by Claire Adams
I was shocked and looked up at Jackson to see if he had heard the same thing I had just heard. He raised one of his eyebrows and smiled in agreement. It was a sweet offer, but I was pretty sure the CIA wasn’t looking for girls like me to work for them.
“Thanks, PJ,” I said. “Can I get you anything?”
“Yeah, can you call my husband and tell him I’m alright? His number is in my things at the hotel.”
Nate, Jackson, and I all looked at each other in total shock. We had absolutely no idea she was married. The way she had handled herself throughout our whole job it was impossible to have known she had a husband. She was really good at keeping secrets I thought to myself. But I figured that was part of her job with the CIA.
“I did not see that coming,” Nate said as he laughed.
Jackson and I also laughed until we looked down and saw that PJ wasn’t doing very well. She looked like she was having a hard time staying conscious. I held onto her hand while Nate continued to put pressure on the wound. We weren’t going to let anything bad happen to her. There was no way she was going to die on our watch, that was for sure.
“I’ve got this guys,” the guy driving the boat said as he drove the boat out of the water and turned it into the vehicle again. “We are only five minutes away from the hospital. Keep her awake,” he said like he knew exactly what he was talking about.
By the time we reached the hospital, Nate and Jackson had PJ up in their arms and were ready to get out of the vehicle the second we stopped. The boat driver opened the door hinged at the back of the boat and lowered the stairs so the guys could get her out of the boat.
The rest of us waited patiently as we tried to decide what we should do. I looked at Chase as he sat next to Ana and I could tell that he didn’t know what to do next, either. Ana was rocking back and forth and didn’t seem to even know we were there with her.
Many of the girls were rocking and talking to themselves in languages that I didn’t understand. It was then that I started to realize these girls were not going to be alright. At least, not right away they weren’t.
What were we supposed to do with all these girls? Where were we supposed to take them? Some of them looked really sick and probably should have stayed at the hospital, but I didn’t know what the rules were about people being in the country illegally. We really needed PJ to tell us what to do, she was the one that worked with these girls all the time. She was the one that could tell us.
After about five minutes, Nate came out of the hospital. He raised the stairs in the back of the boat and gave an address to the driver. The duck boat wasn’t the most inconspicuous of vehicles in the world, but it would do well enough to get us where we needed to go.
“PJ gave me the location of their safe house. There will be agents there ready to great us and take the girls off our hands. They will be tied up in red tape for a while, but they will be taken care of.”
I felt a sense of relief at the news the girls were going to be taken care of. Although our goal was to get Ana out of Stephano’s grip, there were so many other girls that were also there. It was exciting to know that we were going to help them, as well. I couldn’t imagine what these women were going to have to go through as they started to put their lives back together. But no matter what they went through, I knew it would be better than continuing to live with Stephano.
When we pulled up to the warehouse, the girls started to line up and get off the vehicle to go inside. But when I looked over at Ana, she was sitting on the floor by the back of the boat and refused to move. She continued to rock and was curled up in a ball with her arms around her legs. It was clear that she was out of it and wasn’t going to be going anywhere anytime soon.
“I don’t know what to do. She’s not going to get up,” Chase said to Nate.
“Does she have to go in there? Jordan is going to want to see her,” Nate said.
I agreed with Nate. I didn’t think that Ana belonged in that building with the rest of the girls. Chase and Jordan had money and they could get Ana a good lawyer to help figure out her citizen stuff. They could also get her into a treatment program so she could get the help she needed to recover from all the drugs she had been taken and the counseling she would need form everything else she endured. There was no doubt in my mind that Ana needed to go with us to see Jordan.
“I don’t want to do anything illegal,” Chase said as both of the men looked at her.
I walked over to the steps and started to pull them up. I didn’t care if it was illegal or not. We hadn’t worked that hard to get Ana just to force her into some warehouse with people who didn’t know her or care about her. We weren’t turning her over to the government and that was the end of the story.
After everything had been completed at the warehouse, we drove back to the boat tour place and there was a van there that the guys had left. Since Ana wouldn’t move, Nate picked her up and carried her off the boat and into the van. She seemed comfortable with him and I saw him whispering to her and trying to comfort her as he made his way into the back of the van. She held on tight to him and looked up at him like he was her one and only savior.
Ana seemed to like Nate and held onto him tightly as Chase drove us back to the hotel. I didn’t know what all Ana had been through over the last few weeks, but I suspected it was pretty horrible. I also suspected that things were going to get really bad for her once her body started to withdraw from the drugs she had been taking.
When we reached the hotel, Nate again carried Ana as we went in the back entrance. The guys decided we shouldn’t use the elevator, so we took the stairs up to the third floor where our rooms were located.
I kept looking back at Nate as he carried Ana up the three flights of stairs. He was being sweet to her and whispering something in her ear again as he carried her. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and her head resting on his chest. It was a sweet sight to see Nate being so kind.
Since I had met Nate originally, he seemed so much like a jerk. He was flirting with me and PJ so much on that first night and acting like a bit of a chauvinist pig. I was surprised to see how kind he was with Ana and just how good of a guy he really was. He obviously had been showing off and trying to play the ladies man before. But there, with Ana, he was a perfect gentleman.
When we got to the third floor we knocked on Chase and Jordan’s room. The anticipation was killing me as we waited for Jordan to open the door. When Jordan opened the door, she was already crying as she reached out to Ana and grabbed her. Jordan was crying so hard that it was hard to understand what she was saying.
“Ana, Ana, you’re okay. Oh, my God. You’re okay,” she said as she wrapped her arms around Ana and pulled her out of Nate’s arms.
Nate let Ana go, but he stayed close to make sure she was strong enough to stand up by herself. Ana looked confused and out of it but as she stood up she looked at Nate and then toward me and back to Jordan. It took her some time to figure out that Jordan was real. The moment was real. Then Ana wrapped her arms around Jordan and the two girls collapsed to the ground in tears.
I couldn’t understand what they were saying to each other, it sounded like they were speaking in German, but I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that the day had ended happily and we had just delivered Ana to her friend who had been worried and looking for her for months.
“Should we give them space?” Chase said as he looked at Nate and I.
“Yep,” Nate said. “See, Ana, I promised you it would be worth it.”
Ana looked up from her tears and smiled at Nate. She had a beautiful smile that I couldn’t remember seeing since the time when she had first arrived at my apartment. There was a new light in her eyes and it looked like she actually recognized me.
“Roxanne, you’re here?” Ana said as she looked at me and suddenly realized I was there.
“Yep, I’m glad you are alright,” I said as we turned to leave the two women so they could have some time.
“Thank you,” Ana s
aid as she looked at me, then Nate and Chase.
As Nate let the door close, we could hear the girls talking and crying. It felt good to do something so outrageous like we had done that night. It felt better than I ever imagined something could feel.
“We’ll catch a plane back to Atlanta in the morning if you want to come and get your dog,” Chase said as I opened my hotel room door.
“Oh, yes, that would be great.”
“And, I’ll wire the rest of the money to your account. Thank you so much for being here with us. I don’t think we could have done this without you,” he said.
It made me feel good to hear that he appreciated me. I felt pretty damn good for the work I had done, too. I couldn’t wait to sleep all night long and then start my new life in the morning. I was ready to leave absolutely everything about my past behind me and move forward.
“Thank you, Chase,” I said as I hugged him. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“By the way, I have a text from Jackson and he says he’ll see you in the morning, as well. He’s staying with PJ to make sure her boss arrives. PJ is stable and doing well.”
“Oh, great. I’m so glad she is doing alright. I was worried with all that blood.”
“Have a good night. Sleep well,” Chase said as he walked with Nate down to his room.
I jumped up and down with excitement after I closed the door to my room. Jackson had made a point to get a message to me. Jackson was thinking about me, just like I was thinking about him.
I had been so worried he was angry with me for going to Stephano’s house. I knew it was a bad decision and I should have talked to Jackson first, but everything had worked out alright now. I couldn’t wait to see Jackson in the morning.
Surprisingly, I feel asleep fast and didn’t wake up at all throughout the night. I was so exhausted from the last few days, my body must have been very grateful to have a full night of sleep.
When I woke up, it was to a knocking at my door. It wasn’t a normal knocking, though. It was a slow and light tapping on the door. I hurried out of bed and ran to look through the peep hole to see if it was Jackson.
“No one’s home,” I teased him as I saw his smiling face standing in front of my room.
“Oh, okay. I’ll leave,” he said as he walked away.
I quickly opened the door and was about to tell him not to leave when he grabbed me and pulled me into my room. I couldn’t help but giggle at how excited he was to see me. It made me absolutely insanely happy to see him smile like that.
“You look happy,” I said as I held onto him.
“I’m not. I’m in a horrible mood. But you know what would make me feel better?”
“A hamburger?” I teased.
“Well, yes, a hamburger, but you know what else?” He pulled something out of his back pocket after he let my feet touch the ground again. “If you would go with me.”
I grabbed the papers out of his hands and looked at them. They were plane tickets and I searched them to see where they were to.
“Bali?” I said as a look of confusion covered my face.
“Yes, Bali. We need a vacation.”
I couldn’t help but smile at how damn excited he was as he held my hands and waited for me to answer him. I had never been overseas and I didn’t know a thing about Bali, but it seemed like a fun place to go. If Jackson and I could go there together, then it was the perfect place to go.
“Yes,” I said as I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him. “Do you think my dog Bull could go with us?” I asked with a smile on my face.
“If it will make you happy, we could take anyone or anything with us you would like.”
“I’m teasing, I’m sure Jordan and Chase could keep him there.”
“Now, let’s go get that hamburger before our flight to Atlanta,” Jackson said as he grabbed my hand and we headed out of the hotel room and into a life neither of us knew was ahead of us.
Epilogue
JACKSON
We all boarded the plane on our way back to Atlanta around eleven o’clock in the morning. It was a beautiful sunny day and the perfect start to Roxanne and I spending some quality time together.
Jordan and Ana were inseparable as they climbed the stairs of the private jet. Nate and Chase weren’t too far behind the girls as they carried a few of their bags onto the plane.
Ana wasn’t feeling good at all and had been vomiting since she woke up that morning. It was likely a combination of the excitement and the drugs that her body was withdrawing from. There wasn’t much we could do for her until we got back to Atlanta so Jordan just kept her close and tried to comfort her as we loaded the plane.
“You look different,” Roxanne said to me as I waited for her at the bottom of the steps.
“This is me relaxed,” I said.
“I like it. I definitely like you relaxed,” she whispered in my ear. “You know, I’ve never joined the mile-high club before.”
My eyes got big as I looked at her and then looked around to see if anyone else had heard what she had said to me.
“Oh, me, neither. I think that’s the perfect idea.”
I slapped her ass as she walked up the steps and onto the jet. It was amazing how great I felt. I couldn’t remember feeling that happy in a very long time. Roxanne had agreed to travel with me for a few weeks in Bali. Jordan and Chase were going to keep her beloved dog for her, and Ana was going to get the help she needed at a private clinic in Atlanta.
As we closed the jet doors and got ready for takeoff, I couldn’t think of anything else that would have made the moment any better. I sat there looking at my brothers and how happy they were. Nate sure seemed to have taken an interest in Ana, while Chase and Jordan seemed more in love than ever before.
“Ana, when you’re finished with treatment you could come and stay with me at my cabin for a little bit. It’s quiet and calm and would give you a good chance to get back into life,” Nate said as he sat next to Ana and held her hand.
I watched as Jordan looked at Chase and smiled a huge smile.
“It might be better than staying at our house. We are having a bunch of remodeling done and it’s like a warzone there,” Chase said.
“We can figure it out later,” Nate said.
I had never seen Nate so worried about someone before. Something about Ana had a hold of him, and I knew exactly what it was because the same thing had happened to me when I met Roxanne.
Sometimes, you meet someone and you just know they are going to have to be in your life. They are going to have to be a part of your future.
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SECRETS
By Claire Adams
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 Claire Adams
Chapter 1
“I’m fine Rebecca, the taxi just turned down my street.”
“I’ll just stay on until you get inside the house.”
“Seriously Rebecca, I’m not going to get murdered in two blocks. It’s Bain, Missouri for gosh sake!”
My ability to humor Rebecca and her mothering significantly decreased the more exhausted I was. We had been friends for most of our lives, but she still didn’t think I was capable of taking care of myself.
“Are you at the house yet? Did you get inside?”
“I’m paying my taxi driver now,” I sighed as I walked up to the door to my house and looked for my keys. Unfortunately, I had forgotten them inside the house. Nothing to worry about though; I had a spare key, somewhere.
“Walking up to the door…unlocking the door… going inside,” I lied to her.
/> “Alright. Remember to take some Tylenol and drink some water. Do you have orange juice for the morning?”
Since losing my parents, Rebecca had tried to fill in the emptiness. Her heart was always in the right spot, but she never understood what it was like to be without any family. Moving into my grandparent’s house and remodeling it was the best way I could cope, at least for now.
“Yes, I will drink orange juice, take two pills and call you in the morning.”
“Great, yes. Call me when you get up,” Rebecca said.
“Ok mother Rebecca. Talk to you tomorrow.”
With Rebecca off the phone, I went to work looking for the spare key. I remembered putting it somewhere around when I had visited my parents and my mother was too sick to get up to the door. But after she died I had moved the key again.
Really it shouldn’t be all that hard to find a key, but when you forget things as fast as I do, you would understand. This key was going to be near impossible to find.
After searching the mat, flowers, and all the rocks around my grandparents old Victorian home, it finally dawned on me that I had put the key over in the neighbors’ rocks. The fake rock that held the spare key fit perfectly with their rocks and since the home had been empty for at least five years, it seemed like a good place to hide the house key. Now if only I could remember which rock I was looking for…at two o’clock in the morning, it was amazing how every single rock looked exactly the same.
Well this was just perfect. On my hands and knees in the grass was not how I wanted to be spending my Saturday night. I was crawling around in the wet grass and looking for the key to my dead parent’s home. Well, the house was actually my grandparent’s home, and then they passed it to my parents and finally on to me.
Why couldn’t I just have a normal life? Like those girls at the bar tonight. They had the kind of busy lives with friends and parties all the time. But no, I had by far the most boring life in the history of Bain. Fixing up my grandparents’ house was the only thing interesting on my calendar for the next three weeks. Oh, how I longed for some excitement, but instead I was here digging through rocks and grass in the middle of the night.
