She trusted Nick. She didn’t trust the man. She tried to nod, to say the man could stay. But then the man’s mouth was moving, and she was sure he was speaking, but her mind couldn’t make sense of his words. And then he was outside, and just like that, her heart rate slowed, and things came back into focus. ‘Nick?’

‘I’m still here. I’ll be with you the entire time. I promise.’

Her brother was the calm in her storm, so she focused on his grip as she turned to the detective, who took three careful steps closer to the bed. Her voice was kind when she spoke.

‘Okay, Rachel, I know the questions I’m about to ask are going to be tough and personal, and I know you’ve suffered through a terrible ordeal, so if at any point you need to stop and take a break, you just say the word, all right?’

‘I’ll try.’ Her voice was scratchy, and she shifted towards Nick. ‘Water, please.’

Before he could release her grip, the detective handed him the cup. ‘Thank you,’ he said as he placed the straw at Rachel’s mouth. Mindful of her raw throat, she took several small sips before twisting her head to the side.

‘Enough?’

‘Yes.’ Her skin went clammy as she waited for the detective to ask her questions.

‘Rachel, why don’t you begin by telling me what you remember. Can you do that?’

‘Remember?’

‘Let’s start with when you went missing. You were at a frat party, right? Tell me about that night. Who did you go with? Did you leave with that person or someone else? Or no one?’

An image floated in Rachel’s mind, and her stomach clenched, a tangle of insects in her gut, but then it was gone. ‘I went with a friend. Anna. She was with a guy, and I tried to get her to leave, but then I fell asleep. And when I woke up… I don’t know where Anna is.’ Her heart galloped, and her blood pressure shot up so quickly, the alarms on her monitor blared, and within seconds, two nurses rushed in.

Rachel spent the next several minutes trying to keep track of Nick as a nurse with dishwater-blonde hair mumbled incoherently above her. It was only when the words ‘sedative’ and ‘calm her’ trickled down that she was able to speak again. ‘No. No drugs.’

At the same time, Nick stepped in front of the nurse, ‘My sister doesn’t want any drugs.’

Much to Rachel’s surprise, the nurse gave one curt nod of her head and then smiled down at her with gentle eyes. ‘The medicine can help, so if, at any time, you change your mind, you let one of us know. We can even start off with a half-dose, if you’d like.’

‘No drugs,’ Rachel repeated.

‘Okay, no drugs.’

It seemed forever before the medical staff left with a warning to the detective. And then she was back in Rachel’s line of vision. ‘Rachel, I know this is scary, and I wish I didn’t have to ask you to replay any of it. But it’s the only way we’re going to be able to catch all the people who are responsible for doing this to you.’