Order of Truth

by Lisa Caviness

  “May I help you?” a dark-haired woman said, looking down at him from her perch.

  “I need to see Lila Caldwell.” Cody leaned over the tall reception desk. “She’s an attorney with Hirst, Talcott, and Painter. She’s in a meeting with Robert Gumfrey. It’s urgent.” He winced at the use of the word and flashed his Veridian badged hoping the gesture would speed up the process.

  She emitted a sigh then picked up her phone.

  Cody pushed off the counter, pacing as she had a brief conversation someone upstairs.

  “I’m sorry but Mr. Gumfrey is no longer in the building. If she had a meeting with him, then that meeting has concluded. There are currently no visitors in the executive suites.” She flashed a curt smile then returned her gaze to the computer screen.

  Cody stepped back and hit Lila’s speed dial button on his cell phone. When he got no answer, his skin prickled. Where was she?

  Once again, he approached the receptionist. “Did you see Lila Caldwell exit the offices?”

  She exhaled and glared at him. “Who?”

  He punched at his phone screen and held out a photo. “This woman. Did you see her leave?” He didn’t care that he’d raised his voice. He needed to find Lila. Now.

  The receptionist leaned closer. “Marcia escorted her out. I overheard them talking. I think Marcia was taking her to the parking garage.”

  “Can you ask Marcia?” As alarms sounded in his head he gripped the cool stone reception counter.

  Just as she picked up the phone, she glanced over as the elevator door swooshed open and a woman stepped out.

  “Oh, Marcia. This gentleman has a question for you.”

  The woman nodded and turned her attention to Cody. “Can I help you?”

  “Lila Caldwell had a meeting upstairs today. You escorted her out. Where did she go?” Cody swallowed then lifted his badge. “We’re friends. I work here and gave her a ride.”

  Marcia nodded. “She said her friend texted her to meet him at door 3G in the garage.”

  “Thanks.” Cody shot out of the lobby toward the parking structure. Why would Lila go into the garage? When he reached door 3G, he stopped. There were only a couple of vehicles in the area, all unoccupied as much as he could tell.

  “Lila!”

  His voice echoed off the concrete walls, returning to him with an eerie vibe. Every nerve fiber screamed a warning. He retraced his steps, then stopped when he spotted something on the ground. Bending, he picked up a purse and a visitor’s badge. His heart thundered as he flipped over the badge. He zeroed in on the visitor’s name. Lila Caldwell.

  They had her.

  In a matter of minutes, he’d lost his mother and the only woman he’d ever loved.

  Chapter 37

  With her eyes shut, Lila tried lifting her head, but her skull felt as if it weighed fifty pounds. Dragging her eyes open, she stared at the ceiling, a white blur. Blinking several times, she cleared her vision. Something appeared off. The ceiling vent was gone. Shaking her head, she remembered she’d been at the farmhouse. She shifted her gaze, searching for the nightlights. They were gone. Why would Cody remove them?

  Then her gaze fell on the bars to the side of her.

  She bolted up.

  Where am I?

  Scrambling to her feet, she grabbed the cold metal bars. The room beyond the bars resembled an office with several computers lining one wall and a large monitor in front of the cell. She didn’t see anyone, but she spotted the eye of a camera perched on the wall and aimed at the cell. How did she let this happen again? Memories flooded back. She’d been walking in the garage at Veridian when a van pulled up and a couple of men grabbed her. She still wore the clothes she’d worn to the meeting, but her shoes and purse were gone. Lance had to be behind this. Confusion shifted to anger.

  The compass necklace still hung around her neck. She pressed the pendant and prayed her friends would find a way to help. Although she had no idea what time it was or how long she had been here, she knew Cody wouldn’t stop until he found her.

  A whimper sounded behind her. She pivoted. A small mound in a corner of the cell shifted under a white blanket. Lila hurried to the source of the sound. The mound shifted, allowing her a glimpse at strands of white hair. Lila slid back the blanket and gasped.

  Willa.

  The old woman opened her eyes and met Lila’s gaze. A grimace appeared then she shook her head.

  “Willa, it’s me Lila. Are you hurt?” She helped her sit up, observing her for signs of distress.

  “I -I’m all right. I think.” She rubbed her head and blinked several times.

  “Are you sure?” Lila scanned the cell for water but spotted nothing.

  “Yes. They got you, too. Buggers came out of nowhere.” She leaned on Lila as she stood, smoothing down her blue sweatshirt. Willa’s shoes had been removed, as well.

  “Do you know where we are?” Lila’s head rang and the dizziness continued, but she hoped she could help Willa, if necessary. As soon as the thought surfaced, she wanted to laugh. She’d been unable to prevent her own kidnapping so how in the hell could she help Willa?

  “One minute I was making tea and the next two hooded men burst through my door. I’m surprised to be waking up.” She wobbled.

  Lila held on and led her to the back wall where she helped her sit. Then she returned to the bars, peering out to locate anything that would tell her where they were. She stalked the length of the cell, approximately six feet long, to get a better look at her surroundings from each point. Coming up empty, she pulled on the bars on the off chance they weren’t locked in. Nothing budged as expected.

  “Lila, sit. Save your strength.” Willa rested her head against the concrete wall.

  “Lance did this,” Lila said through gritted teeth.

  “He’s desperate, which makes him even more dangerous.” Willa coughed and braced a hand on her stomach. “But you are just as powerful as he is. You can rise above this.”

  Lila shook her head. “I don’t know. I want this to end, but I don’t know if my efforts will be enough.”

  “You know more than you give yourself credit for. Come here.” Willa held out her wrinkled hand.

  Lila released the bars and sat next to Willa. “Cody and the Alliance will come for me. I’m afraid people I care about will be hurt or worse.”

  “Remember what they did to you?” Willa took her hand and tapped. Her finger made a soft, rhythmic tapping along Lila’s hand. “They took away your childhood.”

  The concrete floor of the cell reminded her of the hard, steel table they’d placed her on. Leather straps had bound her limbs. She wanted to scream but a cloth had been slapped around her mouth. Salty tears escaped her eyes. Why? Had the simple fact she was April’s daughter been enough to warrant their behavior?

  Her body stiffened as she recalled the needle coming toward her. Over and over needles impaled her arm. The man, held at gunpoint, spoke to her with his brown eyes. He didn’t want to do this. She heard him say at one point, she’s only a child. But the man holding the gun urged along his actions. As they marked her with ink, she heard Vivian talking to the other men in the room, but she reached a point where her tears dried, and her young mind went to another place. She imagined a world where she had loving parents and maybe siblings and a dog. Where she didn’t live in fear. Where people wouldn’t jump out of the shadows and whisk her away. Did that world even exist?

  Now, Lila stared at the woman on the cell floor beside her. “You were there?”

  “I didn’t want to be. As the only nurse in the facility, I was compelled to be in attendance. By this time, Vivian’s mental capacity had sunk to a new low. I suspected she was delusional. I caught her on many occasions talking to her dead father and that black horse she was so devoted to.” Willa’s eyes pooled with unshed tears. “You were so small and confused. I wanted to scoop you up and take you away. I was afraid we’d both be killed if I acted.” Tears ran down her face. “Remember what they did
to you. Vivian was unhinged, but Lance is a psychopath.”

  “You said I was the key to finding the mine. How?”

  She ran a finger over the invisible tattoo they’d inked on her arm so many years ago. “I wish I knew.”

  Lila sighed. “Is all this really because my birth month and date equal seven? My great-grandfather didn’t know about my existence?”

  “Russell was no more of a deep thinker than my little toe, but he presented to his followers as if he had a pipeline into knowing the future. I don’t believe he had any foreknowledge of you. I was around when April came back shortly after you were born. When Vivian discovered your birthdate equaled the number seven, her psychosis took over and she proclaimed you were the one.” Her shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry my Edgar got mixed up in all this.”

  “How well did you know Vivian?” Although Lila had met her grandmother on a few occasions, she couldn’t say she knew her to any degree.

  “As much as anyone could know Vivian. When Edgar and I moved to Babylon Hall, your grandmother came to me. She was wild with fear because she was pregnant. Russell had already told her that for a woman to be a strong leader she was not to have children. He felt children weakened women, gave them an albatross. Vivian never told me who’d fathered her child, but it wasn’t too hard to figure out. I’d seen the way Vivian looked Harold Silva, one of your great-grandfather’s advisors. I believe they were truly in love.”

  Lila had never heard anything about her grandmother that made her human or resembling anything like a woman capable of love. The few times she’d seen her, Vivian had been vicious and controlling. “What did she want with you?”

  “She wanted me to help her conceal her pregnancy, deliver the baby when the time came, and then smuggle the baby out. A friend had agreed to take the child.”

  Willa continued to hold her hand. The connection warmed Lila’s heart. She prayed she’d be able to get Willa safely out of this cell and to her family. “Vivian took a big risk.”

  “Thankfully, Russell was so preoccupied with Order business that he didn’t suspect Vivian’s pregnancy. I have no doubt Russell would have had her killed and the child. When the time came, I delivered the baby in the tunnels of Babylon Hall. Vivian didn’t bond much with the child and wanted me to take the baby girl soon after. I felt sorry for both Vivian and her daughter.”

  “What about Harold? Did he know about the baby?”

  “Harold knew about the baby. To keep up appearances, he only saw the child for a few minutes before I delivered April to Vivian’s friend.” She quieted, appearing lost in thoughts of long ago. Then she straightened. “A couple of years later, Vivian returned with the same plan when she found herself pregnant again. This time the plan didn’t work so well. Russell found out about the pregnancy. He was livid. When he demanded to know who’d fathered the child, Vivian lied and told him a local boy. Russell forced a name out of her and had the innocent boy killed, then demanded that Vivian kill her baby upon its birth.”

  “I’m sad to say I’m not surprised. My uncle Reid was that baby and I can’t imagine life without him.” Lila said. The grisly facts about her family no longer stunned.

  “It just so happened that another woman on the grounds had recently had a stillborn. Vivian took her fetus, preserved the baby, and planned to use the body to show Russell she’d killed her baby when, in fact, she’d given the baby away. But the plan went awry, and Vivian’s baby ended up on the side of the road.”

  “Reid told me the story of his birth. He was deeply affected by the notion of being tossed away,” Lila said.

  “It’s a horrible way to enter the world.” Willa’s rheumy eyes filled with sadness. “I couldn’t help Vivian’s babies, but I thought in some small way I could help you. Such a precious thing you were.”

  Willa continued the light tapping on her arm, the motion somehow soothing.

  Yet, with each tap, Lila floated closer to the past. Morris Beak’s sneer materialized and. Lila saw Vivian standing over her like an impenetrable sentinel, then someone else appeared. She remembered the woman who enveloped her in a warm, delicate embrace, with the faint scent of cinnamon. Then a soothing singing voice blanketed her with a soothing song Lila had never heard before. As if she were inside a safe cocoon, Lila curled into the woman.

  Tearing herself back to the present, Lila stared at Willa with newfound deference. “I remember.” She glanced at Willa and whispered. “You were there. In the dark room with me. You sang to me and comforted me after they tattooed my arm.” Tears pooled in her eyes.

  “Yes, honey. It wasn’t much but I did what I could. By that time Edgar and I had a daughter of our own. I couldn’t be a good mother and allow you to suffer. I only wish I could have rescued you.” Willa held on to her arm.

  “Thank you. I pushed those memories away but now I remember. You helped me survive and you showed kindness I didn’t know existed.” Lila hugged her, clinging to the goodness inside the woman.

  When they separated, Willa said, “I want you to remember everything.”

  “Do you know something? If so, you need to tell me. Maybe it can help us get out of here.” Lila glanced around, relieved not to see anyone.

  “Edgar didn’t know Lance, but he knew Ivan. All I know is a few months before Ivan died, he changed his will.” Willa grimaced and rubbed her shoulder.

  “Garvin Jennings said Ivan wasn’t happy with the way Lance had been conducting himself and changed his will. Morris Beak also mentioned the will.” Lila moved Willa’s hand and took over the massage. “What if Ivan left everything to Carson? The mine would be hers. If we can get that will, she can assume ownership. If Lance gets that will, he will destroy it and take possession of the mine. We have to find that will.”

  Willa shook her head, her voice in a low whisper. “I agree. Find the mine and will as soon as possible. For your sake and everyone else’s.”

  Lila continued massaging Willa’s shoulder. “Thank you. You don’t know what your kindness means to me. I will do anything in my power to get you back to your daughter. I promise.”

  Willa caressed her face. “I believe you will. Don’t give in. No matter what. I’m an old woman. If I don’t make it, tell my daughter and my grandchildren I love them.”

  “We’re going to get out here. You deserve to be with your family. I will find a way.”

  “Be careful.” Willa placed a hand on top of Lila’s.

  Lila jumped up and inspected the perimeter of the cell. She didn’t spot any means of escape. Turning her attention outside of the cell, she approached the bars. Without a weapon, she’d have to rely on her brain.

  The clicking of footsteps on the concrete floor sounded outside the cell. Lila scrambled back to Willa, held on to her hand, and waited.

  Lance sauntered in, followed by two guards, and stood in front of the cell. “Hello, Lila. I’m sorry these accommodations aren’t what you’re accustomed to but if you cooperate, I will see that you are moved to more suitable quarters. I’m a busy man so I’ll get down to business. Where is the emerald mine?”

  “I don’t know. Now let Willa go.” Lila glared at the man with whom she shared a portion of DNA.

  Lance chuckled. “You always were bold. You’re in no position to make demands.” His expression darkened as he crossed his arms, drawing close the flaps of his gray designer suit jacket. “You need to learn your place. Your beloved Jack Struthers learned that lesson the hard way. Even though he was a partner in a law firm, he still had a place and it wasn’t to poke his nose into things he had no business.”

  Lila rose and approached the bars of the cell. “Jack was a decent man.” Swallowing, Lila gritted her teeth, doing everything she could to keep from crying.

  “A decent man who poked his nose into things he should have left alone.” Lance shrugged. “He had to be silenced.” Lance stalked closer. “You have witnessed my power, yet you still have no idea how ruthless I can be. You probably believe you’ve been making your own d
ecisions. That you got that fancy law firm job all on your own.” He grinned.

  Lila’s knuckles whitened as she clung to the bars. “You arranged for me to work at HTP? Why?” Lila refused to grant him the satisfaction of an outraged reaction, instead she remained calm—at least on the outside. Lance didn’t know she and the Alliance had done their due diligence. She’d focused her job search during her last year of law school on HTP with the understanding that Lance’s criminal attorneys had an affiliation with HTP.

  “Simple. I wanted you close, so I could manipulate your career.” He shrugged. “Until I was ready for my final revenge. My lawyers were from HTP and did a hell of a job securing my freedom. They’re in my pocket, one might say. In addition to performing any legal maneuvers and keeping an eye on my overzealous cousin, their sole job was to destroy the evidence. Obviously, they failed, and will be dealt with, but your precious Jack found it.” Lance pulled out his phone and stared at the screen. Not lifting his head, he said in a bored tone, “Your mentor needed to die.”

  “You killed Jack.” Her voice rose as she stared at man who exemplified true evil. The admission didn’t surprise her but hearing Lance’s confession stung.

  Lance stepped closer to the bars. “I’ve been watching you. Could have killed you myself a few times but I needed you alive. Once again, where is the emerald mine?”

  Lila shook her head. “I. Don’t. Know.” She held her breath as her arm containing the tattoo itched, as if her limb independently understood its role.

  He stepped back and nodded to a guard.

  Lila’s pulse raced, and her muscles twitched in anticipation of what would happen next.

  Seconds later, one guard opened the cell, and another rushed in and pulled Willa up. She protested but was no match for the man.

  Lila lunged toward the guard, but he aimed a gun her way. His glare inviting her to make him fire.