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“Madyson always said that about you,” Brooke whispers.
“What did she say?” I need some reassurance that I have been a positive influence on my sister somehow, because I feel like I have failed her in every other aspect.
“Even though you did a lot of things just to keep your parents quiet, you always find happiness in whatever situation you’re in. She looks up to you.”
My eyes sting with tears threatening to build. “I don’t know what to say.” Really, I don’t. I am not happy. Have I put on the façade for so long no one can see through to the real me? I can’t say I am unhappy, though. What I am is lonely.
We talk for a little while longer. Brooke has some great memories with her grandmother. It hurts my heart to know she has no memories of her own mother. My heart aches to have more time with her and to do things like this with my sisters.
Madyson, when you get back, we are going to have quality time together. I am going to know all about your dreams and be there to help you make them come true.
Ice
“Are you sure it’s her?” I ask Screech as I stare at the screen in front of me. For two very long days we have had a man watching the four cameras.
“Her tattoo—”
“Tattoo, what tattoo? She’s a damn kid,” I bark out.
“Apparently, she had a friend tattoo a Japanese cherry blossom on her side with her initials weaved into it. Her file states that it was done a little over a year ago.”
“Do we have a location yet?” Hammer asks the most important question.
I stare at the vision before me of Madyson Leigh Powell, naked and slumped down in a cage. She is moving; at least I know she is alive. Has she mentally checked out? How drugged is she? Have they violated her yet?
My stomach turns at the thought that this case is hitting a little too close to home. Staring at my baby girl’s best friend exposed, defenseless, and probably scared out of her mind makes me think an ugly truth that I do not want to face. That could easily have been Brooke, instead.
From what we have gathered, it takes a while before they start using the girls for sex. They spend the first parts of their captivity being drugged to the point of addiction. Once they have them hooked, the bastards whore them out. Consensual my ass. Sick fucks have a system going. How Madyson caught their radar, however, we are still unsure. It seems like it was a matter of wrong place, wrong time.
A man approaches her cage, syringe in hand. We all watch helplessly in horror as he unlocks the door. When Madyson scurries into the corner of her enclosure as if she could somehow be swallowed up by the ground and hide, the man reaches out and grabs her leg. She shakes her head back and forth, hitting the sides of the cage. She kicks out, and he yanks on her harshly, causing her head to bang on the back of the enclosure. Unable to do anything except watch as she is drugged against her will, anger boils inside me like never before.
“I will kill every single one of these fuckers slowly, painfully, and with vengeance for every single needle they have injected into each one of these women,” I state to the room coldly.
I watch as her body relaxes, and then the man tosses her leg back inside and closes the door. She is unmoving, unresponsive, and I can only send up a prayer that she will wake up after whatever is in her system passes through.
“Are you gonna tell Morgan that we found her?” Hammer asks.
I shake my head no.
“If it were Brooke, you would want to know. You would want the hope and knowledge that she is still breathing,” Coal remarks.
“For how long, huh? I can’t promise her we will make it in time if we can’t lock in on a location soon. She can’t handle this.” I let my irritation show.
Hammer snorts. “She can’t handle it, or you can’t handle the possibility of letting her down? How do you know she can’t cope? How do you know this isn’t the shred of hope she needs to keep going? She’s never had to face anything like this.”
“I can’t fail her or Madyson,” I say, meeting my brother’s stare.
“You won’t. Morgan is tough. She didn’t hesitate to take in her sister. She doesn’t back down from you, and you’re a scary motherfucker. She can handle this. Honestly, she is one of only a handful of women that could be strong knowing what we do.”
“What are you getting at, Hammer?”
“Just saying she’s different.”
“This is a conversation best suited for a different time,” I state as my agitation grows. I don’t need to stand around talking about Morgan when I need to find these trapped women.
