Surrender: Keeping Her in the Dark Vol. 4

by Leslie Sansom

  Surrender

  Leslie Sansom

  Keeping Her in the Dark – Vol. Four

  Copyright © 2015 by Leslie Sansom

  Surrender

  Keeping Her in the Dark – Vol. Four

  All rights reserved

  Formatting by: Tugboat Design

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidences are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Thank you to my small flock who have been faithful followers of Liam and Norah’s story. I hope you like this final installment. Your support and kind words are appreciated. It has been a long and difficult journey for these two characters. Needless to say they are close to my heart. Writing this last installment of the ‘Keeping her in the Dark’ series has been both satisfying and sad. I am sad to finish writing this story but also looking forward to creating and exploring other characters. I hope you will continue my journey with me.

  “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

  – Martin Luther King Jr.

  My father had that quote engraved on a silver paper weight and gave it to me when I graduated from college. I kept it on my desk and often flipped it over and over in my hands when I was in a tough spot and needed his advice.

  This was one of those times.

  Prologue

  Norah

  A tall man took me into a room and told me to sit at a table. He said he would be right back and left Tom and I alone.

  “Ok, Norah, listen. I don’t want you to answer any questions unless I tell you it’s safe to answer. It’s true that you’re Liam’s wife and they can’t use what you say against him, but they might also be able to prove that you married him under duress. If they can prove duress, which I think being held in his house, thinking you were his slave constitutes duress, then they can use your testimony against him. So just say nothing and I will try to find out exactly what it is they have against him, ok?” he said. I nodded.

  “They haven’t charged you with anything and I don’t expect they will. My best advice at this point is to humor them. Please don’t let them bait you,” he touched my leg when he said that. I knew what he meant. If they started talking bad about Liam it would be hard for me not to say something. As much as I wanted to defend my husband, his best defense at this point was my silence.

  The tall man and a slender blonde woman walked in the room. She handed me and Tom both bottles of water.

  “Hello, Norah. My name is Detective Lewis and this is Detective Shaw. We need to ask you some questions about your husband.”

  I made eye contact with her and nodded.

  “Ok. First of all, can you tell me how you met Mr. Hastings?” she asked. I didn’t answer. She waited. I still didn’t answer. She made some notes and then looked at me again.

  “We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way,” the tall man said. I laughed because I thought it was ironic that Liam had used almost those exact same words with me when I first came to live with him. He made it clear if I was nice to him, he would be nice to me. He was very true to his word. When I opened up and tried to trust him he opened up and tried to trust me too.

  “Is something funny?” he asked. I sensed Detective Shaw didn’t have a sense of humor.

  “Yes. This interrogation,” I said.

  “Why do you think this is funny?” he asked. I didn’t say anything. “Mr. Hastings is in a lot of trouble Miss Chandler. I don’t think either of you understand how serious this is. You can answer questions here with us, or you can answer them in the jail after you have been charged with helping him with human trafficking.” Again I didn’t say anything. I don’t think I even blinked.

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Detective Lewis said.

  “All I want to know is how you met him? How did he come to be a part of your life?” I looked to Tom for prompting but he didn’t look over at me. So again I said nothing.

  “I think we can skip a lot of silence if you could tell us why you want to know?” Tom said.

  “Well, I think you already know why we want to know. Mr. Hastings was arrested at a private party where 2 women who had been kidnapped were being sold. We have information that suggests he was the one who bought both of these women. Which after we go through his finances we will be able to prove.” I tried not to show any emotion.

  “We also have information that suggests Mr. Hastings purchased you from the same kind of auction 2 years ago,” she stopped talking and just looked at me. “If you’re scared, we understand.” Her face was soft. She looked like she was trying to bond with me, like she was trying to make me feel comfortable. I laughed.

  “But we can help you. You just need to tell us how you met and came to live with him, Miss Chandler.”

  “Hastings,” I said. I didn’t wait for Tom’s prompting to answer this question. They knew I was his wife. It wasn’t a secret.

  “Huh?” she replied.

  “My last name isn’t Chandler anymore. It’s Hastings. Liam is my husband.”

  “Yes and if he forced you to marry him so you could never testify against him we can help with that too. But you have to talk to us, Norah.”

  “I think Mrs. Hastings has made it plain that she doesn’t intend to answer your questions. If you want to charge her with something do it, or we’re leaving,” Tom said.

  “He didn’t force me to marry him,” I said. I know he said not to answer but I couldn’t help it.

  “Well maybe forced is the wrong word. Maybe he just suggested things would be easier for you if you married him?” that came from Detective Shaw.

  “Easier for me?” I snorted.

  “Norah, you don’t have to answer,” Tom said.

  “No. But I did tell him it would be easier for him if he bought me not only one but two Vera Wang wedding dresses!” I was raising my voice now. It pissed me off that Liam was being made a bad guy. I stood up.

  “Your other goons are at my house right now. Tell them to go in the study and look at the 2 big white photo albums. You’ll see both of my weddings and understand just how much force I was under!” Tom pulled at my arm.

  “Please sit down, Norah.”

  “My name is Mrs. Hastings…and you people have your heads up your ass! If you had something to hold my husband on you would still have him in custody! But you don’t. All you have is this suggestive evidence. So I suggest that until you have something substantial you leave us alone!” I was all out shouting now.

  “I wonder if your answers would change if you knew what your husband was doing when we arrested him?” he said. “Your husband purchased 2 women that had been kidnapped.” He cocked his head to the side. “Maybe he was trying to replace you?” Liam said they would try to do this, so I didn’t answer him.

  “Do you know what he did at this party in order to buy these girls?” I rolled my eyes at him. “Oh, you can roll your eyes, Mrs. Hastings, and I say Mrs. Hastings because you obviously love and honor your husband. But was he honoring you when he received a blow job from one girl and forced the other to have sex with him?” he waited for an answer.

  “That didn’t happen,” I said. I was confident my husband would never force a woman to do anything. He might have had sex with one of these girls if he thought he had to, but he didn’t force her. I was sure of that. After all he had been very patient with me when it came to sex. He could have taken me that first night and forced me to do a lot of dirty things, but he didn’t. He waited f
or me to be ready.

  “Oh really? It didn’t? Were you there?” I turned my face away from him.

  “That is enough, Mr. Shaw,” Tom said.

  “Oh, I don’t think so. Your client here knows all too well how her husband is when it comes to women. How he use to frequent sex clubs and had a different submissive in his home every weekend. She also knows that he bought and paid for her after she had been kidnapped in Paris.”

  “He didn’t know I had been kidnapped!” I snapped. I wasn’t supposed to say anything but I couldn’t help it.

  “Norah, please don’t say anything else,” Tom said.

  “Well I’m sure that is what he told you. But why else are you still here, Mrs. Hastings?” he stressed the ‘Mrs. Hastings’ part.

  “Why else did he keep you? Why didn’t he just come forward and try to do the right thing if he was already doing the right thing?”

  I knew what he was trying to do, and I had to admit I didn’t like it. He had me thinking and second guessing things. Liam told me this would happen. I tried to block it out. I knew the truth. They couldn’t change the truth with their clever words and misdirection.

  “Do you think he kept you because he loved you? Or maybe it was because he wanted to make sure you could never get away from him?” I lowered my eyes. I knew Liam never wanted me to get away from him, but that was beside the point. He didn’t have to marry me to keep me.

  “Can we get to the point?” Tom demanded. “If you don’t charge my client with something we’re leaving. We both know you have nothing on her, you just need her information. She isn’t going to answer your questions, so what is the point of this?”

  “The point is, that Mr. Hastings purchased his wife in an illegal auction. When he found out she had been kidnapped he did nothing to make things right, instead he made her fear him, fall in love with him and then marry him. After 2 years together, now he knows he has his claws in her and that she would never betray him, so he decides to buy a few more girls.” He paused and stood up.

  “Now he has them scared of him as well and they won’t talk either! I want some answers, Mrs. Hastings! I want to know why your husband thinks he can buy women and then convince them not to talk.” I turned my face away again. I could feel the tears running down my cheek.

  “You know this isn’t right, Norah,” Shaw touched my hand. “You know this has never been right. He made you fear him, then showered you with presents and married you to make you think he loved you. Now he hoped he could do the same thing with these girls.” I wiped my face. The woman agent handed me a tissue. I nodded at her.

  “Did he tell you he was going to save them? Did he tell you he didn’t care about the money or that he wasn’t going to have a relationship with them, like he did with you?” he asked. It was like he was reading the transcripts from our conversation.

  “How did he even find out about this party? Maybe he made contact with an old friend? Someone who knows the kind of women he likes?” Samantha is the first person that I thought of. He had seen her last month and she tried to convince him he would never be happy with just me. Maybe he finally realized that she was right.

  “Stop! Stop! I can’t take it anymore!” I screamed.

  “What exactly is it you can’t take, Mrs. Hastings? Hearing the truth or being afraid?” he leaned down on the table in front of me.

  “Tell me, what does he say to make you so scared of him? How did he make you so loyal to him? So loyal that you are willing to cover for him while he continues purchasing women?” His voice was firm but he spoke in a whisper. His eyes were focused completely on me. I could feel the tears streaming down my face but I didn’t dare look away from him. I took a deep breath and crossed my arms against my chest.

  “Can we speak to you outside?” Detective Lewis asked Tom. He asked me to sit there and calm down while he went to talk to them. I was left alone.

  I put my head on the table and cried. I wrapped my arms around my body and tried to comfort myself. Everything he said might have been true. Liam did make me fear him. He made me think I couldn’t leave him, that he owned me because he bought me. I was scared to run because I thought he would just find me and punish me.

  Did he do it so if this ever happened I couldn’t testify against him? So I would be loyal to him? Did he really love me? Did he want these girls for himself?

  I shook my head back and forth on the table. This is what they wanted. They wanted me to be confused and over think my situation so I would talk to them.

  I let out a deep breath. I knew the truth in my heart.

  Liam

  They took bags of papers, sheets, clothes and everything from my basement. They took pictures of everything, touched everything and moved everything. They searched my entire property and questioned all of my house and yard staff. They gave me papers that said they were searching my office and all my business’s and my finances.

  Four hours later they left. The house was a mess and I still hadn’t heard from Norah or Tom. I made myself a drink in the study and sat on the couch. I had to pull myself together and get to Norah. I knew she was scared. She didn’t know Tom very well and I wanted to be with her. I heard some shuffling in the other room and got up to go see who it was.

  Rosa was putting everything back in the kitchen the way it was, Lina and Maria were in the dining room, and Sofia was in the library putting the books back on the shelves. I took a seat on the stairs just as Gerald walked by me. He was carrying a laundry basket with clothes in it and a bag of trash.

  “Gerald, you don’t have to do this. None of you have to do this. This is my fault. I’m sure they told you what I am being accused of,” I stood up. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I’ll understand.” I heard a vacuum outside and went to the window. Trig was cleaning out his car and John was wiping his car down.

  When I turned back around Rosa was standing behind me.

  “I have worked for you for a long time, Mr. Hastings. I have known you since you were a little boy. I don’t care what they say. I know what I have seen and been a part of.” She grabbed my face in one hand and squeezed my cheeks together giving me duck lips.

  “You might want to be a bad man, but I know you are not. We all know you are not.” She smacked the side of my face. “You are a good boy,” she said. “You just need some babies!” she was quick to add. Rosa rarely spoke in English. It was usually when she was very upset and she usually didn’t make sense.

  “I don’t want you to lie for me. If they ask you something I want you to be honest,” I said.

  “I don’t have to lie. I know nothing of the things they talk about. All I know is what I see. And I see a man that loves his wife and does everything he can to make her happy. I see a man that has not only taken me in as an employee after his father died, but also lets me live in his guest house. I see a man that hired my family. A man that lets me bring my grandchild to work, that stood as a groomsmen in my Raymond’s wedding and let Sofia and Raymond both have their weddings here.” She moved so she could see Gerald.

  “This man walked your wife down the aisle when she felt she had no one to do it. She has no father and didn’t want her mother’s boyfriend, so she asked him!” she pointed at Gerald.

  “Do you think for one second Gerald would have done that if he thought she didn’t really want to marry you? The only duress she was under was over her dress, location and guest list. So you made it easier for her and had 2 weddings. Would a man do that if he was trying to cover up something?” I didn’t answer her but I looked over at Gerald.

  “He loves you like you are his own son,” she grabbed my face again. “You are a good boy. We loved your parents and we love you too.” She lightly smacked my face again. “So let them come and I will tell them whatever they want to know.” She went back to the kitchen and started ranting in Spanish.

  I nodded at Gerald and he nodded back. He came to me and patted my shoulder.

  “I have seen you grow from a boy
who only thought of himself and how much fun he could have, to a man that loves his wife and his family. I have seen a man who thought he would be alone, accept the people around him into his heart. I walked Norah down the aisle and gave her to a man I have come to love and respect. Nothing they can say will change that, son.” When he added the ‘son’ on the end I could feel the tears in my eyes.

  “Now please, when this is over, get that young wife of yours pregnant, so Rosa will have more grandchildren to love,” he patted my shoulder.

  “I will try, I promise you that. I will try.” The list of good things about me sounded really good. But I didn’t know how good they would sound stacked against the bad things I had done.

  My phone rang and I jumped to answer it.

  “Hastings?” It was Tom with news about Norah. I grabbed my keys and wallet and ran out the door.

  I arrived at the station and Tom was waiting for me.

  “What? What’s going on? Is she ok?” I asked.

  “She’s fine.” He took my arm and walked me to private room.

  “Liam, it isn’t you that they want. They have a vague understanding of your particular situation and are willing to make you a deal for your cooperation.” I took a seat at a small table and Tom sat on the other side.

  “What do they want?” I asked.

  “They want Randall and the 2 men Randall worked for as well.”

  “I don’t know who Randall worked for. I didn’t know he worked for anyone. I thought he ran his own business,” I said.

  “Well he does. But he gets his girls from a man named Abdul Amir. According to him, he is the right hand man for Rashad Salam. Salam is a major player in the human trafficking world. He lives in Paris so he very well could have been responsible for Norah’s kidnapping and appearance in the auction.”

  “Well I can’t help with them. I vaguely knew Randall. I can give them his address and all the information about the party.”