Diaz could only nod. Her heart was racing so fast; she thought her chest might explode. They slowly made their way out of the room, the man leading the way. Diaz looked around and saw a man on the couch, snoring loudly. She couldn’t believe they were in a basement. The man signaled her to be careful, pointing towards the steps. They slowly made their way up, and the door opened with a loud creak. They stopped and listened. Thankfully, they could still hear the snores.
The man helped Diaz get out and lead her towards a street. “It is better for us to use a main street. There is a bus stop a few miles away. We have to get there fast and hopefully get the last bus. Once we are a reasonable distance away, you can head wherever you want to go. I don’t have a phone with me; they take it away during work hours.”
Diaz nodded. She couldn’t believe she was out of that hell hole. She was free! Just a few minutes, and she would be free and make it to safety. As if hearing her thoughts, the man continued, “you can’t go home. That is the first place they would go to look. Head to a friend’s place. Police station might also not be a good idea, because these people have connections there.”
They kept on moving as he spoke.
“What will happen to you?” she asked him.
“I am going to leave town. Go as far as possible. These people are dangerous. They know things about people and use that to make them do things they don’t want to do.” he gulped. They were making their way towards another street when they heard footsteps behind them.
“Shit!” the man turned around. “Just keep walking. Hurry!”
Diaz quickened her pace. She could hear the footsteps getting louder. “Keep walking straight, when you see a grocery store, turn left. You will see the bus stop. Hide until you see the bus coming.” The man instructed her. He kept looking back.
“Why are you doing this?” Diaz had a sinking feeling in her stomach.
“They are closing in. I am going to buy you some time.”
“What! No! You have to escape with me. God knows what they would do to you…”
“Don’t worry about me; I have a plan. Just keep going. Stay hidden.”
“Oiii!!” they heard a shout behind them. They both turned and saw a man pointing at them. “I see them!” he shouted.
“Run!!!” Diaz ran without looking back. She could hear shouts from the man and the people racing after them. They were gaining on them. She made an abrupt turn and kept going. She heard someone fall behind her. She turned and saw her rescuer lying on the ground. She hesitated. “Run!!” he shouted at her. She heard the other man approaching, Diaz turned and raced off. She tried to shut out the sound of the gunshots. Her heart sank. She still kept going deeper and deeper into the streets. She had no idea where she was going. Her head was getting dizzy. She stopped and tried to listen. There were no sounds. She was alone and had no idea where she was. She sunk to the floor, her back against the wall and shut her eyes. A distant sound alerted her. What was that? It sounded like a car. Maybe she was near the bus stop!
She raced towards the end of the street, and sure enough, she could see the bus was stopping there. It was mostly empty. She reached the door just when the doors shut. Panicked, she started banging the door, and the driver opened it for her.
“Go! Quickly! Please, they are coming for me!”
“What?” the driver looked at her perplexed.
“Just drive!!” she shouted, and the driver started the bus again.
She dropped on the nearest seat and took a deep breath. She was safe. She was free. The bus stopped after a few stops. The driver looked at her nervously. “Are you okay, miss?”
“Why are we stopping?”
“This is the last stop… but I can drop you off where you want me to…” He could tell something was wrong and that the woman was running away from someone. “There is a police station nearby…”
“No!” She had no idea where to go; she didn’t know who to trust. Suddenly, she realized there was one person she could go to. She told the driver the address. “That’s quite a distance, miss.”
“Please! Please help me. I will repay you. I promise. Just help me.” The driver hesitated but then started driving.
Soon enough, she was standing in front of a building. With the last ounce of strength she had left, she climbed the stairs and found the right apartment. She knocked loudly and kept on knocking.
“Who the hell is this at this time of night!” she heard someone yell. The door flew open, and there was complete silence.
Diaz spoke up, “There… there is a … bus driver … downstairs … need to pay him.”
Sanjay stood at his door in shock. He had thought Diaz was probably dead, and there she was standing in front of him, “What…” he started to speak, but watched in horror as Diaz fainted right in front of him.
Chapter 8: Unexpected Helper
Tanya raced through the hospital entrance and headed straight to the nurse standing behind a counter to inquire about Nicole Diaz. She had received a frantic call from Sanjay less than an hour ago, waking her up from her sleep. He informed her that Nicole suddenly appeared at his doorstep. Where the hell had she been? And other such questions were drowned by Sanjay impatiently telling her that Diaz had fainted, and he was on his way to the hospital. Before she could ask him which hospital, he had hung up on her. Frustrated, she had tried calling him back but received no answer. Tanya had quickly changed her clothes, grabbed her keys, and was on her way to the hospital closest to Sanjay’s place.
The nurse at the counter told her that there was a patient named Nicole Diaz admitted at the hospital, but she was currently under treatment. Tanya sighed and thanked the nurse. She grabbed a cup of coffee from the coffee machine she saw near the entrance and took a seat in the waiting area. Tanya tried calling Sanjay again, but he still didn’t pick up. She sent him a text that she was in the waiting area at the hospital.
The sip of coffee was like a warm embrace for her. It felt like she had been running around for months now without a moments’ break. Between trying to help Aria, and Whitney Fox breathing down her neck at work, she had been completely exhausted. She felt even more tired after waking up from a few hours of sleep. Stress! Her doctor had told her and asked her to get more sleep and do some breathing exercises to calm herself down. Who even has the time to do that! She thought to herself. She needed some sleeping pills that her doctor refused to give her, stating she doesn’t need them and that she should instead try to reduce her stress. Easier said than done, she sighed. She took another sip of coffee. The hot liquid burned her tongue, but she still welcomed it. At least, coffee could still do its magic on her. She checked her phone and sipped some more coffee.
“Tanya! What are you doing here?” Tanya saw Sanjay walking towards her with an impatient look.
“What do you mean! You told me Diaz had turned up and that you were taking her to the hospital, and that’s it! Of course, I had to come! You weren’t taking my calls. You told me nothing! I was worried about her!”
“Yeah! I am sorry. It was just crazy. I had to notify the police and fill out forms here and whatnot. But, look… I am sorry. I know I shouldn’t have hung up without telling you where I was taking her. I was shocked when she suddenly turned up. She is weak but seems fine, considering. They didn’t feed her much… just enough to keep her alive. The doctor just told me. They are going to keep her here for a week or so probably.”
“Did she … did she manage to tell you where she has been?”
Sanjay shook her head. “I have no idea where she was. She just told me a bus driving was waiting downstairs who needed to be paid, and then she fainted. I called the ambulance immediately. The driver informed me she got on the bus and shouted at him to keep driving. He said she seemed scared and was clearly running from someone. Fortunately, he agreed to drop her off outside my apartment, which was completely out of the way from the last bus stop.”
“I am glad she is okay. Thank God for the bus driver. I can’t even imagi
ne what she must have gone through and from what she was running from.”
“I am guessing she somehow found a way to escape … someone might have helped her. I wonder what happened. Well… for now, we have to wait for her to regain consciousness. I can question her then and find out what happened.”
Tanya finished her coffee, and continued, “Did you find out anything about those bank statements? Can they be helpful in Aria’s case?”
Sanjay hesitated, “I … well yeah. There are eight accounts in total that Coons was transferring money to. I am trying to get my hands on past bank statements to see if there is a pattern. I can then try to find out whose accounts they are. It might lead us somewhere… but of course, those accounts could be under fake names. These people are smart. They are not going to make such an easy mistake.”
Tanya nodded, “Now that Diaz is back. We can get more information, right? From her contacts? Maybe they found out about Aria’s stalker or managed to retrieve the emails Coons sent Aria. We just might be able to find some strong evidence to get Aria out.”
Sanjay sighed, “Don’t get your hopes up… not just yet. We don’t know if we would be able to find anything. Remember, the people we are up against are always a step ahead. We have to be careful. I have also requested armed guards be placed outside Diaz’s door. They probably know by now that Diaz has escaped. They might try to harm her, especially if she heard or saw something that might give them away.”
Tanya nodded and jumped up suddenly when she looked at the time on the wall clock. “Crap! I have to go to work. I completely lost track of time… Listen, call me when she is up? I will visit again after work.”
“Sure… and Tanya … don’t say anything to Clark … at least for now. We are keeping things quiet for the time being. We don’t want to draw attention to her.”
Tanya hesitated. She looked as she was about to argue but then decided against it. She nodded and raced out of the entrance.
Sanjay watched her leave and sighed. At least he knew she was clean. James had called last night to tell him about Tanya. There wasn’t much to investigate from what James had informed him; that’s why it was so quick to do the background check on her. She lost her father when she was young, and her mother raised her. Tanya had graduated from college, worked a few odd jobs to pay for school. Her mother then passed away from cancer, and since then, she had been on her own, supporting herself to get a degree and finally her current job. She had been there for several years now. Sanjay was relieved to hear that Tanya wasn’t hiding anything. James told him it might take a bit longer to look at Clark, but assured him that it doesn’t mean there was anything wrong.
Sanjay, on the other hand, wanted to play it safe. He decided to stay careful around him until he was sure Clark was clean too. His thoughts were interrupted by a doctor.
“You can talk to her now, but please don’t stress her out. She needs to rest because she is frail right now. Try not to take too long.”
Sanjay nodded and entered the room. Diaz was lying in bed with IV’s inserted in both her hands. She looked weak, unlike how he had been used to seeing her. Sanjay felt slightly guilty disturbing her, but he knew it was always better getting the statement from the victims as soon as possible; otherwise, they start forgetting things or their brain tries to block certain events to save them from the trauma they have been through.
“Hey! How are you doing?” asked Sanjay, standing next to the bed.
Diaz gave him a small smile.
“I will try not to take much of your time. I know you need to rest right now, but it is best that you tell me everything you can while it is still fresh in your memory. It will help us in getting to the bottom of all this mess.”
Diaz nodded and, with a lot of effort, started narrating how she was kidnapped from her apartment and taken to a small dark room. Sanjay winced as she told him she woke up to find one of her hands and her legs tied up. She told him how she got one or two meals a day through a flap in the door and that there were water bottles placed near her, as well as a bucket to relieve herself.
Sanjay noted everything down quietly. He knew it was taking all her energy to share this with him. Interrupting her will only make it more difficult for her. However, when she told him that a masked man came inside the room, he looked up.
“Masked man? Did he do anything to you?”
Diaz shook her head. “He said he … that he was going to… try and save me.”
“And you escaped with his help?”
She nodded. “But… after a few days… maybe it was weeks… I don’t know. I lost track of time in there,” she gulped loudly. Sanjay helped her drink some water and waited a few minutes for her to continue. “I thought… I thought I might have imagined it. But, one day… I woke up to the sound of a gunshot…”
“A gunshot! Did anyone come after you?” Sanjay asked before he could stop himself.
“No. Something was happening outside. I … I think… they shot someone… I heard a woman’s voice too… I was scared… I thought… I thought I would be next. I couldn’t … I couldn’t help but wonder if that was… if that was Ellen… I don’t know…” her voice trailed away.
“What happened next?” Sanjay gently encouraged her to keep on talking.
“It went quiet for a long time. I … started drifting off to sleep again…. Then, … I don’t know after how long … I heard someone struggling… struggling with the door. It burst open… it was that … the masked man again… he untied me… and told me we don’t have much time.”
Sanjay quietly listened as Diaz told him that she realized they were in a basement when she walked outside. She told him how they kept on walking, but some men started following them. Her voice broke when Diaz explained that the masked man tried to stall the men to give her a chance to make it to the bus station, and then she heard the shot. Diaz went quiet for a while. Sanjay let her collect herself before she started to speak again.
“I ran through the streets…. I had no idea where I was going… I kept running… until I couldn’t anymore… at one point, I sat down … I don’t even know what I did I was in shock. I was … jolted to reality by the sound of a vehicle… approaching…. The bus! I made it… somehow… told him… to drop me at your apartment…”
Sanjay nodded. “Okay. I think that’s enough. You should rest now. When you are feeling better, you can tell me more… things you might remember later. Okay?”
Diaz nodded, looking relieved.
“There will be two guards standing outside your door for your safety. Once you have recovered, we are going to have you shifted to a safe house until we are sure it is safe for you to come back.”
Diaz nodded again; her eyes closed this time. Sanjay wasn’t sure if she even heard him. He left the room. His head was buzzing. They had a lead. The driver had told him the bus stop from where he picked Diaz up. They can set up a search there. The basement Diaz described seemed like an old house. They might be able to find something. He knew the kidnappers might have left that house by now, but there was still some chance that they might find something if they acted quickly. He made sure the guards had arrived before leaving the hospital and headed straight to the precinct to get ready for the search. Sergeant Jake would agree this is enough evidence to warrant a search. They just might be able to get Aria’s case reopened if they found something there.
Tanya wrapped up her work for the day and was about to head to the hospital to see Diaz, before heading home. She was exhausted. Whitney had been adding more pressure on her. Even though her boss was not giving her priority clients, Tanya was being treated more like an assistant, for everyone, making photocopies, scanning documents, arranging meetings, et cetera. Tanya sighed and made her way towards her car. It was unfair, but she had to keep her mouth shut, at least until they could get Aria out. Tanya also couldn’t resign, because she knew Whitney would never give her a good recommendation for another job. She was stuck here for now.
Tanya unlocked her d
oor with her electric keychain, and dumped her laptop and bag in the backseat and was about to sit in the car when something caught her eye. She closed the car door and took a few steps forward. Was it her imagination, or was there someone standing behind the pillar looking directly at her a few seconds ago?
“Hello?” Tanya called out. After a minute or two, she shrugged, and got in her car. As her car was exiting the gate, Tanya’s eye caught something in the rearview mirror. “What was that!” she turned around to check. There was no one. “I could swear someone was standing there in a black hoodie!” she said to herself.
“Miss, are you heading out?”
Tanya turned to the front. The guard was looking at her impatiently. “Yeah, I am just…” her voice trailed away as she looked behind again.
“You are blocking the way…” the guard glared at her.
“Yeah… sorry. I am leaving. Thanks.”
Tanya drove a few blocks and kept checking the rearview mirror to make sure she wasn’t being followed. After a few minutes, she was sure that she had just imagined it and decided to stop by a grocery store to get a few things for dinner. She was deciding between alfredo pasta sauce and arrabbiata pasta sauce when she noticed a man with a familiar hoodie standing at the end of the aisle.
“Hey!” she called out, and the man disappeared. Tanya’s heart started pounding. Was that who she thought it was? Was that Aria’s stalker? She recognized that hoodie from the hours of security footage she had viewed for Aria’s case. She tried to look around for the hoodie, but after a few minutes, she gave up. Her heart pounding, she left her shopping cart as is and left the store. Tanya wanted to get away from the store and put as much distance as possible between her and the stalker. She knew she should inform Sanjay, but he wasn’t picking up his phone. Tanya decided against going to the hospital, in case she were to lead the enemy straight to Diaz.
Capital Crime (An Aria Raymond Thriller Book 2) Page 8
