Page 32 of Backwater Justice
“I’ll make sure of it, doctor,” Julie replied.
“Good. I’ll let Nurse Crowley finish, and then you can be on your way.”
Mark Rowan had tears in his eyes. In fact, everyone did. The nurse finished cleaning, dressing, and bandaging the wounds. “Okay, you can hug now! But be careful.”
The three Rowans were clasped together, rocking back and forth. After several minutes, Mark and Julie stepped back. Julie wiped her nose. “How did you find her?” she asked the two women who were watching the family reunion.
“Maybe we should let Vanessa start,” Annie suggested. “By the way, I am Annie De Silva, and this is my friend Myra Rutledge.”
“Oh, so sorry!” Mark blurted, introducing himself and his wife. “That was pretty rude of us. Thank you. Thank you.” Julie nodded in agreement.
Annie looked at Vanessa. “You up for it, sweetie?” Vanessa bobbed her head and gulped. “I was on my way home from school when Morgan sent a text about a party. I was really, really mad at you guys, and I knew you wouldn’t let me go.”
Julie was about to say something, but Myra gently placed her hand on Julie’s arm, as if to say,Let her tell the story.
“Anyway, I’m really, really sorry.” She started to sniffle. Annie handed her a box of tissues. “I figured I’d hitch a ride to Portland.”
Again, Julie was about to interrupt with a parental warning, but Myra put a stop to it once more.
“A green pickup truck stopped. It had the S.E.I. logo, so I figured it was safe. It’s the Spanglers, you know.” She took a breath and a drink of water from a plastic cup. “When I got in, there was a box on the seat. The guy tried to move it out of the way, and the tape or something got caught on the seat belt buckle clasp. A bunch of bags with white pills spilled out.” She paused.
“Then what happened?” Mark asked.
“Then I guess he punched me in the face or something, because when I woke up, I was in a basement somewhere. My wrists hurt, and my face was stinging.”
“Probably from the tape they had over your mouth.”
“I guess so.” She shrugged. “There weren’t any mirrors.”
Annie pulled up a stool. “Can you describe the place?”
“Shouldn’t we call the police?” Mark interrupted.
“Mr. Rowan, we don’t know how or who may be involved in this situation right now,” Myra explained. “It would be advisable for everyone to keep this among the five of us, until we can do some further assessment.”
“Oh, are you private investigators?” Mark asked.
“Federal marshals?” Julie’s turn.
“No, neither,” Myra answered. “What I can tell you is that we have a network of individuals who can explore the situation.”
“A private company?” Mark kept pushing.
“Mr. Rowan, it would be best if you would only concern yourself with your daughter’s well-being right now. She has been through a very traumatic experience. We also don’t want anyone to know Vanessa has been found.”
“Why not?” Mark asked with a furrowed brow.
“As I mentioned, we don’t know how far-reaching the wrongdoing goes, and we do not want to alert anyone who may have had a hand in this. If I recall, the search was cancelled when you got a bogus text from Vanessa.”
“That’s right, Mark,” Julie agreed.
“So, let’s keep all of you out of the public eye for a bit,” Myra suggested.
Annie snapped her fingers. “I have an idea.” She turned to the parents. “Can the two of you take a few days off from work?”
They looked at each other and shrugged. “I suppose so. Why?”
“How would you like to go to Lake Tahoe for a couple of days?”