Dollie’s glassy eyes scan around the room.
“They’re gone, yeah?”
She nods, her wet cheek dragging against mine. Sweaty hands hold my face close to hers.
“He didn’t seem mad anymore.”
“He was never mad at his princess.”
Through her cries, she tells me again, “I wish things were different. How am I meant to get through this?”
“With me.” My words are barely a whisper with all the agony I’ve put my throat through, but she can see my mouth move even when nothing comes out.
“You should hate me.”
“No. Never.” I let my hands roam her body, and heat radiates from her as she continues to suck in bigger breaths than she needs.
I set down the salt jar on the sink before taking Dollie to the ledge of the bath. I sit there and begin to fill the bath as my hands continue to roam. “I know it hurts. It hurts me too. But they weren’t innocent people, Dollie. They did something really horrible, and it screwed up our whole lives. This is on them, not you. Their actions led the way to that night.”
“Did they give us to Chuckles?”
That name raises the hairs on my neck. The space in the distance calls to me because I can’t look at Dollie right now.
I nod and swallow hard.
“They gave us to him, a man that Dad knew from work. He was a crime scene investigator who grew chatty with Dad over money struggles. He offered to help.”
“By taking us and staging a kidnapping?”
“Yeah.”
“And Dad agreed?”
“Yeah, and Mom went along with it. They didn’t know what he was really like until we were found. They never called because it made their loss more believable when they cried over missing us. They never confronted him. And no one ever found out who he was because when the cops checked the houses in that area?—”
“He knew what they’d look for.”
“Yeah, and he got rid of all traces of us.”
“Did Mom and Dad tell you this?”
“No. You know, Dad could hardly look at me after the things Colin did to me. I found out in prison.”
“How?”
I take a moment to breathe before saying the next part. “Because Colin Bannadosi was arrested for something else in his past. He ended up sentenced and later became my cellmate.”
Dollie’s full lower lip trembles. “Tell me he didn’t hurt you.”
“He didn’t physically touch me. I think I haunted him. He’d found God and wanted forgiveness... and a favor.”
“How can that monster ask you for a favor, after what he did?”
“He offered me an exchange. Told me he’d give me justice if I visited his dying wife.”
“Did you do it?”
“Yeah, I agreed.”
