Tom woke up, no clue where he was. He was surrounded by white walls, no furniture. Only a cot that he laid on and a wire chair in the corner.
There was a loud beep and Tom looked over to find a white door hidden in one of the walls. The door cleared and opened, revealing a muscular tan man with a full beard. Tom sat up in the cot.
"Where am I?" Maybe he was in the hospital or something, Tom thought. Maybe there was an accident with his car. He looked all over his body. He didn't see any bruises or scratches. Nothing. No sign of an accident. Just a slight migraine.
Then, Tom remembered the other night. "Oh shit." He groaned.
"That's right, you're coming around." The man grabbed the chair in the corner and pulled it up next to Tom. "So, I'm supposed to ask you some questions."
"You don't seem so sure about that," Tom rubbed the back of his head, wincing.
The man chuckled. "Only because it wasn't my decision." He glanced over to the wall. Tom could see it was indented. It was a reflective window, like in a holding cell.
Tom sighed. "Alright, let's get this over with."
"What did you see?"
"Uhh- really? We're gonna start with that?" Tom laughed. "Are you a cop, like do you have a badge or something I can see?"
The man looked unamused. He stroked his beard. "What's your name?"
"Tomás Dubois."
The man leaned back and cocked his head to the side. He then stood up and walked towards the door. "Wait, is that it? You aren't going to write it down? Can you at least call my lawyer!" The door cleared and the man exited, leaving Tom alone.
Tom groaned, his head in his hands. Shit shit shit. This was totally against cop protocol. He shouldn't have given that girl a ride in the first place. Now, it sounded like he was about to lose his job if word got out about what he saw.
*
"Dubois," Adrian repeated. Him and Claudia stood on the opposite side of the holding cell, peering in at Tomás Dubois.
Claudia smirked. "I never thought I would see a Dubois again."
Adrian shook his head. "Neither did I. I thought they agreed not to set foot on Therian land."
"Yeah, they never were a family of honor." Claudia went for the door handle, but Adrian stepped in.
"Is that really a good idea? Given your history with the Dubois family?"
Claudia shook her head. "It's fine, he doesn't know anything."
"How do you know that?"
"Because," Claudia said, "He's their runaway child."
Adrian looked back into the holding cell. Tom was looking around, confused. Adrian sighed. "OK." He moved away from the door, letting Claudia in.
*
Anne watched her long lost niece quickly devour two slices of bread and a plate of eggs. Anne smiled. "I have so many questions," Anne finally said, breaking the silence.
Simone stopped for a moment, looking up at her aunt. "Me too," Simone agreed. She set her fork down, peering around the kitchen. It was a small kitchen with old pink wallpaper, the only seating area a round table with three chairs propped up against a wall of windows that overlooked her aunt's garden. Simone couldn't remember if this was the same house she used to visit as a child with her mom, but it felt familiar.
