Page 7 of Lost In The Dark

“Yes,” I admitted. I’d usually have down played it, but it hurt way too much to downplay. My back, ribs, and wrist were agony and every part of me ached.

“Have they hurt you since they took you from the hospital?”

“They c-cuffed me…behind my back. That hurt, and they…they push me around a lot. I…I’m really bruised and m-my ribs…they’re broken, so it hurts. I just…I’m so scared. I don’t know what to do and that detective…he was yelling s-so much. I just w-want to go home,” I squeaked weakly through my tight throat.

“It’s okay, Addy. I’ll get you out of here and your brothers will be here soon too.”

God, that sounded so strange. Brothers. Did I really have brothers? I had to admit, the idea appealed to me. I had been so alone for most of my life. My mom was there, but she was always in pain with her illness and that made her bitter and angry. I only ever heard from her when she needed me for something, and she loved to lash out at me physically and verbally when she was angry. She’d always told me there was no more family, and at school I’d been the girl from the trailer park who got bullied and ostracized, so there had never really been friends either.

Brothers would be nice. Just someone to send me a card on my birthday maybe? Maybe they would call me now and then too.Maybe I’d be able to call them after a crappy day. Just to have someone who cared if I was alive was all I had ever wanted.

“I’m going to stay with you for now. I don’t want you going back to that cell. We’ll wait for my investigators to call with news, okay?”

“Thank you,” I told him again. He had been so kind and patient. I didn’t want him to leave me and I definitely didn’t want to go back to that freezing, terrifying cell.

He handed me some Tylenol from his briefcase and I took them, desperate for some relief. I drank the water he had handed me, but declined the food he offered to go and get for me. My stomach was in knots as the words he had said spun round and around my head. I had been kidnapped and sex trafficked. I had been abused and likely raped. Why couldn’t I remember any of that? Surely that was something you would remember? I tried hard to recall something, anything, so much so that I ended up giving myself a pounding headache, but still no memories came back.

Eventually Max encouraged me to lie across two chairs and try to rest. I didn’t argue, since I was exhausted and so sick of running those damned words through my frazzled mind. I just needed some peace for a while. I curled up on my side, on the chairs and wrapped myself in Max’s jacket, cradling my tender wrist and praying for sleep to take me away from this living nightmare.

ASHER

It was late morning by the time we had landed in Vegas and gotten to the police station. Eli had been anxious the whole way, staring at his laptop as he researched sex trafficking, trauma, head injuries, and how he could help this Adeline with all she had obviously been through. I had reassured him by telling himthe attorney was with her, and with the prices he charged, he would definitely be working to have her freed.

“This way please,” the officer from the front desk said as he appeared at a door and allowed us both in. I’d reached out to my fathers contacts on the flight to ensure we would be given access to Adeline once we got to the station. Thankfully, they had come through and the police chief had called me personally to assure me I had his cooperation.

I hadn’t yet spoken with the attorney I had sent, so I had no idea what was going on, but I had to admit, I was worried for this poor woman, especially if she did turn out to be our blood. I had read the file, which Kane had put together, on the plane, and the injuries detailed in the medical report told a story of long term physical and sexual abuse. How could she move forward from a trauma like that? How could we do anything to help her when we had no understanding of what she had been through?

We were led to a door and as soon as the officer opened it, another man appeared and ushered us back into the hall.

“Sorry. She’s sleeping and I don’t want to wake her. It’s taken her hours to drift off,” the guy, who I assumed was the attorney, explained.

“Max Kline?” I asked, and he nodded.

“How is she?” Eli asked, his voice lowered so the people milling around us wouldn’t hear.

“Not good. The police brought her here from the hospital, still in the damned hospital gown. Her injuries are extensive and she’s in a lot of pain without real pain meds. Mostly she’s just terrified. She doesn’t belong here. If she did shoot the senator she musthave had no choice. She’s just not that kind of person. She seems so innocent and naïve, almost a little childlike,” he explained.

“Can we get her out of here?” I asked.

“I believe so. I think my investigator has compiled enough evidence to get a warrant for the senators house. He found proof of dealings with the owner of a strip club known to be a front for sex trafficking and prostitution.”

“You think the senator held Adeline in his house?” I asked with shock.

“I do. He lives alone and Addy clearly ran from there. I want the place taken apart,” he answered.

“And if they find proof he held her there, will that free her of these charges?” Eli asked.

“I believe I can have the charges dropped if they discover what I think they will.”

“What do you think they’ll find?” Eli asked.

“A dungeon. Whips with Addy’s DNA and blood on them. A cage or a cell? Maybe even tapes or photos. A man like Leo Hilton thinks he’s above reproach. I think there’s a good chance he recorded his ill deeds.”

“Sick sonofabitch,” I hissed angrily. Whether Adeline was our sister or not, she was clearly a good person who didn’t deserve all that had happened to her. How could a man do that to an innocent woman like her? How could any human treat another in such an abhorrent way? It made me feel ill.

“So we wait to hear about the warrant?” Eli asked.

“It won’t be long. I already put a call in to the judge. He and I play golf together, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”