Page 66 of What She Saw

“Where was Billy?”

“In the tent. Doing coke.”

“Okay.”

“I went to the woods and felt uneasy. I should’ve left then, but my bladder was about to burst.”

Living on the road had put me in uncomfortable circumstances out of necessity. I’d learned to listen to feelings like that. Though the handgun I carried wasn’t as effective if I was ambushed. “What happened?”

“I’d finished my business and was zipping up my pants when I heard a girl scream.”

“You heard a girl scream? Did you ever tell Taggart this?”

“By the time I’d been in counseling and remembered, Taggart was dead. And no one in Dawson wanted to hear my stories about the Mountain Music Festival.”

“Everyone still wants to forget.”

She flexed her fingers. “I ran toward the girl’s screams. I don’t know what I thought I’d do if I found her, but I ran toward it.” She traced a callus on her palm. “When I moved past the trees into a small clearing, there was no girl. But someone else found me. Whoever it was came up behind me and wrapped a rope around my waist. I grabbed the rope, but they jerked hard and shoved me forward. I fell face-first on the ground. He straddled me.”

“You saidhe. A man?”

“I don’t know. Whoever slammed my face against the ground. It felt like my brains were rattling in my skull.”

That attack would have accounted for some of her fresh bruises but not her older ones. “Did this person say anything?”

“No.”

“And Billy?”

“I don’t know where Billy came from, but he pulled the person off me. My attacker took off and vanished into the woods. Billy helped me up, but he was pissed. He’d told me I’d been stupid.”

“You had to pee. You tried to save a girl. That’s not stupid.”

Her gaze grew distant before it refocused on me. “My shirt was ripped, and Billy saw the T-shirt. He scooped it up and told me to put it on. He took me back to the tent and gave me a joint.”

“Did Billy say anything about your attacker?”

“If he did, I don’t remember.”

“How long were you in the tent when Paxton found you?”

“I don’t know. The sun was up. When I was in the woods, it was dark.”

“What’s the last song you remembered hearing from the stage?”

“The Blind Eagles played ‘Free Bird.’”

“They were on the stage between three and four.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’ve lived with this story for a while. I know the facts better than anyone.”

“My name was never in the paper. How did you know about me?”

“Taggart mentioned you in his police reports. He left his files to me.”

“Why?”