therapist had told her that same thing over and over again.
Until now, in this moment, she’d refused to go there. Refused to let herself show any weakness.