by Willow Rose
I forced a smile, then took the note. “We’ll keep it in mind. Thanks, Ryan.”
Chapter 15
“Get up!”
A boot hit Olivia in the stomach, and she cried out in pain. Above her lingered a face. A man. She gasped and sat up, covering herself with the thin sheet she was sleeping with.
The man smiled creepily at her, then nodded toward the door.
“You’re leaving. Now!”
All six girls stood to their feet and walked outside. It was the middle of the night, but still so hot she could barely breathe. Cicadas sang in the darkness while a dog barked somewhere nearby. She couldn’t remember when they had last given her a shower, and she felt clammy and stinky all over. A girl walking next to her whimpered in fear. Olivia put her arm around her shoulder, but a guard saw it and slapped her over the head.
“Keep moving!”
They were taken to a truck and told to get in. A girl from another room fell to her knees and cried. Two guards rushed to her and started beating her up. Punches and kicks landed on her small body, and she couldn’t get up. The other girls stared, unable to react out of fear of being next. Olivia saw it, then ran to the girl and grabbed her arm. She helped her get up from the ground. A guard pulled Olivia by the hair forcefully. Olivia screamed and was pushed away from the girl. Meanwhile, the girl had gotten to her feet and was now on her way into the back of the truck. Olivia stopped at the edge of the truck, then looked at the guard.
This is not the usual truck that takes us to the chicken factory. What’s going on?
“Where are you taking us?”
The guard grinned, then pointed his rifle at her.
“Ask me again and feel the answer.”
Olivia stared into the barrel of the rifle, her heart thumping in her chest.
“I didn’t think so,” the guard said, then nodded toward the back of the truck. “Now, get a move on. We don’t have all day.”
Olivia pulled herself up, and soon after the back was closed, and the truck took off. She felt how her hands were shaking and tried to hold them still but couldn’t. Many of the other girls had told stories of being shipped from place to place and being raped over and over again. Was that what was going to happen now? Were they being shipped somewhere else? Would there be big sweaty men waiting for them, ready to rape them?
Please, God, no.
Olivia closed her eyes; then she felt something touch her hand. She opened them again and saw the girl from earlier. She could be no more than eleven or twelve years old. Definitely Hispanic. Her big brown eyes stared at Olivia, and she spoke to her in Spanish, but Olivia didn’t understand. She just smiled comfortingly at her, then tried to control the deep panic roaming inside of her. That was when her eyes fell on something inside the truck with them, leaning up against the back wall, and her heart dropped.
Chapter 16
THEN
“It’s like a secret sorority,” Angela said excitedly as they walked up the stairs. She was gesticulating wildly as she spoke yet was almost whispering like it was some big secret. “We help each other out. You’re gonna love it; just wait and see.”
It had been a week since their last meeting at the restaurant where Angela had explained to Helen that she knew exactly what would help her get out of her depression and find purpose in her life again. She had told her she needed to meet with a group of friends that Angela knew, all consisting of famous actresses, billionaire heiresses like Helen, businesswomen, CEOs, and filmmakers. All had felt the same emptiness and lack of purpose in life, just like her.
As she entered the beautiful old house, a group of women turned their heads and looked at her. At first, Helen felt uneasy because of all the stares, and she wasn’t sure she belonged there, but seconds later, they all greeted her warmly with handshakes, smiles, and some even with hugs. Someone handed her a cup of herbal tea, and they all sat on yoga mats in a circle, drinking tea, and soon after they were doing yoga, following Angela’s instruction. Helen had always loved doing yoga, and it made them all relax in each other’s company.
When they were done, she received another cup of herbal tea, and they sat on the floor, all sweaty and dressed in relaxed yoga outfits while laughing and telling harrowing stories about men and dating.
“Who needs men anyway?” a woman called Laura said. She was an heiress to a well-known cosmetic emporium.
That made them laugh, even Helen, who couldn’t remember having laughed like that in months.
“So, how do you do it?” Helen asked. “How do you live without men?”
Laura smiled at her. “If you want to, we can teach you. It’s called enlightenment.”
“I want to learn,” she said. “I don’t want to be dependent on a man in my life. I want freedom and to be independent. Like you all are.”
That made the others smile. They chuckled and nodded.
“Then, you’ve come to the right place,” Laura said and rose to her feet. She went to her purse and pulled out a small book that she handed to Helen.
“Here. Read this. This is the first step. See if you like what this author writes. It’s about finding your way to greater fulfillment. He’s really good.”
Helen looked at the book, then at the author’s name. Christopher Daniels. From his picture, he stared back at her with deep blue eyes. She couldn’t explain how, but he somehow made her feel better already. At least she felt like she was finally doing something to better her life, and the company of these women seemed like just what she needed right now.
“Thanks,” she said and took the book.
Angela placed a hand on her shoulder. “That book saved my life,” she said. “And now it will do the same for you.”
Helen nodded, tearing up. “I can’t thank you enough. All of you.”
“It’s gonna be quite the journey,” Angela said, “but soon you’ll be one of us, and then there’ll be no more sad days. Ever.”
Chapter 17
Detective Carter was a short, bald man who had sweaty patches underneath his armpits in his white shirt that was tucked inside of his black pants. Matt had only been with him for a few hours, but it was enough to know he was also a very stubborn man who didn’t exactly want Matt there.
They were going through the case files together in Carter’s office at Miami-Dade Police Department, and Matt was showing him what he had brought down with him, the case of the attack of the spa owner from Rockledge.
Carter had four other files to match it, all with the same MO. And he had the personnel file from the FBI.
“So far, she’s wanted for fraud, theft, battery, and assault,” he said. “But I assume you know that. It’s the same charges you brought.”
Matt looked at the small, sweaty man as he spoke. He sensed that he probably wasn’t going to get very far by trying to defend Eva Rae. To this guy, a criminal was a criminal, no matter the motive.
Carter found a map and showed it to Matt. “These are the four places she has hit within our county. Now, the last place was in a strip-mall, the Harper Shop Malls, where we have this surveillance photo from a nearby ATM.” He pulled out a photo and placed it in front of Matt.
“As you can see, Agent Thomas is clearly in the passenger seat of the mini-van. This fits well with our theory that she is not working alone. We just don’t know who she’s working with. We also assume that this person is the one paying for the party since Agent Thomas hasn’t used her credit card in three months. There have been no transactions made or any withdrawals, but she must pay for lodging somewhere, right?”
Matt nodded. “Unless she stays with people she knows. She might have friends down here that we don’t know about.”
“True, but she needs to eat too, and she has made her way down south somehow, getting new cars on her way. Now, we know that the minivan they ditched after the last hit was registered to an address in Jupiter, and the owner says it was stolen, but as we looked into his finances, it turns out there was a deposit of twenty-thousand dollar
s in cash about a week before we found it. We suspect Miss Thomas and her accomplice bought it and told the owner to say it was stolen if we showed up, but we have no evidence to back that up.”
Clever, Matt thought to himself, slightly impressed, but also concerned. Eva Rae knew all about how the police worked and could stay under the radar for a very long time, but what would happen once they finally caught up to her? Would she come out of it alive?
“We have eyes on her house and her kids in case she decides to come back to Cocoa Beach,” Matt said. “She left her phone at the house, and as you said, her credit cards haven’t been used. There’s been no sight of her in Cocoa Beach or anywhere near it since she left.”
“Dang it,” Carter said. “I’d expect a woman like her to at least check in now and then on the kids.”
“She probably knows it’s too much of a risk. How did the owner of the car explain the money in his bank account?” Matt asked. “When you asked about it?”
Carter shook his head. “He gave us some story about selling a boat long ago and then not getting the money until now. He had no proof of ever owning a boat.”
“So, where do you believe our suspect is now?” Matt asked. It felt weird talking about the woman he loved as a suspect, but he had to keep a professional distance. Carter couldn’t know he was emotionally involved with her, or they would ask for someone else from his department to assist them. Matt wanted to be there; he needed to be on the front line of this investigation.
Or else he feared for the worst.
“We don’t know,” he said. “The car was found ditched here.”
Carter pointed at the map south of Leisure City limits.
Matt looked up. “Could she have left town? Gone south?”
Carter smacked his lips, then nodded. “It’s definitely a possibility. I say we push out her description and have it circulated in the police departments all over south Florida, even the airports and security and customs as well. In case she tries to get out of here. Meanwhile, I say we try and find out who is helping her. If we can locate that person, we might be able to find them by credit card transactions.”
Matt nodded, biting his lip. He had a strong feeling he knew exactly who was with her, but he didn’t dare tell Detective Carter. He wanted to find Eva Rae on his own and then maybe persuade her to come home with him. She would have to take responsibility for her actions, but both Matt and Eva Rae knew Greg, the DA in their home county, and maybe he would let her off easy if both Matt and Chief Annie testified on her behalf. No matter what, her chances were a lot better up north in her home county than down here. And right now, that was all that mattered… making sure her children still had a mother once this was all over.
Chapter 18
“Dang it. It’s not there.”
I leaned back in the chair. I was sitting in the hotel room and had been on my computer all day, while Sydney waited patiently on the bed, reading. She put the book down and gave me a look.
“What are you searching for?”
“The clip. I went through all the files on the attack to see if I could find the surveillance clip somewhere, but I can’t find it. I can find tons of other ones, but not the one with my daughter on it. But then again, there are a lot of files, and it’s going to take me days to go through it all.”
“Is it safe to log into the FBI while on the run from the police?” she asked.
I sighed. It wasn’t. If they knew I had been on, they could trace me, but I also knew the FBI wasn’t looking for me. I had crossed no state lines. I hadn’t given them a reason to take over the investigation. The local police were the ones who had it in for me.
“I don’t know. But I had to check, you know? I called the TV station this morning, but they said they had shown so many clips, so if I couldn’t tell them exactly which one I was looking for, they couldn’t help me. I knew the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force would be handling the gas attack since it’s considered an act of terrorism. I figured they had more footage in their database. Maybe there’d be one with Olivia in it.”
“So, what are they saying about it? Who’s behind it?” Sydney asked and approached me.
“They don’t know yet, but they think ISIS is all over it. They think there was a reason the gas was released at Civic Center while the train went on for two more stops and ended at Government Center. The latter services all the government buildings, the judges, state attorney’s office, courthouses, etc. They think they were trying to target people working there. Surviving witnesses say there were bags onboard the train and it is believed that the terrorists were on board the train themselves and then poked a hole in the bags with the liquid nerve gas before getting off, leaving the gas behind to poison the remaining passengers, letting them die a slow and painful death. It makes me sick.”
“But can’t they just find them from CCTV cameras?” Sydney asked.
I shrugged. “How do you recognize who is a terrorist in a crowd? They’ve talked to many of the passengers, but there were several hundreds of them on board that train. Right now, they’re going through the CCTV footage from the Civic Center station, where they assume the terrorists left the train, but finding each and every passenger will take months, maybe even years.”
Sydney placed her hand on my shoulder. “Maybe it wasn’t Olivia that you saw after all,” she said and sat down in a chair next to me. She grabbed my hands in hers and held them tight. I still couldn’t believe I had actually found my sister after thirty-six years. It felt so unreal. Yet I couldn’t fully enjoy it. Not when my daughter was out there somewhere, lost, and I felt such anger toward my sister for bringing Piatkowski into our lives. I knew she felt it too. She saw it in my eyes, and she let go of my hands.
“It was her,” I said, not entirely convinced. I had, after all, just thought I saw Olivia on the street the night before, feeling almost as convinced. Was I just fooling myself?
“Think about it,” she said. “Your mind might be playing tricks on you, making you see what you want to see.”
I turned away from her. “It was her. I know it was. No one has asked you to be here. If you don’t like it, then you’re free to leave. I sure don’t need you here.”
I stared at my screen, sensing Sydney’s hurt from across the room. She sighed and rose to her feet, then went into the bathroom and shut the door. I closed my eyes for a second, wondering if I had taken it too far. The fact was, I needed her with me through this, but I couldn’t get myself to say that.
Chapter 19
I couldn’t stop thinking about that symbol that Ryan talked about. I felt like I had seen it before but couldn’t put my finger on where. I stared at the note where Ryan had drawn the symbol, then tried to figure out what it could be. It looked strange, and I wasn’t quite sure what was up and what was down. Could it be some sort of Chinese symbol? Or a Greek letter?
I searched for it on the computer. I didn’t even hear the door to the bathroom as it opened, and Sydney came out. I was so immersed in my research that I didn’t even notice she was packing her bag either. It wasn’t until I had gone through all the Greek letters and had submerged myself into the Chinese alphabet that I realized I was all alone. The door slamming shut behind Sydney had caught my attention, but it was too late.
Darn it!
I stared at the closed door, then noticed that all of Sydney’s things were gone. My heart dropped. What was I doing?
I thought about getting up and running after her, but for some reason, I didn’t. I felt like I was paralyzed. Did she want me to come after her? Or was it too late already? Had I ruined it?
I can’t deal with this right now.
I turned to look at my screen again, then continued to go through the Chinese letters, but my brain wouldn’t focus. I kept thinking about my sister. As I reached the end of the first row of letters, I stood to my feet, then ran out into the hallway. I took the elevator down, my heart thumping in my chest, then ran into the lobby. But I was too late. As I came outside, I
saw her ride away in a taxi, and seconds later, she was gone.
Shoot.
I stomped my foot and cursed, then realized there was a woman standing next to me, staring at me, eyes wide.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “She left with my phone in her purse, and now I can’t call her and tell her to bring it back.”
“That’s awful,” the woman said.
“Sure is,” I said, then hurried inside again and passed the bar that had a TV running. I had almost passed it when I stopped and walked back. On the screen above the bar, I saw my own face looking back at me. They had used an old photo from my days at the FBI. Underneath was written one word:
WANTED.
“Oh, Lord,” I mumbled, then looked around to see if anyone had seen it. Luckily, the bar was almost empty. I bowed my head and rushed back into the elevator, then pressed the button to take me to the fifth floor. I hurried back into my hotel room and slid down on the carpet behind the door, keycard still in my hand, tears rolling down my cheeks. There was no way I could continue my search now. Not with my face plastered all over the screens in this town. I looked up toward the ceiling.
“What do you want me to do now, God? How am I supposed to find Olivia now?”
And that was when I remembered. In that very second, it popped into my head where I had seen the symbol before. I rose to my feet and hurried to the computer, then ran a search. A second later, the symbol came up on my screen, and my heart started to throb in my chest.
Chapter 20
It was the first time since his momma died that Jason wanted to go to church again. At only eleven years old, the boy had lost all his faith in God and His goodness. Jason’s Aunt Judi, who never missed Sunday Mass, had asked him every week if he cared to go. And finally, this Sunday morning, he had said yes.
