Marina nodded. "There's more," Marina said. "Things that happened here, with Giles, and the man who died." She sat forward on the couch, hands clasped so hard in front of her that they went pale. "One of the other men in the group, his name was Stecher. He was a gun runner and that was useful to us, but he was working both sides. Something must have happened he had to prove himself for, because he handed my mother over to the military. My mother wasn't even involved," Marina said with a shake of her head. "She always wanted me to keep my head down and stay out of all of it. But Stecher turned her in and I never saw her again."
She took a steadying breath. "So me and this other guy, Deacon, we found out how to take this money Stecher had been stealing and we decided to take it and get out of the country. It was a lot of money. Me and Deacon, we went to Miami and he said he'd get rid of the money, try and give it back to groups that might actually help Haiti. And we split up and planned to never see each other again. Then," she added quickly, "I came here and I made a new life away from all that and it all went smooth for a long time. Then Stecher showed up, right there in the dressing room at the theatre, and he wanted the money and he said he had my mother, that she wasn't dead. So I went along with anything he wanted. Deacon was in London too - a coincidence - and Stecher wanted me to ruin him, and then he'd let my mum go. And so I did what Stecher wanted. I let him beat the shit out of me, let him rape me, and then I went to police and told them it was Deacon. He lost his wife over it, lost his family, but I couldn't go through with it. That was when he showed up at Giles place. I told him I couldn't trade Deacon's life for my mother's - I don't even know if he really had her, or if she died in Haiti. Stretcher tried to kill me and we struggled with the knife and I killed him."
Marina's hands hurt and she stopped squeezing them, frowning down at the carpet. "And that's it. That's everything I have. You already heard the rest."
Marina felt completely exhausted, but it was out now and she was glad to have told it as quickly as possible.
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She took a steadying breath. "So me and this other guy, Deacon, we found out how to take this money Stecher had been stealing and we decided to take it and get out of the country. It was a lot of money. Me and Deacon, we went to Miami and he said he'd get rid of the money, try and give it back to groups that might actually help Haiti. And we split up and planned to never see each other again. Then," she added quickly, "I came here and I made a new life away from all that and it all went smooth for a long time. Then Stecher showed up, right there in the dressing room at the theatre, and he wanted the money and he said he had my mother, that she wasn't dead. So I went along with anything he wanted. Deacon was in London too - a coincidence - and Stecher wanted me to ruin him, and then he'd let my mum go. And so I did what Stecher wanted. I let him beat the shit out of me, let him rape me, and then I went to police and told them it was Deacon. He lost his wife over it, lost his family, but I couldn't go through with it. That was when he showed up at Giles place. I told him I couldn't trade Deacon's life for my mother's - I don't even know if he really had her, or if she died in Haiti. Stretcher tried to kill me and we struggled with the knife and I killed him."
Marina's hands hurt and she stopped squeezing them, frowning down at the carpet. "And that's it. That's everything I have. You already heard the rest."
Marina felt completely exhausted, but it was out now and she was glad to have told it as quickly as possible.