I’M NOT GOING WITH YOU

MAREN

“I don’t want to be collected.” I leaned closer to the laptop, trying to keep the officer’s attention on me. “You can ask me your questions here.”

“We need to establish that you’re speaking freely,” he replied, looking past me towards Ronan. “That’s difficult with him standing there.”

“I asked him to stay.” My fingers pressed against the table until the bandages began to hurt. “He’s the reason I’m alive.”

Grant shook his head, wearing the same patient expression he used whenever he wanted other people to think I was being unreasonable.

“Maren, please. Just cooperate. You’ve had a difficult day.”

I stared at him. He could see the bandages on my hands. He knew why I was sitting with my foot raised, yet he spoke as though something unfortunate had happened to me while he was elsewhere.

“You locked the gate,” I said, my voice shaking. “I asked you for the key, and you got into the vehicle.”

“Mrs. Ellis, we’ll take your full account when the patrol arrives.” The officer glanced down at something beside the screen. “Have your identification ready.”

“Wait.” Nadia moved closer to the laptop. “She’s under medical observation. Any interview needs to account for that.”

“Our officers will assess the situation on arrival,” he answered before ending the call.

Grant disappeared from the screen with him.

I remained bent towards the laptop, staring at my own reflection. I had finally been allowed to speak to someone who could correct the report, and Grant had turned it into another reason for people to question me.

Nadia closed the laptop halfway.

“Well, that could have gone better.” She pulled out the chair beside me, but I could not look at her.

“I told him I wanted to stay.” I heard how small my voice sounded and hated it. “Why did he keep asking about Ronan?”

“Because your husband made an accusation.” Nadia watched me carefully. “That doesn’t mean it’s true.”

“He believed him enough to send people.”

Ronan stepped away from the doorway, giving Nadia room to pass if she needed it.

“Do you want me outside?” he asked.

I lifted my head quickly. “No.”

“All right.” He stayed where he was. “What do you want to happen when they get here?”

I looked between them, unsure whether he was asking because my answer would actually matter.

“I want to answer their questions here. With someone else in the room.” I rubbed my thumb against the edge of my bandage. “I don’t want to go anywhere Grant can get to me.”

“Then that’s what we tell them.” Nadia’s chair scraped as she stood. “I’ll find out who’s coming and what authority they’re using.”

She went outside with her phone, leaving the door open.

Ronan watched me reach for the water bottle. I managed to lift it myself this time, although I spilled a little against my wrist.

“I shouldn’t have called him in the truck,” I said, wiping the water with my sleeve. “I told him someone helped me. That’s why he knew what to say.”

“He chose what to say.” Ronan’s jaw tightened before he continued. “You called your husband after he left you. That wasn’t unreasonable.”

“I wanted him to feel bad.”

The admission made my eyes burn. I looked down before he could see them properly.

“I thought if he heard my voice, he’d understand what almost happened. I wasn’t even asking him to come back.”

Ronan pulled the outside chair closer to the doorway and sat.

“Did he ask whether you were hurt?”

I shook my head.

“He asked if I was bitten. Then he told me not to follow him.”

Ronan looked towards the yard for a moment. When he turned back, his voice was quieter.

“You don’t have to talk to him again today.”

I wanted to believe the decision was that simple. Grant had blocked my calls when I wanted answers, then found a way to reach me when I wanted him gone.

“What if the patrol insists?” I asked, watching Ronan’s face. “What if they say I have to go?”

“We ask them to put the reason in writing. Nadia keeps a copy, and Tessa gives them her findings.” He leaned forwards, his hands resting loosely between his knees. “We deal with what they actually bring.”

I nodded, relieved that he had not promised something he could not guarantee.

“Could you ask Tessa to come?” I glanced towards the yard. “I don’t want to keep repeating the medical part and get something wrong.”

“I’ll get her.” Ronan stood, then paused when I reached for my bag. “Do you need something before I go?”

“My phone. I want to write down what happened.”

He placed the bag on the chair beside me and waited until I had the strap.

By the time Nadia returned, I had typed as far as Grant closing the gate.

I kept deleting the same sentence. Writing that he locked it sounded deliberate, although I knew it was. I had watched him turn the key.

“Leave it,” Nadia said, reading over my shoulder with my permission. “That’s what you told us.”

I saved the account before I could change it again.

Tessa arrived with her notebook while Ronan remained outside speaking to Derek. I could see them through the doorway, both looking towards the loading entrance.

“They haven’t given me a written transfer request,” Nadia said, setting two copies of the examination record on the table. “I’ve told the gate staff nobody brings a vehicle through until I’ve spoken to the patrol.”

“Will that cause trouble for you?” I asked, looking at the papers she had prepared.

“Possibly.” She met my eyes. “But handing you over without asking questions could cause considerably more.”

An engine sounded beyond the fence before I could thank her.

Ronan turned towards the entrance as Derek lifted his radio. A white patrol vehicle stopped outside, and two uniformed officers stepped onto the road.

I tried to stand, forgetting my ankle until Tessa steadied my shoulder.

“Stay seated,” she said, moving my foot back onto its support. “They can come to you.”

The taller officer spoke to Nadia through the gate. He handed her a folded document, then looked past her towards our building.

Derek brought Ronan the radio.

“They’re asking for Maren,” he said, keeping his voice low. “They brought transport restraints.”

I looked at the officers again.

The taller one was already taking them out.