Chapter 42 Dinner for two #2
Agent Andrews addresses me this time. “Get her to continue her sentence, Lila.”
Pulsing our joined hands, I do as instructed. “What? You know how it feels?” I infuse some hope in my expression to encourage her to finish her thought.
Nothing.
I try again, this time being more direct. “Have you been in my shoes? Is that what you were gonna say?”
Her posture instantly changes. She physically and emotionally withdraws. As she releases my hand, my stupid thumb ring clinks on her jewelry. My eyes lock on the source of the sound. Her rings are far too thick to be normal jewelry.
Eerily similar to mine.
When I break my gaze away, she’s staring at my thumbs. Gradually, her shocked eyes lock on mine.
We both know.
In that instant, something passes between us, carried on the wings of mutual suffering. An unspoken acknowledgment.
I’m hit with an oddly warm sensation. In my next breath, I realize it’s the comfort in knowing I’m not alone.
Before this interaction with Dana, I had my suspicions that she was marking cards. Especially after her home invasion. When Reed and his team told me they wanted me to talk to her on camera, my hunch was officially validated.
But this is more powerful. There’s a big difference between suspicion and confirmation.
There’s no longer any doubt we’re both being used as puppets by a twisted, violent man.
“Dana, your rings,” I start, sounding pathetically frail.
F that.
I roll my shoulders back and try again, this time telling my fear to suck an egg. “I see you wear yours on your pinky fingers, huh? I opted for the thumb rings. Makes it easier for my dealing style.”
My eyes burn into hers, all but challenging her to deny or deflect. She does neither, seemingly frozen.
In retrospect, I probably should have proceeded with more caution. Too late now.
At least the peanut gallery in my ear is refreshingly mute.
Dana lingers in the stilted silence, studiously sweeping her gaze around the room. It’s empty, save for the two of us.
I wonder if she’s curious why it’s a ghost town. Thanks to the little birdies in my ear, I already know it was orchestrated to give us a few minutes alone. Management staggered staff breaks to buy us this quiet time.
Dana finally speaks, but her vision stays focused on the door. “They got to you too?”
“Yes.”
Her lip trembles. “I thought you might be in on it since Silas was your boyfriend.”
“Oh heck no. He only started dating me so he could learn what mattered most to me. Then he took her.”
She coughs, but the sound is forced, as if she’s concealing a pained sob. “Did he give her back?”
“Eventually.”
Her eyes fall from the doorway as she faces me. “Who did he take?”
“My best friend,” I admit.
“Ask who he took from her,” Reed urges softly.
At least I don’t reply audibly to him this time. Win for me.
“What about you?” I press Dana. “Who did Silas take?”
Her cheek undulates like she’s gnawing on it from inside her mouth. “Not quite the same for me.”
After a pointed exhale, she returns her stare to the door. And I get it now. She’s watching to ensure we remain alone.
I give her the silence she seems to need to find her courage. “He took my daughter’s planner.”
Um. Say what now?
Perhaps not having kids is making me miss some greater meaning here.
“I don’t follow,” I confess sheepishly.
“Considering he abducted your friend, taking a school planner probably seems like an insulting comparison.”
“Honestly, I don’t even know what a school planner is. Is it a notebook?”
Agent Andrews encourages me, like all good fathers probably do. “You’re doing fantastic. Keep her talking. The more comfortable she gets, the more she’ll share.”
Dana bats her eyelashes at me as if she’s saying bless your heart. “It’s a notebook agenda type thing Ava takes to school each day. She keeps it in her backpack. And yet, somehow, Silas ended up with it. I hate to imagine how.”
Offering her comfort as she did for me, I rub small circles on her upper back. “How did you find out?”
She purses her lips, kicking her head back morosely.
“The fucker followed me to a gas station near school after I picked her up. While I pumped gas, Ava was in the back seat, minding her own business. Silas and this other guy parked at the opposite pump. I recognized him as your boyfriend right away since he used to hang around here. He returned the planner and told me they’d take my daughter next if I didn’t comply. ”
It isn’t hard to find that common ground Andrews was talking about. We’re standing square on it.
“That’s awful. No wonder you went along with it. I don’t blame you.”
Dana’s upper lip curls into a slight snarl. “That big ugly fucker who came with Silas had the audacity to stick his head in my car to wave at my daughter. I wanted to kill him.”
“I wonder if it was the same creep who showed up here to intimidate me,” I toss, hoping she’ll be able to confirm that for the FBI.
And she does.
After she gives me a brief description, Reed says, “Sounds like Elliott Riddick. Keep going, Lila.”
Even the cashmere of his voice can’t dispel this nauseous sensation.
Given Dana’s home invasion was several weeks after Kenzie was taken, perhaps I could have prevented this. If I’d gone straight to the cops, maybe Silas would’ve been stopped before they got to her.
“Dana, I’m so sorry this happened to you.” My voice shakes as my guilt and genuine worry for her daughter spring to the middle of my chest. “At least, my best friend is an adult, but your daughter is so young and innocent. How can they be so ruthless?”
“Shh,” she admonishes me.
Oops. Guess my volume was spiking with my emotions.
My reaction shifts dramatically, moving me from overwhelmed sadness to justifiable rage in two heartbeats. “Sorry,” I offer, returning to a whisper. “But this is . . . it’s just . . . it’s bullshit. That’s what this is. We need to stop them.”
I’m so dang livid on her behalf that the curse didn’t even make my gut sink.
“We can’t stop them.” Ardently, she shakes her head. “I already tried. It only made it worse.”
My breath catches in my throat. “What do you mean? Did they?” I let my question trail off, not wanting to imagine what she means by worse.
“No, they didn’t take her yet.” Her pain cushions her words.
“The day after Silas and his goon gave me the rings and the instructions, I drove to the police station. Sat in the parking lot for so long. But I was too scared to go in. And the next morning, they sent someone to my house, attacked my mother, and fired gunshots into pictures of my daughter and me.”
A shot of morbid vindication streaks through me. I freaking knew Silas wasn’t bluffing when he said they’d be watching. If I went to the cops, Kenzie would’ve been killed. There’s no doubt in my mind now.
“Lila, listen to me,” the female agent says. “Find out which gas station. There are three near her daughter’s school. And get an approximate date if you can.”
How the heck do I pivot back to that?
“Um. Where was-uh. I mean. Uh.” I open my mouth and close it three times, positively unable to find the words that won’t scare her off. Ultimately, I go with more honesty. It’s working thus far. “I know you said you tried before, but maybe I can help.”
She side-eyes me with reserved optimism coloring her shimmering eyes. “How?”
A shiver runs through me, adrenaline and excitement pulsating from this possibility. If I have Dana with me, I won’t have to bear this on my own. Reed’s been great, but he doesn’t know what this is like for me. Dana does.
I can make her an ally.
After meeting her eyes, I start on my explanation. “I have this friend.”
Love of my life? Friend? What’s the difference?
Oh, and he’s listening. Tee hee.
Instantly, she shakes her head to rebuke me before I even get close to the point. “No, we can’t tell anyone. Silas will—”
“It’s okay. Trust me. Listen for a second.” I pause for a breath before admitting, “The man who was with Silas. I think his name is Elliott. And he’s already been arrested. Silas is next.”
“How do you know that?”
“From my friend. He’s actually Kenzie’s brother. And he’s also . . .”
“Lila, don’t,” Andrews interjects.
But it’s already on the way out of my mouth. “ . . . with the FBI. I’m helping them find Silas. We’re gonna stop them so they can’t hurt anyone else. You can join me and—”
Dana jerks to her feet, sending the chair clattering behind her. “Are you fucking kidding me? You’ll get her killed. You’ll get us all killed.” Miraculously, she manages to keep her volume low while seething at me. “You need to stop this. We’re done. I’m done. I cannot be part of this.”
Her body shakes as she grabs her food from the table, throwing it in the trash. In my flustered state, it strikes me odd that she’s sending a reusable plastic storage container and actual silverware on a journey to the landfill.
Dang. Even when I’m not trying to distract myself from uncomfortable things, my conscience does it for me.
Focus, Lila. The only person who knows what you’re going through is fleeing.
Without a plan, I stand and start to follow. “Wait.”
She stops me with a scathing glare. “This conversation never happened. Whatever you tell your friend, keep my name the fuck out of it. Please. Or my daughter’s blood will be on your hands.”
No, no, no. What have I done?
My knees quake as I watch her storm away. I don’t know how long I stay frozen in place. I can’t hear anything over the raucous pounding of my heart.
That and one other sound.
A memory from the past, growing louder as it escapes the darkest part of my soul until it blares as fiercely as the day it happened.
The gut-wrenching sound of Zara screaming as she went over that cliff.
Because of me.