by Willow Rose
My dad nodded and drank.
They had come for all of them. They had arrested them at their homes, some even at the station while their colleagues watched. The FBI had taken them all down, one after another. Fowler had talked like a schoolgirl after her first kiss as soon as he was able to after being hospitalized with third-degree burns. He had spilled everything, probably making one heck of a deal with the FBI if I knew him well. They wouldn’t let me in on the details. But the fact was, the ring was taken down—each and every one who had been involved, including Andrew Taylor. And the media was naturally all over it. I had even been able to re-gather everything in Kate Taylor’s murder case, and Al had found the original recordings of their confession, even though Fowler believed he had deleted them. Nothing ever disappears in the digital world, as Al said. And that had proved to be to our advantage once again. Kristin Grant had been arrested too and would be charged with aiding and abetting a murder. Joan Kendrick was being charged with murder. Andrew Taylor faced charges in both cases. So far, twenty-two more people had been arrested in the trafficking ring. Meanwhile, Nick Taylor would be tried as an adult and was facing attempted murder charges along with charges for being in possession of—and producing—child pornography.
“We’ll get to the inside soon enough. Maybe do a complete make-over of the living room?” my dad said, looking in through the window that he had replaced a couple of days ago. My dad was an excellent handyman and had even built the church he had been the pastor at back in the day. It had lost its roof after the last hurricane, but other than that, it was still standing after all these years. I was lucky to have him in my life.
A car with black tinted windows drove up the street, and my heart dropped. It stopped, and Agent Jackson stepped out. He smiled and approached us. I walked down the stairs, wiped my dirty hands on my jeans, then shook his.
“Looking good,” he said and nodded toward the house.
“It’s getting there,” I said. “Can I offer you anything? A soda?”
He gave me a look, then shook his head. “No. I’m afraid we have to get going. Is she ready?”
“She’s in the back with Josie. Let me get her,” I said.
I walked around the house and found them sitting in the chairs on the back porch, deep in conversation. Josie saw me, then shook her head violently.
“No, Dad, no.”
“It’s time.”
“Already?”
I exhaled. I wanted this to happen as little as she did. “I’m afraid so.”
“Please, Dad, can’t she stay a little longer?”
I shook my head. “It’s time, Josie.”
Her face darkened. Camille put her hand on her shoulder.
“It’s okay, Josie.”
A tear escaped our daughter’s eyes. “No, it’s not. Why does she have to leave and not come back?”
“Because I did some stuff, bad stuff, and now since I have told what I did and what a lot of other people did, those people want me dead.”
“I know what a witness protection program is,” Josie said. “I meant, why can’t you come back here. To visit?”
I exhaled. This was the tough part. Camille had accepted to enter the witness protection program to start over, but it meant she wouldn’t see Josie anymore. I didn’t understand how she could ever make such a decision, but that was just me. For Camille, it was important to be able to create a new life.
Agent Jackson had given us these few hours to say our goodbyes.
“You ready?” he said as we walked out on the other side of the house. Camille glanced back at Josie, leaned over and kissed her forehead one last time, then nodded.
“I’m ready.”
Josie whimpered, then leaned her head against my shoulder. I put my arm around her.
“We just got her back, and now she’s going again,” Josie said with a sniffle. “It isn’t fair, you know?”
“I know, sweetie.”
Camille walked up to me, lifted herself on her tippy toes, and kissed my cheek.
“Goodbye, my handsome husband. I would tell you to take good care of our daughter, but I already know you will. You’ll both forget me soon enough and move on with your lives, as you should.”
She then nodded toward the neighboring house, where Jean was standing on the porch. “I heard you call her when I was in my hospital room, the day you ran away from me. I see the way you two look at one another. I think you’ll make a cute couple.”
With that, she turned around on her heel, walked up to Agent Jackson, and let him take her to the car. She got in, and the door was closed while Josie clung to me, her body shaking. I put my arm around her, and we watched together as the car disappeared down the street, Camille waving from the rolled-down window.
That was it. She was out of our lives forever. From now on, she’d have a new name, a new place to live, and we wouldn’t see her again.
Josie wiped her tears away, then hugged me tightly. “At least I got to say goodbye this time,” she said.
“Are you going to be all right?”
She nodded. “Yes. Eventually.”
“How about we grab us some ice cream?” my dad said from behind us.
Josie smiled vaguely, then nodded, wiping more tears away. I turned to face my dad when he nodded toward the fence where Jean was now standing.
“Not you. Just me and Josie,” my dad said.
Josie sent me a look, telling me she knew what was going on, and that she approved. I knew she had just said goodbye to her mother, but she loved Jean. Her lips mouthed, “Go,” and so I did.
Here goes nothing.
I ran a hand through my hair, then approached Jean. She looked adorable in her pink shirt and denim shorts. But I guess at this point, she could have had a bag over her head, and I’d think that.
“So, she’s really gone, huh?” she asked.
I nodded, my eyes fixed on hers.
“You must be devastated. How’s Josie?”
“I have a feeling she’ll be all right,” I said. “In time.”
Jean smiled. “That’s good.”
“And you?”
“What about me?”
“Have you decided if you’ll stay here or go to Savannah?”
That made her smile widely with a glint in her eyes. “I think I might stay for a while. See what happens.”
I stared at her lips till it became awkward, and then I decided just to go for it, realizing that, at this point, I had nothing to lose. If I wanted her, I had to go for it; there was no other way.
So, I leaned over, grabbed her in my arms, and pulled her into a kiss.
THE END
Dear reader
Thank you for purchasing No Other Way (Harry Hunter #3). I was so happy finally to give you the end of Camille’s story. Now, as usual, a lot of the things I put in my books are taken from real life. I recently made a new friend, and her husband works in Hyperbaric medicine. He told me about this amazing field of medicine that I had never heard about, and I started to research it more. I found this story of a young girl who nearly drowned and was dead for two hours. Once she woke up, the doctors realized she had a severe brain injury. She started treatment in a hyperbaric chamber, and months later, she was almost a normal kid for her age. It’s truly remarkable. You can read more here and watch a video of her progress. It is also true that the treatment isn’t FDA approved for treating brain injury, at least not yet. I, for one, hope it will be soon.
https://www.newsweek.com/eden-carlson-brain-damage-reversed-drowning-638628
Now the term Hurtcore, where someone humiliates another person and forces them to do stuff while filming themselves like Nick did to these girls, isn’t something I came up with either. I wish it were. It’s so awful; I really wish it was just my imagination. Recently a 22-year-old British man was arrested for doing this to a number of young girls; eleven of them were just children. He got twelve years in jail for what he did. It’s apparently something that takes place all over th
e world, and it’s nasty. You can read more here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-43962411
and here:
https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/59kye3/the-repulsive-world-of-hurtcore-the-worst-crimes-imaginable
You might think that I went overboard with the trafficking ring reaching so deeply within the police department and involving the State Attorney and all that, but it actually isn’t too far from a true story that recently emerged here in Florida. Doctors, lawyers, and deputies, were all arrested in a human trafficking sting. You can read about it here:
https://www.nbc4i.com/news/u-s-world/doctors-and-cops-among-277-arrested-in-human-trafficking-online-prostitution-sting-in-florida/
As always, I am so grateful for all your support. Please leave a review if you can.
Take care,
Willow
About the Author
The Queen of Scream aka Willow Rose is a #1 Amazon Best-selling Author and an Amazon ALL-star Author of more than 50 novels. She writes Mystery, Paranormal, Romance, Suspense, Horror, Supernatural thrillers, and Fantasy.
Willow's books are fast-paced, nail-biting page-turners with twists you won't see coming.
Several of her books have reached the Kindle top 20 of ALL books in the US, UK, and Canada.
She has sold more than three million books all over the world.
Willow lives on Florida's Space Coast with her husband and two daughters. When she is not writing or reading, you will find her surfing and watch the dolphins play in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
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Hit The Road Jack (Jack Ryder Series Book 1)
Excerpt
For a special sneak peak of Willow Rose's Bestselling Mystery Novel Hit the road Jack turn to the next page.
Prologue
DON’T COME BACK NO MORE
Prologue
May 2012
She has no idea who she is or where she is and cares to know neither. For some time, for what seems like forever, she has been in this daze. This haze, in complete darkness with nothing but the sounds. Sounds coming from outside her body, from outside her head. Sometimes, the sounds fade and there is only the darkness.
As time passes, she becomes aware that there are two realities. The one in her mind, filled with darkness and pain and then the one outside of her, where something or someone else is living, acting, smelling and…singing.
Yes, that’s it. Someone is singing. Does she know the song?
…What you say?
The darkness is soon replaced by light. Still, her eyes are too heavy to open. Her consciousness returns slowly. Enough to start asking questions. Where is she? How did she end up here? A series of pictures of her at home come to her mind. She is waiting. What is she waiting for?
…I guess if you said so.
Him. She is waiting for him. She is checking her hair in the mirror every five minutes or so. Then correcting the make-up, looking at the clock again. Where is he? She looks out through the window and at the street and the many staring neighboring windows. A feeling of guilt hits her. Somehow, it seems wrong for this kind of thing to take place in broad daylight.
…That’s right!
A car drives up. The anticipation. The butterflies in her stomach. The sound of the doorbell. She is straightening her dress and taking a last glance in the mirror. The next second, she is in his embrace. He is holding her so tight she closes her eyes and breathes him in until his lips cover hers and she swims away.
…Whoa, Woman, oh woman, don't treat me so mean.
His breath is pumping against her skin. She feels his hands on her breasts, under her skirt, coming closer, while he presses her up against the wall. She feels him in his hand. He is hard now, moaning in her ear.
“Where’s your husband?” he whispers.
“Work,” she moans back, feeling self-conscious. Why did he have to bring up her husband? The guilt is killing her. “The kids are in school.”
“Good,” he moans. “No one can ever know. Remember that. No one.”
…You're the meanest old woman that I've ever seen.
He pushes himself inside of her and pumps. She lets herself get into the moment, but as soon as it is over, she finds herself regretting it…while he zips up the pants of his suit and kisses her gently on the lips, whispering, same time next week? She regrets having started it all. They are both married with children, and this is only an affair. Could never be anything else, even if she dreamt about it. The sex is great, but she wants more than just seeing him on her lunch break. But she can never tell him. She can never explain to him how much she hates this awkward moment that follows the sex.
“They’re expecting me at the office…I have a meeting,” he says, and puts his tie back on. “I’d better…”
…Hit the road, Jack!
She finally opens her eyes with a loud gasp. The bright light hurts her. Water is being splashed in her face. She can’t breathe. The bathtub is slippery when she tries to get up. Her eyes lock with another set of eyes. The eyes of a man. He is staring at her with a twisted smile. She gasps again, suddenly remembering those dark chili eyes.
“I guess if you said so…I'd have to pack my things and go,” he sings.
“You,” she gasps. Breathing is hard for her. She feels like she is still choking. She is hyperventilating. Panicking.
The man smiles. On his neck crawls a snake. How does that old saying go again? Red, black, yellow kills a fellow? This one is all of that, all those colors. It stares at her while moving its tongue back and forth. The man is holding a washcloth in his hand. She looks down at her naked body. The smell of chlorine is strong and makes her eyes water.
“You tried to kill me,” she says, while panting with anxiety.
I have to get home. Help me. I have to get home to my children! Oh, God. I can hear their voices! Am I going mad? I think I can hear them!
“I guess I didn’t do a very good job, then,” he answers. His chillingly calm voice is piercing through every bone in her body.
“I’ll try again. That’s right!”
Prologue
May 2012
She had never been more beautiful than in this exact moment. No woman ever had. So fragile, her skin so pale it almost looked bluish. The man who called himself the Snakecharmer stared at her body. It was still in the bathtub. He was still panting from the exertion, his hands shaking and hurting from strangling the girl. He felt so aroused in this moment, staring at the dead body. It was the most fascinating thing in the world. How the body simply ceased to function. And almost as fascinating was what followed next. The human decaying process. It wasn’t something new. Fascination with death had occurred all throughout human history, characterized by obsessions with death and all things related to death. The Egyptians mummified their dead. He had always wished he could do the same. Keep his dead forever and ever. He remembered as a child how he would sometimes lie down in front of the mirror and try to lie completely still and look at himself, imagining he was looking at a dead body. He would capture cats and kill them and keep them in his room, just to watch what would happen to them. He wanted so badly to stop the decaying process, he wanted them to remain the same always and never leave.
The Snakecharmer stared at the girl with fascination in his eyes. He caught his breath and calmed dow
n again. He still felt the adrenalin rushing through his veins while he finished washing the girl. He washed away all the dirt, all the smells on her body. He reached down and cleaned her thoroughly between her legs. Scrubbed her to make sure he got all the dirt away, all the filth and impurities.
Then, he dried her with a towel before he pulled her onto the bathroom floor. His companions, his two pet Coral snakes, were sliding across her dead body. He grabbed one and let it slide across his arm while petting it. Then he knelt next to the girl and stroked her gently across her hair, making sure it wasn’t in her face. Her blue eyes stared into the ceiling.
“Now, you’ll never leave,” he whispered.
With his cellphone, he took a picture of her naked body. That was his mummification. His way to always cherish the moment. To always remember. He never wanted to forget how beautiful she was.
He dried her with a towel. He brushed her brown hair with gentle strokes. He took yet another picture before he lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom, where he placed her in a chair, then sat in front of her and placed his head in her lap.
They would stay like this until she started to smell.
Part I
I GUESS IF YOU SAY SO
Chapter 1
January 2015
He took the dog out in the yard and shut the door carefully behind him, making sure he didn’t make a sound to wake up his sleeping parents. It was Monday, but they had been very loud last night. The kitchen counter was still covered with empty bottles.