Chapter 52 Interrogation
Chapter 52 Interrogation
Alex
✦
The interrogation room smells like stale coffee and industrial cleaner.
Gray walls.
Gray table.
Gray chairs.
Everything designed to be neutral.
Calm.
Non-threatening.
It’s not working.
The club worker—his name is Danny Mora, according to the ID they found in his pocket—sits on the other side of the table with his hands cuffed to the metal ring.
He hasn’t said a word in forty minutes.
Not since Kyler read him his rights.
Not since he asked if he wanted an attorney and Danny shook his head, slow and deliberate, like he was thinking about it.
Then nothing.
Just silence.
Kyler paces along the far wall, arms crossed, watching.
He’s in full detective mode now—controlled, methodical, every movement calculated.
But I can see the cracks.
The way his jaw keeps tightening.
The way his fingers keep flexing against his biceps.
Livia is out there.
His girl.
Taken.
And this little shit in front of us knows something.
Maybe everything.
I’m sitting in the chair beside Kyler’s empty one, leaning forward with my forearms on the table.
Too close.
Too aggressive probably.
But I can’t sit back.
Can’t breathe.
Every second of silence is another mile between us and them.
“You’re not the first one we’ve brought in,” Kyler says.
His voice fills the room.
Calm.
Professional.
But there’s an edge underneath.
“You know that, right? We’ve talked to three other club employees this morning. Bouncers. Bartenders. They’re all talking.”
Danny doesn’t react.
Doesn’t blink.
Just stares at the table between us like he’s memorizing the scratches in the laminate.
“But you,” Kyler continues, moving closer.
“You’re different. You’re the one who moved the sign. You’re the one who stood there and turned women away while two men dragged unconscious girls out the back. That makes you special, Danny. That makes you important.”
Nothing.
I watch his face.
Young.
Maybe twenty-three.
Tattoos creeping up his neck—snake wrapped around a dagger, just visible above his collar.
Club ink.
Loyalty marks.
He’s scared.
I can see it in the way his breathing stays too steady.
Too controlled.
He’s been trained for this.
Or warned.
“Here’s what I think,” Kyler says.
He pulls out the chair across from Danny.
Sits.
Leans in.
“I think someone told you to put that sign up. Someone told you exactly when to do it. Someone told you not to ask questions. And I think you’re sitting here right now wondering if talking to us is worse than whatever they’ll do to you if you talk.”
Danny’s Adam’s apple moves.
A swallow.
Small.
But there.
“You’re right to be scared,” Kyler says.
Soft now.
Almost sympathetic.
“Because whoever gave you those orders? They’re not coming to help you. You’re in here. They’re out there. And you know what happens to loose ends in organizations like this?”
Danny’s eyes flick up.
Just for a second.
Meet Kyler’s.
Then back down.
“They clean them up,” Kyler says.
“You’re not loyal to them, Danny. You’re evidence. And evidence gets buried.”
I can’t take it anymore.
The silence.
The clock ticking in my head.
I lean forward harder.
“My girlfriend is out there,” I say.
My voice sounds raw.
Wrong.
Danny’s hands twitch.
The cuffs rattle against the ring.
Just barely.
But I see it.
“Chelsea.”
My throat closes.
I force it open.
“Livia.”
Kyler doesn’t look at me.
Keeps his eyes on Danny.
But I see his shoulders tense.
“These aren’t just names,” I say.
“They’re not merchandise. They’re not products. They’re people. And you stood in that hallway and you watched them get carried out like meat.”
Danny’s jaw tightens.
A muscle jumps in his cheek.
Still staring at the table.
But he’s listening.
I know he’s listening.
“You think you’re protecting yourself,” I say.
“You think if you keep your mouth shut, they’ll reward that. They’ll protect you. But they won’t. You’re already burned. We have you on camera. We have you moving the sign. We have you blocking that hallway. That’s kidnapping. That’s conspiracy. That’s fifteen to life if a jury decides you knew what was happening.”
“Twenty to life,” Kyler adds.
Quiet.
Certain.
“If they decide you knew they were going to be sold.”
Danny’s breathing changes.
Just slightly.
Shallow.
Quick.
The mask cracking.
“You want to know what I think?” Kyler asks.
He stands again.
Moves to the corner of the room.
Stands there with his arms loose at his sides.
“I think you’re new. I think you wanted in. Wanted the brotherhood. The paycheck. The respect. And I think when they told you to move that sign, you didn’t know. Not really. Not what it meant.”
He walks back.
Sits on the edge of the table.
Close to Danny.
Too close.
“But then you saw them,” Kyler says.
Soft.
Almost gentle.
“You saw those men carry them out. You saw Chelsea’s head hanging down. You saw Livia’s arm dangling. And you knew. You knew exactly what you’d done.”
Danny’s eyes are wet now.
Not crying.
Not yet.
But close.
“Here’s the thing,” Kyler says.
“You can’t undo it. You can’t go back to that moment and choose different. But you can choose now. Right now. You can tell us where they took them. Who gave the order. Who's holding them.”
He leans down.
Eye level.
“And maybe—maybe—we get there in time. Maybe we bring them back alive. And maybe that counts for something when the DA is deciding whether you’re a victim or a perpetrator.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Thick.
Danny’s hands are shaking now.
Visible.
The cuffs rattling.
I hold my breath.
Say something.
Please.
Say something.
Danny opens his mouth.
Closes it.
Shakes his head.
Slow.
Defeated.
But still silent.
Kyler straightens.
Exhales.
The frustration rolls off him in waves.
I stand up.
My chair scrapes loud against the floor.
I can’t sit anymore.
Can’t be in this room.
“Let me talk to him,” I say.
“Alone.”
Kyler looks at me.
Raises an eyebrow.
“That’s not procedure.”
“I don’t give a shit about procedure.”
“Alex—”
“Two minutes.”
Kyler studies my face.
Sees something there.
Maybe the desperation.
Maybe the barely controlled violence.
Maybe just love twisted into something dangerous.
He nods.
Once.
“Two minutes.”
He walks to the door.
Opens it.
Looks back at Danny.
“Think about what I said. About loose ends. About choosing.”
Then he’s gone.
The door clicks shut.
It’s just me and Danny.
The silence changes.
Becomes something else.
I don’t sit.
I walk around the table.
Slow.
Stand behind him.
He tenses.
Can’t see me.
Doesn’t know what I’m doing.
Good.
“You have a mother?” I ask.
My voice is different now.
Lower.
Flatter.
Danny doesn’t answer.
“Sister? Girlfriend? Someone you love?”
Nothing.
I lean down.
Close to his ear.
“My girlfriend is out there with monsters,” I whisper.
“And you’re the only one who can tell me where. And you’re choosing not to. Do you understand what that makes you?”
I walk back around.
Stand in front of him.
He won’t meet my eyes.
“It makes you worse than them,” I say.
“Because they’re evil. They know it. They embrace it. But you? You’re a coward. You saw something wrong and you did nothing. You see two women suffering and you do nothing. You could stop it and you do nothing.”
I crouch.
Force him to see me.
“Look at me.”
He doesn’t.
“Look at me.”
He does.
Slow.
Reluctant.
His eyes are red.
Scared.
“I’m not a cop,” I say.
“I’m not bound by rules. Kyler is. He has a badge. He has limits. I don’t.”
I hold his gaze.
Let him see it.
The emptiness.
The hole where Chelsea should be.
“I will find her,” I say.
“With or without you. With or without the police. And when I do, I’m going to kill everyone who touched her. Everyone who stood by and let it happen. Do you believe me?”
Danny swallows.
Nods.
Small.
Almost involuntary.
“Then believe this,” I say.
“If she dies because you stayed silent, I will come for you. Not today. Not tomorrow. But I will come. And I will make sure you spend every day of your life remembering that you could have saved her. That you chose not to.”
I stand.
Walk to the door.
Knock twice.
The lock clicks.
Kyler opens it.
Looks at me.
Looks at Danny.
“Anything?” he asks.
I shake my head.
“Nothing.”
Kyler nods.
Resigned.
He steps back in.
Opens his mouth to keep going.
To keep pressing.
Then—
“He said Phoenix,” Danny says.
The words are barely audible.
Cracked.
Broken.
But they’re words.
Kyler freezes.
“What?”
Danny’s head is down again.
Shoulders shaking.
Sobbing now.
Finally.
“He said if anything went wrong, if anyone asked, mention Phoenix. That it would throw you off. Send you south. Away from Flagstaff.”
My heart stops.
Phoenix.
A diversion.
Kyler is already moving.
Grabbing his radio.
“Dispatch, this is Detective Kyler Brennan. I need all units to disregard Phoenix direction. Repeat, disregard Phoenix. Focus on Flagstaff routes. Northbound corridors. I-17 checkpoints.”
He’s talking fast.
Professional.
But his hands are shaking.
Danny looks up.
Tears streaming.
Snot on his face.
“I’m sorry,” he says.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t know what they were going to do. They just said move the sign. Just for five minutes. Just block the hallway.”
He breaks down.
Full sobs.
Shoulders heaving.
“They’re taking them to Bagly’s estate. Outside Flagstaff.”
“I didn’t know,” he repeats.
Over and over.
Like a prayer.
Like it matters.
Kyler is already at the door.
Yelling into the hallway.
“Get a statement! Now! Full detail! Names, routes, everything!”
He turns to me.
Eyes wild.
Hope and fear mixed together.
“Flagstaff,” he says.
I’m already moving.
Pushing past him.
Into the hallway.
Toward the exit.
Toward the parking lot.
Toward her.
Kyler catches up.
Grabs my arm.
“Alex. Wait.”
I shake him off.
“No.”
“We do this right. We do this with backup. We do this so we don’t get them killed.”
I stop.
Breathing hard.
My whole body vibrating.
He’s right.
I know he’s right.
But every second feels like drowning.
“How long?” I ask.
“Two hours north. Maybe less if we move now.”
He’s already on his phone.
Calling in favors.
Organizing a tactical team.
I look back at the interrogation room.
At Danny.
Sitting there.
Crying.
Broken.
Not evil.
Just weak.
Just stupid.
Just complicit.
It’s not enough.
It will never be enough.
But it’s something.
A direction.
A chance.
I follow Kyler toward the exit.
Toward the light.
Toward the north.
Toward her.
And I pray.
For the first time since I was a child.
I pray that we’re not too late.
That she’s still alive.
That she can hold on.
Just a little longer.
Just until we get there.
Please.
Please.
Please.