“Thanks for coming back.” Kate crossed the foyer to Wyatt. “I know it hasn’t been long, but is there any news about the car?”
“Not yet but there’s a regional alert on the white Chevy. I’m treating it as an abduction, since we don’t really know the circumstances behind Zarah’s leaving and the fact that she’s fifteen.”
“I don’t think she was forced, but I don’t know that for sure. Why would she leave like that?”
“There could be several possibilities. She knew something and was scared to stay. She was involved in Rose’s disappearance somehow. Her old life appealed to her more than a chance at the future you could give her. Or the people running this ring have a hold over her.” Wyatt glanced over her shoulder then nodded toward the staircase.
Kate rotated around and faced the twenty-one girls left all standing on the steps, watching them. Worry and fear marked each teen’s face. Tears streamed down Audrey’s and Beth’s.
Kate moved forward. “Let’s meet in the rec room.” She’d talked to each student individually, but not as a group. It was time to let them know exactly what was going on. She owed them that.
As the girls filed down the stairs and headed for the rec room, Wyatt came up beside Kate. “What are you going to tell them?”
“Everything.”
“Do you want me to wait out here?”
“No, they may have questions for you. I want them to realize you’re here to help them. Some of them don’t have a great opinion of the police.”
The girls all sat on either the couches, chairs, or the floor waiting for Kate. Audrey and Beth had stopped crying, but the expressions of fear and worry were still in place when Kate entered the room.
“By now you’ve heard that Zarah has left Beacon of Hope. Audrey saw her willingly get into a car this evening and drive away. Some of her belongings are gone, so it doesn’t look like she is coming back. This is a program with certain security procedures in place, but more so you’re safe—rather than keeping you locked up like criminals. You aren’t criminals. You’re girls who I hope will grab at the second chance you’ve been given.”
“So you’re gonna just let Zarah walk away like that?” Jana, one of the oldest students, snapped her fingers.
“No. Every effort to bring Zarah back will be made. Ranger Sheridan has a search out for the car Zarah left in. She’s here, as some of you are, because of the courts. I’m her guardian, and I’ll do everything to see she’s safely back here.”
“What’s going on? First Rose and now Zarah.” Beth’s voice could barely be heard from the back of the room.
“We’re not sure. Rose got a call from someone she knew. I think another girl was in trouble. Rose went to help.”
A few of the students murmured how that sounded like Rose.
“That was stupid,” Jana said over the voices of the others.
Audrey shot to her feet. “Shut up. We have a problem here. We have to work together.”
Jana rose slowly and faced Audrey. “Doing what?”
Audrey stared at the older girl across the room, then swiveled her attention to Kate, a plea in her eyes.
“I need each one of you to think long and hard about the last few weeks. Anything you can remember about Rose or Zarah. A call they took. A person they saw. Something they said. You never know what might be important. If you think of anything, please let me know. It might help us find who is behind this. Has Rose or Zarah ever talked about what happened to them before they came here? I think whoever has them is someone they knew from their past, especially since they’re from this area of Texas.”
“When we went on a field trip last week, I saw a guy talking to Zarah. She said she needed to go to the bathroom and left the group to do that. But she took a wrong turn and went down a different hallway. I had started to tell her when I saw her talking to him. He stroked her arm. She smiled at him,” Georgia, a quiet student who had been at Beacon of Hope for a year, said from the couch. “I ducked out of the hallway before she saw me.”
Kate wished Georgia had told her when it had happened, but she wouldn’t say anything in front of the group. Georgia rarely spoke up, especially when more than one or two people were around. “Could you describe him?”
“I think so.”
Wyatt stepped forward. “I’d like you to work with a sketch artist. Will you give it a try?”
Georgia nodded.
“This kind of information might help us. So if anyone else has something, please let me know.” Kate scanned the faces of each girl, some in thought, others’ expressions blank. When no one said anything else, she continued. “There is one more thing I think you should know.”
Several students tensed. Audrey sank back down to the floor while Jana remained standing, her hands balled at her sides.
Her throat clogged with the words Kate needed to say. These girls had done and seen things most people wouldn’t in their lifetimes. She’d owed them respect and faith in them if she wanted it returned to her. “I wish I didn’t have to tell you this, but the majority of the funding for this program will be cut off at the end of the month.”
“How much?” Jana asked, her hand flexing and closing at her sides.
“Seventy-five percent.” That was how much the Winslow Foundation contributed to Beacon of Hope.
A few whistled. Others scowled and grumbled while a couple of their mouths dropped open.
“As I know you’ve figured out, it would be impossible to run the program on what we have left.” Kate felt Wyatt’s presence right behind her as though he were lending her his support.
“Haven’t you said all things are possible through the Lord?” Jana shouted, with several agreeing with her.
“Yes and that’s true. That’s why I have come up with a way I think we can get the money.”
“Yeah, like rob a bank?”
Kate didn’t see who said it, but she answered the group with, “We’re going to have an open house and invite people who can donate money to the program. I want them to see what we’re doing here. Talk to you all and see what you’re doing. That can be the most powerful message we can give them. But I won’t be able to do it without your help.”
“When will we have the open house?” Beth asked.
“I thought in three weeks. That’ll give us time to come up with the plans for it and for me to send out the invitations. I’ll be including the media. You all have overcome so much. I hope that one day there’s no need for a program like this. In order for that to happen, we need to get the message out. Whoever wants to be part of that is welcome to join me if we have permission from your guardian, but I won’t ask anyone to do anything they don’t want to. If nothing else, the other staff and I can show people the program and testimonies can be given unanimously too.”
Georgia immediately dropped her head and stared at her hands as they twisted together in her lap. Several others averted their gazes, their brows furrowed.
Jana stepped through the maze of girls and came to the front. “I ain’t putting myself on display.” She continued her way toward the door.
Beth stood. “I’ll help. If it weren’t for you believing in me, I’d probably be dead by now.”
A couple of older girls nodded their heads and agreed to help too.
Kate raised her hands to quiet the discussion among the students. “This doesn’t have to be decided tonight. Let me know if you want to be involved. The ones who don’t can go on a field trip that day.”
“If we don’t help, does that mean the doors will close on this place?” the newest girl asked, biting her bottom lip.
“No matter what, I’ll do everything I can to keep that from happening. Remember my door is always open.”
When there were no more questions, Kate decided to leave the students to talk among themselves.
Out in the hallway Wyatt said, “I’d like to see Zarah’s room. Maybe she left something behind that might give us an idea who she went with or where she went.”
/> “This way.” Kate climbed the stairs to the second floor. With each step, she felt as though she dragged the weight of the world up with her.
In Zarah’s room, Wyatt checked the closet, then her desk, and finally the drawers she used. Some of her belongings were crammed into a couple of the bottom ones.
When he straightened after going through what Zarah left behind, he shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Do you think the guy Georgia saw Zarah with is involved in all of this?”
“Let’s hope so. We could use a break.”
The notes to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly blared. Wyatt quickly answered his cell.
As he listened to the caller, a frown deepened on his tan face. “Okay. I’ll be there.”
“What’s happened?” Kate’s chest constricted, capturing her next breath in her lungs.
“A police officer saw the white Chevy with the license plate HOT STF on it. He tried to stop him. The car wouldn’t pull over. A high-speed chase occurred, ending in a crash. One person got away. While another officer went after the man who fled, the other stayed to check out the car. A young girl who fits Zarah’s description, was found shot in the front seat.”
“Is she . . . is she dead?”
“No, but it doesn’t look good. The ambulance is taking her to Mercy Cross. I’ll drive you.”
His news hit her like a knockout punch. Everywhere she turned lately, she ran into a barrier as though Satan were toying with her. She wouldn’t let him win.
King clenched his fists and glared at the man cowering in front of him. “You fool! You were supposed to get rid of her. Never to be found. She can link us to Rose.”
“Before I ran, I shot her in the head. She’s dead.”
King snorted. “My contact just informed me Zarah was taken to the hospital. If you don’t clean up this mess, you’ll regret being born. That’s a promise you know I’ll keep.”
“I’ll go to the hospital and make sure Zarah doesn’t make it.”
“You do that.”
Tony averted his gaze, his hands stuffed into his pockets. “Boss, there may be one little problem.”
“You mean besides Zarah is alive and in the hospital?”
Tony nodded. “She has something hidden she says could cause you problems. She knew about the connection between you and Rose. She wanted some money. Before I could do anything, though, the cops came after us.”
“You shot her instead! Before you could find out where the information was?” King made his hands into fists, wanting to pound some sense into the man.
“I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t see her running from the cops in those heels she was wearing. I took her purse after I shot her, then got out of there before the cops caught me.”
“Nothing was in the purse?”
“No, there wasn’t anything about you or Rose in the purse. Zarah probably was bluffing. She ain’t too smart.”
Neither are you. “You better hope that’s the case. Make sure it is.”
Tony straightened. “Yes, sir.”
“Now be useful and bring Rose up here.”
King prowled the bookcase-lined room. Energy surged through him as if he’d touched a live wire. This whole affair had become a ball of rattlesnakes feeding on each other. He’d known from the first day his wife’s niece, Rose, came to live with them, that she would be trouble. Too beautiful for her own good. Too innocent to be true. But he would have done anything for his wife—even take in her niece. Now his wife was dead, and he was left dealing with the girl. She’d earned her keep as a recruiter for his prostitution ring, but everything changed when she brought Lily to him. He’d been ready to teach her a lesson when one of her johns beat her up and left her for dead. In fact, he’d thought she’d died until Zarah had let Tony know about Rose.
Had Tony in his dealings with Zarah let something slip? Was that why Zarah knew about the connection between Rose and him? Most of the people in the trenches didn’t know King’s real name, so he should be all right. But if Tony didn’t clean up this mess soon, he would live to regret it.
He ceased pacing at the large window overlooking the pasture where quarter horses grazed. He knew his prize mares were there even though he couldn’t see them in the darkness of night. The knowledge his ranching operation ran smoothly comforted him. Now if only he could get his other enterprise in line, he would be content. If he didn’t get a better handle on it, his partner would—
A noise out in the hallway interrupted his thoughts. He quickly pulled the blackout shade down, then slowly turned. King confronted Rose. Her eyes were still adjusting to the bright lights glowing in his office. The sight of her curdled his gut. He’d had a good thing going. Until Rose turned up alive—a connection to him he couldn’t afford for the police to discover.
After Tony shut the door, leaving him and Rose alone, he strode toward his niece—nothing like his wife who he missed every day—standing in the middle of the room, her arms hugging her body, her eyes no longer blinking. She tilted up her chin and glared at him.
“Ah, I see the Deprivation Room hasn’t done its magic with you yet. Not to worry. It will. But for the time being I feel generous. You’ll be allowed to eat dinner with me. None of that gruel you’ve been eating. All your favorite dishes.”
“Your mind games aren’t gonna work with me anymore. I know what you’re doing. I’ve read all about it.”
“While you were at Beacon of Hope.” He spit the last words out as if they were poison on his tongue.
Her lips thinned. Her eyes became mere slits.
“I fed and clothed you for eight years. You owe me.”
Her hands dug into the flesh of her upper arms. But she didn’t reply.
He let the silence lengthened until he noticed Rose shifting from one foot to the other.
“Why am I here? I didn’t say anything to anyone about you,” she muttered between gritted teeth.
It would have been only a matter of time before she had. “You still haven’t paid me back for all the money I’ve spent on you.”
“I had a job. I could have paid you back with that money.”
He laughed. “Yeah, at the rate you were going I’d be an old man by that time. No, I have a much better use for you.”
“I won’t recruit girls for you anymore.”
“I know. There are other ways you can make money.”
Rose’s eyes rounded. Her arms slipped to her sides. “Not that again.”
King took the few feet separating them and put his thumb under her chin, lifting her gaze to lock with his. “You have no choice now. I have you back where you belong. I’m the one who decides when you can leave.” He pinched his thumb and forefinger together, watching tears well in Rose’s eyes. “Don’t forget that. I’m the King.” Then smiling, he released his grip and caressed the red mark he put on her chin. “Let’s go eat.”
Curled on her side, Rose lay on the hard floor, her arms cushioning her head against the stone. The food she’d forced herself to eat solidified in her stomach, its churning and gurgling the only sound in an otherwise void netherworld.
Blackness pressed in from every side as if her eyes were closed. She could no longer smell the dank musky odor that had assailed her when she’d first been put in the room. Her senses were so dulled even the stone beneath her was smooth.
While with King, she’d tried to figure out what time of day it was, but the windows were blacked out. There were no clocks or references to when it was. No clue at all. The thought she was losing track of time sent a wave of panic through her.
Everything changed once her aunt had died, leaving her with King. She would never think of him as her uncle because he wasn’t really. For years he’d ruled her life. Even when her aunt had been alive, she’d kept her distance from King. Then right after Aunt Belle’s funeral, her world had crashed down on her.
Tears quickly followed. Always there just below the surface—since she’d arrived at the ranch. No one for mile
s around. King’s place was big. She let the tears flow. It was useless to keep them inside anymore. She was utterly alone.
No, I’m not. She scrambled to her knees and bowed her head.
Lord, I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I was wrong to help King, but how was I to fight him? Please help me. Kate says You’ll listen when we’re in trouble. I’m in trouble. I need You.
The ever-present silence mocked her attempt at praying. She sank to the floor and clasped her legs to her. Sobs tore at her body like vultures stealing pieces of her flesh.
I’m alone.
“I’m sorry. Zarah didn’t make it,” the man in the white coat said.
The same doctor, the same waiting room as with Cynthia the night before. Kate sank onto the chair behind her. So much death. Why, Lord? This latest one shook her faith. I don’t understand.
“Thank you, doctor.” Wyatt cut into the heavy silence. “I’ve notified Detective Finch of the Dallas Police. He may want to talk to you.”
She heard him speak, but the sound seemed so far away. It was as if he were whispering on the other side of the room. But he stood in front of her, shaking the doctor’s hand. She observed the older man leaving the waiting room. When he disappeared from view, Kate took in the rest of the room, noting the couple in the corner waiting for news about their son and the old man sitting with his shoulders hunched over, his hands folded as though he were praying.
Slowly the sound of her name filtered into her brain, and she peered up at Wyatt. As last night, he was here for her with concern on his face and a softness in his eyes that reached out and wrapped her in an embrace of comfort.
She couldn’t say anything, not even thanks for being here. Tears crowded her eyes, and the image of him wavered.
He took her hands and tugged her to her feet. “Let’s get out of here.”
She nodded.
He hooked his arm around her shoulder and cuddled her against his side.
As he started for the door, Kate wiped her hand across her eyes. She needed to hold it together. She would have to tell the girls about Zarah.
Saving Hope: Men of the Texas Rangers Book 1 Page 10