Safety.
Not complete safety.
But the beginning of it.
“Luke is still here,” I whispered.
“He won’t be coming back into this room.”
Detective Torres paused.
“Not unless you ask for him.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
The word came easily.
“No.”
The detective nodded.
Then she asked,
“Do you believe he intentionally burned you?”
I looked at my sister.
Then at the doctor.
Then down at my hands.
“Yes.”
“Did he say anything while he was doing it?”
I swallowed.
“He said he would boil my belly until a son came out.”
The detective’s expression changed.
She wrote it down.
“Anything else?”
“He said I was useless because I couldn’t give him a boy.”
Rebecca squeezed my hand.
I remembered something.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“His phone.”
The detective looked up.
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“He had it when he left.”
I looked toward the nurse.
“Can you check the belongings they brought me?”
A few minutes later, the nurse returned with a small plastic bag.
Inside was my purse.
My keys.
My wallet.
And a second phone.
I stared at it.
“That isn’t mine.”
Rebecca looked confused.
The detective put on gloves.
“Where did that come from?”
“I don’t know.”
The nurse checked the belongings log.
“It was found inside her coat pocket.”
I stared at the phone.
Then something clicked.
