—”My little brother knows where he hides it, too.”
Mariela felt the air turn to stone.
—”Your little brother?” she asked, lowering her voice even further. “Where is your little brother, Sophie?”
The girl squeezed the rabbit until one of its ears bent.
—”Upstairs… in the gray room.”
Stephen went rigid for a second. Then he turned toward the hallway as if he could no longer hear anything else. The man in handcuffs, by the patrol car, stopped pretending to be calm for the first time.
—”She’s confused,” he said. “The girl makes things up. There is no boy up there.”