Hidden in Harmony: Danger is Imminent (Harmony Series Book 1)

by JR Thompson

  “Officer Dorsey, come in please,” suddenly blurted through his radio.

  The officer paid no mind, “You truly are our rock, our refuge, and our defense. It is you and you alone who can save. Lord, God, you know this family is far from out of the woods yet. They are undoubtedly going to have many battles coming their way. Lord, I ask you to protect them. I ask you to give them strength. I ask you to bless them without measure. I know what you did for Job in the days of old. You’re still the same God. We’re trusting you to do it again Almighty God! Thank you for sending your son Jesus to die for us. It is in His name that we pray, Amen.”

  After his prayer, the officer walked out onto the porch to reply to dispatch. He came back in a few moments later. “I hate to leave this joyous celebration, folks, but duty calls.”

  He went around the room and hugged each person prior to leaving the premises.

  ◆◆◆

  At 10:00 am the following morning, the police department transported Remington back to his house — escorted by half a dozen reporters.

  The boy had quite the story to tell.

  CHAPTER 40 – GET OUT!

  Remington said he knew it was wrong to sneak out and apologized for running off to meet Malachi. He made it clear that spending several months in captivity had taught him the toughest lesson he had ever had to learn.

  Moving on, he told them about the things he and Malachi discussed while at the park. He said they had been there for an hour or two when they started feeling like someone was watching them. They didn’t see anybody, but could feel someone’s stare. Convincing themselves they were only imagining things, they continued playing for another half hour or so before heading to the Crowleys’ house for a drink.

  They had no more than stepped inside the house when a tan colored Suburban screeched into the driveway and three bulky men in masks jumped out. Locking the door, Mrs. Crowley told the boys to hide. The men pried the door open and made their way into the house where one of them held a gun on Malachi while Remington and Mrs. Crowley were each tied up. Remington was forced to turn around and face a wall. He heard Mrs. Crowley squawk, “Please, no! Please don’t do this!”

  There was a brief silence, followed by a loud thumping sound. Malachi screamed, “No! Mom! No!”

  Seconds later, Malachi cried out, sounding as if he was in horrible pain. Remmy tried to turn around, but the man held him so tight he couldn’t budge. Remington said he just knew he too was going to be killed, but he wasn’t.

  One of the men picked him up and carried him outside where he was crammed into something that looked kind of like a dog carrier — it was a bit sturdier and was padlocked shut. The defenseless teen was unable to see or hear what they did with Malachi or Mrs. Crowley.

  When the Suburban peeled out of the driveway, Remmy fell from one side of the crate to the other and it nearly toppled over. A man sitting in the back seat leaned over, shook the crate violently, and ordered him to stay still. Remington said that happened a few times when they rounded sharp curves. Eventually, he fell asleep in the crate and when he woke up several hours later, he was lying down in the floor of an older house, still bound in ropes.

  He was surprised to see Dr. Fennell there. Fennell brought him a stale piece of bread to eat. He refused to untie him though, so Remmy had to figure out how to eat it without using his hands.

  For about half an hour, he sat there staring at Dr. Fennell in disbelief, hoping somehow to make Fennell feel guilty enough to release him — it didn’t work.

  At the end of that half hour, the three men from the Crowleys’ place walked in. Dr. Fennell held out his hand, apparently looking to receive a payment. One of the guys pulled out a handgun and shot him in the eye. The guys didn’t speak a word, but hastily dragged his body out of the house.”

  “Honey,” Alayna interrupted, placing one hand on each of his shoulders and leaning in close, “Did anyone touch you inappropriately? Did anything of a sexual nature happen?”

  “They did touch me inappropriately, but not sexually,” Remington told her. “One of them burned my thigh with a cigarette a couple of times, I was punched and smacked pretty much all over, and they didn’t let me eat very often. Those guys made me do a lot of work for them — I had to pack a lot of boxes. I don’t know what I was packing or what they were doing with them. But whenever I didn’t work fast enough, they would beat on me.”

  Remington dealt with more at the age of thirteen than most adults have ever had to deal with. Had he not had a close relationship with God, he would probably never have been able to deal with all of the trauma he had to endure. But God was with Him and he knew it!

  ◆◆◆

  Several hours after Remington’s return and everyone else leaving their property, another knock came to the Russells’ door.

  Peering out the window, it became obvious the Russells had a battle on their hands. It looked like half of the town was on their lawn.

  “Get out of Clayville!” they chanted. “Child stealers deserve to die!”

  Colllin walked out on the porch. There, he saw multitudes of folks whom he had been friends with for years. The crowd grew silent. “Please don’t believe everything you hear. There is more to this story than the news media shared,” Collin told them.

  “Get out of Clayville!” someone shouted. Another yelled, “Get out or die!”

  A high schooler picked up a gravel from the driveway and chucked it at Collin, missing him by mere inches. Others began following the boy’s lead and hurled rocks in Collin’s direction.

  Collin ran back inside and told his family to get away from the windows. People began beating on the door, the windows, and even the walls. The Russells feared they were in grave danger, yet they had no way of contacting anyone for help.

  “Stephen, Dad. Don’t forget about Stephen,” Remington said.

  “Stephen who?” Collin asked.

  “From the Bible!”

  Oh, it was so good to have Remington back at home. “Stephen didn’t let people throwing rocks get him down. They were killing him, but he looked up to Heaven and saw the glory of God. He told the people about it.”

  People continued pounding on the walls. “Paul and Silas — they sang out loud when they were placed in prison,” Remington added.

  “He’s right,” Alayna said. “Let’s stop cowering and start praising!”

  It was a difficult thing to do, but Brock bellowed out, “Some glad morning, when this life is over, I’ll fly away.” The others joined in. Before long, their singing grew so loud they could no longer hear the commotion from outside.

  After what seemed like hours, their singing stopped. They looked outside, and the lawn was empty.

  “See, God came through for us again!” Remington exclaimed.

  Things remained quiet until early the next morning. That’s when Brock was awoken by the sound of someone trying to break through the front door. “Hey!” he hollered, hoping to scare them away.

  Brock’s yell woke everyone else in the house.

  Collin warned them to stay away from the windows while he sneaked out the back door to surprise the intruder.

  Sneaking around the corner of the house, he found a middle-aged woman trying to ram her way through the door. “What do you think you’re doing?” Collin screamed at her.

  The woman turned to face him; she had the look of Satan himself in her eyes. “I will purge this house from evil!” she snapped.

  “This house has no evil in it. You are trespassing. Get off our land!” Collin ordered.

  “Do you think I’m afraid of you? You no good for nothing, human trafficking wannabe!” She pulled a switchblade out of her jacket and started toward him.

  Alayna quietly opened the door behind her. She charged at the wild-woman and knocked the knife out of her hand by a sneak attack from behind.

  Brock ran out behind her and took the crazed woman to the ground. “You all are evil! You are evil!” she cried. “You all must die!”

 
The Russells and Brock attempted to calm her down for quite some time, but she refused to listen to reason. Eventually, Collin decided it was time to notify the police. He and Brock said they would hold her down while Alayna and Remington took the Jeep into town to get the sheriff.

  They struggled with her for approximately thirty minutes before the police finally arrived and took her into custody.

  The wild-woman was only the beginning of their troubles. For weeks following the news media reports, random strangers showed up at the Russell residence. Some came with the intentions of doing harm while others came to take pictures or to simply harass them. No matter what they said or did, their name had been ruined in Clayville.

  Tears were shed by at least one person in their residence on a daily basis. They trusted God, but didn’t know how to continue living their lives while being hated by everyone around them.

  They were afraid to go to church, terrified of going into town, and didn’t even want to leave the confines of their four walls.

  Collin continued to insist the family hold their daily devotions and that they spend much time in prayer. With no one in the house working, there was zero cash flow and their groceries were quickly becoming obsolete.

  ◆◆◆

  One afternoon, however, while they were praying, they heard a car door slam outside. Collin ran to the window to see a lady pulling out.

  “Who is that?” he asked.

  Brock followed him to the window, “Victoria — what is she doing here?”

  Brock’s eyes were then drawn to something sitting on the porch. It was a large box of some kind and there was a note attached to the top of it.

  He and Collin went outside together to check it out. The note read, “Brock, I heard what was going on out here. I had to do something to help. I hope you all can use these groceries. Just so you will know, God got a hold of my heart. I asked Him to save me a few weeks ago. Brock, God has showed me the error of my ways. I’m sorry for not believing you and I hope you can forgive me.”

  Brock was speechless. He didn’t know what to say or what to think. He helped Collin take the box inside. It was filled with milk, cereal, sandwich meats, bread, eggs, and too many other foods to mention.

  It was time for another prayer – a prayer of thanksgiving. Not only would they give thanks for the food, but also thanks for Victoria’s salvation.

  CHAPTER 41 – ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

  Throughout the new few months, many court battles ensued.

  The first person to take the stand was Officer Edward Branham. The Russells, nor Brock or Nikki for that matter, would have missed that court hearing for anything in the world.

  Branham entered the court room wearing a new black Armani suit. His hair was slicked back, his face was clean shaven, and he was sporting the shiniest pair of dress shoes a person could imagine. He was accompanied by his attorney, Elisabeth Malibu, who looked like she was ready for war.

  Across the room sat Prosecutor Timothy Loudenmere, wearing a look on his face that said, “Bring it!” Loudenmere was known as the toughest prosecutor in the region. He didn’t pursue a case unless he was certain he could win.

  Prosecutor Loudenmere confidently stood to address the court. “Ladies and gentlemen, the reason we are here today is because a missing person has recently been found alive. That young boy is in this courtroom today. His family, like the rest of Rhode Island, was tired of seeing people disappearing at record numbers and nothing being done about it.

  “As they illegally took the law into their own hands, they discovered some vital information. Branham and his hired hands did everything within their power to stop this family from pursuing them. We also have witnesses who are willing to testify that when they found out about Branham’s involvement in human trafficking, that he began blackmailing them and has continued to do so for several years.

  “Every single time this county has had anyone disappear, Branham has been the officer who investigated the crime. In every single one of those cases, no one has ever been found guilty. Never. Check the court records.”

  Loudenmere warned the jurors that Branham was a dangerous wolf in sheep’s clothing and that if they failed to convict him, the next disappearance could very well be someone in their immediate family. He told them not to be surprised if Branham or one of his hired men threatened them during the course of the trial. However, he insisted they stay strong so justice could be served.

  ◆◆◆

  In response, Ms. Malibu said, “Good morning folks. My client has been wrongfully accused of partaking in the human trafficking business. Although there is no doubt that our area has had numerous unexplained disappearances and deaths spanning the last decade, there is absolutely no evidence of my client’s involvement in any foul play. There are multiple families in this courtroom today who are looking for answers. Not one of them could look you in the eye and tell you they saw Officer Branham commit any criminal act.

  “Yes, my client has investigated multiple disappearances over the years. That’s his job! We live in a small county and different officers are assigned different tasks. Officer Branham has the most experience in these types of investigations, so obviously he would be assigned to disappearance cases. Officers do not choose their own assignments. They trickle down from higher ups.”

  Ms. Malibu went on to make it sound as if Branham was a saint. She said he was a family man who had raised three children. Two had grown up to be doctors and one had grown up to be a school teacher. He had consistently given large contributions to several charities throughout the state. In his twelve years of duty for Providence County, he had never had an accusation brought against him.

  ◆◆◆

  Not far into the trial, Prosecutor Loudenmere called Pastor Brown to the stand.

  Pastor Brown hung his head in shame as he approached the bench. He put his hand on the Bible and swore an oath, “To tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

  On the stand, Pastor Brown was forced to testify against Officer Branham. To do that, he had to report his own misdeeds in bribing an officer of the law. He had to tell of Donovan’s employment working under Branham. Shamefacedly, he explained to the court about the deal he had made with Branham — that he would keep his mouth shut as long as Branham didn’t hurt any of God’s people.

  Upon cross examination, things grew more intense for the shaken pastor. The defense attempted to trip him up with questions like, “So you’re the pastor of Shooting Star Baptist Church and as that pastor you are given charge of protecting your flock, is that right?”

  Pastor Brown obliged and then the next question came. “The Russells are members of your church, correct?

  “Have you met with them privately in recent months? For example, in your home or in theirs?”

  Ms. Malibu made it sound as if Pastor Brown had made up the allegations against Branham trying to keep the Russells out of trouble for the crimes they had committed in trying to find Remington’s whereabouts.

  Pastor Brown refused to crumble. He said he would be willing to take a polygraph test. He assured the court that his word could be trusted, even though the defense reminded them he had previously bribed an officer to keep his son out of trouble.

  ◆◆◆

  Branham’s trial went on for two weeks. Person after person was brought to the stand for questioning and for cross examinations.

  For a while, it would appear obvious that Branham was guilty as charged. At other times, it appeared certain he was going to get off the hook.

  Finally, on November 25, 2017 Officer Branham was indicted on more than fifty counts of human trafficking — not only had it been proven that he been trafficking kids, but even adults from throughout Rhode Island. Some had been trafficked for sexual exploitation, while others had been trafficked for forced labor.

  Branham would spend the rest of his life behind bars.

  ◆◆◆

  Donovan Brown’s trial was harder to witness.

>   Mrs. Brown cried when she saw her son traipse into court wearing a pair of Bermuda shorts and a red t-shirt. Instead of hiring an attorney, he had decided to go with a public defender.

  The lady defending him resembled a turtle. Her body was well rounded like a shell, her neck was barely visible, and it looked like she could slide back into her shell at any time.

  No wonder she’s a public defender. Who would hire someone who looks like that? Mrs. Brown thought.

  On the stand, Donovan confessed to being a part of the human trafficking ring. He said, “I was one of the lower guys on the totem pole; in other words, I had to do the dirty work. I was in on many of the kidnappings. Wearing a mask and gloves to conceal my identity, I would break into houses, snatch people from parking lots and curbsides, and did whatever it took to pad my pockets.”

  Pastor Brown was stone faced, but his wife was falling apart. We failed to raise him right, she thought. There are so many things we could have done differently.

  When asked if he had killed anyone, Donovan said he had never gone that far. He admitted there were other people in the human trafficking ring that had killed folks, but he was never a part of it.

  “Usually, the only people who were killed were ones that we couldn’t find a high enough bidder for,” he said. “It was never our intention for anyone to die. But if we couldn’t get cash for them, what choice did we have? If we let them go, they were going to run to the police and we would be out of a job.”