Fractured Innocence (#2 IFICS)

by Julia Crane

  “Can you zoom in closer?” Erik asked.

  “Of course.” After a few keystrokes, the rocky coastline became clearer.

  Erik whistled. “That’s pretty damn steep.”

  “Yeah, it’s virtually a fortress.” Lucas agreed.

  “I’m sure there are armed guards, cameras and probably dogs as well,” Erik said absently.

  “Always expect the worst. Isn’t that your motto?” Kaitlyn grinned. Erik smiled back at her.

  A knot twisted in Lucas’s gut. Erik and Kaitlyn had become closer since their time in Maine. Every time he closed his eyes, he pictured Kaitlyn on the ship with guns aimed at her. It had been harrowing to watch on the monitor. He found himself extremely grateful that she had Erik by her side.

  As always, he would do his part to make it safer for them by hacking into the security system and disabling the cameras when needed.

  His fingers moved furiously over the keyboard. After a couple of minutes, a graphical representation of the grounds and buildings appeared on the monitor. “I’m going to print out the intel so you guys can go over it with Harrington. I need to get to work helping Adams on the number sequence. After that, I’ll hack into his security system and locate any cameras on the property.”

  “I knew you would figure it out.” Kaitlyn beamed at him.

  Lucas felt his heart melt a bit. He returned the smile. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but they were at work and there would be time for that at home.

  Unless they leave right away. Which wouldn’t surprise him at all. They had all been waiting far too long for this moment.

  Lucas hit the print button on the computer, and they collectively held their breath as the data quickly came to life on the industrialized paper. He printed out various angles of Dasvoik’s compound along with all the intel he’d been able to gather on the location: the nearest stores, neighbors, approximately how many people it would take to run the property and more.

  As the printer hummed, Lucas rolled his chair across the room to Adams. The old man was frustrated. He could make no sense of the numbers after running them through every database they could think of. Maybe the girl had recalled incorrectly. That was always a possibility. Or maybe it was a code of some sort. If that were the case, Lucas should be able to crack it. A sense of excitement coursed through him as he cracked his knuckles, ready to get to work.

  “Anything?” he asked.

  “Not unless you think the numbers belong on the rabies vaccination registration for a Labrador Retriever in Boston.”

  Lucas scratched his head. “Let me give it a shot.”

  Adams threw up his hands. “By all means have at it. I’m going home to get something warm to eat. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Lucas didn’t even notice Adams throwing on his jacket or him walking out the door. His mind was elsewhere. He sat back and stared at the numbers. “Tell me your story,” he mumbled.

  Kaitlyn and Erik strode out of the room with the maps in their hands. Each of them was too caught up in their own world to bother with the niceties of saying goodbye. That was fine by him. Give him a puzzle and he was in his element. Once he was in the zone, it was hard to pay attention to any outside stimuli.

  He entered the number into the database searching for the usual suspects: financial institutions, criminal, military, federal they all came back blank. What was he missing?

  Think.

  Bank accounts. His hands flew over the keyboard.

  Nope.

  A sudden thought occurred to him and he entered the numbers backwards. Sometimes the mind picks up things out of order. No such luck.

  Quickly he wrote a program that would give him all the different variations. The list was long. He hit a button and watched the numbers scroll quickly. The program eliminated them one at a time, which was going to take hours.

  Inwardly, he groaned. Nothing!

  Lucas didn’t know how much time had passed before he realized he’d been staring at the same line of numbers and not even seeing them. Instead of trying to make sense of the sequence, he leaned back in his chair and drummed his fingers on his leg. What wasn’t he seeing?

  He needed to take a break. Sometimes walking away from a problem and shifting your thoughts made a light bulb go off.

  Stretching languidly, Lucas yawned, pushed back his chair, and stood up making his way to the coffee station. He poured himself a cup of coffee, stirred in sugar and took a sip. He tried to let his mind wander, but he kept coming back to the sequence.

  Frowning, he set the cup down and walked over to gaze out the window, as if he expected the answer to magically appear before him. He remained where he stood for several minutes, before his stomach rumbled, alerting him he hadn’t had dinner. Lucas straightened and glanced towards the door. He ambled across the room and made his way out the door towards the snack machine to grab himself a candy bar. The halls were empty and dimly lit with safety lights. Flipping his wrist, Lucas checked the time. He grimaced. It was past midnight.

  Why hadn’t heard anything from Harrington? He pushed the fleeting question aside. They would contact him when they needed him. Right now, he had a puzzle to solve. It could very well be the missing key.

  Lucas hurried back to his computer, his frown deepening. 524505-JDEI2.

  What the hell do you mean?

  Kaitlyn took a step into the room. “Lucas, we’re leaving in less than two-hours.”

  Startled, his head snapped up, and he spun his chair around to face her. “So soon?”

  “No time like the present.” Kaitlyn smiled. Lucas wondered if she’d humored herself using the very human phrase.

  Kaitlyn rolled out the map onto the table. Lucas stood up, and they bent over staring down at the map. The area was massive. Small flags of different colors were spread out. Kaitlyn quickly went over the color code.

  She drew a line from the coastal ridgeline northwest towards the main house. If it could be called a house—it was more like castle.

  “That’s a lot of ground.” Lucas winced. “You should have backup. That place will be guarded tighter than Fort Knox.”

  “Erik said the same thing. Harrington agreed and will be sending a team with us.” Kaitlyn looked up and smiled faintly. “Ace and Nick will be among the guys.”

  “I didn’t realize they were still around?”

  “Apparently Harrington decided to keep them on the payroll after our trip to Maine.”

  “I guess that’s not very surprising.”

  Kaitlyn closed the distance, her gaze flew to his face, and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

  “We’re at work,” Lucas reminded her.

  “It’s after hours.” Kaitlyn dropped her head to his chest.

  As usual his pulse began to race. He rested his chin on her head, inhaling her clean scent. He stood there holding her still and silent for a long time. Finally, he spoke. “This is so hard, Kate.”

  She pulled away and met his eyes. “You can’t figure out the numbers?”

  He smiled ruefully. “That wasn’t what I meant, but no I haven’t had any luck. It’s hard to see you in danger. I’m sure I’ll get used to it eventually.”

  “That’s true. The human brain is very adaptive.”

  Lucas grinned, pulling back. He framed her face in his hands and lowered his head to kiss her gently.

  “Is it crazy that I want to protect you?”

  Kaitlyn looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “Yes.”

  He grinned.

  CHAPTER 26

  “Before I go, I wanted to let you know I had a talk with Mr. Harrington,” Dr. Chambers told her, standing.

  Aaliyah clenched her hands in her lap. It had been a long session with her today. She wanted to say that recalling everything the madman did to her was exhausting, but she sensed it wasn’t the right time to be difficult with the doctor.

  “When I’ve cleared you, and you’re healthy and eighteen, he wants to offer you a job.”

 
; She looked up at this, startled. “A job?”

  “There’s an opportunity for you to help others like you. Like Kaitlyn does. Free them from those hurting them. Mr. Harrington has an idea of how you can help.”

  Aaliyah waited for Dr. Chambers to tell her it was a joke. The pretty woman’s features were earnest.

  “Help others like me,” she repeated, mind going first to her brother then to the girls she’d been caged with. “They need someone like Kaitlyn. But I’m not … strong enough.” Her voice trembled.

  “You are. You just don’t realize it yet,” Dr. Chambers said. “I don’t want to cause you any more distress, but I think, maybe, this is one of the ways we can take a negative and turn it into a positive. From this horrible experience comes an opportunity to prevent other girls from suffering like you did.”

  The idea she was able to do anything to help someone else like her left Aaliyah rattled inside. There was a part of her that didn’t want to think about what happened–ever. Even if it meant turning her back to the suffering of others.

  And there was a part of her that burned to be more like Kaitlyn and help anyone she could, especially if it meant rescuing innocent children like her brother and sending someone like Dasvoik to jail.

  “You don’t have to decide now. You’ve got plenty of time to think as you recover,” Dr. Chambers said. “But, the offer will be there for you, when you’re ready to consider it.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Aaliyah murmured.

  Dr. Chambers left her in peace.

  Aaliyah picked up a book and sat near the window, struggling to digest the latest surprise in her life. It sounded like a positive … until she thought of her brother. Not even Kaitlyn and Mr. Harrington had managed to find him. What chance did he have to help others?

  Familiar despair threatened to overtake her. She forced the thoughts away before her mind started floating away again and tried for a full ten minutes to read the book in her hands.

  There was a knock at her door a split second before it opened. Aaliyah’s breath caught, and she tried not to fidget. Just the sight of him made her feel off-balanced. She closed the book she’d been thumbing through but not actually reading. She found herself doing that a lot. Trying to find anything to distract her mind. But nothing seemed to help. Flashes of pain, loneliness and darkness were constantly at the edge of her mind. Dasvoik was always there, bringing the fear. How could she get him out of her head?

  “I told you not to come back,” Aaliyah said wearily as Noah walked through the door, his hands behind his back.

  Couldn’t he just leave her alone in her misery?

  “And I told you I would be back.” He smiled impishly. “I brought you something. I made it with your mother.”

  “My mamma?” Aaliyah pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. Despite herself, she was curious. Noah never spent any time alone with her mum.

  He held out his hand, which held a present wrapped in teal paper with a large crocked white bow. “Wrapped it myself.”

  Hesitantly she reached for the present. She slowly unwrapped it and gasped, her hands shaking like a leaf. A round piece of clay was covered in colorful shards of broken glass in the shape of a flower. She could feel herself slipping, growing colder. Breathing too fast, she concentrated on trying not to hyperventilate. Don’t panic. Why would he do that? Did he know? Would she ever be able to look at a flower again and not image the madman calling her petal? Or a beautiful flower? Aaliyah ran her shaky hand across the image and looked up at him confused.

  “You said you couldn’t fix shards of glass. I wanted to show you that with enough time and patience a beautiful image will emerge. Different, but no less beautiful.” Noah’s face flushed at the words. She’d forgotten how his pale skin turned pink when he was embarrassed. The color went clear up to the tips of his ears.

  “Noah—” She didn’t realize she was crying until a tear fell onto the glass. His words struck a cord deep within. He always knew the right thing to say.

  He searched her face. “Aaliyah, you’re trembling. Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?”

  She was so ashamed. With renewed pang of distress, she stared at the flower for a long time. She could hear Dasvoik’s warped words echo in her mind. A part of her wanted to throw the gift and watch it shatter across the floor, but it must have taken Noah ages to get all the pieces together.

  Was he right? Could she become like the artwork?

  No, she was a person not an object. But hadn’t she been treated like an object by that bastard? Gradually, since waking up in the hospital, her intense need for Dasvoik had turned into hatred as the memories flooded her mind. It sickened her that she had once wanted to please him. He was an evil monster that preyed on young girls.

  “I don’t know what to say. You didn’t have to do this.” She brushed the tears from her eyes. She fought to restrain the tremors by clutching the side of the bed.

  “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

  She paused trying to collect her thoughts. “I cry a lot these days.”

  Noah reached out to touch her, but she pulled away. She didn’t know if she would ever be ready for that. He dropped his hand to his side. The look on his face tore at her heart.

  “I understand what you are trying to say, but I’m not sure I’m ready to hear it. I’m not sure a person can be put back together.” She sat back, dejected.

  He rubbed his forehead while peering down at her. “That’s ok, Aaliyah. Like I said. Time and patience. I have plenty of both. Can I sit down?”

  Aaliyah looked at the seat and nodded her head. Somewhere deep in her soul she knew with the simple nod of her head she had taken a step forward.

  Maybe they could be friends. She knew she could never again give him more than that.

  Noah did most of the talking. He filled her in with school and his family. She sat back and listened but couldn’t contribute much to the conversation. She wondered if she would ever be able to tell him what she’d gone through.

  Probably not. Dr. Chambers said it was important to talk about it, but she didn’t see how rehashing the nightmares could possible help. Thankfully, Noah did not ask any questions.

  He stayed for about an hour before he stood up to leave. Aaliyah was surprised when a deep sadness washed over her at the thought of his departure.

  “I can come back tomorrow, if you’d like? I flew in for the weekend.”

  After a slight hesitation she spoke. “I think I would like that.”

  He closed his eyes and blew out a breath, clearly relieved. “Would you like me to bring you anything?”

  Aaliyah thought it over. Was there anything she’d missed from the outside world? She looked down at the glass flower in her hand and shook her head. “Not that I can think of.”

  “Did you get your school books from your mom?”

  School. She’d forgotten all about it. It seemed like a lifetime ago. She’d missed so much, and she was not ready to go back. She was probably going to have to repeat the year. She’d been so close to graduating.

  “It’s okay. I’ll call her and ask her to bring them over when she comes back. I’m sure she’s been in touch with the school, but I just can’t go back there. Ever.”

  Noah looked lost in thought. “You know you could do online school. I know a few guys that do that.”

  Online school? She thought it over. It sounded better than facing the kids from her old school. “Maybe. I’ll see what I can find out about it. Dr. Chambers brought me a laptop the other day, but I haven’t touched it.”

  “It might be good to keep your mind busy with school.”

  He was probably right, and she needed an education. It’s not like she could just drop out of school completely. For an instant, it was as if nothing had changed between them. They were talking about something as mundane as school.

  “Bye, Noah.”

  He hesitated like he wanted to say something but decided against it. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”


  After the door closed behind him, she stared at the glass flower. The light reflecting off it shone beautifully around the room. Without a doubt, it was the sweetest present she’d ever received—she just wished it had been anything other than a flower.

  Of course, he couldn’t have known that the symbolism of the flower would cut her like a knife. He made the gift out of love. He still loved her. If he knew what Dasvoik had done to her, though, he would run away. She knew he would.

  Maybe she should just tell him to push him away. The reminder of what they used to have and who she used to be was too much to bear. Tomorrow, she would tell him and then kick him out of her life for good. It was the only way.

  The door opened again, and Noah peeked round it. Aaliyah felt him waiting, and sensed him his hesitation, and uneasiness.

  “Forget something?” she asked.

  He shifted back and forth on his feet. “Can I come back in? There’s something I have to say. I should have said it before I left, but I just couldn’t find the words.”

  Aaliyah debated. Truth be told, she was lonely. When she was by herself she felt worse. She couldn’t escape the memories. The rare visitor had become a welcome distraction.

  “Come in.” Her voice was a whisper.

  He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. “Aaliyah, I had to come back and tell you. I’m sorry this happened to you. If I could take away your pain I would in a heartbeat. If I could kill that bastard with my own hands, I would.” His voice trembled with emotion. His eyes shown with tears.

  Aaliyah shook her head and drew her knees to her chest, still clutching the clay in her hands. “You can’t help me. No one can. Noah, he did things to me that …” Her chin quivered. “… I can’t even think about it without wanting to scream or throw up. He ruined me.”

  “Shh. You are not ruined. You are strong, resilient and the most loving person I’ve ever known. You might not believe it now, but you will find your way back. I have no doubt of that.”

  “He beat and raped me.” A choked sound escaped from her throat, and she slumped back in the bed. “Tied me up for days at a time.”