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A tear slipped down her cheek and he wanted to comfort her but this wasn’t the time.
“The adults on the other side of the park were all stunned. By the time they realized what was happening, it was too late. I ran after the car, screaming my head off, but the white Cadillac disappeared down the road with my best friend inside. The adults couldn’t get the license plate number because it had been covered.”
“Didn’t anyone have a cell phone on them to call the police?”
“They did,” she said. “It took the police fifteen minutes to get there. In the meantime, I called Alexis’s mother who came running. At first, she didn’t believe me, that her daughter had been taken. She thought I was lying. And then the reality hit her and she began to scream. That scream haunts me to this day.”
For a moment, she was silent as she sat there transfixed back in time remembering her friend while Ely studied her, seeing her pain. No wonder she understood some of what Marta’s mother felt. She’d experienced the same feelings when her friend was taken.
“Ten years later, about the time she turned eighteen, she was rescued and returned to her family.”
“That’s wonderful,” Ely said surprised that the girl was found. Most of the children were never located.
Camila shook her head. “No. She was so scarred mentally that eventually she took her own life. She couldn’t live with what happened to her. What she went through. How they sold her to a man who abused her. She was a child. A smart, wonderful little girl, whose life was destroyed.”
Ely saw the effect this had on Camila. She was tense and looked like she was ready to fight someone.
“It wasn’t your fault. You were a child yourself. You’re lucky it wasn’t you,” he said.
Her sapphire eyes shined with tears. “You’re so right. It could have been me. We had been taking turns counting. What if it had been my turn to be the seeker? What if I had been standing there with my eyes closed and someone snatched me.”
“But you weren’t,” he said. “And thank God it wasn’t you.”
Hanging her head, she wiped at the tears that had filled her eyes and then she glanced up at him.
“No, but I’ve been told I have survivor’s guilt. And I truly believe it. So I became a marshal determined to catch as many of these assholes as humanly possible. Determined to put them behind bars forever for what they do to little kids. Determined that no other child will ever be captured and sold into slavery. Determined that no other kid will have to witness their best friend being taken.”
While he couldn’t agree with her more, he also knew that this crime would never end. As much as he wanted it to stop, until people’s sick desires could not be bought, it would continue.
“You can’t undo what happened to Alexis,” he said.
“No, but with every arrest I make, it’s in her honor. I caught another one for you, Alexis. Another one is behind bars, Alexis. They can’t do it again, Alexis. Another kid saved from your experience, Alexis.”
“How many have you captured?”
“Ten,” she said. “Ten assholes behind bars.”
It was amazing what she’d done so far and he was impressed.
“When is it going to be enough for Alexis,” he asked knowing that someday she would have to stop.
“Never,” she replied and glanced down at her laptop. “Just like this kid. Isabella was taken while walking home from school two years ago. Still missing. Someone around here has to know something.”
He couldn’t agree with her more. But who? There were so many missing children from this area in the last couple years, and there were more they’d found from previous years. Someone knew what was going on. It was just a matter of time until they found them.
The sun was setting outside. Jordan had gone to speak to the principal of the elementary school in person. And then he was going to speak to the press. It was time to let the public know what happened to Marta. He wasn’t expected back until later tonight.
“You know, my mind is overwhelmed,” she said. “My brother asked me to have dinner with him and his bride. I think I’m going. I need a break. This stuff can cause you to go crazy.”
It was true. The worst cases seem to cling inside your mind like a bad movie. And this would also give him a chance to speak to Jordan once again about why he was certain they had found their woman.
But he didn’t want to say anything to her about being with them forever until after this case was over. And who knew when that would be?
“Do you want me to drive you to your brothers?” he asked.
“No, I need some time alone to contemplate everything I’ve learned about these kids. Not in Blessing every month, but the pattern seems to be about every four to six months. It makes me wonder if someone is making a lot of money doing this.”
Ely didn’t want to think about who in town could be doing this. He didn’t want to think of his neighbors selling children.
