Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
Later that night.
Muffled sobbing from under the blanket nearly shook the bed next to Sara’s. Otherwise, the room was completely silent. She and the two other girls had learned that when the staff said “lights out” that was that, including no talking, unless you wanted to have one of them come back and yell at you. At least they let them stay up until nine-thirty. They all might be ten, but that didn’t mean they were babies.
But this girl just arrived yesterday, was still learning the rules and anyone could tell she was terrified. Remembering her first few lonely days here, Sara slipped out her bed and without asking, got into the new girl’s bed. If staff heard her crying, they might all be punished.
“Sh-h-h,” she whispered. “Don’t cry. We don’t want the staff to come back.”
“I want to go home,” the girl whimpered, sitting up. “Please let me go home.”
“I know, but try not to cry,” Sara urged, putting her arm around the girl’s shoulders. “My name is Sara Turner. What’s yours?”
“R-Robin Master,” the girl choked out. The light through the window was just enough that Sara could see she had dark hair and eyes like her best friend Marcy Brooks. “My neighbor lied to me. He said he was going to take me to my mother’s store, but he brought me here!
“Same thing happened to me,” Sara told her. “‘Cept it was Mr. Joe, someone who works with my grandfather.”
“My mom always said never to get into cars with strangers,” Robin wept. “And I didn’t! It was Mr. Hobart, my neighbor. I thought he was nice. I want to go home!”
Her voice rose and the other girls stirred in their beds, so Sara gently but firmly put her hand over Robin’s mouth. “You gotta be quiet,” she hissed. “You don’t want to talk to Sir. He’s kinda scary, but sometimes, his bald head is so shiny, it looks like a bowling ball or that he waxed it.”
Robin laughed, then slapped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” she hissed.
“That’s OK,” Sara whispered. “But come with me. I want to show you something.”
She rolled out of bed and Robin followed. Stopping long enough to reach under her own bed, Sara pulled out a folding three-step ladder. She’d found it there the day after she was brought here. Sara took Robin’s hand and led her to a far wall where she unfolded the ladder. “Are you afraid of heights?” she asked.”
“No,” and a tiny note of confidence entered Robin’s voice. “I can climb trees and everything.”
“OK, that’s good,” Sara said. “I think the steps are wide enough for both of us if we scrooch together and hold on to the railings.”
Robin frowned. “Why are we gonna do that?”
“I wanna show you something. You go first.”
Nodding, Robin carefully climbed the ladder and stood as close to one of the rails as she could. Just as carefully, Sara climbed until they were standing side by side.
“There,” Sara said, pointing out the small paned window. “What do you see?”
“Stars, moon.” Robin’s voice trembled again. “My mom calls that a New Moon, but I don’t understand what that means. My science teacher said the moon is millions of years old so how can it be new?”
“I don’t know either,” Sara admitted. “But do you see that big golden building nearly reaching the moon? The one with the big golden ball on top?”
Robin stared so long, Sara wondered if maybe she needed glasses or something. Then she gasped, “It’s the Sunsphere! Momma and I like to go up to the Observation Deck on the fourth floor and we drive all the way from Maryville just to go up there. You can see forever from there!”
“So, if we can see the Sunsphere, that means we’re in Knoxville,” Sara told her. “My mom used to say there was only one like it in the world and it’s here in Knoxville.”
“Are your momma and daddy gonna come get you?” Tears ran down Robin’s cheeks and Sara had to fight the urge to cry right along with her.
“No,” she said, gripping the ladder’s railing so hard it hurt. “They both died, but my godmother Danni will find me–us–and take us home. Where’s your dad?”
“They’re separated,” Robin told her. “He works all the time so I don’t see him too much.”
“My godmother Danni writes for a newspaper and is really, really smart,” Sara told her. “And she knows lots of police officers and she’ll help them find us. We just need to hang tough until they do.”
“Hang tough?” Robin asked. “What’s that mean?”
“Means be brave,” Sara said. “That’s what Danni always tells me when I’m scared. And she and your parents are gonna find us.”
A soft moan came from one of the beds and Sara canted her head, listening and waiting. When she was sure that the other girls were still asleep, she whispered, “We better get back to bed in case someone comes to check on us.”
She let Robin go down first, then followed, folding the ladder and tucking it under her arm. After putting a finger to her lips, they crept back to their beds and Sara slid the ladder back into place.
“Do you think they’ll come get us by Christmas?” Robin’s sleepy voice sounded on the verge of tears again.
“You betcha,” Sara assured her, using another one of Danni’s helpful phrases. “But we gotta hang tough.”
“Hang tough,” Robin repeated, and a minute later her slow, breathing assured Sara that her new friend was asleep. Only then did Sara allow herself to cry. She hadn’t wanted Robin to see how scared she was.
So, burying her face in her pillow she prayed the words she’d prayed every night since being brought here.
Hurry, Danni. Please, please hurry.
Much later that night.
“We’re not going to The Main Place tomorrow,” Patrick said flatly. “It’s too open, too dangerous and too many people.”
They’d spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with their own tasks– Danni writing her articles while Patrick and Kristopher worked on developing a fitness training program for new BP members before going to try it out in the Safehouse gym. Then they’d all started a spreadsheet, documenting what they’d learned since Wednesday and the various “players”, as Kristopher called them.
“We need to keep up with every scrap of info we find,” Kristopher had said. “No matter how small it might seem.”
But when Danni broached the subject of going to The Main Place to look for “Silas the almost Amish boy”, the atmosphere of camaraderie changed. Patrick was dead set against it.
“It’s a bad idea,” he said. “In case you didn’t hear, though I’d be surprised if you hadn’t–Griff and Elaine were attacked there just last month. Someone opened fire on them and it’s a miracle they or the police officers there as backups, or anyone else weren’t killed.” He did not mention a suspect in the case was slightly injured.
“So how are we supposed to find Silas and talk to him about Sara?” Danni challenged.
“We send the police.” Patrick tried to keep the condescension from his voice. “That’s what they’re paid to do. They can probably find him more quickly than we could and with a lot less risk.”
“But what if–just imagine–what if Silas were part of a kidnapping ring that took Sara?” Danni countered. “What if he were part of The Cadre? ‘Cause we’re at least agreed, aren’t we, that Sara was taken? If the police went, they’d tip off Silas and whoever might be working with him.”
“Oh, Lord,” Patrick moaned. “Mac warned me about your imagination.”
His description brought a scowl to her pretty face. “I’ll get him for that later,” she promised. “But hear me out. If the police showed up, even in plain clothing and started asking questions about Sara, it would alert Silas and others that they suspected them. And besides, what better way to find young girls by hiding in plain sight as a vendor at a popular spot? Maybe that’s where Sara was first seen by the captors.”
“And you didn’t expect those attacks on you when you were ‘in plain sight’,” Patrick argued, knowing he was losing the argument. “If you want to do something useful tomorrow, ask Stanley Harris if you can interview his granddaughter via Zoom for your article. That will keep you both safe. And that’s my job, Danni. To keep you safe, not lead you into harm’s way!”
“We have the photo of the hat’s receipt to show Silas we’re on the up and up!” Danni continued as if she hadn’t heard him. “My imagination aside, what if Silas is too scared to talk to the police? Sergeant Miller and Captain Haggerty are probably too busy with other cases to send someone to find Silas and talk to him and could be a waste of their time and resources!”
“Ah, could I make a suggestion?” Kristopher spoke from his chair in the corner. He’d retreated there when the discussion got heated.
“What?” The shouts came from both of them. Then Danni blushed and Patrick brushed a hand over his head. “Sorry,” they both said.
“I’m not here to be just your chauffeur,” Kristopher said evenly. “Any more than you were on your last mission, Patrick. I’m your back-up eyes and bodyguard as needed.”
“And I’ve appreciated having you here,” Patrick said quickly. “Aside from all the jokes about your cooking.”
“Me too.” Danni’s soft voice was apologetic.
“So, let’s do this,” Kristopher suggested. “We’ll go to The Main Place tomorrow, find Silas and come straight back here. I’ll stay in the background and believe me, no one will know I’m watching out for you and no will notice me. No one ever does. I’ll bet if Silas and his family are regulars, they’ll have the same spot for their booth or table, so they’ll be easy enough to find. Ask him a few questions, and we’re straight back here. No stops at other vendors’ booths, no shopping. Thirty minutes at the most.”
“I can do that,” Danni said. “I don’t want to shop. I just want to learn what this boy might know about Sara.”
“I still don’t like it,” Patrick insisted. “There are likely to be lots of people around. Anything could happen.” And I did a piss poor job of protecting you in front of St. Nicholas.
“Safety in number with all those people?” Kristopher suggested.
“Mrs. M. said he’s likely to be there on Friday and what if his family doesn’t go on Saturdays?” Danni asked. “And there are never vendors set up there on Sundays. This might be our only chance to find Silas and talk to him.”
“His family might be almost done with their sales before Christmas,” Kristopher continued to support Danni’s request.
“There, you see?” Danni said. “We have to go tomorrow even though it could be dangerous. We can’t afford to miss this chance. Please, Patrick?”
Her pleading wove its way into Patrick’s heart, and he had to remind himself what a roller coaster ride of emotions this woman had experienced since the first of the week. With the exception of the women in uniform who had served and fought beside him, no other woman he’d ever known could have gone through a week like this and not be a complete emotional wreck. Danni Blake wasn’t trained for this, but she was sure putting up one hell of a fight to keep it together. He had to respect and admire that. He did respect and admire that.
As he was coming to recognize the stirrings of longing she aroused in him. Intelligence, humor, beauty and a certain kind of cockiness made Danni Blake a very desirable package. A package he would like to slowly unwrap and untie and inspect.
He would especially like to explore her freckles. Patrick loved freckles.
“Alright, we’ll go,” he said at last and was alarmed by the surge of desire washing over him at the happiness shining in her eyes. “But no dawdling while we’re there, understand?”
“Dawdling?” Laughter hovered around her mouth and for one insane moment he thought of kissing her. “Dawdling?”
“To be slow or waste time,” he defined. “As I’m sure you well know.”
“Yes, sir.” She gave him her careless salute and then released her laughter. He wished he could laugh with her, but the situation was too serious. Even with Kristopher there, it could be too dangerous.
But he couldn’t keep her locked up here. It would drive them both crazy and he knew in his bones it wouldn’t work because she’d find a way to go, with or without him.
“OK.” He cleared his throat and tried to use a tone that wouldn’t scare her to death. “We have a drop and roll plan in place. Let’s pull up a map of The Main Place to locate possible hiding places we might have to use.”
Her smile faded. “Do you really think someone might try to hurt us in so open a place? With hundreds of people around?”
“It didn’t stop The Cadre from opening fire on Elaine Prescott and Griff last month,” Patrick reminded her. “And if it is The Cadre we’re up against this time, who knows what they’ll do?”
A fear he recognized flashed in her eyes, only to be replaced by a steely determination. A determination to do anything to find her beloved goddaughter.
“But I’ll have you both with me, right?” she said at last. “Two of Brotherhood Protectors finest. Can’t ask for more than that. Unless we’re asking for dinner,” Danni said with a smile.
“And since we still have plenty of leftovers, let’s eat. I call first dibs on the Greek lentil soup.” And Patrick headed for the kitchen before she saw just how very frightened for her safety he was.