The Blackout Girl ✔️

chapter seven

Chapter Seven

Lexi wasn't asleep for very long. She'd only grabbed about an hour, enough to get her through. It was hardly restful, but it was necessary to keep functioning. She woke up confused, but quickly remembered where she was. Her cheek was numb from the table she'd laid on, and her nose was swollen from crying. She wanted to be let out but didn't know when that would happen.

When the lock clicked, she jumped at the sound. Her pulse galloped as she waited for the crabby old agent to step inside and chew her out once more.

He wasn't the first face she saw. No, it was that of a tall, lanky man with curly brown hair and wide, dark eyes. He seemed softer spoken than Price.

On top of that, he was nervous.

"I-I'm Agent Nolan F-Foster," he stuttered. "I wanted to, um, talk to you."

The woman behind him waved, her introduction much smoother than her partner's. "My name's Kaytee Carlisle. It's nice to meet you, Lexi. Can I call you that, or do you prefer Lexington?"

Lex's chin lifted up and down. "Lexi's fine."

Agent Foster bent down beside her chair and reached for the handcuffs. She flinched at the movement, almost expecting him to strike her.

"I'm just taking these off," he said quietly. "Do you want anything to eat?"

"We have Thai," Kaytee chimed in. "It's my favorite."

After Foster unlocked the chains, Lexi's skin sighed in relief. She rubbed at her raw wrists gingerly. "I'll take it."

Lexi knew they were holding back until she got some food in her system. She didn't mind. Her stomach was growling and she was grateful to be treated with some dignity. Feeling like a criminal was the worst, especially when you weren't sure what you did.

The prawn soup was delicious, but anything would feel that way if she was ravenous enough.

"I know you only got me this because you want me to tell you I killed those guys," she said, treading carefully. "I won't tell you what you want to hear. I don't have that in me."

"We just want to unpack the situation. You put yourself in the investigation, whether you meant to or not," Foster said.

Lexi surveyed Kaytee, who was patiently listening in. She made eye contact with Lex like she was trying to coax her out of her shell. She and Agent Foster were both more approachable than Price would ever be.

That was probably a strategy. Lex knew that, and she had to be cautious.

"I can't remember the last time I wore that dress," Lex admitted. "I haven't been in the mood, I guess. That's not really a defense, but I'm telling you it's been in the back of my closet for a while."

"Lexi," Nolan began. "Do you know if there's any chance you could have put it on and forgotten?"

"I guess anything is possible," she said. "I don't think so, though. I know myself."

"Did you lend it out recently?" Kaytee inquired. "Maybe to a friend?"

"Not that I know of," Lexi replied after thinking for a moment.

It wasn't looking good for her, especially if it was a victim's blood on her dress. She was a perfect suspect with her lapses in memory. Her blackouts had always made life hell for her. They were timed inconveniently, perpetually leaving her disoriented and out of order.

"Can you tell us the last time you blacked out?" Nolan prodded. "I know it's probably hard to talk about—"

"It's your job to ask," Lexi interrupted. "It was two nights ago. I woke up on the side of the road after I went to bed in my room. There was a man who asked if I was okay and I couldn't tell him. I'd driven myself there, but I didn't even know I did it."

Nolan made note of it, and she tried to read his heavy-handed scrawl upside down. It was nearly impossible. "Was it the first time that happened to you?"

"Yes and no," Lexi said. "I've woken up in places I didn't go to sleep, but never that far from my house. I don't go far from home, not typically."

"How long have these incidents occurred?" he asked.

"Since I was little. My uncle, he... he hurt me. It broke something in my head, and I guess I never fully recovered from it."

Kaytee and Nolan exchanged looks. Lex felt her palms go slick.

"I wouldn't hurt anyone. Even after what Aunt Delaney's boyfriend did. It was a long time ago. I've talked to a therapist and I don't even hate him for it. I'm not a murderer. You can hook me up to a lie detector. I want to help you prove whatever it is you're trying to prove, one way or another."

Lexi had grown accustomed to skating around the edge of her history. It was hard for her to think about Dennis, let alone verbalize his actions. There was truth in her words despite that. She'd never hated him or wanted vengeance. At least, not consciously.

"Lexi," Foster murmured. "This is all very brave of you. You're being a big help."

"I am?"

"You are," Kaytee said. "What's going to happen now depends on you. There will probably be a psychiatric evaluation to see if you're a risk to yourself or others. We're going to keep you under surveillance. The more you cooperate, the easier it will be for us to sympathize. If you fight us, you'll look guilty."

It felt like every area of life depended on perception. Back in high school, it was all about what people thought of you. Work was no exception. Lexi was no stranger to changing herself to adapt. If the feds wanted her to be innocent, and she would have to figure out what that looked like. It was enough to make her head spin around and around.

All she wanted was a cup of tea, a baseball game on TV, and her brother. All she wanted was for life to be normal, returning to a time before serial killings entered the picture.

"When do I get to go home?" Lexi whispered. "I just want to go home."

"I don't know when that will be," Nolan admitted. "But hopefully soon."

I'll take it, Lexi decided.

Kaytee rose first, and Lexi cocked her head. "Is that it? You guys aren't interrogating me?"

"It's not always our style," Nolan told her. "You're off the hook."

"It's been a long day and all of us need some time," said Kaytee. "A guard will be here shortly to take you somewhere more peaceful."

Kaytee wasn't wrong about that. Lex only had to wear cuffs for a few more minutes, and she was set free when she was put into a tiny jail cell somewhere else in the building. There was no privacy, which meant using the toilet to finally pee was awkward, but she made do. As she laid on the lumpy mattress, she was glad to be alone.

The murders were everywhere, and she was susceptible to being as focused on it as the next person. Getting comfortable was difficult and unpleasant. She would've cried if she had the energy. The thing was, if she could go back and stay in her room with the bloody dress, she wasn't sure that she would. Above all things, she trusted justice, and she never wanted to get in the way of that.

She pulled the thin blanket over her shoulders and tucked it in her balled fists. She wondered what her family must think of her now that she could be a culprit to a hideous crime. It was hard for her to even think of herself the same way she used to.

Did I do this? she thought. She tried to dig through her memories, even though most of them were muddy surrounding one of her episodes. There was no recognition to be found. There was no way for her to truly know if she'd ever met George Naples before and it was aggravating.

The FBI was on this case, and she couldn't trust a couple of agents who seemed nice on the surface. Their jobs came first and they weren't her friends. They hadn't charged her yet, but they could hold her for a couple of days without doing that. She'd seen enough Law & Order to be sure.

She was sleeping in a jail cell for the night. As far as Lex was concerned, this was as bad as it could possibly get.

She had no idea things could get worse.