Free Jill Jackson - 02 - Voodoo Doll by Leah Giarratano

body so that she could not even see Gabriel.
    He stood. 'Jill, I'm just going to see if I can help Ryan with his statement.'
    She nodded, grateful Gabriel had picked up the girl's obvious discomfort with him.
    'Justine, I'm Jill. Thank you so much for talking with us. I know this is the very last thing you wanted to do today.' Jill leaned forward in her seat and smiled; Justine seemed to uncurl herself a little.
    'Are you going to catch these guys soon?' she asked, her voice small.
    'Yes.' Jill hoped it was true. 'We've got a lot of people looking for them, and we need your help, Justine.'
    'Hah. I can't even help myself.'
    'Maybe, Justine, but you saw these guys. You got a better look at them than some of the other witnesses, and that could help us a lot.'
    Justine said nothing.
    'Justine,' Jill began carefully, 'you were taken upstairs by two of these guys, is that right?'
    A small nod.
    'And you could hear the others hurting Ryan down here?'
    'I could hear everything. He was screaming.' Her mouth was now on her knees, her voice muffled in her pyjamas. 'They said they'd kill him.'
    'It must have been horrible, honey. I can't even imagine it.' Jill wished that were true. 'You were very brave to get them what they needed so they wouldn't hurt Ryan anymore.'
    'I wasn't brave.'
    Jill could barely hear her now.
    'Justine, you did exactly what you had to do to get them to stop hurting Ryan and get them out of the house.'
    Justine was a portrait of misery, her face buried in her knees, her arms wrapped around them. Her small body shook silently.
    'Justine, sometimes it's easier if you keep your eyes open,' Jill told her. 'It makes the images not so clear.'
    Justine rocked slightly, her sobbing just audible, and Jill wondered whether she'd told them all there was to know about her time upstairs.
    'What happened up there, Justine? Tell me what happened when it all went quiet.'
    'They said they'd kill him,' she said. 'The spider one said he'd cut my throat –'
    Suddenly she gagged and ran from the room. Mrs Rice hurried after her from the kitchen. Jill sighed resignedly and stood. She followed the sounds of Justine dry-retching and found her sitting on the edge of the bath, her face wet with tears. Her mother bent to comfort her.
    'It'll be easier if you just tell me, honey,' Jill said.
    'Tell you what?' Mrs Rice straightened. 'Really! She's sick. I think it's best we leave this for another time. I can bring her in to see you tomorrow.'
    'Narelle, you've been great letting us come over here, and I know this is horrible for everyone. And I am going to have to get Justine and Ryan to come in and make another statement tomorrow. But right now, Justine has something that she needs to tell me.'
    Mrs Rice clasped a hand over her mouth.
    Jill continued. 'Narelle, I'm going to have to ask you to just leave us both in here for around ten minutes. Maybe you could duck down to the shop and buy Justine a lemonade? It'll help settle her stomach.'
    She spoke firmly. If Justine didn't get this off her chest now, it would consume her from the inside out. Narelle Rice seemed suddenly to know this too, and with an imploring glance at Jill, left the room.
    Jill took her place on the side of the bath.
    'Let's get this done, Justine. You've held this in too long already. These feelings are poisonous when you keep them inside.' Justine looked up at her. 'You've already told me you've been feeling sick since it happened. You can't get well again until you let it out, until you tell the truth.' It'll take more than that, she thought, but it's a start.
    'You said the spider one told you he'd cut your throat,' Jill continued. 'That wasn't in your statement. What happened next?'
    Justine pulled away a little from her and turned her head to face the wall. I've lost her, Jill thought, but Justine began to speak in a flat, lifeless voice.
    'He'd said he'd cut my throat and fuck the hole in my neck.' Her voice echoed in the small bathroom. 'He said he'd kill Ryan