The Falls City Five

by Sarah Markel

  The hearing aid and prosthetic braces had been removed, as had the makeup she’d been wearing when Lilah grabbed her.

  “This is how I normally dress when I’m on the job,” she replied.

  “I still can’t believe you’re an FBI Agent,” Melissa said with a shake of her head, “even without the makeup and braces, you still look like you could be our age.”

  Dani shrugged and perched on the edge of Melissa’s bed. “That’s why they chose me to go undercover. None of the other available Agents would have been believable.”

  Melissa chuckled. “Yeah, Ms. Willows would have looked pretty suspicious as a student. Is that her real name?” she asked curiously.

  Dani shook her head. “Our last name is Prescott. Melissa, I need to ask you some questions. They might be difficult, but I need you to be completely honest with me, okay?”

  Melissa glanced around the room nervously. The other girls were sound asleep, despite the ordeal they’d been through.

  Each had been treated for dehydration and malnutrition, and once the adrenaline from the excitement of their rescue had worn off, they quickly fell into a comfortable slumber.

  “Okay,” she answered hesitantly.

  To help Melissa’s comfort level, Dani stood and pulled the curtain around her bed. It wouldn’t prevent anyone from hearing the conversation, but Dani suspected it might put the teen at ease if no one could see her.

  “Melissa, what happened the night you disappeared?” she asked, pulling a small notepad and pen from the pocket of her blazer.

  Tears gathered in the corners of Melissa’s eyes and she drew her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly. “I got into an argument with the boys,” she said weakly.

  Dani waited for the girl to elaborate. “What did you argue about?” she prompted when Melissa remained silent.

  “About you,” Melissa sighed, “Uncle Ezra has the boys recruiting kids from the school for the Church’s annual haunted house. The other Churches in town don’t do anything spooky for Halloween, but ours does. The town really enjoys it, but we haven’t had anyone volunteer for it this year.”

  “Uncle Ezra told the boys they have to get at least one person a week to sign up. Eli has been working hard to get other kids to sign on, but Zeke hasn’t even tried. They have been arguing since you started school about getting you to volunteer.”

  “Eli said he was going to talk to your mom and ask her to help him convince you to sign up. He said you are small enough that you could hide in some of the tighter spots and jump out to scare people.”

  “He didn’t think you would put up too much of a fight about it, but Zeke said no. He said with all the fear about the girls in town going missing, no one was going to show up for the haunted house, anyway.”

  “How did you get involved in the argument?” Dani asked.

  Melissa shrugged and swiped at her eyes. “Eli asked if I thought you would want to help out. I told him you might, but that the music and the commotion inside might be too much for your ears.”

  “I remember you said they are really sensitive and I’ve seen the way you flinch when the bell rings. Eli got upset and accused me of siding with Zeke. Zeke got mad because I didn’t side with him and said we didn’t really need other volunteers, because they could just put me in shorts and a t-shirt. My scars would be enough to scare the crap out of anyone.”

  Dani’s eyes narrowed, and her heart began to pound with anger. What the fuck, Zeke?

  “Melissa,” she said gently, “How did you get those scars?”

  Melissa’s face crumbled and she lunged at Dani, wrapping her arms tightly around the woman. “My mother abused me when I was little,” she admitted, confirming Lilah and Ezra’s story, “She blamed me for everything that was wrong in her life. When Uncle Ezra and Aunt Lilah found out, they took me away from her and adopted me.”

  Dani held Melissa, stroking the girl’s hair as she cried. Her heart was breaking for her young friend, and Dani wished she could stop questioning her and just let her be.

  Unfortunately, the longer she waited to get the girl’s version of events, the less likely she was to get a clear picture of what happened.

  “Is Zeke’s comment why you left?” she asked when Melissa pulled away.

  “Yes,” Melissa admitted, “That wasn’t the first time Zeke has made a mean comment about my scars. Eli got mad and hit Zeke. He followed me out of the house and tried to get me to come back inside, but I started running and didn’t stop until I was sure he wasn’t behind me. Uncle Ezra warned Zeke about the things he has said to me, but Zeke doesn’t listen.”

  “Where were Ezra and Lilah when this happened?” Dani asked.

  “Uncle Ezra was at the Church. Aunt Lilah had just left to take dinner plates to some of the elderly residents that live in the trailer park.”

  Dani frowned. “Does she do that often?”

  Melissa shook her head. “She only started a couple of weeks ago, but she does it every day. I offered to help her, but she said no. She said it gave her a chance to have some one-on-one ministry time with those who weren’t able to attend services anymore.”

  “What happened after you left the house?”

  “I stopped running when I got to the high school. I just started wandering from there, and decided to sit under the crabapple tree behind City Hall. I go there sometimes, to watch the ducks swim under the stone bridge.”

  “I heard a noise behind me, like a heavy door being pushed open, and turned around to see what it was. I saw someone coming out of the cellar. They didn’t see me until I hollered at them.” Melissa paused and shivered at the memory of the event.

  “Then what happened, Melissa?” Dani asked.

  “The person ran toward me and I backed away. When I turned to run around the side of the jail, I slipped, and they caught me. I tried to fight, but they stabbed me in the neck with something and I passed out. The next thing I knew, I was chained up with the others.”

  “Thank you, Melissa. I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with so much in your young life.” Dani reached into her pocket and pulled out a card.

  “This is my real cell phone number,” she said, handing the card to Melissa, “If you ever need anything, even just someone to talk to, I want you to call me.”

  Melissa looked down at the card and smiled. “This all seems so surreal,” she chuckled, “One minute I’m making friends with the new girl in school, and the next, she’s saving me from God only knows what kind of horror.”

  “Agent Prescott?” A plump nurse named Barbara peeked her head through the curtain, “Agents Frost and Prescott are asking for you at the nurse’s station.”

  Dani smiled at the confusion on the older woman’s face when she mentioned Max. “Thanks, Barbara,” she said, “I’ll be right out.”

  Barbara nodded her silver head and left. “I meant what I said, Melissa. If you ever need me, call. I’m going to go talk to the others. Try to get some rest, alright?” Dani patted Melissa comfortingly on the knee, before stepping out of the room.

  Chapter 19

  “Alright, we’re done here,” Agent Frost said as she closed the door to the room that housed the girls. “Why don’t you two head out and get some sleep? Cordy will let us know when she’s done interrogating Lilah and Zeke.”

  The three Agents had spent the past several hours speaking with each of the girls, making sure to note every detail the girls gave of their ordeal. The parents had begun arriving shortly after Dani’s conversation with Melissa, and the Agents had been inundated with gratitude.

  Now, it was nearing seven in the morning and Max and Dani were running on fumes.

  “That’s probably a good idea,” Max yawned, “but it’s not going to happen. Our job here is done, but we’ve got to go back to the house and grab our stuff. Cross wants us back in Boise by tomorrow.”

  “Oh man,” Frost said with a shake of her head, “If you two ever decide you want a change, give me a call. I always have room for goo
d UC agents on my team.”

  Frost extended her hand to the Agents and bid them goodbye. Max slung her arm over Dani’s shoulder as the pair made their way through the expansive hallways of Salem Hospital.

  “What’s on your mind, babe?” Max asked the uncharacteristically quiet redhead.

  Dani sighed heavily and shrugged. “The girls,” she replied, “I don’t understand why Lilah would kidnap them, chain them in a basement, but take such good care of them. Frost said that Lilah and Zeke were unarmed, so I don’t think she was actually going to kill them. What was her end game?”

  Max shook her head and kissed Dani’s hair. “I don’t know, honey. You want me to call Cross and ask for an extra day?”

  “Maybe,” Dani yawned, “Can we stop by the PD and watch the interrogation?”

  “Sure,” Max agreed, climbing into the passenger side of her car. She held out her hand, dangling the keys from her finger, “You drive, though. My old ass is going to take a nap. You do remember which pedal is which, right?”

  Dani snatched the keys from her wife’s hand and glared. “You’re the old one, sweetheart. My memory is still firmly intact.”

  Max laughed and leaned in for a kiss when Dani buckled herself into the driver’s seat.

  “Good thing you still remember how to kiss me like that,” Dani hummed with a smile, “It’d be a shame for the obstacles of old age to cause a rift in our marriage. Especially since I’m still young and nubile.”

  Max chuckled and made a show of ogling Dani as the shorter woman maneuvered the car out of the parking structure. “Yes, Ma’am, you are.”

  Dani snorted and rested one hand on Max’s thigh. She carefully navigated the confusing streets of Salem in silence, her mind screaming at her to talk to Max.

  Dani had been wanting to move away from Idaho for a long time. She’d only moved to the dry, dusty state because she was transferred to the Boise office.

  She was thankful for the transfer; she highly doubted that she would have met the woman she wanted to spend her life with if she’d stayed in Seattle.

  Dani had grown up in Seattle. She hadn’t considered moving back to Washington since meeting Max, but being in Oregon, which had a similar climate to her home state, was making her homesick.

  The thought of going back to the arid, brown flatness of Idaho didn’t fill the young woman with relief like it did for her wife. Instead, Dani wished that going home meant going back to Falls City. The cozy little hamlet had grown on Dani much more than she’d expected it to.

  Sure, it would be a bit difficult explaining to the townspeople that she was Max’s wife and not her daughter. But, Dani was certain that once everything was out in the open, they would be welcomed with open arms.

  Although the town was small, the community was strong and accepting. Dani felt comfortable in Falls City; like she wasn’t being judged for her lifestyle the way she always felt in Boise.

  Here, Dani loved the way the town accepted its LGBT neighbors with open arms and a kind smile. Despite the claim of open-mindedness, Boise was a very conservative city. It was happy to claim acceptance of its people, but only if those whose lives invited conflict were silent. Falls City was the polar opposite.

  Rainbow flags were a common sight in Falls City, as were signs supporting the LGBT residents. The only bar in town was owned by a lesbian couple, who were deeply involved with bettering the community.

  A gay couple owned the only restaurant in town, and both couples were well respected. Several members of the police force were also part of the LGBT community. Dani wanted to live in a place where she felt at ease with her neighbors, and Falls City offered that.

  “Max?” Dani asked as she made the right turn onto Marion Street.

  “Hmm?” Max asked, her eyes close as she rested her head against the window.

  “What do you think about Falls City?” Dani kept her eyes on the road, afraid of what her wife’s expression might show.

  “It’s quaint,” Max replied through a yawn. “I like the closeness of the community. I’ve never lived in a place that had so many trees, but I’m going to miss it. It was nice, sitting on the back porch and looking out at all the green. I also like that it’s not overwhelmingly hot, even when it’s ninety degrees outside.”

  Dani nodded and eased the car onto the exit toward Marilynn. Max, curious about the sudden tension radiating from the redhead, opened her eyes and peeked at the woman.

  Dani’s posture was rigid, and she was gnawing forcefully on her bottom lip. Curious, Max frowned and reached over to draw a finger down Dani’s stiff arm. “What’s wrong, baby?”

  Dani smiled tightly and shrugged. She’d never been nervous about asking Max for something, but this wasn’t something trivial. Asking someone to uproot their entire life was much bigger than asking for a new piece of jewelry or a weekend away.

  Max could tell that there was something important on the younger woman’s mind. She knew every twitch and tell Dani conveyed, and everything about the redhead screamed nerves.

  Dani’s jaw was firm, her teeth clenched around her bottom lip. Her arms were locked at the elbow and her knuckles white where she gripped the steering wheel. Even Dani’s legs, hidden from view by her loose black slacks, were rigid.

  “Dani, honey, talk to me,” Max prodded, concerned by Dani’s demeanor.

  Dani sighed. “What if,” Dani started, stumbling over the words that were tumbling around her brain, “would you… wait.” She huffed out a breath and shook her head as she changed lanes to pass another car.

  “What would you think of living in Falls City for real?” she finally managed.

  Ah, there it is. Now’s the time, Max. She’s giving you the go-ahead to make her happy.

  Max smiled and traced her finger gently over Dani’s jaw. “Is that what you want, sweetheart? Will living in Falls City make you happy?”

  Max gazed lovingly at her wife as the tension melted away and a radiant smile graced Dani’s perfect lips.

  “I think so,” Dani replied, finally venturing a quick glance at Max as she took the exit that would lead her through Marilynn to Falls City.

  “You know I don’t really like Idaho, but I have no interest in going back to Washington. I think Oregon; Falls City, to be specific, would be a good place for us. We’d be working out of the Salem office, which would make it easier to keep our home and work lives separate.”

  Max said nothing as they left Marilynn and drove toward the town her wife wanted to call home. Dani’s argument was unnecessary, but Max made a show of mulling it over. Back in Boise, Max and Dani’s new house was only a ten-minute drive from the FBI field office.

  When they left the office, there was no time to decompress before arriving home. This often led to tension and long hours spent trying to shake off the details of their day. The tension didn’t cause a rift or argument between the newlyweds, but it wasn’t an ideal way to spend their time together.

  “Alright, babe,” Max finally said, “I’ll call Cross and let him know we will be there in the morning. When we get back to Idaho, I’ll get ahold of a real estate agent and list the house. It’s going to take some time, but I’m game if you want to move out here.”

  Dani let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. She pulled into the parking lot of the Falls City Police Department and shut off the engine, before leaning over and crushing her lips to Max’s in a deep, heartfelt kiss. “Thank you, Max.”

  Max cupped Dani’s cheek and smiled. The look of pure joy on Dani’s face melted Max’s heart. Her one goal in life was to make her wife happy, and Max could see that she was succeeding.

  “Don’t thank me, yet, honey,” she said as the couple stepped out of the car, “You get to be the one to tell Cross we are leaving.”

  “Me?” Dani squawked as they entered the lobby, “Why me?”

  Max shrugged and showed her badge to the desk Sergeant. “You’re cute and little. Cross is terrified of cute and little. That’s why he and
Hannah never had kids; they scare him.”

  Dani smacked Max’s shoulder and stopped in her tracks. Crossing her arms over her chest, she glowered at the taller woman. “Are you seriously likening me to a child?” she asked, arching one eyebrow.

  Max turned to face Dani and smiled winningly. “After this UC op? Never again. Having to tell people that you were my child, especially after the things I’ve done to your body, was excruciating and made me feel so dirty. I promise, babe, I will never joke about how young you look again.”

  Dani’s expression brightened, and she reached out to pull Max to her. “Good,” she mumbled against Max’s chest, “because if you want to keep doing things to my body, you will never break that promise.”

  Max barked out a laugh, startling two uniformed officers that passed them. She waved an apology to the men and turned Dani down the hallway the desk Sergeant had directed them to.

  “I love you, Dani,” she said, knocking on the door to the observation room, “now be quiet and stop flirting with me. We have work to do.”

  ***

  Inside the interrogation room, Cordy Weston was beginning to lose her patience. She’d been grilling Lilah Fisk for hours, without much success. Lilah’s attorney was present, but the man didn’t appear to be interested in ending the interview.

  News of Lilah’s arrest had spread through town within minutes and it was all the department could do to curb the outrage that followed.

  At only eight in the morning, dozens of people were gathered in front of the department to shout their condemnation of the Pastor’s wife. Nearly a dozen uniformed officers were out front, blocking the crowd from entering the building.

  “Alright, Lilah,” Cordy said, dropping into the empty chair across from the woman, “quit jerking me around. Just tell me why you did it.”

  Lilah fixed a condescending smile on her face and crossed her arms over her bosom. “I’ve heard you’re a great detective; you figure it out.”