Page 23 of Ruthless Prince

I gritted my teeth again. “Did you even listen to my statement before? He wore black leather gloves. That’s why there were no prints. As for the DNA, I guess he was careful to clean up before he left the room.” Before she could say anything, I held up a triumphant hand. “Oh, and how do you explain theneedle?”

She cocked her head to the side. “You mean the needle you claim he used to inject you with some sort ofsedative?”

“Yes.”

Gen sighed. “Dr. Monroe, would you like to take thisone?”

The doctor nodded and handed a piece of paper to me. “These are your bloodwork results. We ran a toxscreen.”

I frowned. “What am I looking at,exactly?”

“Nothing,” he said gently. “There was nothing in your bloodstream except the usual elements. You were simply asleep when you were brought in. Exhausted, nodoubt.”

My chest tightened. “What if my attacker injected me with something that leaves the system really fast?” I asked, pulse racing again. “That’s possible,right?”

He nodded. “Some sedatives have a very short half-life, yes, so it’s possible, but I don’t believe that happenedhere.”

“Why?”

“There are no puncture wounds on your neck or anywhere else. Usually we’d find a mark like that, often accompanied bybruising.”

I rubbed the side of my neck. It still ached from where the needle went in last night. “It was right here,” I insisted. “Look!”

“There’s a small brown mole there, but nothing else,” Dr. Monroereplied.

“So maybe he stuck it right in the middle of the mole,” I said. My hands were shaking now. This whole situation was madness. Utter madness. “That would hide the mark, right? Plus I don’t bruiseeasily.”

“That doesn’t explain why the tox screen didn’t pick up onanything.”

“But you just said it’s possible it could’ve been something with a short half-life,” I murmured, slumping back in the bed. He wasn’t listening. Neither wasGen.

They didn’t believe me. Not onebit.

“This is exactly what he wants,” I said, chin trembling. “You’re playing right into his hand. He wants everyone to think I’m crazy so he can keep tormenting me without anyone ever believing me. Don’t you see that? I’m not crazy. Heis!”

Dr. Monroe picked up a pen again. “Tell me about him, Willow,” he said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “This man you think yousaw.”

“There’s nothing to tell. He always wears a mask, so I have no idea what his face lookslike.”

“Always?” Gen frowned and leaned forward. “So you’ve encountered him more thanonce?”

I nodded and filled her in on what happened in the tunnel five months ago. I’d completely forgotten to mention itearlier.

“So let me get this straight,” Dr. Monroe said. “You say this masked man chased you through a series of secret tunnels that only government officials knowabout?”

I glared at him, blood pressure rising. “Don’t look at me like that. I understand how insane that sounds, but the tunnels are real. They aren’t some sort of paranoid delusion.” I turned to Gen. “You’re pretty high-up in the Secret Service. You know about them,right?”

She nervously licked her lips. “I can’t verify the existence of tunnels like that around a civilian, but for argument’s sake, let’s say they do exist. Only high-ranking government employees would receive access keys to theentrances.”

“I know, but I got one from my dad nearly three years ago, when we still lived in the VP’s mansion,” I explained. “He doesn’t actually know about that, but still… trust me. I have akeycard.”

“If you say so.” She gave me a tightsmile.

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, come on. You know I’m telling the truth, even if you can’t admit it in front of Dr. Monroe. The tunnels are real, and I’ve been inthem.”

“So if we asked the friends you claim to have gone with that night—Marissa, Kate and Simone—they’d verify yourstory?”

I nodded. “Yup. Callthem.”