Free Girl Undercover 10 & 11: The Abduction & Dante's Inferno by Julia Derek

apologize for having accused me of making up everything because I couldn’t deal with losing Nick.
    But he didn’t and instead said in a firm tone, “It seems Dr. Sokoloff has lost her touch. I’m frankly very surprised to hear that she believes you’re telling the truth when it’s all so… so…” He cleared his throat. “I don’t know what to call it. But I do know that it can’t be true.”
    At first, I thought he must be kidding, even though Captain Brady had never been one to joke around about much, and especially not about momentous matters such as this one. Still, he simply couldn’t be serious. How could he think I was inventing everything when a psychologist with a doctorate degree from frigging Harvard with years of experience vouched for my sanity?
    When he didn’t say anything else, I spoke, “How can you say that with such certainty when Dr. Sokoloff has told you it’s not my brain making up things?”
    “How can I believe otherwise? Your claims are just too… too incredible to be true. I’m not sure why Dr. Sokoloff insists you were being sincere. The only explanation I can think of is that she mustn’t be as good as we thought her to be.”
    He sighed wearily. “Listen, Gabi, you need to let this go now. I know how hard Nick’s murder has been on you, but it’s time for you to deal with the fact that he’s gone. Whether we find the people who killed him or not, he’s still gone and will remain gone. Creating all these conspiracy theories won’t change that. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but if you could only hear yourself, you’d understand why I’m talking so harshly to you. Someone’s gotta do it.”
    “Captain, with all due respect, I can’t let it go,” I said, the shock to learn that Brady remained steadfast in his belief turning into frustration now. “Look, I agree that it all sounds perfectly incredible, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Believe me, I wish it did. I don’t want all of this to be happening any more than you do, but it is happening. Would you like to talk to the man who first introduced me to what’s going on? Maybe that would help you accept that it’s all true, every single word of it.”
    I no longer cared if I sounded rude. “You can’t possibly think I’m imagining him, can you? He and I could use your help, as we don’t know who in the FBI and other government agencies we can trust. You know them a lot better than we both do.”
    “Are you referring to that disgraced FBI agent? Ian Armory?”
    “Yes, that’s who I’m talking about. Would it help if I got him on the phone so you could talk to him?”
    “Why would I want to talk to an ex-con who’s also a drug addict? Come on, Longoria! Really, I thought you were smarter than that. Why are you wasting your time with someone like that?” Only then did the fact that he’d said disgraced FBI agent fully sink into my head.
    Oh, so he must have read the fake articles about Ian then, I thought. I had skipped that part in my account yesterday of everything that had happened.
    Before I got a chance to reply, Brady continued, “Doesn’t his background bother you one iota? As good of an investigator as you are, I’m sure you checked him out when he told you everything. Or didn’t you? Please tell me you did.”
    “Of course I checked him out. The minute I got home I Googled the guy and I read plenty about him. But those articles were all planted by the government.” I didn’t like the sentiment expanding within me, a sentiment that told me I’d lost Brady even before he sent me to see Dr. Sokoloff. How could I have lost him so quickly? I felt like I was talking to a stranger he acted to differently from the boss I was used to. The man I had worked for was patient and wise, someone who never raised his voice. Had the heart attack changed him to this degree?
    I had heard of others whose personality had changed significantly after similar events. Which wasn’t odd; even if you didn’t