by Willow Rose
Ava looked at her, then bit her lip. “There are also those men who kidnap girls and then kill them when they get pregnant.”
“Please, just stop, will you?” Carina said. “Just stop talking about things like that.”
Ava stared at her, the chain around her neck clanking as she lifted her head. That was when Carina realized tears were streaming down Ava’s cheeks. The small lightbulb underneath the ceiling gave them just enough light to see their food and where to pee, but it wasn’t very bright.
“We need to encourage one another,” Carina said and placed a shaking hand on her arm. “So far, he hasn’t wanted to touch any of us, so maybe that’s not why we’re here.”
Tara sat up, the chain banging against the bar on the wall where it was attached.
“Of course, that’s why we’re here. Why else would you kidnap three young girls our age? He wants to rape us till we scream and then he’ll kill us. Don’t you understand?”
Carina did, and she also knew that the two others were probably right. But more than that, she knew that thinking about all the terrible things that might happen didn’t help them one iota. It only made them weak and paralyzed with fear, and that was exactly what this guy wanted them to be. She had seen it in his eyes when he pushed her down the hole. He wanted them to fear him, to know that he was in charge. He had that power trip in his eyes that she had seen once when her dad was harassed by a cop who had pulled them over. Ava’s dad was black and used to them treating him that way, and even them thinking Ava couldn’t be his since she had fair skin and didn’t look anything like him. But she was. Ava just looked more like her mother.
“Aren’t you scared at all?” Ava asked her.
“Yes, of course, I am,” Carina replied. “I’m just saying that right now we need to keep calm. Panicking will get us nowhere, okay? I want to make it out of here alive, and I think that if we stick together, then maybe we can outsmart this guy somehow.”
Tara stared at her, her mouth open. Her entire body was shaking, even though it was very hot in the small room, and the air was sparse. Carina suffered terribly from claustrophobia, and it took all her strength not to panic completely.
“But how?” Tara asked.
“I don’t know yet,” Carina said. “But I want you both to keep alert. He comes down here once a day, the way I figure it since he took our phones and watches. But I think it’s about once a day. We keep our eyes and ears open when he does, okay? It’s all we can do right now. And then—most importantly—we don’t panic.”
Chapter 13
The sun hit my face through my curtains on Sunday morning. I turned over in bed and put my arm around Matt. He had ended up going to the station after all and had worked late. He had come over right before I was about to turn in. I had stayed up an hour longer, talking with him in the living room, telling him about my meeting with my sister, before we started to kiss intensely and soon—after a couple of glasses of wine—were all over each other. We had ended up upstairs in my bed and then fallen asleep.
It slowly occurred to me what had happened, and that Matt was still here when I opened my eyes.
“Shoot,” I said.
Matt woke up with a broad smile on his lips. “Good morning to you, too.”
He leaned over to kiss me, but I pulled away.
“You’re still here,” I said.
He sat up and ruffled his hair. He didn’t look less cute in the morning; I had to admit. I stared at his abs. Chad had never had abs like that. Not that he was fat or anything; he wasn’t, but he wasn’t buff or even well trained like this. I suddenly became very aware of my own chubby thighs and a bulging tire of a stomach that still bore very visible marks of having given birth to three children.
“That I can’t argue against,” he said, grinning.
“No, no, you don’t understand. The kids,” I said. “They can’t know you’re here…that you spent the night.”
Matt exhaled and rubbed his head. “I’m sorry, but we fell asleep after…”
“Not so loud, they might be listening,” I said. “They can’t know.”
His eyes landed on me. “You really think they don’t know? We’ve been dating for six months, Eva Rae. I’m always around. I’ve just never been here all night.”
I looked at him, then covered myself up with the sheet. He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into a deep kiss. “I like waking up with you,” he said in a whisper. “I want to do it more.”
“What about Elijah?” I asked.
“What about him? He stayed with my mom last night.”
“But are you ready to tell him about us yet?” I asked.
He wrinkled his forehead. “What do you mean? He knows we’re dating. He likes you. I think he likes you better than me, to be honest. But I think that he likes anyone better than me these days.”
“But do you want him to know you spent the night here?” I asked. “I’m not sure I’m ready to tell my kids that we…that the two of us are…”
He chuckled. “Having sex. Just say it, Eva Rae. It won’t hurt you.”
“Shh,” I said. “My mom is in the house too. She might hear us.”
“So, now your mom can’t know either? How long do you plan on keeping this a secret?”
I swallowed. “I haven’t really thought about that. It’s just that my family is…well, old fashioned.”
“So, they don’t have sex?” he asked. “Your mom must have had sex at some point since she did give birth to both you and your sister.”
“Shh,” I said.
Matt laughed. “You can’t even say the word out loud, can you? Sex. Come on, say it. Sex, sex…”
I leaned over and placed my hand on his lips to make him stop. “I swear,” I said, laughing. “If you don’t stop, I’m gonna tape your mouth shut.”
His eyes were grinning at me, and he broke loose, holding both my wrists, fighting me off, pushing me down on the pillow. Then he stared into my eyes, and I felt myself blushing while staring at his lips, craving them, my body overwhelmed by such deep desire for him. Holding me still, he leaned over and kissed me deeply. My body grew soft, and I gave in to him once again.
Chapter 14
We told the kids – and my mom – that Matt had come over to take me out for a run. That was why he was here early in the morning on a Sunday. He did have his gym bag with his training clothes in the back of his police cruiser where he always kept it, so he could go to the gym after work. He brought it in, and we both got ready. Me mostly because I wanted to make this little white lie look plausible, even though I could tell my mother saw right through it. Still, she was polite enough not to say anything, only give me a look to make me feel shameful. I’m not sure Olivia bought it either, but Alex did and maybe Christine.
I didn’t care, I thought to myself as I got dressed for our run. I needed this little lie to remain for a while. Maybe it wasn’t as much for them as it was for me that I lied. I wasn’t sure I was ready to move on fully yet, at least not admit that I was. I wasn’t sure why, though. Chad was clearly having sex with Kimmie and had been for a year before we were even separated. I was just still trying to figure myself out, and somehow hiding the fact that Matt and I were…intimate…made it easier. It also made it less serious somehow, and I think I needed that.
“You ready?” Matt asked, doing jumping jacks in his sneakers on the kitchen floor. He looked like he could run a marathon without even getting out of breath.
I smiled awkwardly, remembering the last time I had gone out for a run right after I had just moved back. I had been sore for a week afterward, and my knees had been stiff. I used to love to run, but the extra weight made it a lot harder than when I was younger. I used to be the fastest on my team when just starting at FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. But that was before the last two children, and before life got so busy that I had no time to keep in shape. I had always thought it would be easy for me to get it back since I had always been in good shape when I was younger.
“I guess,” I said with a shrug.
I glanced at my mom, who was making her gluten-free pancakes for Alex. She had barely spoken to me after we went to see Sydney—or Kelly—the day before, and her eyes kept avoiding mine. I wondered what was going on inside of her.
But then again, I had wondered about that my entire life.
Matt and I left the house and ran down my street. By the time we had passed four houses, I was already panting heavily. The air was so moist it made it hard for me to breathe. I had forgotten how the Florida air was so tough to run in, especially when you weren’t used to it.
Matt, who was a few feet ahead of me, slowed down so I could catch up and we turned down Minutemen Causeway. I followed him, barely able to keep up with him.
“Come on, Eva Rae. You wanted this to seem legit, right?” he said with a grin, running backward in front of me so he could see me. The look on his face reminded me of when we were younger and would run races to compete at the school’s track. Back then, I had always been faster than him. Well, at least before we hit high school. After that, he got stronger and usually beat me, but only barely.
“You need to sweat to make it look like you were actually running.”
I stuck my tongue out at him, then pulled myself together and sped up. I ran past him, and he whistled, impressed.
“I see you’ve still got it.”
“Catch me if you can,” I said, speeding up, pushing myself so much my knees began to hurt.
Matt laughed behind me, then started to run faster, and soon we were racing down the sidewalk, past the high school, and continued toward the golf course at the end of the causeway. I managed to keep ahead of him almost all the way, right until we reached the beginning of the grass when he sped past me, and I had to stop. Panting, I threw myself in the grass, wheezing for breath, feeling lightheaded, and my heart pounding in my chest.
Matt came up to me, also panting. He sat down next to me. “Not bad, Eva Rae. For a girl.”
I chuckled, remembering he always used to say that to me when we were younger, and I hated that. When growing up, I had always gotten so angry when he said that, and he had known it and used it to provoke me.
“You try giving birth to three children, and then we’ll talk, all right?” I said.
That made him laugh. “Touché.”
He lay down next to me, and we stared at the clear blue sky for a few minutes while catching our breath, or at least I did. Matt was quickly ready for more, whereas I was done. My body was hurting all over and my cheeks so red they must have looked like they were about to explode.
“You want a rematch?” he asked after a few minutes.
“Not in a million years,” I said. “I want water, and then I want coffee and food.”
He laughed again, then stood to his feet. He reached out his hand toward me when I spotted a group of kids sitting behind a bush not far from us. Four children, not much older than Alex, were playing with something that made my heart freeze the moment I realized what it was.
“Oh, dear God.”
Matt’s eyebrows shot up. “What is it?”
I didn’t have time to explain. I rushed toward the children. The one holding the item hid it behind his back as soon as he saw me approaching. His lips started quivering when I spoke.
“Hey, you. Yes, you kid. What was that you were holding in your hand just now? Yes, I’m talking about the thing you’re trying to hide behind your back. Show it to me, please.”
The boy’s big brown eyes stared up at me. The three other kids looked at him, then up at me.
I reached out my hand. “Hand it over, please. You shouldn’t be playing with that. It’s dangerous.”
The boy swallowed, then finally reached his hand toward me and placed the syringe in my hand. Matt came up behind me and looked down at it.
“What the heck?”
“We were playing doctor,” the girl standing next to him said.
“This is no toy, kids. This can be very dangerous to play with. Where did you find this?” I asked.
The boy stared at me, then finally pointed.
“At the golf course?”
“We usually look for golf balls,” he said. “In those bushes over there at the end of the course.”
“Probably some addict who shot up out here,” Matt said.
I bit my lip and stared at the syringe in my hand. It was almost empty, and there was dried blood on the tip of it.
“When did you find it?” I asked.
“Two weeks ago,” he said and held out a small wooden box. “I kept it in this box. I keep all my treasures in this.”
“He also found a phone,” the girl next to him said.
The boy gave her an annoyed look.
“Show them, Evan. He’s the police.” She said the last part nodding toward Matt.
Evan sucked in air between his teeth, then opened his treasure box and pulled out a phone. With shaking hands, he handed it to Matt, who took it and looked at it, turning it in the light. As his glare fell on the back of it, his eyes went dark. He looked at me, then leaned over and whispered:
“I think it’s Carina Martin’s. Her mom described a case looking very much like this with the flowers across it.”
I stared at him, then looked down at the syringe.
“I think we need to get both of these items to the station and have them sent to the lab. You’ll probably need a team out here to go through those bushes over there and have this boy show you exactly where he found them. I have a feeling these are more breadcrumbs to your case.”
Chapter 15
I left Matt to do his work and ran home as soon as I had turned the syringe over to the crime scene techs when they arrived.
My kids were done eating breakfast and had returned to their rooms as I entered, except Alex, who was sitting in the living room playing with his firetruck. He barely noticed that I returned and was deep into what he was playing.
“Where on Earth have you been?” my mom said as I walked into the kitchen. “You’ve been gone for an hour and a half. And don’t tell me you went running for all this time.”
I looked at Alex to make sure he wouldn’t hear, then approached my mom. “Matt and I stumbled across what we believe might be evidence in his case.”
My mom’s eyes grew wide. “In the disappearance of those girls from the high school?”
I nodded and grabbed a gluten-free pancake that had been left on the counter. It tasted awful, but I ate it anyway, pouring loads of syrup on it. I watched my mom as her eyes grew weary.
“Awful story that one,” she said. “Those poor parents.”
“Now, we still don’t know if they were taken or if they have just run away,” I said, pouring more syrup on top of my pancake. “They did find a message for Ava on Instagram from a photographer who wanted to make her a model, but the parents told her she wasn’t allowed to meet with him. The message was a couple of months old. The police are working the theory that all three of them might have just gone somewhere. Matt told me this last night, but it’s not something you can tell anyone since it’s a very loose theory.”
“Eva Rae,” my mom said.
I looked at her. “What?”
She nodded toward my plate. I had gone a little overboard on the syrup. “Are you really going to eat that?”
“Of course, I’m going to eat that,” I said, pretending like I couldn’t see what she meant.
“That is pure sugar, Eva Rae. It’s not…good for you. Honestly, you eat like you’re a child these days.”
I sighed, then cut my pancake. “At least I went running this morning. I burned off some of all those calories already.”
She gave me a look, and I sent her one back to make her get off my back. I had enough guilt nagging me as it was over my weight; I didn’t need her looks or words to knock me out.
“Suit yourself,” she said, then left the kitchen. I took another bite of my pancake, then pushed the plate away, realizing it
really didn’t taste that good with all that syrup on it. I threw the rest out, then planned to go upstairs to take a shower when something stopped me. As I was about to walk up the first step, I accidentally looked out the window through a crack in the pulled curtains facing my backyard, and that was when I saw it.
I am not lying when saying, my heart literally stopped.
Chapter 16
Boomer looked at the woman through his binoculars. He was keeping his distance; he was no fool wanting to be caught, but he just had to be there when she found it. He just had to see her face when she spotted his work of art.
He watched her run into the yard, screaming loudly. Eva Rae Thomas approached the girl, then pulled the chains, trying to get her loose, but had no luck. Neighbors in the yards across from her canal soon heard the screams and came out to look. Some were pointing toward her, others clasping their mouths in shock. Meanwhile, the screams continued, and it was like a sweet song in Boomer’s ears. The chill went straight into his bones and stayed there.
“Someone, call 911!!” The woman screamed. “NOW!”
Several of the neighbors did. Some were yelling; others just stood there, paralyzed in fear.
Boomer took one last glance in the binoculars at her strained face as she fought to get the girl loose, pulling helplessly at the chains, before he realized it was time for him to leave. His presence would end up being noticed if he stayed longer, even if he kept his distance.
Boomer turned the small boat around and chugged away, taking it slowly, holding his fishing pole up to make sure no one would find him to be out of place. As he reached the end of the canal, he took a left, then continued down into the intracoastal waters, where the mangroves would be his cover. In the distance, he heard the sound of blasting sirens. Boomer grinned and took in a deep satisfied breath as a flock of pelicans swooshed by above his head.
Chapter 17
