Chapter 22 #3
I nodded, my heart racing. “What do you say? Do you want to call them or me?”
Her chest rose and fell a few times before she said, “You.”
I understood. She’d been told her parents didn’t want her. If it turned out to be true, she wanted the blow to land on me, not her. Even if she was listening.
I opened the keypad on my phone. “Okay,” I said, knowing I’d pick this decision apart later, wondering if I’d handled it right. “Give me her number, and I’ll call.”
Lexi sat up, shoving the half-empty containers to the other side of the bed, then swung her legs over the edge so she was facing me.
I waited. When she didn’t speak for nearly a half minute, I said gently, “Be brave, Lexi. Let’s call.”
“Buddy says I’m not brave,” she whispered. “He says I’m scared of my own shadow.”
“Then let’s show him he’s wrong,” I said, steady and sure. “Tell me her number.”
Lexi’s chest heaved. I reached over and took her hand.
“I’ll be right here with you,” I said softly. “And if they say they don’t want you, we’ll figure something else out.”
Confusion filled her eyes. “Don’t I need to go back to the house?”
I slowly shook my head. “No. Not if you don’t want to. And wherever you go, I’ll make sure it’s with someone kind.” I squeezed her hand. “Now be brave and tell me her number.”
She held my gaze like she was trying to decide if she could trust me. Finally, she released my hand and whispered the number so quietly, I had to ask her to repeat it as I punched it in.
When I was ready to hit call, I gave her a reassuring smile. “What’s your mom’s name?”
“Anna.”
I nodded, hit call, and prayed I was doing the right thing.
The phone rang several times. I was already mentally preparing myself to leave a voicemail—Lexi’s mother might not answer an unrecognized number—so I was surprised when a woman picked up, distracted. “Hello?”
My heart slammed into my ribs. God, I hoped this wasn’t a mistake. “Anna. I’m calling about your daughter, Lexi.”
There was several seconds of silence before she bit out, “Is this some kind of sick joke?”
My stomach dropped. How could I have been so wrong?
Lexi scrambled off the bed and hurried to my side, whispering, “Emily. Tell her Emily.”
Of course. Many trafficked girls were given new names.
“Emily,” I corrected quickly. “Sorry, Lexi is the name they gave her.” I swallowed hard. “Anna, I hate to ask you this, but… Emily needs to know that you want her to come home.”
Lexi—Emily—pressed into my side and clutched my arm.
“Who are you?” Anna demanded. “How can you even ask me that? Are you trying to get a bigger reward?”
I glanced down at Emily and considered putting the phone on mute. But if her mother heard her fear—heard her—maybe Emily’s voice could pull her mother back from the edge.
“Emily,” I said, holding her gaze. “If your mom didn’t want you to come home, she wouldn’t offer a reward. I promise you, she wants you.”
Anna broke. “Emily?” she sobbed. “Are you there?”
Emily’s eyes grew huge, and she froze.
Then a man came on the line, his voice hard with panic and anger. “Why won’t you assholes leave us alone? We’ve been through enough!”
I looked down at Emily. She still didn’t move. She didn’t believe it. Or maybe she was still stuck in her fear. She’d been through a lot tonight. This was probably too soon.
“I have Emily with me,” I said, wishing I’d thought to ask Emily for her dad’s name. “She’s in the Little Rock area, and the people who had her convinced her that you and your wife don’t want her back. She only needs to hear you say that you do.”
The silence that greeted me was terrifying.
Then he spoke, and his voice broke. “Emily… are you really there?”
“It’s okay,” I whispered to her. “They love you. They really do want you to come home.”
“Em,” Anna said, breathless and desperate. “Please come home, baby. Please. I love you so much. Em… please.”
Emily just stared at the phone.
“Emily,” I said gently. “You have to say something. They need to know it’s really you.”
Her voice came out tiny. “Do you really want me to come home?”
Anna began sobbing in earnest, but her husband’s suspicion surged right back. “Are you holding her for the reward?”
“I don’t want your money,” I said, keeping my voice level. “I just want to bring your daughter home. She said you’re in Fayetteville?”
“Are you with the police?” he asked cautiously.
“No,” I said. “I’m a PI, and I ran into your daughter tonight at a truck stop.”
“At a truck stop?” Confusion edged his voice. “What would she be doing at a truck stop?”
“That’s not important right now.” I said, cutting him off before he could spiral.
I didn’t want to get into what Emily had been through on the phone.
Especially not in front of her. “What matters is that your daughter wants to go home. Can you meet me halfway?” Under any other circumstances, I’d have driven her straight to Fayetteville myself.
But that would put me a total of nearly three hours from Little Rock.
Three hours round trip would be bad enough.
“Why don’t you take her to the police?” he demanded.
Emily’s grip tightened around my arm.
“No police,” I said. “She’s been conditioned to be terrified of them. Will you meet me or not?”
“What the hell are you doing, John?” Anna snapped, then her voice rose, sharp with purpose. “Where do we meet you? Just tell us where.”
I exhaled with relief. “I need to figure out what’s halfway between Fayetteville and Little Rock.
” Since I didn’t have a smart phone, I’d have to find a map.
Then I realized I didn’t have to figure this out totally on my own.
I could call Carter. “I’m going to hang up and start driving west on I-40.
Once I pick a spot, I’ll call you with the meeting location. ”
“This is a trick,” the man muttered in the background.
“I assure you it’s not,” I said. “But I’m still working this case, and this is the safest way to get your daughter back to you.
” I hesitated, then went ahead and said it.
“There’s a good chance some members of the Little Rock police are involved in what Emily was mixed up in. And not in a good way.”
Anna gasped. “No police,” she said quickly. “I just want my baby.”
I glance down at Emily. “Do you want to say something before we hang up?”
She looked up at me, eyes wide.
“You’re brave, Emily,” I said. “This was brave. You can do this.”
She gave a slow nod, then turned to the phone. “I don’t want to go to the police,” she said softly. “They’ll just send me back to Buddy.” Her voice broke. “Mommy… I want to come home.”
“I’m coming, baby,” Anna said, breathless. “I love you, and once I have you in my arms, I’m never letting you out of my sight again. I’m grabbing my keys and leaving right now. I’m coming.”
“Anna,” her husband called out. “Wait. You can’t just go meet some random woman who calls claiming to have our daughter!”
“That’s Emily! I’m going!” she shouted. “With or without you!”
I looked over at Emily to see if she had anything else to say, but she shook her head.
“We’re leaving now, Anna,” I said into the phone. “I’ll be in touch soon.”
I ended the call and pulled Emily into a tight hug. “That was incredibly brave. I’m so proud of you.”
She hugged me back for several seconds, then she tipped her chin up and gave me a shy smile. “You owe me a hundred dollars.”
I grinned down at her. “After that? I’ll give you two hundred.”