This is a re-edited version of the original chapter I uploaded. There were some issues with the formatting and in some instances the sentences were a bit garbled and letters were repeated. Sorry about that.
Again with thanks to Misternik and vmc312. These problems weren't anything to do with them; they were entirely my fault!
*****
Three months later
The September afternoon was unseasonably mild and sunny, especially for Scotland. Rebecca's first two weeks of Uni had gone well; she'd managed to find all her classes, waded successfully through the red tape of enrolment, she'd even taken the first steps of a tentative friendship with a few people.
She'd clicked with Carla immediately; they had an easy, comfortable relationship. She already felt like they'd known each other for much longer than a couple of weeks. They were on the way to grab some lunch to eat in the park after a quick stop at the campus bookshop when Simon joined them.
Simon was Carla's childhood friend; they'd been at the same secondary school. He was on an entirely different course so he wasn't in any of the same classes as them, but they were in the same campus. He was tall and a bit of a geek. He looked like he should be carrying a skateboard. But he was cute with a captivating smile and lovely thick curly brown hair that she always had an inexplicable urge to ruffle. She'd only hung out with Simon a few times but his easy-going charm was infectious and she found herself laughing a lot when she was around him. She had a sneaky feeling he might fancy her but she didn't feel ready to get involved with anyone just yet.
They'd all been to the student union bar together on Saturday; Simon was doing an excellent impression of the two drunk Italian guys who had been trying to woo Carla and Rebecca.
Rebecca clutched her sides, she was laughing so much she almost had tears streaming down her face.
She hadn't talked to either of them about the robbery or the subsequent experiences; she wasn't ready to articulate her confused feelings about Jason yet, or the terrifying whirlwind of events that she associated with him.
-
The days following her abduction were intense. She shuddered to think about them. After she'd arrived at her parents' house and let her self in, she'd been confronted with her mum sitting at the table drinking tea with a woman she hadn't seen before.
"Mum."
"Oh my god, Rebecca!" her mum jumped up and almost threw herself at her. "I've been so worried about you."
They were in each other's arms and both crying when her dad appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Rebecca?"
She left the comfort of her mums embrace to be briefly pulled into his less familiar one. She looked up at his face and realised that he was working hard to school his features, keep his emotions in check, she felt a surge of love for her parents and the roles they played in her life, different though they were.
Gently the woman peeled them apart.
"Hello Rebecca, I'm DC Lisa Short., I'm a police officer, and I'm so glad you back safe. We've all been very concerned." She offered Rebecca's mother the box of tissues that usually lived on the kitchen table and she gratefully took one. "I'm very sorry for the intrusion, but I'd like to take your clothes for forensics as soon as possible to help with our investigation."
She looked at the women for the first time, she had been aware that she was there but she hadn't taken any real notice of her. Rebecca was stunned. "Oh, of course. Yes, I'm sorry." She mumbled.
DC Short produced a handful of clear plastic bags, seemingly from nowhere and handed them to Rebecca.
"We'll need you to come down to the station as soon as possible to give a statement but that can wait until tomorrow. For now the main thing is we need to get these clothes into evidence bags, before they get contaminated, and so I can get them to forensics."
She could see her dad getting antsy; clearly DC Short was noticing this too, because she smiled at them both and apologised. Rebecca was ushered into the lounge to take her clothes off and pack them into separate bags. The police woman was apologising again and talking about contaminated evidence. After stripping down to her underwear she sat down on the sofa and closed her eyes, she wasn't ready for this. She didn't want to answer their questions, her head was spinning, none of this felt real. She just wanted to curl up in a ball and go to sleep.
Her mum reappeared, holding her favourite pajamas. Sitting next to her on the sofa, and taking her hands into her own, she looked concerned.
"I'm okay mum, they didn't hurt me."
"We've been so worried about you, Rebecca."
She was crying again. They held each other, and then her dad was there too. Tentatively touching her arm, he was more reserved than her mum but he was clearly very relieved and very pleased that she was back safe. The police officer appeared with cups of sweet hot tea. Rebecca noticed that she seemed to be very familiar with her parents, some of her earlier hostility dissipated as she realised she felt grateful that they had some support during this stressful time.
Collecting the bagged up clothes, DC Short made her goodbyes and left, promising to return tomorrow with a car to take them to the station leaving Rebecca and her parents alone finally. They sat late into the evening. They didn't speak very much, it was clear her parents wanted to ask questions. But beyond establishing she was okay, they didn't push her too much once she explained she felt too overwhelmed to talk about it much. It felt nice to be home, it was familiar and comforting.
The following morning she dutifully arrived with both her parents at the station to be interviewed. Her presence seemed to be a thing of excitement as the station buzzed around her. Eventually she was shown into a room with some sofas and a vending machine and interviewed by a WPC. She was very gentle and understanding. When Rebecca didn't want to go into detail she didn't push her, she seemed particularly concerned about the possibility of any sort of assault, sexual or otherwise. When Rebecca insisted that nothing of that sort had happened she backed off.
Someone else brought them all tea in Styrofoam cups. It wasn't very nice. She couldn't remember the last time she'd drank so much tea. Her mum and dad were having an argument. Her dad wanted to ring his solicitor; her mum didn't think it was necessary. Eventually Rebecca told them she didn't want one. They'd just been told she had to speak to one more police officer before she was allowed to leave, someone from the specialist crime and operations section and she felt like she was answering too many questions already.
This time she was taken to an interview room, there were no sofas in there, no windows, just some chairs around a table and an old fashioned tape recorder on the table. The whole station had an old fashioned, institutionalised feel to it. Finding herself in this room, she suddenly felt like she'd been magically transported to the 70's.
Suddenly the officer from the specialist crime and operations section arrived and she watched fascinated as he put a cassette tape into the machine.
This police officer was a big man; short, dark hair with piercing blue eyes that seemed to be able see right into her soul. He seemed to exude a confidence and intelligence that made it harder to be economical with the truth like she had been with the others.
