Amber Alert (Amber Alert Series Book 1) (11 page)

Chapter 16

There was a huge throng of people surrounding the police station. The blue uniforms of the policemen and women mingled with jean-clad individuals waiting for the lost children to return. It was hard to decipher which face went with which person, even as we got closer.

When we exited the car, I glanced from face to face to see the reactions of our presence, and I didn't like what I saw. It was visible on some faces that they were relieved we were okay, while others looked angry, and that scared me. Why would they be upset by us coming home?

"Jessi!" a woman cried out as we walked toward the police station. The cry caused Jessi to suddenly cling to my leg as if she was afraid.

I glanced down at Jessi. Her face was buried into my leg as her grip tightened so I couldn't walk. She was terrified; it was almost the same reaction she had with Steve the first week. I had to break her of the habit so he wouldn't get angry, but from her reaction, I knew I wouldn't like this lady.

The woman shoved her way through the crowd to get to us. I stood between the woman and Jessi with my arms outstretched like Garrett had done to protect us. He wasn't here now, and I had to step up to protect her.

"Move aside!" the woman ordered me.

"No!" I replied as I pushed Jessi further behind me.

"How dare you," the woman said, and stepped forward as I stepped back. The woman's hand went to Jessi's and tried pulling her away from me. When Jessi started crying I refused to let this woman take her.

"No, how dare you! Don't you see that you're scaring her? You clearly don't care if you're yelling. It's scaring her. So back off!" I yelled as I smacked the woman's hand off Jessi's. A collective gasp raced throughout the ranks as they watched the scene unfold.

"Do you have any idea who I am, you little bit–" she glared at me with pure hatred when I held my hand up to make her stop.

"Do you have any idea what we have been through?" That made everyone around us silent. "That's right, you don't know. You're scaring her, and you don't even realize what you could be reminding her of. How dare me? How dare you!" I yelled, even surprising myself at the backbone I had grown just to protect Jessi.

I kneeled down to wrap Jessi in my arms as the woman just stared in shock at what I had said to her. She wasn't used to being spoken to in that manner, and I had never spoken to an adult like that. I was usually shy and soft-spoken, yet now I was yelling at strangers to protect a child that wasn't mine. Jessi is my one connection to know that Garrett saved us. We had to get him help, no matter what the costs. I couldn't just run while he lay in pain in that house, or maybe he was dying.

That image sent my fear off the charts. Garrett could be dying, and I'm here doing nothing to help him.

I looked at the officers around me as I spoke, "There's a boy that's stuck where we were. He helped us escape. By now I can only imagine what’s happened to him."

Again, as I looked at the officer’s faces, I could see some reacted to that news. I realized in that moment Garrett was right. The police were in on it, not all of them, but most of the older looking men of the group. They would be higher ranking, and that would be all it takes to keep people from asking too many questions.

"No, I don't know what you went through, but she is my daughter, and you have no right to keep her away from me," the woman stated in a softer tone, but clearly still mad at my defiance. Now that I looked at her, I could see the resemblance between them. Jessi had gotten her blonde hair and heart shaped face, but Jessi must have gotten her father's demeanor. She was too sweet to be related this woman, her mother was too harsh and uncaring for such a young child to understand.

"Then why is she afraid of you? If I saw my mother after this, right now, I'd have run to her and cried on her shoulder. Jessi ran from you and went to me. Why is she afraid of her own mother?" I asked, keeping a defensive posture.

"Mommy, I'm scared," Jessi cried, and grasped harder onto my shirt as she twisted it into tight twirls. 

"I know, but it's going to be okay now. You're home, and nothing like that will happen to you again. Why won't you go see your mother, Jessi?"

"She scares me,” she answered, causing a few people to gasp as a man in uniform stepped forward.

"There you go, Kaylee. Our daughter finally said it. She's scared of you! So you can stop faking, because everyone here today saw how you treat her and her friend. So tell everyone how that man got a hold of Jessi. Please do." A man stepped forward from the crowd, anger lacing his every word.

"How dare you, James! I did everything to protect her!"

"That's not what our witness said. He said you begged for your life and offered Jessi to him in order to save yourself."

"And you believe some homeless man? James, this is slander, I demand that you apologize this instant," Kaylee demanded as more and more people gathered to witness the scene.

"I can't believe our police chief would lie about what he saw. Then again, you'd know that since he confessed to you two sleeping together too, I could see a lapse in judgment." Gasps swept through the crowd. James smiled, clearly proud at how he was getting even with his cheating wife, and waited a moment. "I believe him. I already signed the divorce papers, and am fighting for the right to keep Jessi."

"You can't do that!" Kaylee shrieked as she turned on her heel and came at Jessi and me.

My arm pulled back without warning, and as Kaylee continued her malicious approach toward us I felt my instinct kick in again. My arm sprang forward and made contact with her nose. I heard her scream as she crashed to the ground and wrapped her hands around her face.

"You all heard that! Kaylee is not allowed anywhere near Jessi or Anna. Get her out of here," James said to the crowd as he stepped forward to us. Officers moved instantly to remove Kaylee from the scene while she kicked and screamed in pain.

Jessi came out from around my back and offered a small smile to James. "Hi, Daddy," she said in a soft voice.

"Hi sweetheart, can I have a hug?" James asked as he crouched down to her level and outstretched his arms.

Jessi slowly came out from around me and went toward James. Her steps were tentative and fearful until she was within two steps from him, then she ran and hugged him. Jessi started to cry as her dad wrapped his arms around her. After our experience I wished nothing more than for anyone to tell me everything was going to be okay and that's exactly what James did for Jessi.

"It's going to be okay now, Jessi," he promised.

"But we have to save Daddy!" Jessi yelled pushing from her father's hold and looking at me with a worried frown.

"Who?" James asked confused with a hurt expression clouding his eyes.

"It's the boy I told you about, Garrett. He was there with us in the house and before I even got there. He was taken like Jessi was when he was her age and could've had his named changed and just accepted the fate, eventually forgetting he wasn't actually Steve's child. We need to get Garrett back too." I pleaded with James. He saved us; we needed to save him.

"I will do everything I can. Let's get you inside. We can contact your parents from there and move forward to look for Garrett," James said as he attempted to pick up Jessi, but she ran toward me and leapt into my arms.

I could see the sorrow written all over his face, it hurt him to have Jessi run to someone else after such an ordeal. He wanted to comfort her like I could and be able to have his daughter back. Little did he know it was going to be hard for her to lead a normal life.

She was always going to cling to Garrett and me. She'd remember how her mother gave her up, how Garrett and I took care of her, how she and I escaped, and how Garrett and I loved each other. There wouldn't be a day in her life when she wasn't reminded of this, and I would be the same.

One day, she may even blame herself, but there was nothing else she could do. I fought and people died, but it was Steve's fault. Steve killed those people when he took me, but I still blamed myself. There would be a time in Jessi's life that she would blame herself for calling Garrett “daddy” at just the wrong time and place.

She didn't know that Steve wouldn't like that. She couldn't understand the tension that had suddenly entered the room. Jessi was just a young girl, but a young girl that had become stronger and would grow up to understand it was just a mistake. One day she would understand and know it was unavoidable, or she would need us to explain it to her. That is if we made it out of this alive. Steve was still after me, and I had to find a way to separate myself from Jessi before he came back.

"Come this way, Anna," James said, breaking into my thoughts.

"Where are we going?" I asked, as I glanced at the police who were watching as we passed by. I knew they were in on it just by the way they looked at me, but I had no way to prove it. I'm sure if Steve was caught, he threatened to call them all out, and there was no way they were going to let that happen. I was curious how he convinced them to join in the first place.

"To my office, so we can talk in peace," James said, as he pushed a door open and gestured for me to go inside.

I told Jessi to sit down on the chair in front of James' desk so I could start to clean her up. I was about to ask for water when a wet drop plopped onto my shoulder. I turned to see James with a wet paper towel and a knowing smile. I nodded a thank you before I started to clean Jessi's face and hands. James put a gym bag on the desk, which was filled with a hairbrush, toothbrush, deodorant, and other toiletries.

"Thank you," I said, as I continued to clean Jessi up. Her face was clean as well as her hands, now I went to work on her hair. Eventually I put her hair into a braid and started to brush away the gunk that clung to the strands.

I handed the bag back to James, but he waved it away as he glanced at me. "Clean yourself up too. I can always buy other things," he said with a shrug as he sat at his desk.

I cleaned myself quickly as I raked my hair back into a ponytail and scrubbed away the grime, spit, and taste of Steve with the toothbrush. I was hoping I could get rid of the grime, along with the memories of the house. I just wanted to forget everything except Garrett and Jessi. When I was finished, I sat down next to Jessi. When we didn’t say anything, he got to the point of the conversation. "So, tell me how you escaped."

"It wasn't as planned, if that's what you're asking." I stated.

"I need it for the report, then we can talk off record."

"It was by accident. During dinner, Jessi called Garrett ‘daddy’ in front of Steve, and he got angry. He went after Jessi, and I got in the way. So as punishment, he abused me ‘til I bled and couldn't move. Then he went to look for her. Things were crashing to the ground and breaking as he searched." I chose my words carefully, but James gave a worried glance to Jessi.

"Garrett came to get me. He dressed me, gave me something to absorb the blood, and handed me a bag. Then he opened the door, knowing that when Steve couldn't find Jessi, he would turn his anger on Garrett and beat him until he couldn't move. Then he'd track us down." I saw James' knuckles turn white with anger as he gripped his pen, writing down my every word.

"We spent a night in the woods, since we ran most of the way here and only stopped to go to the bathroom. I carried Jessi when she got tired. When we hit a road, we saw a sign for this town, her home town that she remembered," I said smiling at Jessi. It made things a lot easier in the long run, and harder in other aspects, such as secrecy of where we were.

"Then I asked how to get home, and she pointed to the cop car, now we are here."

There was a long pause as James finished writing everything I had told him. Then he took in a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair roughly. "You said to absorb the bleeding? What did he give you?"

"A diaper," I stated bluntly.

"Do you want to see a doctor?"

"I'd like to. Jessi shouldn't need to, but she will need first aid," I said to ease his mind that Jessi wasn't tortured like I was.

"That's fine. Thank you for taking care of her for me..." There was a small pause as he looked like he was about to cry. "Please sign this, and I will copy it so we can get you to a doctor."

I nodded and quickly signed the paper in broken cursive that I hadn’t used since fifth grade. James sat up, taking the paper with him as left the room wiping tears from his eyes. I followed James with my eyes as he walked out of sight. I was about to look away as something caught my eye in the middle of the police station. There was a large copier machine making loud noises as something started to print from the bottom portion. Once it was fully printed an older looking cop came to the printer. I watched as the officer glanced at the paper then put it in the shredder and walked off. Before the paper was fully enveloped by the shredder I saw my picture saying 'found' at the top.

He clearly didn't want to tell others that I had been found.

Chapter 17

James had left us alone for over an hour while he worked on the formalities of our case. We took the time to finish cleaning ourselves up. I had to change Jessi's and my diaper because I was starting to feel chaffing from the over used padded material. We had been in the same ones since we escaped, and I could actually smell the blood and urine. No wonder James left the door open, we smelled awful.

I grabbed my backpack, along with James' bag of toiletries, and motioned for Jessi to come with me. There were police officers everywhere, but the question was which ones could I trust? I took a chance and asked a young cop directly across the office from us where the restroom was. I could see the soft smile forming on his lips and the sparkle of relief in his eyes. It was almost as if we were his children and he had been waiting for us to come home.

"Sure, I'd love to help you. You're going to go right down that long hallway and take a left. It will be the first door on your right," he said.

"Thank you," Jessi said for me, as she practically ran for the bathroom.

I walked slowly behind her and looked at the police officers surrounding us. I didn't see the rotund older man I had seen shredding my found poster. Although, I could see some people watching me out of the corners of their eyes. Something was wrong, and I didn't want to know what they had planned for me.

After following his directions, we found the bathroom. Jessi pushed the door open first to reveal a large room with multiple stalls in it and a few showers. Remembering the warnings Garrett had given me I locked the door. I'd rather be paranoid then back at Steve's being tortured and used.

"Jessi, go to the bathroom and take off the diaper."

"Yes, Mommy," she said, as she obediently followed my orders.

I turned on the shower and stripped out of my dirty clothes. I pulled out the bar of soap James had in his bag and started to clean off the dirt. I felt disgusting; half of it was because I was actually covered in dirt from the woods, but the rest was because of the horrible things Steve did to me.

Jessi came out of the bathroom stall with only her t-shirt on. I smiled at her, but it disappeared when I saw the fear in her eyes.

"Jessi, what's wrong?"

All she could do was point to the ground below me and that's when I saw the blood. I couldn't be sure if it was because I was still bleeding or it was washing it off. Either way, the sight caused me to mimic Jessi's fear. 

"It's okay Jessi. I'm fine. Just wait a second and then I'll clean you up okay?" I asked as I finished cleaning myself and stepped out of the shower.

Jessi nodded her head and turned away from the bloody scene. I couldn't blame her, as I pulled at paper towels to dry myself off with. It took a lot longer than a towel, but after not showering for a few weeks I didn't care how long it took. I was clean for once and that's all I cared about. 

I took Jessi's t-shirt off, she had cuts and bruises along her rib cage along with a few stray marks along her legs, but she was fine. She went to shower while I finished scrubbing the memories away.

When Jessi was finished I used paper towels to dry her off. She complained that they hurt, but left it at that. She was happy just to be clean again too, so she could try to wash the memories out of her mind forever as well. I didn't have the heart to tell her that it would never work, and if it did it was only temporary.

I handed Jessi the extra clothes that Garrett had packed for her along with a new diaper. We didn't have any underwear in the backpack, but this would work just as well for the time being. Jessi had just pulled up the diaper when a knock rapped on the door behind me.

"Yes?" I asked, worried it was an officer I didn't want to meet with.

"Is Jessi with you?" James' voice asked me through the door. His voice flooded relief through my system, and I relaxed enough to continue helping Jessi dress in a calm manner.

"Yeah, we just had to change the diapers and get cleaned off. We will be right out."

"Are you guys okay?" 

How could I get in trouble in a six-foot by six-foot bathroom with no windows, and the two of us the only people in the room?

"Yeah, we are fine."

"Okay," James stated in a tentative voice.

I pulled on the change of clothes as fast as I could, but I still hurt. The old diaper was coated in blood. I had almost bled through the whole thing. I guess the good news is that the bleeding stopped, hopefully. I couldn't be completely sure since I refused to check until the pain had passed.

"Anna?" I heard James' voice come through the door.

"Yes?" I asked pulling my new shirt over my head.

"You said you were sexually abused and then ran out of the house right after, correct?" 

"Correct."

"May I have the bloody diaper?" He asked, his voice clenched in disgust as he spoke the words.

I stopped dead in my tracks for a moment to ponder that, confused about why he needed or wanted the disgusting thing. It was coated with blood, who would want that? "Why?"

"DNA. We are hoping to get the DNA of the guy that did this to you. We can't do a rape kit since you cleaned up, but it could have transferred to the diaper since you put it on right after you were taken advantage of.”

"Umm...okay? What do I do?" I asked glancing at the bloody diaper.

"Open the door when you're decent and I will take care of it." He stated with a soft tone of voice that made me feel safe.

I pulled up Jessi's pants over the diaper and fixed her shirt. She smiled softly and gave me a hug, "Thank you, Mommy."

"You're welcome,” I said as I opened the door and let James into the bathroom. 

He groaned slightly at the sight of the diaper. I didn't know whether it was because I had thrown it away or because it was so bloody. Placing gloves on his hands, James produced a plastic bag then picked up the diaper. Once he was done having to hold it he looked pleased.

"Now I can go give this to Paul to get this processed," James said, smiling at us and getting ready to leave.

"Wait, James!" I yelled as he was about to walk out.

"What's wrong?" 

"You can't give that to anyone else. You have to take it," I stated forcefully, afraid of what would happen to it if one of the cops that worked with Steve got a hold of it. They would probably burn it and call it an accident.

"Why not?" James asked curiously.

"Because Garrett knows that cops in the other county work with Steve, and I think some people here do too," I said simply.

James slammed the door behind him and locked it before turning around to face me again. "Do you have any idea of the severity of the accusation you're accusing individuals of?"

"I do, but I saw with my own eyes one of the older cops pick up my found poster someone had made and shred it. He doesn't want the news that I've been found to get out, because if Steve is caught, then so is he!" 

"There is not a cop in here that would go along with what he was doing to you!" he retorted in anger as spit landed on my face.

"You wouldn't just let it happen if it meant keeping Jessi safe?" I countered.

"I wouldn't let that happen to anyone if I knew about it."

"Then you're a good one, but not all of these men are. You have to see it..."

"So what if someone shredded your picture? Maybe it turned out wrong. You have no proof, so keep this accusation to yourself for now, okay? At least until there is proof," James said raking his fingernails through his hair.

"Okay, James," I agreed. It seeming to calm him down as he sighed and visible relaxed.

"Thank you. Now please go back to my office and wait for me there," he said as he opened the door and let us out. 

We all walked out together, and he led us back to the office before leaving us alone. I watched him turn left and walk away, and I noticed he didn't hand the bag of evidence to anyone else as he walked. There were a few people that offered to take it for him, but he waved them off and continued on his way. The idea was stuck in his head now; he'd be alert. He needed to be, for all of us. Jessi slipped through my fingers and went to James’ office. She shrieked, causing me to race after her. When I found her, she was hugging a stuffed rabbit. There was a wide grin covering her entire face and allowed me to relax knowing she was safe.

"Mommy, this is Flopsy!"

"Flopsy, the bunny?"

"Yeah! How'd you know that!?"

"I must be magic, what can I say?" I asked with a smile.

"If you are magic you wouldn't have been hurt so bad," Jessi stated.

"That's not true. Even magic runs out, and I got you to safety," I explained with a soft smile. I hoped she would have some semblance of a normal childhood after this. If Garrett can block it out, why shouldn't she be able to?

"Then can you get Daddy out?" 

"I think Daddy is already out and heading our way." He'd make it out; the question was if I'd ever see him again. If I did, I could only hope it would be under better circumstances than being trapped again.

"We're looking for him right now, and with any luck the information you gave us will bring him to us by this evening. You said he was traveling toward us right?" James asked, stepping back into his office.

"Yes, but he won't trust policemen. He knows that some of them in the other county are aligned with Steve, and he doesn't want to be taken back to his father."

"Then we will just have to try. You'll be staying with me tonight, Anna. I hope you don't mind, but until tomorrow we can't get in touch with your parents." James stated with a shrug, as he sat down in his chair.

"Why can't you get in touch with them?" I asked, fear roaring through me at the thought of Steve finding my parents.

"They are out, and we can't get in touch with them. We left them a message so we should be hearing from them soon. Who knows, maybe they are already on their way up." James said with a smile.

A knock rasped on the door behind me, sending Jessi and me slightly out of our skin. James didn't seem to notice, as he waved and told whoever it was to come in. I glanced to see the man that had shredded my picture. I felt my eyes grow wide as he spoke. 

"Change of plans, James. We found a place for the girl to stay," the large man said in a gravelly voice that reminded me of Steve.

"Really, where is that?" James asked curiously, as he glanced at my face and saw the fear in my eyes. "Because I think she and Jessi should stay together, since Jessi will be asking for her."

"We found her a place at the hotel in town, and there will be guards posted in case this man she describes comes. She will be safe there," the man insisted.

I watched in horror as James nodded, "We'll see you tomorrow morning, Anna. I still have more questions."

Jessi tried running to me to stop the men from taking me, but James caught her. His attempts to calm her down failed. She wasn’t ready to let me go, even with her father here for her. She would never be ready, but it was time to move on and let her live with her family, without Steve breathing down her neck.