Page 40 of Sins of the Heart

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Or maybe there was.

What’s your name?

Roxy Tam.

Where do you live, Roxy?She remembered his

voice, low and calm and kind. They’d sat in a small

room with two chairs and a table, the overhead light

too bright. His skin had been brown, his eyes almost

black, his uniform blue. He’d given her a soda and

some chocolate wafer cookies. Despite his kindness,

she hated chocolate to this day.

You’re safe now, Roxy. No one’s going to hurt you.

Bingo.

“Dana, you’re safe now. No one’s going to hurt

you.” She dragged the words from the mire of her

memories, then doctored them a bit to fit the circumstances. “I’m going to take you back to your mom.”

No one had promised to take Roxy back to her mom,

because there had been no mom to take her back to. No

big deal. She’d survived.

Seconds ticked past, and Roxy was back to searching for more words when Dana reached for the inhaler.

Her fingers brushed Roxy’s, ice cold. The girl knew the

routine, gave the inhaler a quick shake and breathed

deep. Then she shrank back into the corner as the

dollop of trust she’d mustered vaporized like mist

under the noonday sun.

Roxy leaned back to clear the closet door and

glanced at Marin. He sat exactly as she’d left him,

quiet during the entire exchange, not even moaning

50

SINS OF THE HEART

into the gag. Guess he believed that she’d follow

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