Page 4 of Lost In The Dark

“That’s where things get interesting. Two years ago, Adeline Brooks just dropped off of the face of the earth. No one reported her missing. She just vanished. Then, last week she was hit by a car on a highway, four miles from the strip in Vegas. Apart from the injuries from the hit she took, she also had abrasions around her wrists and ankles, open wounds, and older scars on her back, and was severely malnourished and dehydrated.”

“Fuck. Do they know what happened? Was she taken?” I asked, knowing what the abrasions around her wrists and ankles had to mean.

“Taken? Like kidnapped?” Eli gasped.

“No. She’s saying she has no memory of the last two years, but when they found her she was holding a gun and covered in blood that wasn’t hers.”

“The cops think she’s lying about the memory loss?” I questioned.

“That’s my guess, but she does have a severe head injury from the car hit. Other than the last two years she has never been in trouble with the cops. She lived a quiet life. Spent most of her childhood acting as care giver for her mom, who had Fibromyalgia. She paid her own way through college, then got the job as a librarian. Her credit card statements show no social life at all. She lived like a hermit from what I can find.”

“So someone took her and hurt her, and she what? Shot them? Isn’t that self-defense?” Eli asked as he looked to me with panic.

“Maybe,” Kane nodded. “Except the police have arrested her for killing a senator. They found his body at his home the day after she was found. Single shot to the chest. The cops aren’t buying that he held her. By all accounts he’s an upstanding citizen.”

“And by your account? Did you look into him?”

“Of course.” Kane grinned smugly. “On paper he looks clean, but I found he has memberships under a false name to several BDSM clubs in the area, and Eighteen months ago, not long after the time Adeline went missing, he made a huge cash transfer of twenty thousand dollars to a company I believe to be a front for the skin trade,” Kane explained.

“You think she was trafficked?” I asked. My stomach was churning as it hit me that this girl, who could be our sister, had been through hell.

“It happens. She definitely fits the profile they target. No family. No one to notice her missing and report it.”

“She does have family now though. She has us. We have to go to her, Asher,” Eli told me as he jumped to his feet, looking ready to go immediately.

“Is she in custody?” I asked Kane, and he nodded.

“Police took her in this afternoon, despite her having some pretty extensive injuries. They seem really pissed about the death of this senator.”

“Email me the details. I’ll arrange for an attorney for her,” I told him.

“Everything I have is already in your inbox, boss. I’d act pretty quickly if I were you. Seems like the cops are gonna railroad her for this,” Kane warned me.

“Asher? We have to go to her!” Eli demanded.

“We will, but it will take time. In the meantime I’ll get an attorney out to her. She’ll be okay, Eli. We’ll help her,” I promised him. Even if Adeline wasn’t our sister, she was clearlyan innocent woman who had been through hell and needed help. I could give that.

“I’ll make the calls to get the jet ready, and pack us each a bag. Will she need clothes too? Will she have anything if she has been someone’s prisoner? God, she must be so scared,” Eli rambled.

“We’ll get her a few things. I’ll help you,” Adam assured him. “We’ll go to the store and you can make arrangements for the flight on the way.”

“Yeah, okay. Thanks Adam. I’ll just change really quickly,” Eli was gone, running for the stairs before any of us could say another word.

“He’ll be heart broken if it turns out she’s not your sister,” Adam told me with a sigh.

“I know, but what can I do? The girl needs help now. DNA tests will have to wait.”

“I don’t think you need DNA tests, boss. Look at this,” Kane opened the file he was holding and handed me a photo. It was a head shot, likely taken for an ID of some kind.

“Fuck,” Adam gasped.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “No doubting it now.”

The image was the double of Eli, only the feminine version. Long dark hair, Mediterranean coloring from my father’s Italian side of the family, and the eyes – those dark, emerald, green eyes were identical to Eli’s.

Eli had always been the image of our father, while I more resembled our mother with my light hair and bright blue eyes. Eli and I looked nothing alike, but this girl – Adeline – she was so obviously his sister. Our sister.Fuck.

CHAPTER 2