by Willow Rose
I exhaled again, then decided to go with another lie. “Because I’m actually thinking about doing this event and I wanted you to maybe do it with me. Would you like to do that?”
I swallowed and looked at my mom expectantly, biting my lip. Was she buying this?
“Why…well…Why didn’t you just ask me that in the first place? You know I love arranging charity events. Why did you have to kidnap me and keep it a secret?”
I smiled and returned the folder to the back seat. “I guess I was scared you’d say no.”
“Why would I say no to helping children? It’s not like I have better things to do with my life these days. A project like this could be good for me and for us. And for the children, of course.”
“So, you’re in?” I said and rolled the window down, ready to press the button on the intercom.
She nodded. “Yes, I’m in. As long as you promise not to sneak attack me like this again, ever.”
I sent her a forced smile, then turned around and pressed the button, while a loud voice inside of my mind was screaming at me.
What are you doing???
Chapter 8
As I had expected, Kelly Stone’s house was beyond gorgeous. It was truly worthy of a Hollywood starlet. We walked up the stairs to the wooden double doors, where her assistant welcomed us. The house was directly on the beach, and as we walked inside the hallway, we were hit by the striking views from everywhere we turned. The Atlantic Ocean was glistening in the sun and looked very inviting through the Spanish arched window panes.
“Miss Stone will be right down,” her assistant said and showed us into a living room that was big enough to fit my entire house. It was beautifully decorated and obviously done by a professional in the light beach style. For a second, I felt a pinch of jealousy of the woman I believed could be my sister. I was never good at decorating, and my homes were always a mess with toys and laundry lingering in the corners. I would never be able to have a home like this.
“This is nice; don’t you think?” my mom said and took a quick glance around. “Very stylish.”
“Yeah, well, if you have money like that, it’s easy to live beautifully,” I said, sounding a little more annoyed than I was. I knew my mom didn’t approve of the way I lived, and she was constantly trying to clean up after all of us since she moved in, yet it still looked messy. This type of decor and house was more what she had been used to. It also meant I had grown up in a house where you were hardly allowed to touch the furniture. I had always promised myself that my children wouldn’t grow up in a home like that. But that also meant I had to live with the mess. I just wasn’t a very neat person. I never thought of it as being important. I preferred spending time with my children. Especially back when I was still in the FBI and used to work so much; I was barely home. Whenever I walked inside that house, my focus was fully on the children. There was no time to clean up or think about decorations. But I never could get my mom to understand that. She believed I was neglecting my family by working and not keeping the house.
“This is quite exciting,” my mom said with a slight shiver. “We’re going to meet a real movie star.”
She whispered the last word like it was a secret. I felt a knot grow in my stomach while wondering how on Earth this was ever going to end well. How was I going to react when I saw her? Would she know who we were just by looking at us?
“Hello there,” a voice chirped from the other end of the room. A beautiful woman in a light fluttering dress almost floated across the marble tiles toward us. I gaped at her, eyes wide open, stunned by her beauty as our eyes met, and I felt a pinch in my stomach. I didn’t know if she felt it too, but I sensed that she did feel something because her smile froze for just a second. Her eyes lingered on me, then on my mom, our mom, before she shook her head and put the starlet smile back on.
Back in character.
“Welcome, welcome, I am so sorry for keeping you waiting.”
She shook both of our hands, and we introduced ourselves. As Mom said hers, I wondered if this woman knew anything about us, or if she knew our names, but she didn’t seem to react when hearing them. It was only when our eyes met that I sensed she paused every now and then, like she was trying to remember something, yet couldn’t.
“Do sit down,” she said. “I’m from London, so I think it’s a little too hot to sit outside at this hour of the day. Can we just take the couch over there by the panorama window?”
We both nodded and smiled. I glanced at my mother as we sat down on the soft sofas with the massive pillows and thought I saw something in her eyes, but then it was gone.
“All right. What can I do for you ladies today?” Kelly Stone said and clapped her perfectly manicured hands. “My assistant said you have some charity event that you needed a sponsor for?”
Chapter 9
I stared at the woman in front of me as she spoke, telling us all about how big she believed the issue of kidnapped children was all over the world, while her expensive jewelry dangled from her wrists.
“It has always been very close to my heart, and not only the sex trafficking industry, but also the children who are kidnapped by a parent or close relative and taken far away. Many of them never see their families again. Those children grow up so neglected and always looking for that missing part of them. It’s truly a cause that needs focus as well.”
“And it’s terrible for the families left behind too,” my mother said, her voice cracking slightly. “To never see their children again and not knowing if they are dead or alive.”
Kelly Stone paused after Mom was done. She stared into her eyes, and I wondered for a second if she knew. But then she shook her head lightly and leaned back.
“Where are my manners? You have been here for several minutes, and I haven’t even offered you anything to drink. Where I grew up, that is highly impolite, and I must apologize. What can I get you? Coffee? Water? A glass of lemonade?”
My mom stared at her, her eyes following her every movement carefully like she was studying her. My pulse grew quicker.
“I’d love some lemonade,” I said. “And my mom would too. If it’s not too much trouble.”
Kelly Stone turned to look at me. “Not at all.”
Our eyes met again, and my heart was racing in my chest. There was no longer any doubt in my mind. This was her. This was Sydney. She looked very different than she had when we were children, and I suspected she had some work done on that face, but looking into her eyes, I knew it was definitely her. The realization filled me with so many emotions; it was hard to hold it back. I had been missing her for so many years, believing she was dead and gone, and here she was, doing awesomely for herself, perfectly alive and more beautiful than ever. I wanted to blurt it out, just tell her the real reason we were here, but I didn’t. I was too scared of losing her again, of her getting angry at us.
She called for her assistant and told her to bring us both some lemonade. Then she returned and sat down.
“This is nice,” she said with a light exhale. “Mother and daughter doing an event like this together.”
“Yeah, well, we’re sort of trying to reconnect after many years apart,” I said. “I just recently moved back here to the area.”
“That’s nice,” she said, smiling. “Do you have children?”
I nodded while it felt like my throat was swelling up. It was hard to swallow or even breathe.
“Three,” I said, my eyes growing wet. I was fighting my tears but losing. “Two girls and a boy.”
“How lovely,” Kelly Stone said. “I bet they’re excited to be close to their grandmother. Sounds like you have a nice family.”
“Yeah…well…we do our best, I guess.”
“It’s not always easy, is it? Families,” she said.
“It sure isn’t,” I said. “But it’s so worth it.”
Kelly Stone clenched a fist in front of her mouth and closed her eyes briefly, then gathered herself when the lemonade arrived. My mother gra
bbed her glass and emptied the entire drink in one gulp. I stared at her, startled. She usually never drank anything with sugar in it.
“Boy. I guess I was thirsty,” she said, looking surprised at the empty glass in her hand. “Gotta be careful not to dehydrate at my age.”
Kelly Stone’s eyes grew wet as she looked at our mom putting the glass back down, making sure it landed on a coaster she found.
“It sure is getting hot out,” Kelly said. “We all need to drink a lot to stay hydrated. Especially me who isn’t used to the Florida heat just yet.”
I sipped my lemonade as well, unsure of what to do or say next. I wanted us to stay as long as possible because I wanted to talk to my sister; I wanted to know everything about her now that I had finally found her, and I wanted her to know everything about me. But at the same time, I felt like I had to throw up. I was getting too emotional, and I wasn’t sure I could keep it at bay for very long.
“I…I think we…Could I use the bathroom?” I asked.
Kelly Stone smiled and nodded. “Of course. It’s right down the hall and to your left.”
I got up and rushed down the hallway, then found the door leading to the bathroom. I shut the door behind me, then slid down to the floor, my back leaned against it, finally letting the tears escape.
Chapter 10
As I returned, my mom had gotten a refill on her lemonade and was taking it slightly easier this time, taking smaller sips. I wondered if the two of them had even spoken a word while I was gone; they were so quiet when I got there. I knew from Google that Kelly Stone didn’t have any children, but still, I searched the place for pictures of anyone she might hold dear yet found none.
“Do you live here all alone?” I asked as I sat down.
Kelly shook her head. “My fiancée lives here too.”
So, she did have someone in her life. That made me relax a little. I didn’t like the thought of her being all alone.
“I’m getting used to him being here. I’ve always lived on my own. I was alone a lot when growing up,” she said, tearing up, yet hiding it very well behind a bright smile. “Didn’t have a big family or any…siblings. It was just me and my dad.” She sniffled, then looked first at our mom, then me. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. You must think I’m silly. I’m usually a very private person, and you have no interest in hearing all this about my…”
“Yes, we do,” I said, then regretted it. I looked down as I spoke. “I mean. We don’t mind at all. It’s nice to know there is a human behind the actress, if you know what I mean?”
Kelly nodded. “I got carried away. I apologize. You’re probably in a rush to get out of here and get back to the children. It is, after all, Saturday. Now, let’s get into the details of this event, shall we? How much do you need to make this happen?”
I don’t know where I got it all from, but I just threw out numbers. I had put together some imaginary plan before we left and showed it to her, not knowing if it looked remotely like anything plausible for a charity event. I didn’t even know if Kelly Stone was simply just humoring me, but she went along, and before we knew of it, she had promised to fund the entire thing, as long as we kept her identity a secret. She didn’t want it all over the media. That wasn’t why she was doing it.
We said our goodbyes and soon after my mom and I were back in the car, and I turned on the engine. My mom was completely quiet as we drove out of the driveway and the gate closed behind us. I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears and wondered what the heck I had done. What had I expected to get out of this today? I knew I wanted to see her for myself before I decided anything. I wanted to make sure it really was her. I guess I thought that, when I saw her, I would know, and I was right. I knew it was her, but I hadn’t thought this through enough. What would I do next? Did I have to put on this charity event? Did I come clean and tell her? How would she react if I did?
I rushed onto A1A and sped up toward Cocoa Beach, my mom sitting silently beside me.
Twenty minutes later, as I parked in my own driveway and killed the engine, she finally looked at me. Just as I was about to get out, she placed a hand on my arm. Tears were in her eyes as she looked at me.
“Thank you,” she said. “For involving me in this.”
“Mom…I…”
She nodded. “I know, sweetie. I know. You don’t have to say anything. I think we should all sleep on it and then decide how best to handle this.”
She exited the car and left me sitting back, baffled. What exactly did she mean? Did she know and just didn’t want to tell me? Or was she actually talking about the event?
There was no way of knowing with my mom.
Chapter 11
THEN:
On the night he returned after the shooting at the farmhouse, Gary Pierce held his baby a little tighter than usual. His wife Iris stood behind him as he held the small bundle in his arms, a tear escaping his eye.
Iris put a hand on his shoulder. She had a concerned look in her eyes. “Did something happen today?”
Gary swallowed and kissed her forehead. He didn’t want to tell her about it and have her worry.
“Just work, baby. Just work.”
He sighed and pulled his wife into the hug, then held his two beloved ones as tightly as possible while the fear and anxiety slowly faded away. Today had been a close one. Staring down the barrel of that assault rifle had almost made him lose it. He had been certain he would never see his son and wife again. It was amazing how many thoughts could rush through someone’s mind when staring death in the face. Most of his had been about Oliver and how he would miss out on all the important stuff in his life. He would never get to see him start to walk; he wouldn’t be there when he had his first day of school or when he graduated. He wouldn’t get to see what a handsome and smart young man Oliver would become and how he would constantly amaze him with his wits and how caring he was toward others. All those things, Gary dreaded he might miss. It was a constant fear that lingered inside of him every day when he went to work, not knowing what the day might bring.
And it had to be in Iris’s mind too when sending him off every morning with a kiss and a coffee in his hand. It had to be tough on her as well.
They had told Gary and Wilson that they were heroes, that they had saved a man from his kidnappers and saved his life, so he could get back to his son. The man had been kidnapped to pressure him for money that they believed he owed them. It was gang-related and wouldn’t have ended well for the man or the boy if Gary and Wilson hadn’t been there, they were told. There had been a lot of shoulder claps and high fives and kind words, but all Gary could think about was how close it had been. It was the first time in the line of duty that he had been so scared of dying, and it frightened him. He never used to be afraid of anything, especially not on the job. As an FBI agent, you couldn’t allow yourself to be afraid. Danger came with the job, and you knew that going in. It had never bothered him before. He barely thought about it. So, what had changed?
Gary stared at his wife and son, his heart pounding.
He had so much to lose now.
Iris stood on her tippy toes and kissed him, then stroked his cheek gently, while Oliver was fussing in Gary’s arms, probably getting hungry when smelling his mother’s presence. The child seemed so fragile in Gary’s arms; it seemed almost impossible that he would ever make it in this cruel world. Yet that was exactly why Gary did what he did. He truly believed he contributed to making the world a safer place for Oliver to grow up in by putting the bad guys away.
If they don’t get me first.
“I should take him,” Iris said when Oliver’s fussing grew to a squeaking that they both knew soon would be crying. After three weeks, they were slowly beginning to know the boy’s signals and figure out what he wanted. They usually tried feeding him first, then checked if he needed a clean diaper, and if that didn’t work, then he was probably just tired and needed to be put down for a nap. Still supporting his head, Gary handed th
e boy to his mother, who sat down and started nursing the boy. Oliver grunted, satisfied, as he ate, and his mother stroked him gently across his sparse hair while singing. Gary stared at the two of them, a huge knot growing in his throat, and realized this was the happiest moment of his life. There was nothing he wanted in life right now other than to be right there.
How did he get to be so lucky?
Chapter 12
“What do you think he wants from us?”
Ava spoke with a small hoarse voice that bounced off the walls of the small room. Carina lifted her head to look at her. They had all been thinking about it, but she was the first to say it out loud. When they first got there, they had screamed for hours on end and knocked on the sides of the room, hoping someone might hear them and come to their rescue. But soon they grew tired and could hardly keep their hopes up. It felt like they had been down there forever, and they began to wonder if it would ever end. Were they just going to die down here in this hole?
“You think he wants to rape us?” she continued.
The word made Tara sob loudly and hide her face, curling up on her mattress.
Again, Ava was only saying what they had all been thinking, yet hearing it made Carina very uneasy. She didn’t want to think about it, yet she did, constantly. She kept thinking it was only a matter of time.
“I watched this show recently on Netflix about these girls who were abducted and kept at this man’s house for eleven years.”
Carina closed her eyes to try and calm herself down. The thought was terrifying.
“He raped them, and they even gave birth to his babies. Eleven years,” Ava said, then paused. “I’ll be twenty-eight by then. All my youth will be gone, wasted.”
“Please, stop,” Tara said. “Just, stop.”
