XIX. Phone Calls
Devin saw the shock and fear register on Hope’s face.
And her hands immediately grabbed for her knife.
“It’s not what you think,” he said in haste, watching the knife.
“What? You’re going to tell me that you did not mean to kill your family?”
“Yes, that and the fact that I was not really the one who killed them.”
Suspicion was all over her face. “Oh, so you are telling me that you are the reason why they were killed and that you blame yourself for it? Is that it?”
Devin nodded. “And the fact that the police still thinks I really did kill them.”
Hope frowned. “Don’t play with words.”
Devin sighed. “I was the reason my family is dead. And yes, you are right. I blame myself for it. But I was framed by the very same people who are after me. Though they all believe that I am dead, the police still thinks that I am guilty and they will be after me the moment they learn that I am alive and kicking.”
He saw her shake her head in disbelief. “If you are going to make up a story, make sure that every hole is well-covered.” She strongly looked into his eyes. “You just told me you are under a witness protection program. How can the police be after you?”
“That’s part of the cover.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“In order to make everyone else believe the story, the FBI has decided to not clear my name. It is a top secret case I am involved in, one that the FBI, DEA, and even the CIA had been working on for years. The local authorities are left in the dark. I have to stay dead in the eyes of the public until it is time for me to testify everything I know against my enemies.” Devin didn’t want to say more so he sighed and pushed away from the table. “It’s a completely complicated case.”
A long silence followed as Hope tried to understand everything he said.
“Who are your enemies?”
He was not sure how to answer that, but he decided to be honest. “Lots of people. The Mafia, people in the government who work for them…I don’t really know. I just know that they are after me. The bureau had never really been transparent to me. It’s just all need to know.”
“The Mafia? Are you kidding me right now?”
Devin laughed bitterly. “You know, those were the exact words that came out of my mouth when I learned the truth. All along I thought I was just a common, struggling lawyer in a firm and then I was a hunted man the next.”
“How did that happen?”
“The what?”
“How did you turn out to be hunted?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary for you to know.”
“I demand to know if I am sleeping under one roof with you.”
“You can always go away and stay alive on your own. I have done enough trouble for myself helping you.”
“We are both in trouble now and I am sorry that I got you into it. But you also believe that the person who killed Carl could have been after you so what happened might still have happened whether or not you helped me. They might have just ended more badly for us.”
Devin did not say anything. She was right.
“So how did you become hunted? What did you do?”
He should not say more, he knew it. But it had been too long since he talked to another human being like this. “I just did my job. I just did it for the wrong people.” When confusion flashed across her face, he did not wait for her impatient remark and continued, “I found out I was working for the bad guys and I decided, a good lawyer that I was, to come clean. Things got out of hand, more powerful people got involved and I had been hunted ever since.”
He knew she found it hard to believe him and he couldn’t blame her. His story was one any legal thriller author could have already written. If only it were true, that his story was merely a fiction on a shelf, but it was not. And so was Hope’s. They were real people with real stories. They were not on a shelf. They were on the run from enemies they both did not even know.
“Okay,” she said, finally blinking and looking away. “I guess you have more reason to think the bad guy who killed my bad guy was after you.”
“You believe me?” he asked in disbelief.
“My story is true. And so could be yours. But believing your story doesn’t mean I can trust you.”
“And all the while I thought saving your life must have meant something,” he said, shaking his head.
“I am grateful that you took us out of that hell, but you can’t blame me for thinking that you don’t have another reason for doing so.”
He shook his head again. “I won’t argue. I would be thinking the same thing if I were in your—”
“Shoes?” she asked in humor.
Devin chuckled. “Slippers. Your new slippers.” There was silence once more as they both got lost in their own thoughts. “You want me to help you with that iron clasp?” he offered after a while.
Hope looked down at her foot under the table. “It would be a great relief, yes.”
“Stay here,” he said, standing up. “And please put that knife away before you kill yourself with it.”
“Not in your wildest dreams,” he heard her mutter as he walked away.
*****
“I told you my story,” he said as he worked with the lock of the iron clasp a few minutes later. “I guess it is time I hear your whole story too.”
“I got kidnapped.”
“The news already filled me in with those details, thank you.”
“Mine is a story that will only make you sick. A lot of useless details but no relevant big story. In short, it is a crappy movie with overwhelming details.”
She watched the crown of his head and wondered what he was thinking. His imagination must be running wild right now, thinking of any possible things that Carl had done to her. He had to be VERY imaginative then, she thought.
“Okay, so you were kidnapped and taken prisoner by a sick bastard who happened to be working as a police officer. How had he kept you for so long without anyone getting suspicious?”
“Because there was no anyone,” she answered. “People in that neighborhood mind their own business. And Carl has his own ways to keep us quiet.”
With her words, Devin looked up to look at her. And he just looked at her without saying a word. And he continued with his work.
“How long had this been around your ankle?”
“Long. He took it off from time to time if needed though.”
Silence once again.
“And what about the other girl?”
“Samantha? She’s new. He took her in a few days ago.”
“No, I meant the one who died.”
Hope swallowed hard. “Patty,” she whispered. “She killed herself. I guess she thought it was the best escape.”
She almost jumped in surprise when the clasp finally gave way and she was finally free. She reached over and massaged the area it had covered.
“And how about you?” he asked, his eyes back on hers again.
Hope looked away and stood on both feet, towering over him. “What about me?”
“Did you ever think of the same way to escape?”
Hope scoffed at the absurdity of his question. “More than I had thought of getting back home.”
“And now you have the chance to go home,” he said, standing up before her.
Hope shook her head. “No, not yet.”
Devin peered down at her. “You still think someone is after you.”
“Carl may have been sick, but that bastard was wise. He would not have been too reckless as to just be killed like that. He could not have made a way to make everyone believe that I was dead alone. He knew people and I don’t think they are people who don’t know him.”
“So you are saying he was a member of some sick cult?”
“No, I am saying he had some help.”
“But, as you said, Carl could have been just wise enough to do all those things alone. You can be safe now, Hope.”
“You’re trying to get rid of me. You regret helping us, don’t you?”
“Yes, of course, I do. But I would have been running away in no time anyway. What I am trying to say is that you can go on and live a normal life, a life I am not yet entitled to.”
“I don’t know. I have to make sure first that someone is not after me. I have to make sure that when I come back home, no one is going to kill me or my mother.”
“You want to make sure that the remaining bad guys are my bad guys.” It was not a question. And he was right.
“Yes, exactly, Mr. Lawyer.”
*****
Back in his room, Devin opened the wooden box.
It contained a lot of important things he had managed to keep without the bureau’s knowledge.
There was a photo of his parents with his wife and daughter, all of them smiling around a Christmas tree, gift wrappers strewn all around them. A long distant memory, but still too fresh.
He took it and held it between his thumb and forefinger. His eyes lingered longer on his three-year-old girl looking at the camera with her toothless smile. Before he would be overwhelmed with guilt and hatred, he replaced the photo facedown inside the box. He grabbed the black Nokia phone next. He was not sure why he bought it before he completely disappeared from the face of the earth two years ago.
He could call Burton now and he wouldn’t have to stay in this dilapidated shack. He’d be on his way to a new town with a new name. He’d be back to working online as a lawyer consultant. He’d have new neighbors, ones who didn’t have chains attached to their ankles.
He’d live.
Devin shook his head. Burton could be one of the bad guys. He might have been lucky to have gotten away before they got their hands on him. Even Burton would agree that risking his safety at this time would be very stupid.
He was in agreement with Hope.
They had to make sure who was after them. His enemies or hers?
*****
“You can wait for them,” Devin told Hope, nodding at the goods the man behind the counter was packing in a bag. “I’ll just gas up.”
She watched him walk out the door of the convenience store and when her eyes returned to the man behind the counter, she said, “Can I use your phone?”
The man looked at her dryly and nodded to his left where the phone was.
She walked toward it with her heart beating fast.
Willing her hand to stop shaking, she grabbed the receiver and dialed the only numbers she could remember.
“Gina Madden,” the very familiar voice answered.
Hope stifled a cry by covering her quivering mouth with her other hand.
“Hello? Who is this? Hello?” Georgina Madden’s voice asked.
She replaced the receiver before she could make a mistake and make things complicated. If someone was in danger, it should only be she and Devin.
*****
They had finally decided to take Samantha home the night after.
“Why can’t you come with me?”
Hope looked at the girl gently, holding her hand. “Because there are still bad guys looking for me. For us.”
“Let us tell the police—”
“We can’t do that, Samantha. And you can’t do that too. You promised you will not tell them who you were with, right? It is for your own safety. If you can’t keep that promise, the bad guys looking for us might come after you and your family. Do you understand?”
Samantha’s shoulders started shaking but she nodded her head.
“We’re going to drop you a block away from the police station, okay? And you are going to tell them that you have been missing and that a man took you. You don’t know his name and you don’t know where he took you.”
“Don’t say a lot of details, Samantha,” Devin said. “And tell them you don’t want the media around. Do you get it?”
“I don’t think I can lie to all of them.”
“Samantha, look at me,” Hope said, tilting the girl’s chin toward her. “If you tell them the truth, your life could be in danger. We can’t let you go home if you can’t do what we asked you to do.”
“And you don’t have to lie,” Devin added. “All you have to do is tell them you want to go home to your mom and dad. They will not push you to talk because they can’t do that to you. They will treat you as a very sensitive case. Keep your silence and you can go back home to your family.”
Samantha’s eyes welled up.
“Samantha, you have to do it to keep your family safe,” Hope told her, massaging her hand. “You have to be strong, okay? Don’t let anyone talk you into things. Once you are home, try to forget about everything that happened to you. Forget about us.”
The girl whimpered but nodded.
“Okay. Are you ready?”
Samantha nodded.
Hope looked at Devin. He gave a nod and she took Samantha out of the car in the middle of the night. “You know your home number, right?”
The girl nodded, wiping tears as they neared a phone booth.
“Okay,” Hope said once they were inside. She inserted a few coins and let Samantha dial home.
The girl jumped to her feet and her eyes welled with more tears when the call was answered. “Mommy? Mommy? It’s Sam! I’m here! I’m here!”
*****
Half an hour later, Devin and Hope were watching from across the street.
A silver car had just parked outside the police station where Samantha had walked in and a man and a woman climbed out of the car dressed in pajamas.
They both watched as the couple rushed inside to claim their daughter.
Now, it was just him and Hope.
It was time to act.
And both of them knew what they should do first.
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