“Yes, that was the only time I saw him there. For some reason it felt like he took the humiliation to a new level. Maybe that was because for a split second, while we had that eye contact when he was in the closet, I thought he was going to … it sounds ridiculous when I say it now, but I thought he was going to save me.” She smiled and shook her head, as if the thought was absurd. “But in reality, he was just waiting his turn.”

“Didn’t you ever tell anyone about this? Wasn’t there anyone in your life aside from your mother who knew what you had been through?”

“Yeah, I told Kenneth.”

“Do you think he would be willing to corroborate that? To me, I mean. For a quote?”

“Kenneth will do anything for me, as I would for him.” She nodded.

“Then what happened? After a year, your mom’s debt was paid off, or what?”

“I presume.”

“And you never went back to that warehouse? You never saw any of them again?”

“I never went back there physically, no, but in my thoughts, I was there all the time. Every night when I closed my eyes, I was in that room again on that mattress. It destroyed me. I became hardened, warped. I had a short temper. I had so much hatred inside me, and I didn’t trust anyone.”

Heloise nodded. That matched Anna’s school history and the psychologists’ evaluations.

“The police profile on you says that you’re suffering from psychopathy or antisocial personality disorder.”

Anna raised her eyebrows. “Really, just like that? That sounds serious.”

“It is.” Heloise shrugged.

“Huh. Well, I had my reasons for acting the way I did. So, they can call me a psycho if they want. That’s fine. Maybe that’s what I am,” she said. “Maybe that’s what they made me into.”

CHAPTER

43

THE WAITER CAME back into the room and walked over to the table. He set two glasses of water in front of them, two cups, and a small, black ceramic teapot. He poured each of them a cup of tea and then quietly left the room again.

Heloise reached out to open the folder in front of her, but Anna calmly rested her hand on top of it.

“No,” she said. “Everything you need is in there. When we’re done here, you can write your story. You can pass all the documents along to the police, and together you can take these people down, one by one. But our time together today is limited—we have this one meeting, and then we’ll never see each other again. So right now, I’m talking. You can read later.”