other woman’s. “Do you want to stop now? You’re in charge of this.”
The room was quiet again but for Julia’s breathing. When she did speak again, her voice was a hoarse, almost imperceptible whisper. “He raped me.”
Lena felt a lump in her throat. She knew this already, of course, but the way Julia said the word stripped Lena of every defense she had. Lena felt raw and exposed. She did not want Jeffrey in the room. For some reason, he seemed to sense this. When she looked up at him, he nodded toward the door. Lena mouthed a yes, and he left without a sound.
“Do you know what happened next?” Lena asked.
Julia moved her head, trying to find Jeffrey.
“He’s gone,” Lena said, giving her voice an assured tone that she did not feel. “It’s just us, Julia. It’s just you and me, and we’ve got all day if you need it. All week, all year.” She paused, lest the girl take that as encouragement to stop the interview. “Just keep in mind that the sooner we get the details, the sooner we can stop him. You don’t want him to do this to another girl, do you?”
She took the question hard, as Lena expected she would. Lena knew she had to be a little tough or the girl would simply shut up, keeping the details to herself.
Julia sobbed, the noise filling the room, ringing in Lena’s ears.
Julia said, “I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”
“Me, either,” Lena answered. “You have to tell me what he did to you.” She paused, then, “Did you see his face at any time?”
“No,” she answered. “I mean, I did, but I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t make the connection. It was so dark all the time. There was no light at all.”
“Are you sure it was a basement?”
“It smelled,” she said. “Musty, and I could hear water dripping.”
“Water?” Lena asked. “Like dripping from a faucet, or maybe from the lake?”
“A faucet,” Julia said. “More like a faucet. It sounded…” She closed her eyes, and for a few seconds she seemed to let herself go back to that place. “Like a metallic clinking.” She mimicked the sound, “Clink, clink, clink, over and over. It never stopped.” She put her hands over her ears, as if to stop the noise.
“Let’s go back to the college,” Lena said. “You felt the shot in your hip, then what? Do you know what kind of car he was driving?”
Julia shook her head again in an exaggerated sweep left to right. “I don’t remember. I was picking up my books, and then the next thing I knew, I was, I was…” Her voice trailed off.
“In the basement?” Lena provided. “Do you remember anything about where you were?”
“It was dark.”
“You couldn’t make anything out?”
“I couldn’t open my eyes. They wouldn’t open.” Her voice so soft that Lena had to strain to hear. “I was flying.”
“Flying?”
“I kept floating up, like I was on water. I could hear the waves from the ocean.”
Lena took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “Did he have you on your back?”
Julia’s face crumpled at this, and she shook with sobs.
“Honey,” Lena prompted. “Was he white? Black? Could you tell?”
She shook her head again. “I couldn’t open my eyes. He talked to me. His voice.” Her lips were trembling, and her face had turned an alarming shade of red. The tears came in earnest now, marking a continual stream down her face. “He said he loved me.” She gasped for air as the panic took hold. “He kept kissing me. His tongue—” She stopped, sobbing.
Lena took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She was pushing too hard. Lena counted to a slow one hundred, then said, “The holes in your hands. We know he put something in your hands and feet.”
Julia looked at the bandages, as if seeing them for the first time. “Yes,” she said. “I woke up, and my hands were nailed down. I could see the nail go through, but it didn’t hurt.”
“You were on the floor?”
“I think so. I felt”—she seemed to look for a word—“I felt suspended. I was flying. How did he make me fly? Was I flying?”
Lena cleared her throat. “No,” she answered. Then began, “Julia, can you think of anybody new in your life, maybe someone on campus or in town, who was making you uncomfortable? Maybe you felt like you were being watched?”
“I’m still being watched,” she said, looking out the window.
“I’m watching you,”