"Hey, detective. How long have you two known each other?"
"Who? Ash and I? We were—" Diego paused when Ashley shouted from the kitchen.
"Don't listen to him… It wasn't that serious."
"Together for seven years." Diego completed his sentence, and Ashley appeared in the doorway with two cups of coffee: one for herself and one, which she set down in front of Irene.
"Why don't you just tell her everything from the beginning, huh, Diego? Since we have so much time on our hands," Ashley said sarcastically, scowling at him.
"I get it… It's not necessary right now."
"Wait. Why aren't you together now?" Irene asked, curious.
Diego sighed, and Irene could see that he was genuinely sad that the topic came up. "Well, the thing is—" Ashley interrupted him again before he could speak.
"It's not appropriate to discuss right now, Diego. Irene, we can discuss it later, though there's really not much to tell," Ashley said, and Irene looked closely at the man before her, at how easily he fit into his surroundings. 'He must have lived here with Aunt Ashley at some point… Does that mean he's like family to me?' Irene thought.
"Okay, but—"
"Your aunt is right, Irene. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to discuss while I'm on the job. Let's get back to the Silver Tower," Diego said, cutting Irene off.
"The what?"
"It's an office building in downtown Blackwood. It's where you were found before you were taken to the hospital," Diego said, and Irene blinked at him.
"I don't know what to say. I've never heard of the place," Irene mumbled.
"That's kind of convenient, don't you think? You can't get in trouble if you pretend you don't know what happened, am I right?" Diego said, and Irene frowned at his words.
"Is that what you think I'm doing? Pretending?" Irene asked, a flicker of annoyance brimming in her green eyes.
"So you wouldn't be able to tell me how you ended up there, then?" Diego asked, and Irene took deep breaths to calm herself from snapping at the detective.
"If you and Aunt Ashley were as close as you say, then you probably know what I was like before this, too. I don't know if the old me would have tried to hide something like this from you. But the me sitting in front of you now, if I knew anything at all, I wouldn't keep it to myself."
"Alright, I understand you," Diego said, but Irene couldn't help but worry that maybe she was the kind of person to do drugs. She looked at the stack of papers in the detective's case file, wondering.
"Hey, were drugs the only thing they found in my system when they brought me to the hospital?" Irene asked, making Diego and Ashley exchange wary glances with one another. "I mean, did it look like anyone else had… I don't know, touched me?"
"No! No… there wasn't anything like that. If anyone had laid a finger on you, I'd kill them myself," Ashley said, and Irene breathed a sigh of relief.
"Nothing like that, but something clearly happened that night that wasn't supposed to happen. I'm trying to piece together what exactly that was. If this was someone else's fault, Irene, I want to bring them to justice for what happened to you. I have to consider every aspect, follow every lead. Sometimes that involves asking some not-so-fun questions of people I care about," Diego said, as he reached into the case folder at his side and pulled out a photograph. "This is a photo that was found at the scene where you were found. Does anything about it look familiar to you?"
It was a picture of a Triquetra; its interlocking loops formed a mesmerizing pattern, each loop glowing with a soft, bluish hue, casting a gentle light that seemed to pulse with a rhythm of its own.
Irene looked at it for a long time, waiting for something to stir in her memory, but nothing surfaced. She shook her head, and when the detective kept looking at her, Irene asked, "What is it?"
"I was hoping you could tell me. It doesn't have anything to do with a gang? Secret club? New drug of some kind?" he asked, and Irene sighed for the fifth time.
"Honestly, your guess is as good as mine," Irene commented, and Diego looked like he wanted to ask something else when Ashley stood up and gestured toward the front door.
"Okay, Diego. It's clear she doesn't know. It's time for you to leave," Ashley said, while Diego sighed and gathered up his things. He looked like he was done fighting Ashley.
"I know that neither of you wants to believe it, but I'm actually on your side, Irene. If you remember anything, need anything, or want to ask anything, don't hesitate—just call me. I'll be there. That's how things used to be when I lived in this house. But I guess neither of you can remember that," Diego said, then walked toward the front door and left the house.
Irene turned to Ashley. "So I guess things didn't end well between you two?"
"Please, honey, ask me about something else. I was just starting to get over it."
"Okay, sorry. What do you remember about that night?" Irene asked instead, while Ashley stared down into her empty coffee cup.
"You wanted to go to a party downtown. I should have said no, but you were begging me. I figured, you know, you're eighteen, you're responsible enough now to know what might be a dangerous situation. You weren't responding to my texts or calls. I put off calling the cops because I knew I might have to deal with Diego. They eventually started a search. Half the town was looking for you. It was the most terrifying experience of my life. In the end, the night security guard at the Silver Tower found you," Ashley explained.
"So I left the party?" Irene mumbled to herself, but her aunt heard her.
"Someone took you from the party and led you there. It just had to be that. Maybe they slipped you something without you knowing."
"You really don't think I was using drugs?" Irene asked.
"Honey, of course I don't. You were a good kid. You still are. It had to be someone else's fault," Ashley said with certainty.
"You believe me, right? I really don't remember anything," Irene said, as she looked sadly at her aunt.
"I believe you, sweetheart. Enough of all this, I'll drop you off at school, alright?" Ashley said, pulling Irene into her arms and hugging her tightly.