Nobody answered him.
The officer looked at the cage.
Then at the welds.
Then at me.
“Ma’am, can you hear me?”
I nodded.
“My name is Detective Harris. Your sister contacted us.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“She… she got it?”
Harris nodded.
“The message?”
“The location. The audio file. Everything.”
Marcus suddenly laughed.
It wasn’t his normal laugh.
It was sharp and nervous.
“You’re making a mistake,” he said. “She’s my wife. She has mental problems. She locked herself down here.”
The detective stared at him.
“You welded the cage shut?”
Marcus opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
His mother appeared behind him at the top of the stairs.
She had been holding the gold key.
For the first time since I’d known her, she looked frightened.
“Marcus,” she whispered.
The detective pointed toward her.
“Ma’am, stay exactly where you are.”
She froze.
I watched the gold key hanging from her neck.
That tiny piece of metal had represented everything I had lost.
My freedom.
My food.
My water.
My dignity.
My ability to leave.
And now it was dangling uselessly against her chest.
The paramedic moved toward the cage.
“We need to get her out immediately.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“No.”
The word came out quietly.
Everyone looked at him.
“No one touches her.”
The detective moved between us.
“You’re finished.”
Marcus stared at him.
Then at me.
Something changed in his eyes.
