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“I have a busy day, Ludvik. It’s really not that big of a deal. You could stay back here and get some sleep, too, you know,” I point out, and Ludvik’s lips go into a straight line.
We both damn well know he can’t leave me alone. He has to follow me, and I know it’s something Lom’s ordered him to do. It’s like Ludvik is my Danill.
“Where are we heading?” he grits out as he gets to the end of the hallway with me.
“The apartment. I want to get a head start on the last bit of packing. I think a couple more days of this, and I should be done with it all.”
“It’s six in the fucking morning, Emily. You couldn’t have waited a couple more hours?”
“Early bird gets the worm!” I smile brightly and throw open the door, then we walk down the hallway to the elevators.
Ludvik and I get in the elevators and head to the parking garage, but instead of taking my own car, Ludvik has us take his. We get to my apartment in no time, and as soon as we make it through the door, Ludvik starts grumbling about how hungry he is.
“Do you want me to make you some breakfast?” I already know the answer, but I’m giving him the option to say yes and ask for it with manners if it isn’t too much trouble for him.
“Yeah, that would be nice. Thank you.”
“All right, well, you can get the coffee started then.” I stick my tongue out at Ludvik, and he rolls his eyes. The more time I spend with Ludvik, the more he makes me feel like we have a brother-and-sister relationship. He gets on my nerves quite a bit, but everyone in your family typically does. He’s also much nicer to me than my actual brother since he wants to call me a slut and basically tried to get Lom to dump my ass.
Ludvik heads over to the coffee pot, and I see he’s grabbing a coffee filter out of the cabinet while I get out the last couple of pans I have. I know I have eggs in the fridge, so I grab the carton and decide to make omelets. I even have some fresh tomatoes, onions, and scallions too. Oh! Plus, cheddar cheese. An omeletsounds really good right now for me as well. If I’m lucky, I might still have some cinnamon raisin bread. It’s delicious when it’s toasted, and a little bit of butter is spread across it.
I’m whipping everything together when I hear the front door opening. I immediately stop what I’m doing and turn around, only to find Lom walking in. “You could’ve just woken me up.” Lom’s tone has a bit of attitude laced behind his words, so I’ll be sassy back.
I pick up my spatula and point it at him. “Keep talking to me like that, and I won’t make you breakfast.”
Lom grumbles something under his breath which gets a chuckle from Ludvik. Meanwhile, I continue to make breakfast, now making another omelet for Lom. While I’m cooking, Lom clears his throat. “I do want to tell you about something regarding the child.”
I glance back at him for a second, and hope swells in my chest. Has he found something out? Is there a lead? Could he have found her? So many things are running through my mind right now, and I have to know what it is. “Okay, go on. I’m anxiously waiting over here.”
“We found the location where the man keeps the trafficked children. I’ve authorized a team of individuals to go in and get all of them within your child’s age bracket. There are fourteen of them, and they’re going to be brought here to Atlanta. Once they’re here, we’ll narrow down who could be your daughter and who isn’t.”
“What will happen to the girls who aren’t?” I know Lom has to have some sort of plan for them. He has to have something prepared, so they don’t wind up in the same sort of situation.
“If I can reunite them with their birth parents—as long as it’s safe to do so—I will. If it isn’t, I’ll come up with another option, but I haven’t figured out what the other option is yet.”
Still, I’m frustrated. I understand he has a team of people going to get the children… but that will be traumatizing for them.
“Why are you looking like that?” Lom asks out of the blue, and I flip the omelet to its other side.
“I think I should be going with them to get the children. They’re going to be terrified, and it would probably help to have a woman around.”
“Absolutely not.” Lom laughs, and his reaction only pisses me off. “This facility is dangerous. There will be men with guns, and they will be shooting at my team. It’s not some simple run to go pick them up for a slumber party, Emily. There are real dangers involved in this.”
I whip around to face Lom, my emotions completely taking over me. “Do you think I don’t understand that? My daughter has been with these bastards her entire life, Lom! And I’ve… I’ve been out here living my life in the light, and we don’t know what sort of conditions she’s lived in. We don’t know if they’re caged up in some dark room. We don’t know if they even get to go outside or play with toys like other children their age. I have so much making up to do that it isn’t even funny, and all I can do is pray that my daughter doesn’t hate me when she meets me!” Tears fill my eyes, and they come pouring down in effortless streams. It’s all my guilt and shame coming to the surface, and no matter what I do, I can’t stop it.
Lom comes over from where he’s standing and wraps his arms around me. I’m doing my best to make sure I don’t burn breakfast, but he’s making it hard. I know all he’s trying to do is support me right now, but all I want to do is crumple onto the floor and cry.
I’ve failed my daughter, and there’s nothing I can do or say that will ever make that better.
“I know this has all been so much for you, but we’re so close to reuniting the two of you again. We only have to wait a couplemore days, Emily. I promise things will be better very soon, and you know I’m not the type of man who breaks my promises.”
“I know, and I know we’re going to be reunited soon. I just have so much guilt, Lom. I feel horrible for not just raising her. I know I had good reasons for why I did what I did, but knowing what I do now, I wouldn’t have ever made the same choice. Not if it meant she was in danger, sold like an unwanted dog from person to person.”
“Emily, fuck. What’s important is that we’re bringing her home, where she belongs. You can’t rewrite history because it’s already done with, but you can change the future. We’re going to do that together, as a family.” Every bit of emotion fades from me when he says the word “family”. I didn’t think Lom would leave me after we got my daughter back, but I didn’t know if he’d want to be a father figure to her. We never really discussed it, so all I was doing was not trying to get my hopes up.
“A family?”
“Yes, just because you have a child doesn’t mean I’m bouncing out of this. I love what we are together, and we’re going to do great things. Getting your daughter out of these bastards’ hands is one of them. I have to know… what did you name her? All I keep calling her is your daughter, and it seems a bit insensitive.”
