11. - – Elias
CHAPTER ELEVEN
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ELIAS
Hours. It had been hours of nothing. No updates, no footsteps, just the hum of the fluorescent lights.
My hope she’d be found alive was beginning to sour into a cold, hard grief.
Shut up, I hissed to myself. Don't think like that.
My skin felt too tight for my body, I wanted to get out of this room and start searching for her myself. I felt like I was going to snap.
As if summoned by my own paranoia, Detectives Hill and Miller materialized in the doorway.
"Elias, we need to talk," Hill said, his voice stripped of its usual snide tone.
Now he sounded almost polite , his words urgent.
Behind him, Miller hauled in a heavy cardboard box with what appeared to be filed inside.
"We’re here to jog your memory," Miller added, dropping the box with a hollow thud.
"It seemed to work when Clara sat down and combed through your socials with you. Let’s see if going through these files helps you remember anything"
“That won’t be- ” The words died in my throat as Hill slid the first file across the table.
I stared down at the glossy print, and the world seemed to tilt.
I’d just figured out I worked security of some sort, and now a life I’d run from and hoped to forget was staring me back in the face.
There we were, shoulder to shoulder, looking like we were on top of the world.
Josh. "We knew each other," I whispered, the recognition settling in my gut like lead. "I knew I’d seen his face before."
Miller muttered something inaudible, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
He fanned the photos out across the table like a deck of cards.
With every image, a new piece of the person I used to be slotted into place.
My stomach turned. I’d been mourning the loss of my memory, but staring at these files, I realized amnesia was the best gift I’d ever been given.
Some things are better off staying buried.
“Josh, is actually Bruce and-”
I cut him off. “Bruce Moretti. Yeah, I remember now.”
The nurse came in with an extra chair and the detectives took the opportunity to sit so we were more eye to eye as opposed to them hovering over me. “We need you to remember, Elias.” Miller’s eyes seemed to gloss over. “Everything.”
I didn’t want to remember. The things I had done were nothing compared to other men in the company, including Bruce.
If I remembered everything, I was sure to end up spending the rest of my life behind bars.
I worked for that company. I was young and desperate for money.
Sterling got me off of the streets and provided a roof over my head and warm meals.
I thought that’s what it was, a refuge for those less fortunate.
His men trained me and I was instructed to make sure nothing ever happened to his daughter.
I took my job seriously. Until I started noticing things felt corrupt.
Moretti got caught getting weird with some of the older girls, one in particular.
Everything began rushing back in an instant.
“What did he do to her?” I shouted and began to fight to get out of bed.
The detectives stood up and rushed into me, holding me back against the firm mattress before we caught the attention of the nurse sitting outside the door. “You need to calm down and let us take care of things.”
“Where’s Clara?” My tone was aggressive. I began to fear the worst, and they were here to deliver the bad news.
They released me. “We have our best men in the field searching.” Hill glanced over to Miller. “Bruce is starting to crack. I can see why he worked so well for Sterling, he buckles under pressure easily.”
I chuckled. He wasn’t wrong.
Miller cleared his throat. “Moretti did mention something and it didn’t sit right with me.”
I raised my brow. “I don’t think any aspect of this story should sit right with anyone.”
He smiled and nodded in agreement. “Touche.” He cleared his throat. “He told us you saw the girls as inventory and they belonged to you?”
My blood began to boil. “Don’t tell me you believed him?”
Miller shrugged. “I believe you were protecting what he felt he was owed.” He pursed his lips. “In some sick instance, he probably had convinced himself that was your m.o.. Moretti had purchased girls for himself, and then you stood in the way.”
I kept my eyes forward as the memory loomed in the air.
Lydia. I began to share my story, the one I had never had a chance to tell.
I had been hired to protect Lucy Sterling, Silas’ daughter, and I took my job seriously.
Then I noticed Bruce taking an interest in another girl, Lydia.
I had worked in secret and found a couple who were willing to take her in, no questions asked as long as I sent them money each month.
In the middle of the night, while everyone was asleep, I moved her out of the house.
I thought I hadn’t gotten caught, but that wasn’t the case.
Once I was no longer working for Sterling, the couple who took Lydia in unexpectedly passed away.
I took her in and we ran. I always suspected foul play and I blamed myself for putting them in the line of fire.
The words came out with no other explanation. “He bought her.”
“Who bought whom?” Miller wanted more, I could tell he wanted to put Moretti away for the rest of his life.
“Moretti purchased Lucy.” I stared down at my feet. “She wasn’t even for sale, but he began to threaten Silas, telling him he was going to blow the whole operation wide open. He had contacts set to release the files he had been keeping in the instance something ever happened to him.”
Hill shifted in his seat. “Silas could have killed you, he killed everyone else who went behind his back. So why didn’t he?”
I wasn’t sure, I had felt lucky he didn’t take the same route with me as he had the others. Part of me thought it was because of his age, but there were others that had come after me who met their demise. None of it made sense. “I wish I had the answer.”
Miller nodded and I could tell he wished he had the final piece of the puzzle.
Hill handed me one last file. This one was more recent. “The dolls.” His stare was intimidating but I knew I could handle whatever he had to tell me. “Did you ever notice anything strange about them?”
I shook my head.
The detective took a deep breath and began to discuss in great detail their findings.
He then shared he found the last doll which had been left before the accident, and how it resembled Clara almost perfectly.
I felt nauseous. All these years. I slammed my fist into the mattress.
“I can’t believe I missed it.” Upset was an understatement.
Lydia… How could I have been so dense. She showed me the doll and I barely paid it any attention. The signs were in front of me.
The dolls hadn’t been just a gift to Lydia, but a threat to me.
A promise Bruce wasn’t through with me yet.
The car I had been driving. Lydia had surprised me with it for my birthday one year. I remembered her saying it was a ‘bloody good deal’ with a laugh and I never questioned her who or where she had purchased it from. I definitely should have.
“One last thing,” Miller said as more of an inquiry. “Did you know that your nurse Clara is Lucy Sterling?”
The corner of my lips turned into a smile. “I didn’t at first. I’ve been slowly putting those pieces together, and you just confirmed it for me.”
There was something about a shift in the air and I felt like everything was going to be okay.
I watched as the detectives walked toward the door.
Hill turned and looked over his shoulder before they left.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find her. Just promise me that when we do, you’ll spend the rest of your life doing exactly what you had been hired to do. ”
I’m not going to jail. The largest smile came across my face. “I would love nothing more.”