Chapter 31:
"Who did this to you?" asked Detective Elise Wallace.
Mikayla took a deep breath. This was too real. There was no way this was a dream. None of her dreams of escape had ever gotten this far. This wasn't a dream. Her shoulders suddenly relaxed. All she had to do was say his name and she would be free.
"Jackson Danvers." The second the words were out of her mouth everything turned on its head.
Detective Jennifer Jordan left the room for several minutes and when she came back several minutes later. Mikayla was surrounded by security guards as she left the building. They'd given her a blanket to throw over her head if she wanted to keep her anonymity. But she was tired of not being seen. She was tired of being the anonymous girlfriend of Jackson Danvers.
She wanted to be Mikayla Walsh again.
As she stepped towards the police car the doors opened and Jackson was being escorted out in handcuffs. His eyes zeroed in on her and he looked angrier than she'd ever seen him. She grabbed the blanket and pulled it around her to block him from view. He wasn't in control anymore. She'd never let him be in control again.
She got into the Detective's car and waited in silence. She looked back out the window. Jackson was gone. But then she saw that Rachel was being escorted out in cuffs.
"Wait, why is Rachel being arrested?" asked Mikayla.
"Nico Porter pressed charges against her for the physical altercation. We didn't have a choice," sighed Elise.
She debated saying something about Marie, but decided it would be better once they were in the police station. Once she was safe, she'd make sure Rachel was okay.
Finally, Jennifer made it back to the car and they headed off to the station. She sat quietly in the back on the car unsure what to say. The drive was short and when they finally pulled into the station she was surrounded by so many people she didn't know what to do.
****
"Why am I here being questioned?" shouted Jackson, as he held an ice pack to his eye. "I was the one who was punched and yes I do want to press charges."
"We're just trying to figure out what's going on. We've got a lot of conflicting information," said the officer who's name he hadn't bothered to remember.
If Nico was smart he was getting Mina out of there.
There was a light knock on the door and the officer got up and opened the door. He stood there for a moment and then a woman walked in and said, "Jackson Danvers, you're under arrest for the abduction of Mikayla Walsh."
"What are you talking about?" snarled Jackson. Had that girl spoken up. No. She was too obedient. But that was the only way he was going to get arrested. When he got out of here she'd be in so much trouble.
He didn't say anything. That was the worst thing he could do. He just let them cuff him.
"Before you take me, can I just ask my friend, Nico, to call me a lawyer?" he said, pleadingly to the officer. He tried his best to pull out a look of concern. The officer must have been okay with it because he nodded.
He was guided out in cuffs. How humiliating. He wasn't some common criminal.
He kept his head down and his back hunch as he passed a small group he recognized. Suddenly, Nico came running toward him, Donna trailing behind him.
He looked at his friend pointedly. They'd known each other a long time and without words his friend knew what happened.
"Call my lawyer," said Jackson. Thankfully he and Nico had a back up plan. Nico would take care of everything.
"Will do. I've also pressed charges against the girl who punched you."
"Good. Thanks."
Jackson was escorted down the stairs, cameras flashing in his face. But nothing else mattered. Her red hair was drawing him in. Her eyes flashed in realization and she pulled a blanket over herself.
He would never let her escape. Not without a fight.
****
Everything was a blur as she was brought inside. They gave her something else to wear so they could take her clothes to evidence. It wasn't till she was changing that she realized that her rib cage was visible. How did she ever let it get this bad? How did she ever stop fighting?
She didn't know. But now was her time to fight again.
Mikayla came out of the restroom and gave the officers her old clothes. They took photos of her. They took her finger prints. They took a DNA sample. Even though they were certain she was telling the truth they needed absolute proof. And she gave it willingly. She would do anything it took to get out of there.
Finally, she sat down in a room to tell them her story. It was a cozy looking room with a couch, some nice chairs, and a small table. There was a giant mirror on the wall. It was definitely a two way mirror. They'd put out a small tray of food and a selection of beverages. She took a can of diet soda and popped it open. Then she made herself comfortable on the couch.
She knew she needed to recall all the details she could remember from the last three years four months and seven days.
The officer went over some of the basic information with her and reminded her she would be recorded.
"Can you tell us in your own words what happened to you?" asked the person conducting the interview. It was yet another officer. Since arriving in the police station she'd spoke with half a dozen different people. This one was named Josh. Or maybe David. She had already lost track.
"Well . . . " Mikayla wrung her hands together trying to figure out what to say. "I was at a cast party with my friend Rachel. I was a bit drunk and I ran into my ex boyfriend."
"Anthony Riven?"
"Yes. He upset me so I drank a little more and I was just out of sorts. I called for an Über and I fell asleep in the back of it. I later found out I was drugged. When I woke up Jackson Danvers informed me that he kidnapped me."
"Were you on any drugs at the time?"
"What?" exclaimed Mikayla. "Firstly, no. But even if I was that doesn't excuse someone kidnapping me." Two questions in and this guy was already getting on her nerves.
"We just have to get all the information, Miss."
"If you want all the information maybe you should keep it to relevant information."
The officer, who she decided to call Josh in her mind, clicked his pen a few times. Then he asked, "Did you ever try to escape?"
"Of course." Did he think she had just sat there and accepted it? Maybe she did eventually, but not at first. "I tried to escape that first day. He locked me in a room for hours. Then when I tried to fight back he locked me up for a week. Another time I tried to escape and he carved his name into my skin." She reflexively grabbed at her neckline, but held back. She'd let a female officer take pictures of that later. "Another time I tried to swim across a lake, but I almost drowned."
Was it too late to request someone else to question her? This guy was making her feel really uncomfortable.
"Did he ever tell you why he kidnapped you?"
"He was trying to copy Theo Masterson."
"Was it because you played Honoria Fintan?"
"That was part of it," said Mikayla. "But he always said that me playing Nori was a happy coincidence on top of all the other reasons he kidnapped me."
"Did he rape you?"
Wow that was blunt. She nodded and said, "Yes."
The next string of questions had her describing various assaults she suffered and she felt awful. Why did this guy make her feel like she hadn't fought enough? No. She wasn't going to think that way. She'd done everything she could under the circumstances.
"Did you ever see anyone while you were there?" asked Josh.
"Occasionally I saw Jackson's friend Nico Porter."
"Did you ever ask him to help you?"
"He wouldn't have helped me. He knew why I was there. He didn't care," said Mikayla.
"Why do you say he didn't care if you never asked."
"Well, he kidnapped someone, too."
"I'm sorry, you said, Nico Porter also kidnapped someone?"
"Yes. His fiance, Donna, is actually Marie Gautier. She went missing from New Mexico a little less than a year before me."
The officer made some gesture at the mirror on the wall. There was definitely someone watching the questioning.
"Was there anyone else you saw?"
"We went to a lake house after Anthony was arrested. There were three guys on a bachelor party who I saw. I spoke with one of them."
"Why didn't you tell him what happened?"
"Jackson threatened to kill them if I said anything. And I was also off the heels of a bad escape attempt."
"Was there anyone else?"
"Can we please move on to some other questions? I'm tired of having to justify that I did everything in my power to try and escape. I did. You weren't there. You didn't deal with what I did."
****
Jackson leaned back while his lawyer spoke. He answered all their questions. He couldn't exactly hide what he'd done so he admitted it. He was proud. Why shouldn't he be?
Finally, when there was a lull in the conversation he said with a smirk, "Look, you can arrest me and send me away for a long time. Or you can work with me. I'm not the only A-lister in Hollywood who's kidnapped someone. Far from it. And I'd be willing to name names. But I'll need something in return."