“He had a small room off of his office. One of those hidden rooms, behind the bookcase. Like the movies?” Randall said. “It was full of pictures of you, Audrey, going back to when you were in the military academy. Turns out, he had a cousin there. Ferguson, was it?”
“Walt Ferguson?” Audrey said. “Wow. He was an odd duck. Always had a camera around his neck. Really annoying with it.”
“Yes. Odd duck is one thing to call him. Talking to him over the phone was a treat.” Randall turned the page in his notes. “So, everything we had on him was correct. He went to Italy as an exchange student, and it was there that he met your father for the first time. Brewer was there on vacation. This was shortly before everything blew up in Bosnia.”
“I must have just been an infant,” she said.
“You were. Something clicked with Brewer and Gross, because they kept in touch. Later, when Brewer went over there on deployment, he managed to get ahold of some forged papers and sent them to Gross. Birth certificate, passport. All the documents for travel.”
“Gross was in on it.”
Randall nodded. “From the start,” he said. “He helped plan and execute everything. That small town is in an odd stretch of land that was never patrolled heavily during the Bosnian campaign, so it was easy for him to sneak across and transport people. We haven’t been able to figure out what happened when Gross was there as a student, but he somehow coerced his former host family into helping him.” He looked at the rest of the group. “We have people on the way there to bring them in for questioning. Be prepared to bring them in within the next couple days.”
“So, Gross has known about me my entire life,” Audrey said.
“Looks that way,” Randall said. “He probably tried to keep tabs on you when you were small, but your uncle blocked that. It wasn’t until you went off to the academy that he started compiling all the information he had.” He paused. “He somehow had stuff that no one should have been able to get about a few of your ops. And a few things that never made it into some reports. We’ll be trying to find out how he got that information.” He looked over his glasses at her, hard. “Audrey, you’ve had more close calls than you’ve ever let on.”
Audrey read between the lines of what Top was telling her. He wouldn’t open up any formal inquiries, but he knew what was up. Simon looked at her, confused. She shook her head slightly at him. “Let it go.”
“You and I will talk later,” Randall said, clearing his throat. “Anyway, it gets worse.”
“How?” she asked.
“Gross actually has records of all the people they abducted.”
“What? That’s great!” Audrey said. “Stupid as fuck for him, but great for the families. Isn’t it?”
“Some of these people were infants, Audrey. We notified Interpol, but it’s going to be a long process to reunite the ones we can find with the people who lost them. Even longer to undo all that damage. Not that it can truly be undone.”
“True. It’s still good that the families will at least know what happened.”
“It is. But now, it’s out of our hands. It’ll be turned over to an international interagency task force. This large an activity is unprecedented.”
“What happened with Tanja?” Audrey asked. “She was kind to me, but I couldn’t get a good read on her.”
Charlie sucked in her breath, and Audrey looked at her. “What? She was.”
“Oh. No, Audrey. She wasn’t,” Charlie said. “She was in on the whole thing. She knew your name, Audrey. Remember that first night, when we went to the PX for stuff?” Audrey nodded. “She was our cashier. That’s how Gross knew you were here.”
Audrey paled. That’s why she looked familiar. She’d seen her a few times when she’d gone shopping.
“He had been following you around from that first day. He had her convinced that you would take her away from him.”
“Take her away?” Audrey gripped Simon’s hand until her knuckles were white. “No.” She shook her head.
Charlie nodded sadly at her. “Yes. She was about a year old when she was kidnapped from her stroller in a coffee shop. We have her story and her mother’s information on file.”
“Oh god, I’m gonna be sick,” Audrey said. Simon grabbed the trash can and held it for her while she dry heaved. Antony grabbed some more ice chips and a bottle of water, and handed them to her when she finished.
“Thanks. Sorry,” she said, wiping her mouth. “He was—they were—together.”
“Oh. Ohhh. Ick,” Charlie said. Antony cringed in the background.
Randall nodded and said, “He raised her to be his wife.”
***
The group sat quietly while they recorded Audrey’s record of events, beginning at her abduction. Her first hours were sketchy, since they had caught her unaware and rendered her unconscious so quickly. The rest of the meeting was fast, and they were wrapping up when the nurse came in to chase them out. As they were packing up, Randall turned to Simon. “You need to go home, get a shower, and get some rest,” he said.
“I’m fine, Top.”
“That was not a request, Carwell. You can come back in a few hours.”
Charlie spoke up. “I’ll stay. I caught a few hours, so I’m good. Besides, I wanna catch up with my girl,” she said, moving toward Simon’s chair.
Simon knew he’d been beaten. He stood and leaned over, giving up all pretense, and kissed her lightly on the forehead. “I’ll be back as soon as I’m allowed,” he said.
She smiled at him, “I imagine I’ll be here. At least for a little while. If something happens, I’ll call. Promise.”
Charlie pulled the seat forward, and once the men left, sat down. “So . . .” she said, and leaned in, resting her head on her hands.
“So . . .”
Charlie squinted at her friend. “You went out to meet Simon on patrol, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. I did. And it was fun,” Audrey said, grimacing through a smile. “The rest? Not so much.”
“Kinky,” Charlie chuckled. She went quiet. “Damn, I can’t believe she picked up on you from the first day.”
“Yeah, the whole thing is just—he kept beating me, accusing me of being brought here by Maxwell. Kept asking me who sent me here. It was just bizarre.”
“What did you tell him?”
Audrey sighed. “I played to his ego. Rather, I played with it. Called him names, told him he was a moron. I knew it would piss him off and maybe buy me some more time.” She touched her face gingerly. “Might have given me a scar or two, but I think it worked.”
“Good Lord, Aud. He could have lost his shit and just killed you!” Charlie exclaimed. “That was fucking stupid!”
“He was going to kill me either way, Charlie,” Audrey said. “He had no intention of letting me out there alive, and I think you know it.”
Charlie looked away.
“What aren’t you telling me, Charlie?”
“They found a ditch dug toward the back end of the property. We don’t know if that was really the intent for it, but yeah, it was body sized.” She swiped her hand over her eyes and turned back toward her friend. “I’m glad we got to you in time. I don’t know what any of us would have done if he’d have killed you,” she said, tearing up.
“Don’t you fucking cry, Charlotte Madden. Goddamn it. I don’t want to cry,” Audrey said. The events of the previous two days, along with the stresses of the last few months, finally caught up to her, and she burst into tears.
Charlie climbed onto the bed and put her arms around her friend. Together, they wept until they fell asleep, exhausted on all levels.
Simon and the nurses found them like that a few hours later. Simon smiled at the two and the pile of wadded up tissues scattered around the trash can.
Charlie opened her eyes and started to move, but he shook his head. He walked softly over and dropped a kiss on Audrey’s forehead and whispered “thank you” at Charlie. Pointing at his watch, he nodded toward the
door. “I’ll go catch up on the case and come back soon. Stay with her.”
“Okay. Don’t be gone too long. She needs you, too, you know.”
Simon nodded and left.
***
Audrey was climbing the walls the following morning. Simon had come and gone, only staying for a couple of hours before begging off. He’d brought clothes for her, as well as burgers and fries for her and Charlie. Audrey had never eaten anything so good in her life. Not even that first proper meal after basic training had been as good as that cheeseburger. Now, she was waiting for the final release papers to be signed so she could get the hell out of there. Her ride, she assumed Simon, hadn’t shown up yet, so there she sat, on the edge of her bed.
The doctor came in and gave her her paperwork and told her to sit tight for the nurse to escort her down.
“I don’t need a chair, doc,” she said.
“I know you can walk. I know you want to walk. And I know you’re going to sit in that chair and deal with it. It’s hospital policy,” the doctor said, looking over the top of his glasses at her.
Audrey gawked.
“Yes, Audrey, they warned me about you. Deal with it. And get to sick call if you have any headaches or pain from your head or neck,” he said as he left.
Audrey sat in the wheelchair and grumbled to herself the whole way down the elevator. When the doors opened, Antony was standing there waiting.
Disappointment must have shown on Audrey’s face because he laughed, loudly.
“Damn, Linser! No poker face there. Tell me how you really feel!”
“Sorry,” she said. She didn’t feel sorry in the least, and they both knew it.
“Yeah, I know. You were expecting your man,” Antony said. “Top has him doing something. You’re stuck with me. C’mon.” He reached to help her out of the chair, and she slapped his hands away.
“I’m fine.”
He waited until she settled in the seat, before shutting the door and getting behind the wheel. They rode in silence.
A mile down the road, Antony turned the stereo down and said, “You don’t like me.”
“I don’t dislike you,” Audrey replied.
“Then what is it? We work okay together.”
“Ramos,” she began, turning toward him. “I told you on day one that if you wanted to know anything about me, to ask me. You’ve continued to go behind my back. You think I don’t know when you’ve been messing with my shit? In my files?”
Antony had the good grace to look ashamed. “Well, you know that when we ask people shit, they lie.”
“Yeah. Those are the people we are investigating. Not teammates. Not coworkers. Don’t profile, don’t investigate where there’s no reason to,” she said. “It’s not that I don’t like you, Ramos. I don’t trust you. Your lack of trust in me makes me wonder what the hell you might be hiding.” He scowled and opened his mouth to argue, and she interrupted, “Don’t even. Here’s the thing—I don’t care if you have shit to hide, as long as it’s not illegal. I can work with you just fine, I can bullshit with you. Hell, I can drink beers and all that with you. But you kept digging, even after I told you to stop. Well, you know everything now, don’t you? Are we done now?”
“Yep. We’re done,” he said. His face was set in hard lines. “Except for one thing, Linser.”
“What’s that?”
“You want me to keep you in the loop about how Simon’s doing after you break his fucking heart and leave?”
“I’m not going to—” she began.
“Yes. You fucking are. We all know that at the first hint of a chance, you’d be out of here tomorrow and back out in the field,” Antony said, stopping at a red light. He looked over at her.
“He’s always known that my goal was to go back out,” she said.
“Was?” Antony asked.
Audrey shrugged. “Not like it matters. They’ve benched me, from what I’ve been told.”
“Bullshit,” Antony said. “You can’t even fucking be honest with me now, and you get pissed when I look into your background? Give me a goddamn break.” He punched down on the gas, taking Audrey by surprise. She hissed in pain as her head whipped back suddenly.
“Fuck. I’m sorry. They probably shouldn’t have sent me,” he said.
“Charlie’s right. You do drive like an asshole,” Audrey said, rubbing her neck.
“He loves you. You know that, right?” He slowed as the light ahead turned red.
She didn’t answer. Now stopped, Antony looked over at her. Tears were pooling in her eyes, one sniffle away from spilling over. She is human, he thought, and felt a little bad for being a jerk. He grabbed a couple napkins from the center console and handed them to her. “Sorry, I don’t have any snotrags in here,” he mumbled.
The rest of the ride back was silent. When they arrived at the gate, Audrey panicked until Antony held up her ID to the guard. He gave it to her, and she gripped it like it was a lifeline to her sanity.
Simon was waiting on the sidewalk when they pulled up. He frowned at her expression and shot Antony a questioning look. Antony shrugged and said “later.”
As he walked away, Audrey called out. “Ramos.”
He stopped but didn’t turn around.
“I didn’t know.”
He turned his head and nodded, then kept walking.
***
Simon had cleaned her apartment from top to bottom. Her laundry was done, fridge restocked. He’d even laid the magazines out, home and gardens style.
He loves you.
Antony’s words played over and over in her mind. How did she miss that part?
“I’ll go if you like.”
She looked up. “I’m sorry. What?”
Simon smiled. “Nevermind. I’ll go if you like. Leave you to get settled.”
Audrey approached him, and as she stepped closer, his arms opened to her. Like he’d never deny her contact. She moved into his embrace and wrapped her arms around his waist, laying her head on his shoulder. A shuddering breath left her, and his arms tightened. So warm. She tipped her head back and kissed him on the side of his jawline, just under his ear. “Thank you. For all of this,” she said. She stepped back. “I think I need a few hours alone,” she said. He looked disappointed, but swallowed it. “Simon,” she said, grabbing his hand. “I haven’t been alone for a few days. I just want to shower and clear all of this out. That’s all.” He nodded. “Will you come back tonight and stay with me?” she asked.
“Of course I will,” he answered. “Sorry, I’m being selfish.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, Audrey, I am,” he said, kissing her on the nose. “It’s been a shit few days, and you need some time. If you need something, food cooked, back scrubbed,” he said, winking. “Call me. Text me when you want me to come back.”
He stopped just before twisting the handle on the knob. “Oh. Your stuff is on your bed. Everything was there, even the cash in your wallet.”
The door clicked softly and she was alone. Audrey didn’t waste any time in stripping down and getting into the shower. They’d given her a sponge bath in the hospital, but she still felt so, so dirty.
Once she was under the hot spray, the trauma of the last few days fell hard on her shoulders, and she slumped to the floor under the weight. She tried to be quiet, but her sobs echoed around the tiled room. The water stung her face and wrists, but she didn’t care. She sobbed until she couldn’t anymore. She cried for the mother she’d never gotten to know, and the father she’d never really had. She cried for all that lost time and how her fear of love had kept her from so much for so long. She cried because Simon loved her. Antony wasn’t bullshitting her on that, she knew. All the signs were there, now that she had a clue what to look for. And that clue was because she had a strong hunch that she felt the same way. His face when she said she wanted to be alone crushed her, and every time Gross had hit her, she reached for him in her mind to keep her going. She was strong, but he h
elped her to be stronger. She sobbed anew when she realized how much stronger she wanted to be, and it was because of him. The strongest thing she could do, she knew, was to let him in.
The water had started to cool off. Audrey finished sniffling and stood. She grabbed the shampoo bottle and squeezed a handful out, slapping it on her head and stopping when she felt the short hair. Tears pooled in her eyes again as she wiped as much of the extra shampoo as she could out of her hair and washed it down the drain. She hiccuped and choked back a laugh when she thought about how much money she’d save on hair products for a while. She also needed to find a stylist to fix the disaster left behind.
After her shower, she put on sweats and curled up on the couch. Reading was out of the question, she realized after she’d read the same sentence half a dozen times. She didn’t have the patience for much else, so she allowed herself to zone out. Half-assed meditation, she called it.
She must have dozed off, because she came to with a beep on her phone. Thank goodness she set an alarm. She tapped out a quick message and smiled as the door next to hers opened and shut. She was already opening hers before Simon could knock.
He was holding a large bag which he set on the counter.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“Sushi,” he replied. “Plates?”
She grabbed two plates and a small bowl. They quickly set up at the coffee table in the living area and sat down on the floor. Audrey leaned over and kissed Simon quickly on the cheek. He smiled.
They ate in silence, punctuated by Audrey’s exclamations that this was the best meal she’d ever had.
Simon laughed. “I’m pretty sure you said that about the burgers last night.”
“Those were the best, too!” she said, happily chewing her bite of dragon roll.
“So,” Simon began. “What happened with Antony?”
Audrey looked at him. “I take it you talked to him after he dropped me off.”
“I did.”
“And what did he say?”
Simon laughed. “Nice turnaround on the question. He said that you chewed his ass out for investigating you.”
Wayward (A Soldier's Heart Book 1) Page 21