𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓𝟖: 𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚'𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

Julia Welch

Julia watched as Carmen passed the corner of the hallway they were sitting in. She wanted to talk to him. She wanted to know where the officer was taking him. His smile, although made her want to seem that he was okay, only made her feel worse.

When it was her turn to be interrogated, Julia knew she had to ask about Carmen.

"I, uh, don't know?" The man that was named Matthew sat down in front of her looking confused.

She felt a punch of disappointment, it wasn't the answer she wanted.

"Why so curious about him, if I may ask?"

Julia didn't say anything.

The man shook his head. "Alright, it's okay. I just have a few questions for you, it shouldn't take up too much time depending on what you want to tell me."

Matthew asked her questions and Julia answered everything. He asked her about the bruises and the scars along her body, she pointed them all out. Every single mark on her skin came with a blurry vision of somebody she didn't know beating her up.

"What about Carmen? Did he touch you in that way?"

Julia swallowed. "No, actually."

Matthew jotted it down on his notepad. "You don't have to be afraid to tell me the stuff that happened. This is going to help you."

Julia shook her head. "No, I'm serious. Carmen didn't touch me at all- well, that's not entirely true, what I'm saying is that he didn't hurt me. I don't think he hurt anybody else."

The man nodded. After a few more questions that Julia tried to answer, they were finished and Julia could go back to waiting.

"You really don't know what's going to happen to him?" She paused before stepping a foot outside the door.

Matthew was only a few feet behind her. "I'm sorry, I don't. It's not up to me to decide what happens to him."

"Is he going to go to jail?" Julia feared the answer.

Matthew sighed. "Listen, I really don't know, but by the looks of it, Carmen isn't all too innocent in all of this."

Julia walked out and went back into the hallway where she sat staring out the window the rest of the time they were there.

~~~

Matthew Perry-Benson

"I don't think all four of them would lie to us," Matthew stood leaning against the doorframe of the room where Vanessa sat at the desk.

"I know, I just can't believe it," she held her head in her hands looking stressed.

"So, where do we go from here?"

Vanessa leaned back in her chair. "Well, there are a few steps. First, they have to testify in court, if they're guilty we already know what's going to happen but if they're innocent then we have to make sure they're sent back home safely."

"What if their homes aren't safe?"

Vanessa shrugged. "I'm a field agent, not a social worker or private investigator or security guard."

Matthew rolled his eyes. "Okay... but I don't want to just leave them in the hands of somebody else, I want to make sure they're going to be okay from now on."

Vanessa leaned further back and looked at him, clearly thinking something about him. Matthew became self-conscious at that moment.

"What?" He asked.