Page 125 of What She Saw
She faced me.
“No one saw you leave with him,” I said.
“Colton told me to meet him behind the stage. I had to check in with a stage manager and get a pass. I was so excited. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was.”
Her statement didn’t match up with testimony in Colton’s trial. The stage manager testified he’d never issued Tristan a pass. I studied her face, decoding her expressions. She’d had thirty-one years to convince herself that this story was true. I took a small step toward her.
“I met him backstage a half hour later. The next band was setting up, and there were trunks and boxes everywhere. Equipment swaps, yelling, and band members scurrying. I think about that moment often when my studio hosts a recital. The girls are running around, and their parents are chasing after them. Like herding cats, but it somehow gets done.”
“And then you danced at about ten p.m. that Friday night.”
“Yes.”
Her long, lean body had swayed like a siren’s onstage as she’d moved around the lead guitarist. “Was it amazing?”
“Intoxicating.”
“Your performance ended about ten fifteen p.m. From the reports I read, no one noticed you vanish.”
“The rain was pouring. Bands and crew were trying to keep their equipment dry. Colton was behind one of the tall trunks. He had water bottles and offered me one. As I drank, he drifted off to deal with a band member’s issue. I didn’t finish the bottle because I was cold and very tired.”
“Was the water drugged?”
“It must have been. I felt woozy. I stumbled away from the stage toward the woods. I leaned against a tree and tried to clear my head. As my knees buckled, someone caught me. When I woke up, I was in a trailer. My pants were gone and there was a man shoving inside me.”
“Was it Colton?”
“Yes. He had his hands around my neck, and he was choking me. As I coughed and grabbed for air, he slammed inside of me harder. My body felt as if it were being split in two. I’d never been with a guy before that night.”
I searched for pity, but all I found were faint hints of annoyance. Why didn’t I believe her?
Susan glanced at her hand, tracing a callus on her palm. “I passed out.”
“And when you woke up?”
She drew in a breath. “It was very dark. I panicked and hyperventilated. But I knew if I screamed, he’d come back. There was a little light leaking through the door cracks, so I found my pants and pulled them on. I could also make out the form of three other bodies. I crawled to each person and felt for any sign of life. They were all dead.” The last few words were nearly inaudible.
“Did you recognize any of them?”
“I didn’t know their names until later, when I saw their pictures in the newspapers along with mine.”
The first trailers had left the festival site at sunrise. And Colton had several witnesses who placed him on the festival grounds until midmorning. “What did you do?”
“I gathered my clothes and then tried the back door latch, and it opened.” Her eyes glistened as if the memory still carried weight. “I got out and closed the door behind me.”
“Where was the trailer when you escaped?”
“A field. There was no one around.”
“Did you see the driver?”
“No. I ran into the field and hid in the grass. I dressed lying down and then waited until the truck drove off.”
“Where was the sun?”
“Above the horizon, but it was still cool.”
“What did you see around you?”
