Chapter 5
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Naomi woke the next morning, rolled over, and winced because her body, her jaw, her cheekbone, her hand, and pretty much everything was still very sore and, to a certain extent, puffy.
Yet she noticed that she didn’t even think about it.
As she looked in the mirror, she realized that the swelling was way down from what it was, to the extent that in the half-light of last night with Joe, the hot dog vendor, he probably didn’t really see the bruising.
She could see it, but it didn’t look like it was an issue in public anymore. She got dressed and headed into the kitchen to find Trent sitting there on his laptop, a cup of coffee beside him.
He looked up and smiled. “Hey.” His gaze narrowed as he assessed her face and nodded. “The swelling and bruising is coming along nicely.”
“I was actually just thinking about that,” she noted, “and I realized Joe, the hot dog guy, didn’t say anything about it.”
“No, he didn’t,” he agreed, turning to her. “But then the light last night—”
“Exactly. Maybe it was just the weird light, or maybe he didn’t want to ask too many questions. Maybe he was afraid that Ricky’s story had more truth in it than he wanted to know.”
“That was pretty funny too,” Trent stated, his grin widening. “Is he still asleep?”
“He is still asleep. I checked in on him before I came in here,” she shared.
“It’s a habit, isn’t it?”
“It’s all a habit,” she declared, with a smile. “However, he should wake up soon. Although, with all the traveling and what the poor little guy went through on the front of that boat, he might need to sleep in.”
“Yeah, and that’s okay too,” Trent said.
She poured herself a cup of coffee, sat down, and asked, “Any news?”
“Some.”
“Good or bad?”
“My bosses reached out to the family lawyer, who says he hasn’t had any contact with the family in months.”
She stared at him, thought about it for a moment, and shrugged. “I’m not sure that’s all that unusual.”
“That’s exactly what he told them,” he recounted, taking a sip of the coffee. “It isn’t unusual. He is paid a stipend to stay on retainer, and, when they need something, they contact him. Otherwise he is more than happy to not hear from them because that just means more work.”
She snorted.
He laughed. “Apparently he reported that all the bills were being paid as intended, that the parents were happy with the work you were doing, and he hadn’t heard anything either way as to any changes in the status quo.
When he was asked about the sailing trip, he hadn’t been informed about any of it but wasn’t surprised because they rarely told him their plans. ”
She nodded. “I think you’re right there.
I just don’t know at what point it may have turned into something other than just a regular sailing trip,” she pointed out.
“But, yes, the family often took these outings and trips. And by family, I meant the parents and the two adult sons coming along too. Not usually Ricky.” She shook her head. “Does anybody work in that family?”
“I have left that and other outstanding questions with the rest of my team members to find out,” Trent replied, clicking away on his laptop.
“Anything else?”
“Apparently the lawyer was a little cagey on what the family did for an income. He stated they had many different companies with generic names. Stated it wasn’t his business, and he didn’t have any intention of sharing secrets.”
Naomi frowned. “What kind of secret would it be to reveal what they do for a living?” she asked, staring at him.
“Exactly. Before we headed out to find you, I was told they were involved in government work. After hearing more of the details from you, I fear it is more about the government investigating the family. Still, I get the impression that the family lawyer truly does not know. The family seems to have a lot of money, and when you have a lot of money—”
She winced. “When you have a lot of money, you don’t have to play by the same rules.”
“Exactly,” Trent interjected. “Too bad the lawyer isn’t interested in being a little forthcoming.”
“I think that’s lawyers in general,” she noted absentmindedly. “It seems like they are a special class unto themselves.”
He laughed. “I’m not arguing about that, as I agree with you.
… He did say that he could email them or text them if needed but had no need to try them to date.
Still, he was willing, in this instance—with national security being involved,” he quipped, adding in an eye roll, “to do his best to contact the family and to let them know that they needed to speak with us about it.”
“Right. I wonder if Ricky’s parents will reply.”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “From what it sounds like, they won’t be very open to that discussion, will they?”
“No, I don’t think so,” she said. “They haven’t been very open to anything. Yet I also haven’t tried to get them to be open to anything, so it just kind of brings that back around to me.”
“I don’t think it brings anything back around to you. Don’t even start to think like that,” he declared.
She stared at him, trying hard to do just that, but nothing was working.
“Anyway … take a moment.” He then stood up.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“I have to report in, and then we’ll go from there.”
She hesitated, then asked, “And you … Are you staying? Are you not staying? Because according to my contract—”
He nodded. “I’m staying until we know a little more. I’ll sleep on the couch. I would offer to stay in a hotel, but that won’t work in this instance. I have to stick with you two. We want to confirm nobody’s coming after you because you did see these kidnappers, did you not?”
“I did,” she stated, “and I was actually thinking … I might be able to give you a decent description of the one who seemed to be barking orders, you know, at the dock. He was pretty clear in my mind last night, although I’m not sure how clear he is this morning,” she shared, with a sigh.
“We could do that though,” he agreed, with a smile. “If you could come up with an image, outside of the ones who we picked up, that would be great.”
“Did you get anything from them?” she asked, looking at him over the rim of her cup. “Did you manage to get them to talk?”
“No, not in any way that was helpful,” he replied.
“We are pretty sure they’re drug smugglers, and I don’t think they necessarily knew what they got themselves into with you and Ricky,” he suggested, with a nod toward the bedroom.
“I think now they’re really wondering just what kind of repercussions will come to them for grabbing the two of you. ”
“Well, if they’re drug smugglers, taking us just brought more attention on them.”
“Yeah, but no drugs were on board,” he told her. “So, we don’t really have a whole lot except for the fact that they were found with you guys, which is worse than smuggling.”
“Right,” she murmured. “And then, what about the people put overboard? Did you get a hold of them?”
“I have a team member tracking them down right now to talk to them,” he shared. “Hopefully they can give us a description as well. We have spoken to them on the phone, and they have agreed to talk with us in person, but I guess the woman is—Well, she’s fairly traumatized, let’s put it that way.”
Naomi snorted. “Yeah, what a surprise.”
He acknowledged her words with a big grin. “Right, but I can only tell you what I know.”
“And you can only tell me what you’re allowed to tell me,” she added, with a nod.
When he eyed her in surprise, she snorted and said, “Come on. I can certainly hear the withholding of information.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m a schoolteacher, you know?”
He started to chuckle. “I would tell you if I could.”
“I’ve heard that a time or two as well.”
“Dang,” he teased, “this puts me in a hard spot because obviously I would like to tell you absolutely everything, but I can’t.”
“I get it, but, if things get much worse, I hope you can clarify some of this mess,” she spelled out, “because our world has been completely upended. I am acutely aware that we only have our lives thanks to your team, and we don’t even know what actually went on in order to rescue us.
” She sighed. “Plus it would be nice if his family would contact us.” She stared off toward the bedroom. “I know Ricky would like that.”
“You could go ahead and send them a message.”
“Yeah, I need to get a phone today,” she reminded him. “Since I don’t have the bank cards and all that either, I may need the lawyer to fork out some money for it. I could use Ricky’s credit card but that’s not what it’s for.”
“From the way he sounded, I’m sure it won’t be an issue. I’ll go with you to the office, and we can get that stuff done first thing. Then you can try to contact the family and see if they respond.”
She nodded, studying him warily. “I’m hearing something in your tone that makes me a little leery.”
He didn’t say anything, but his gaze was bland as he faced her.
She nodded. “Just make sure that, whatever happens, Ricky isn’t put into any more danger. He’s handling it, but I wouldn’t want to put him through much more.”
“I don’t intend on putting Ricky through any more danger,” he declared. “That is a given, though I’m not feeling quite so generous about the parents right about now. I would like to give them a beating that they never forget for disregarding the fact that they have such a wonderful son.”
She laughed. “I’m with you there,” she muttered, “and it’s not the first time I’ve had that thought myself.
It’s definitely difficult, and this might be where my teacher training—or maybe my teacher frustration—kicks in because it’s absolutely horrific to have families who treat kids with such disparity, with no care about how one is treated versus another. ”