Chapter 60

The FBI agent's eyes widen. "An arms dealer?"

I nod and tell them what I know about Julian's organization. Agent Bosovsky scribbles down notes as quickly as he can, while Agent Wilson continues asking me questions about Julian's activities and the terrorists who stole me from him. They seem disappointed that he's dead—and that I know so little—and I explain that I haven't been off the island since my abduction.

"He kept you there for the entire fifteen months?" Agent Bosovsky asks, the frown lines on his thin face deepening. "Just you and this woman, Beth?"

"Yes."

The agents exchange a look, and I stare at them, knowing what they're thinking. Poor girl, kept like an animal in a cage for a criminal's amusement. Once I felt that way too, but no longer. Now I would do anything to rewind the clock and go back to being Julian's captive.

Agent Wilson turns toward me and clears his throat. "Miss Leston, we'll have a sexual abuse counselor speak to you later this afternoon. She's very good—"

"There's no need," I interrupt. "I'm fine."

And I am. I don't feel victimized or abused. I just feel numb.

After a few more questions, they leave me alone. I don't tell them any details of my relationship with Julian, but I think they get the gist of it.

The FBI sketch artist comes to see me next, and I describe Julian to him. He keeps giving me funny looks as I correct his interpretation of my descriptions. "No, his eyebrows are a little thicker, a little straighter . . . His hair is a little wavier, yes, like that . . ."

He has particular trouble with Julian's mouth. It's hard to describe the beauty of that dark, angelic smile of his. "Make the upper lip a little fuller . . . No, that's too full—it should be more sensuous, almost pretty . . ."

Finally, we're done, and Julian's face stares at me from the white sheet of paper. A bolt of agony spears through me again, but the numbness comes to my rescue right away, as it did before.

"That's a handsome fellow," the artist comments, examining his handiwork. "You don't see men like that every day."

My hands clench tightly, my nails digging into my skin. "No, you don't."

The next person to visit my room is the sexual abuse counselor they mentioned to me before. She's a slightly overweight brunette who looks to be in her late forties, but something about her direct gaze reminds me of Beth.

"I'm Diane," she says, introducing herself to me as she pulls up a chair. "May I call you Nora?"

"That's fine," I say wearily. I don't particularly want to talk to this woman, but the determined look on her face tells me that she has no intention of leaving until I do.