Reduced to Ruin

Chapter 36

She seemed irritated. Inconvenienced. And trumped by the big guys. He let the two men in. It didn't register at first that the second man was Dr. Manning. 

Dr. Manning was here. I flushed and felt faint.

"Hi, Miss Whitman," the man said, showing me some badge from his wallet and offering me his hand with the other. "I'm Detective Santini with the FBI."

"Oh, Corrine!" Dr. Manning exclaimed, walking around the table to hug me. I froze. "I can't believe it. All this time, and we had no idea. No idea."

So this was the game he was going to play.

He bent down to hug me, but I couldn't move. He then took a seat next to me, but Detective Santini stayed standing.

"Officer Rodriguez, thank you for starting this investigation. I'm sure you've done a fine job, but we'll be taking over now. Thank you," Detective Santini said, excusing her whether she liked it or not.

She did not look happy. But what could she do?

"Thank you, Detective," she said. "Miss Whitman, I will check up on you at a later time."

She tried to smile, then walked out, closing the door behind her.

Detective Santini sat in her old seat. "Well, Miss Whitman, I wish I could say it's nice to finally meet you. But under these circumstances, I can't say I am."

"I—I thought you're with the F. B. I." I mumbled, already knowing the answer on some level I was unwilling to accept.

"Oh, I am. Just as Dr. Manning here is a doctor."

"Really, Corrine," Dr. Manning said, placing his arm around the back of my chair. "Have you forgotten the B. F. O. is everywhere? Even the F. B. I. Even the local police departments."

I leaned forward in my chair, not wanting my back to touch him.

"I've always heard nice things about you from Dr. Manning, Corrine. I must say I'm very disappointed to see you've betrayed us."

I stared down at my shaking hands. I was dead. I was sure of it.

"I want you to think very carefully, Corrine. What have you said to Officer Rodriguez so far?" Detective Santini asked.

My lips didn't want to move no matter how much I tried to get them to.

He leaned forward, closer to my face. "Answer me," he demanded.

"I—I've only told her about the abduction day and getting to Kansas."

"Uh huh," Santini mocked.

"I swear," I said. "We've only been here for a while. And she's asked so many questions. And she had me start from the beginning."

"Look at me," Dr. Manning commanded. I did as told. "Have you at all said anything about us?"

"Dr. Manning, I swear, I haven't. I wasn't going to," I lied. "I just want to go home is all. I'm not interested in telling the rest."

I glanced at the one-way mirror, wondering why'd they even mention the B. F. O. in a police station that must be tapped.

As if reading my mind, Detective Santini said, "Don't worry. We have all bases covered. No one's listening. Unless we want them to."

"Corrine," Dr. Manning sighed. "I'm in complete disbelief you'd do this to us. I was in shock when I got the call."