Page 44 of The Lost Bones
“I’ve changed.” She sat back.
“I can tell. You look less scared.”
“That’s ironic.” She couldn’t stop herself. She was terrified. In moments of silence or inactivity, fear arrested her ability to think straight. It had her in its fist, applying pressure every now and then. A shadow trailing her that swallowed everything around her.
“You’re less scared of yourself,” Sterling corrected.
She pulled her eyebrows together. “What does that mean?”
“You were always so afraid.” His gaze was piercing, like he was seeing her for the first time. “You were always rigid and at times hard-hearted, but it wasn’t just a way to keep others out so that they didn’t hurt you like your parents did. You were also hiding from yourself, refusing to feel. The past few months, I’ve noticed this change in you. Like you’ve finally accepted it.”
“Since when did you become such a sage?” She tried to lighten the mood.
“We were together for six years. I was a jackass, but not clueless.” He gave her a timid smile and opened a file.
Mackenzie spent the next hour discussing work with him. The man she had once loved and married. The man who had cheated on her and broken her into a million pieces. She had let go of the anger, but now she waited for the awkwardness to seep in. That lingeringwhat if. But when Sterling shook her hand, she felt only peace.
“Mack, uniform picked up Tag.” Nick walked in. “He’s in the interrogation room.”
TWENTY-FOUR
There was no reason for Tag Stuart to be in the interrogation room. He wasn’t a suspect yet. It was too late to issue a warrant since it technically wasn’t an emergency one. But as Mackenzie took a sip of hot tea and felt the welcome burn trickle down her throat, she sighed in satisfaction, watching Tag squirm on the other side of the glass.
“Not smirking now, is he?” Nick said. “If we weren’t desperate, I would have let him sweat it all night long.”
The room was cold, clinical, and sterile: white walls, linoleum flooring, and a minimalistic steel table and chairs. It was designed to isolate and intimidate. And it was working. Because despite the chilly temperatures, beads of sweat popped under Tag’s hairline.
“Let’s try to break the kid.” Mackenzie set down her mug and followed Nick.
When she entered the room, she schooled her face into impassivity.
“Why am I here?” Tag asked, annoyed, masking his apprehension.
“We are the ones who ask questions here.” Nick clicked his pen and opened a file. “So, Tag, when did you begin working for King of the Road car rental services?”
Tag narrowed his eyes, his gaze bouncing between Mackenzie and Nick. “Am I under arrest?”
“We told you. We ask the questions here.” Mackenzie evaded the question. He was free to leave and not answer any questions. But pressuring him to keep talking was a ploy they often used to get probable cause for a legal arrest.
“You’ve been working there for three years. Straight out of high school. Was it your lifelong dream to be a receptionist at a car rental company?” Nick asked, trying to get a rise out of him.
Mackenzie saw the gleam in Tag’s eyes before it diminished. “Those high school reunions will sure be fun,” she added.
“You’re being dicks.” Tag’s head bobbed in jerks, his lips curling in a sneer.
“We don’t mean to be.” Mackenzie’s voice dripped sarcasm. “Of course, you’re doing the best you can. Not every young man has goals.”
Nick shrugged. “To each their own. If I were in your place, I would have liked more responsibilities, made plans—”
Tag gritted his teeth. “You don’t know me! I got plans.”
“I’m sure you do,” Mackenzie snorted under her breath.
It was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Whatever insecurities Tag was concealing beneath his groomed exterior were spilling out.
“You don’t know anything,” he spat, tipping his chin up. “My job isn’t just to answer phones. If you must know, I set up their whole online banking system. I took computer classes at the community college during high school.”
“Really?” She raised an eyebrow. “Is that all?”
