Was sending Marco a letter enough of a step in the right direction? I still hadn’t told Hunter about it, but I made a note to myself to get his thoughts on it as soon as I had a chance.
Chapter Fourteen
STOLEN MOMENTS
We were in a wood-paneled room with one small window behind the desk. I sat at the front of the wooden desk covered with papers and looked at my interrogator. He was an unfriendly man with a rising hairline trying to act kind and understanding. It didn’t suit him.
He leaned forward on his desk. “Alright, just so we’re clear: you have no recollection of any events between your mother and Mr. Peralta that would suggest a possible rift growing between the two?”
“That’s correct,” I said, just as my attorney had taught me to respond. If I said “yes” or “no,” that could be taken the wrong way.
“No screaming matches, nothing like that?”
“That’s correct.”
He put his glasses down and rubbed his eyes for the hundredth time. It was like he was trying to show me his frustration. “No drinking? Drugs?”
“Right.”
“Even your mom?” he asked, putting his glasses back on.
I shook my head. “She pretty much quit drinking after she left my dad.”
He nodded, then got out of his chair and came around his desk. I scooted my chair back as he took a seat on the desk’s edge, his pants uncomfortably close to my face.
“Listen honey, we need a motive, and you’re our best shot. You’ve got to give me something, okay? There had to be some reason this guy killed your mom.”
I turned my face away, partly to get away from the prosecutor's crotch in my face, partly to hide my tears. When I turned back, his face had changed.
It was Marco. He reached out for my neck to strangle me. To kill me. Just like he’d killed my mom.
I screamed even as his fingers dug into my neck, cutting off my air. Time passed, his fingers dug further in, and I kept on screaming.
I woke up with a jolt. I had fallen asleep with my laptop next to me, open to the website of an art school. My heart still pounding, I sat up on the couch. This obsession with Marco’s motives was getting worse. I hoped I would get a letter back from him soon.
Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes and looked around me. It was already Sunday afternoon and the midafternoon sunlight streamed in through the curtains. The details of the dream were starting to fade away but my heart still beat quickly in my chest. It didn’t help my nerves that we would be getting Hunter’s test results in only a few days
Aunt Caroline and Uncle Stewart had taken my cousins off to a baseball camp. I had stayed in the living room to browse some art schools while Hunter continued his work in the dining room. Some of the schools looked amazing, but the idea of moving and attending one was pretty daunting. There were a few that weren’t even in the United States. After looking at them for too long, I must’ve dozed off. There was no point in obsessing over that now anyway, we still didn’t even know what Hunter’s condition was going to be.
The noise coming from Hunter’s work in the dining room stopped, and a moment later he was beside the couch. “Hey, let’s get outta here,” he said. He dried his hands with a paper towel as he talked. “I wanna show you something.”
“What is it?” I asked, a little uneasy. The last time he’d wanted to show me something, it had been his MS treatment. Maybe I was just stressed out because we were still waiting on Hunter’s test results. The dream hadn’t helped my nerves either.
“Don’t worry, it’s something good. Come on, it’s crazy warm out.”
He motioned toward the door. It would certainly help me forget about that horrible nightmare and the little smile on his face intrigued me. Plus, it would be a shame to stay in the house all day. Hunter was probably worried about his test results too, and staying in all day while I moped around about my dream wouldn’t do anyone any good.
I rubbed my eyes, and yawned. “Just let me get changed real quick, okay?”
He shrugged. “Yeah sure, but hurry up.”
“Okay,” I said with a laugh. “Where are we going? Since I’m getting dressed.”
“You can wear whatever,” he replied. Then he seemed to think better of it. “Actually, you probably want shoes you can walk in.”
I nodded and walked upstairs. After a few minutes deliberation, I decided on a sundress. Might as well celebrate the first warm day of the year. Thanking myself for shaving my legs in the shower the previous night, I got dressed and bounced downstairs wearing a comfy pair of flats.
Hunter was waiting for me by the door. After making sure I was ready, he led the way to his beat up car out front. He had the directions to where we were going on his phone, but when I asked to be navigator he said no.