Page 86 of Run for Her Life
“I’m impressed,” Aiden said. “You’ve been reading up on your psychology?”
“I was just improvising. Can we get anything out of her?” She tipped her chin toward Amy, who was sleepy but alert. “She looks beat.”
“It might work out for us. She’s sedated, which means lower stress and fear. Though we’ll have to talk to her again to get her signed statement.”
“One shot is good enough for me,” Zoe decided and softened her voice. “Amy, how are you feeling?”
“I’m okay,” she whispered, her blinks lazy. “Where am I?”
“You’re at the hospital. You’re perfectly safe, okay?” Zoe clasped her frail hand in hers.
“Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?” Aiden said. “This will be hard but whatever you can tell us now will be very helpful.”
She shuddered. “I don’t know… I woke up in the woods and it was like I was being hunted.” Her eyes were still glazed over, seeing images that were not real.
Zoe looked at Aiden, whose mouth was pursed tight. “Amy, I’m Dr. Wesley. I think you remember me. You were shown intense images and videos for hours on end. They weren’t real.”
“But they could have been… I felt it all.”
“Do you remember what happened at the gas station?”
She closed her eyes. “I’d stopped to get gas. I stepped out but I don’t remember anything after that. I think he came up from behind and put something over my mouth. I… I tried to fight him. I swear I did. But I couldn’t. Everything went black.”
“He probably used chloroform,” Zoe said. “Did you ever see his face?”
“No. When I opened my eyes I was at Fun House. Lights were flickering, things were breaking, people screaming… it was awful. It just kept going on and on for so long. I would pass out and when I woke up, I’d be there again.”
Zoe clicked her tongue and turned around, running her hands through her hair.
“Did you hear his voice or feel his touch?” Aiden’s patience hadn’t thinned.
“I don’t know…” She groaned. “No… I think there was some grunting. Maybe a voice here or there. He kept apologizing to me.”
“Apologizing?” Zoe chewed on the pad of her thumb. Her eyes flew to Aiden. Did the killer feel guilty or coerced? “Did he say why he was doing it?”
“No, it’s all a blur now…”
“I know this is going to be hard, Amy, but I want you to focus,” Aiden said. “When he took you, do you remember anything at all? The car, his scent?”
She shook her head. “It’s all a blank. Trust me, I tried hard to fight the chloroform or whatever he used. But all I could sense was that it was a man. Though…” She squeezed her eyes. “I think he took me somewhere else first.”
“Where? Do you remember anything?” Zoe said.
Aiden raised a hand to stop her talking. “We’re going to do a light memory technique. You don’t have to close your eyes unless you want to. Just… let yourself be back in that place again. Can you do that for me?”
She nodded sleepily.
“Let’s start simple. The first time you gained consciousness. What did you feel? Describe it.”
“There was… a chair. Metal. Cold. I was tied to it at first. It was bright. I could tell from the blindfold but it wasn’t enough to see anything.”
“Do you smell anything?”
“I… The woods. It smells fresh. Outdoorsy.”
Zoe’s breath trapped in her chest. They had located Amy in a storage locker—which meant that she had been moved.
“Did you hear anything?” Aiden pressed.
