Chapter Eight
Several Weeks Later
Mateo stared at the doorway Ella had described to him. The cop on his payroll had come through with all the necessary details of the foster homes she had gone to and the people that had been in her life.
He was shocked to see she had not lied to him. Everything was here in black and white for him to see, including the woman, Ruth, with whom she spent her last years in foster care.
The cop had also included some incident reports, one in which multiple children complained about being put in a closest. None of the reports were taken seriously.
Several social workers had gone to the residence, and all of them claimed it was a lie, tales made up for attention.
The two people in question were currently tied up in the kitchen.
Mateo looked at the closet, as he thought about the fact the couple were still foster parents.
It was a Friday at lunch, and according to the cops, they were still foster parents with no recent complaints.
They were currently taking care of a little seven-year-old girl.
Only, he had it on good authority that the girl hadn’t gone to school all freaking week. Something swirled in his gut.
He took a step, then another, and reached for the doorknob, only to find it was locked. Mateo walked into the kitchen. The woman was sobbing, trying to beg with her mouth taped shut.
“Where’s the key?” he asked.
The woman looked terrified. He turned toward the man, who simply looked at his wife’s neck. Mateo reached for the necklace, not caring as he tugged on the string around her neck, taking the key from her.
He walked back to the closet, slid the lock into place, and the stench was overwhelming.
That was when he knew the little girl had been locked in the fucking closet.
Turning on the light, he saw the girl had her arms tied at her sides, and she was sitting in her own mess.
There was half-eaten food near her. The girl looked terrified.
“Are you Terry?” he asked.
“I’ve been bad,” she said.
Mateo reached for the ties, and he had no choice but to pull out a knife and cut the rope to free her. Terry didn’t have a lot of strength. Pulling her into his arms, he didn’t give a shit about the mess.
“Eric, get in here.”
He had already called the cop when he realized there was no sign of the girl, and she was not at school.
“Fuck me,” Eric said, walking in.
“Get her to the hospital. I don’t give a shit what you have to say or do, just do it.”
“Mateo, man, what are you going to do?”
“What someone should have done a long time ago. You saw how many reports were made and none of them were dealt with. My wife was stuck in that fucking closet.”
Eric had taken the girl in his arms. “Mateo, man, you can’t do that.”
“Watch me, and the next stop will be those fucking social workers who knew,” Mateo said.
He walked back into the kitchen, looked at the man, then the woman. The man had resigned himself to his fate.
“I want to know who decided on the closet,” he said.
The woman was sobbing. He turned to look at the man.
“It wasn’t you, was it?” Mateo asked.
He reached out and tore the tape from his mouth.
“No.”
The woman was screaming, trying to jump in her seat, but Mateo had her tied really well.
“I ... I didn’t want to foster. She did. She wanted the money, and ... just kill me. I didn’t stop it. I didn’t stop any of it. She said she was helping those kids, and I ... didn’t help.”
Mateo pulled out his gun and fired a single bullet into the man’s head.
It was a small act of mercy. Turning to the woman, he looked at her, and unfortunately, there was not a lot of time for what he wanted to do to her.
She was going to have a quick death, but he hoped she would rot in hell, because that was the only acceptable place she was going.
****
Ella sat in the hospital room with Terry.
Mateo had brought her to the hospital and told her simply that Terry had been inside the closet for what looked like a week. The young girl was starved and dehydrated. The doctors were keeping her for observation.
Ella took one look at the girl and knew the hell she had been through.
She’d experienced the same, so she didn’t leave that girl’s side.
Jay and Steven remained on guard, and even when the nurses and doctors attempted to throw her out, she wouldn’t let them.
Social workers attempted to visit the girl, but Mateo intervened.
She didn’t know how he did it, but they stopped coming, and she was able to take care of Terry.
There were times the young girl would wake up thrashing, screaming, begging for it to stop. Ella kept the light on. She would climb onto the bed and the girl would wrap her arms around her and hold her tightly.
This was where she was when Mateo came into the hospital room. She hadn’t seen him for a couple of days.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey, yourself.” He stepped close to the bed. “How is she?”
“She’s doing much better. I know the doctors are happy to release her. She’s stable and recovered, and they need the bed.” Ella snorted and rubbed Terry’s back. “If she goes back there—”
“There is no there to go back to,” Mateo said. “The house burned down.”
Ella nodded. “With them inside?”
“Yes.”
She breathed a sigh of relief.
“Did you ever make a complaint?” Mateo asked.
She shook her head. “I know several who did. Some of them ended back in the closet, others got removed. I think there was always a fear of going someplace worse.” Ella looked over at him. “I was weak.”
“No, you’re a survivor.”
“Did others make complaints?”
“Yes, and they were ignored. Social workers went around the house, but they deemed the complaints to be false.”
Ella sighed. “It’s bad news.”
“Yeah, you don’t have to worry about those social workers causing trouble and not listening to kids anymore,” Mateo said.
She looked at him. “You took care of that as well?”
“The world is full of bad people, Ella. I’m just trying to balance it out.” He shrugged.
“You know, you’re starting to sound like a good person.”
He snorted. “No, I’m not.”
“You’re taking care of bad people. Saving kids. Sure, your methods are not exactly that of a superhero, but you’re doing it your own way.” Ella looked down at the young girl. “She will be deemed a troublemaker. Possibly even put in a worse place.”
“Or, we can take her,” Mateo said.
“Take her?”
“We can adopt her.”
“That is a lot of paperwork, and they have to dig into your background.”
“Ella, I know a lot of people. She can leave with us today,” he said.
“You’re serious?”
“Yeah, I am. You want to have her, take care of her, look after her. Just ask, and consider it done.”
Ella looked down at the young Terry. There was no way she would allow her to go back into a system like that. Ella had been in that position herself, and it was one of the single worst things she had ever experienced.
“I’m not sending her back there,” Ella said. “I want to adopt her, but only if you’re okay with that.”
“I don’t mind.” Mateo looked toward Terry. “And it appears she is already waking up.”
Terry let out a little sigh. She looked up at Ella, and she smiled down at the little girl. “Hey, Terry,” she said. “You don’t have to be afraid. Do you remember Mateo?”
The little girl turned her attention to Mateo, and she nodded her head.
“Hey, Terry,” he said.
“You rescued me.”
“I did. I’ve got a question for you, Terry. How would you like to come and live with me and my wife?” he said. “We live in a big house, lots of garden to play in. We can get your room ready for you.”
“Do you punish if I’m bad? I am a bad ... person,” Terry said.
This broke Ella’s heart.
“No, you’re not a bad person, Terry. They were bad people. Would you like to come see the house?” he asked.
Terry looked toward her.
“It’s up to you, sweetheart.”
“I don’t want to go back there.”
“You won’t,” Mateo said.
“Can I stay with Ella?”
“Yes,” Mateo said.
Ella smiled at her husband. He liked to paint himself the bad guy, but she knew the truth. He was, in fact, a very good guy.
The doctors were not happy, but she didn’t know what Mateo did or said, as no one stopped them from taking Terry.
Ella picked up the little girl in her arms and walked right out of the hospital with her.
She held her tightly and promised she would love and protect this girl, for however long Terry wanted her to.
No one had been there for her, and she was not going to turn her back on Terry.
There was a car waiting, and Ella climbed inside. She secured Terry in the middle seat so that she was between herself and Mateo. The ride back to his country home was long, and partway there, Terry fell asleep. At first, she leaned up against Ella, then she snuggled toward Mateo.
Ella looked toward her husband, and it was in that moment she knew he was going to be a good father. He might not even realize it, but he had it in him to be great. Between the two of them, they knew how not to be parents. They had a lot of bad memories, and they could make new ones with Terry.
Arriving at Mateo’s home, they drove up to the main driveway and parked. The two men who had driven them back climbed out and stepped away from the car. Terry was still asleep. She and Mateo stayed silent, giving her some time.
It didn’t take long for Terry to wake, and as soon as she became aware of her surroundings, her mouth fell.
“Is this your home?” Terry asked.
Mateo looked up. “It sure is. Kind of boring, right?”
“You live in a castle.”
He shook his head. “Nah, not a castle, honey. Just a big house. Do you want to come and see?” he asked.
Terry nodded her head, and he climbed out of the car, holding his hand out for the little girl to take. Ella was so happy to see Terry just sliding her hand right into his. She had marveled at the sheer size of his home.
Rounding the car, Ella followed the two as they went straight into the house. It was cold, and she wrapped her arms across her chest in the hope of keeping some of the chill off. Not that she had to worry when they entered his home, as it was lovely and toasty warm.
For the next hour, Mateo took Terry on a tour of the house, and Ella followed them, as he showed her the downstairs, then took her upstairs. He showed her each guest bedroom, followed by his and Ella’s bedroom.
When they got to the bedroom that was close to his and hers, he opened it. “This could be your bedroom.”
He let go of Terry’s hand, and the little girl stepped inside.
“I’d have my own bed?” she asked.
“Yes, and your own bathroom.” He stepped inside, and Ella watched as he walked over to one of the doors and opened it up. “See.” Terry peered into the door, and then looked at the other door.
“Is this the punishment closet?”
She watched as Mateo’s hand clenched. “No, this is your closet, for your clothes.”
“My clothes...”
The girl didn’t have any belongings. Mateo had told her he checked the whole house and couldn’t find anything that belonged to the girl. The clothes she had been wearing consisted of a man’s long nightshirt.
Ella had gotten Steven to go and grab a few pieces for Terry to wear at the hospital. At the moment, they didn’t have anything for the little girl, but Ella knew she could rectify that.
“Wow,” Terry said.
“And that is not even the best part.” He moved across the room to her window. “Look at the garden, and you can play there in the summer. It’s too cold now.”
Terry walked to the window and looked out. “Wow.”
“Yeah, wow, and we can get you some things. A playhouse or something,” he said.
Ella was falling in love with Mateo. The way he was talking with Terry, being so sweet and kind. There was no way she couldn’t fall in love with this man. She had no idea how sweet he could be.
“What if I’m bad?” Terry asked.
“Will you be bad?” Mateo asked.
Terry shook her head.
“Then we don’t need to worry.” Mateo smiled at her. “It’s up to you.”
“Will Santa know that I live here? He doesn’t know where I live and he stopped bringing presents.”
“Yes, Santa knows where you are, and if he doesn’t, I will personally let him know you’re right here, at this address.”
Yes, she was totally in love with this man. There was so much more to Mateo than being a mafia boss. He was a good, kind man, especially to those who actually deserved it.
“Can I stay?” Terry asked, nibbling on her bottom lip.
“Yeah, you can stay.”
And she threw her arms around Mateo, hugging him tightly.