I jerk in my chair. I spent a lot of the past two years asking myself that question, and I’ve finally come to terms that it doesn’t matter because I can’t change it. I can’t erase the past. I can only move forward.
So I sure didn’t expect it to come up in this conversation.
“I’ve been trying to figure it out since you disappeared, and a week ago, I finally got some relevant information.”
I gulp. “Just say it, Daddy. Please.”
“I’ve been working with an FBI agent since you went missing. Not much has come up since you returned, but we still talk. Last week, he called with some information that finally came across his desk.”
“And…?” I whisper the word, unable to get it to come out any louder.
“He found the document naming all the individuals who visited Derek Wolfe’s island. It was classified, but he got his hands on it two years after the fact. Most of them were fake names, including one the agent thought I’d be interested in.” Dad pauses, threads his fingers through his graying hair. “It was an alias used by Jonathan Bridger.”
A rock lands in my gut, and nausea begins the slow ascent up my throat.
“You don’t mean…”
He nods once. “Jonathan Bridger had a connection to the place, Carly. He’s most likely the reason you were taken.”