Chapter 39—Raine

“Give me Raine and Hope. And you can have this pretty girl back.” That’s all I think as I feel myself building up into a rage. I haven’t felt this way since the day Mom, and I escaped. I stand and throw my chair against the brick wall of the interrogation room. Mom gasps and puts her hand over her mouth. I turn to her and put my arms around her. “I'm sorry. It’s okay, I’m okay.” I say trying to comfort her. My phone chimes with a text. It’s from an unknown number. I look at the screen and cringe. It’s a photo of my beautiful girl. She’s got blood all over. Her mouth is gagged, and she appears to be tied to a chair. A pained moan escapes my lips. Jonah and Mom both look at my phone. Tears start forming in Moms eyes. Jonah grabs the phone from me and looks at it closely. He squeezes his eyes shut as though that will remove the image from his mind. Detective Bennett comes over and looks at the photo as well.

“My men are on it, Jonah. We will find her.” He reassures her Dad. “What about the message? Just turn me over to him. He will let her go,” I insist. Jonah speaks first. “Son, it isn’t that simple. He wants you and Hope. And there is no guarantee he will let her go. We won’t just turn you over to a mad man. The police have to do their job and try to find him.” How long will that take? Do they have any leads where she is? “What if I text him back?” I ask. Detective Bennett says they are trying to track her phone as we speak. He says he doesn’t want to make any rash decisions about how to approach this yet. Rash decisions? This is her life we are talking about. I have to find her and get her back. That’s the only decision.

Jonah puts his hand on my shoulder. “Raine, I know you want to run out and fix this. So do I. You don’t think this is killing me too? Just keep a cool head. We need to be patient and see exactly what we are dealing with here. I want to murder the man with my bare hands. But we need to make well thought out decisions.” I know he’s worried too. But it’s not Johan that Ezekiel wants. It’s me. I can give that to him. I can save her. I get another text message. “If you want to see her again alive, then bring Hope to me. No cops. Just the two of you. I will not hesitate to kill her the moment I see or hear anyone other than you and Hope.” I stare at the text for a moment and then type back. “Where and when?” Then I show Mom and Jonah the message. The detective checks it out and somehow figures out that it is coming from an untraceable burner phone.

As soon as they have read the message, he sends back another with detailed instructions. He has it all planned out. He wants Mom and I to take several modes of transportation to a certain point and then he will tell us the next step. It seems he’s figuring out a way to keep the detectives from following. He’s having us take a bus, a cab, and then a train to the next location. This is going to take all day. Does Jade really have all day? What is he doing to her right now? My mind is all over the place with panic. The thoughts going through my head right now are not good ones.

“Jonah, stay with the police and try to find him. But Mom and I are going to do what he says. I have dealt with this man for years. I know what kind of crazy he is. He wants to see me suffer, and that’s what he’s getting right now. He enjoys other people’s pain. But I don’t think he will kill her. He wants me and Mom, not Jade.” I reassure him. But honestly, I’m not sure I believe my own words. I just hope he does. “I love her Jonah. I will do anything to save her. Even if I have to give my own life for hers. You have my word.” I tell him as I look him straight in the eye. He knows I mean this with my entire being. He hugs me and says, “She deserves a good man like you Raine. I don’t know why I doubted that. Please save my baby.”

Mom and I take off to the bus stop on the corner. The police gave us a tracking device. But I am uncertain if Ezekiel will find it on me. I don’t want anything to go wrong. I know the police are doing their best, but I'm not sure If I trust them to bring her back alive. I'm terrified. We stand on the bus with the rush hour traffic. Neither of us speaking. I'm sweating and burning with anger. We get off at the right stop and catch a cab to the next. By the time we arrive at the train, it’s been an hour already. Lots can happen in only an hour.

The train is less crowded than the bus since its after ten in the morning now. I keep looking at the minutes ticking away on my phone. He will text us the next location when we get off the train. I'm feeling anxious and overwhelmed. This isn’t like escaping the compound. I had carefully planned that for months. This is all coming from the sick mind of Ezekiel. I have no control over this. Mom is very quiet. Just following along as I take us from one place to the next. I'm holding her hand. I can feel her shaking. Although I'm feeling intense hatred for him right now, I'm not sure that is what Mom’s feeling. I think I almost see guilt on her face. I can’t let her blame herself for this.

“Mom, this isn’t your fault either. Just like it isn’t Jonah’s or mine. Please stop torturing yourself. We have to be strong.” I remind her. “But son, if I hadn’t gotten involved with Jonah, none of this would have been happening to Jade. Our lives were too dangerous to let anyone in. I was selfish.” “Mom, if you hadn’t started seeing Jonah, I would still have started seeing Jade. It isn’t your fault. None of this is. He’s a crazy psychopath. He’s out of control. Just face it that no matter what we did, he would still be hunting us down. But hopefully, after today, this will be over. We may never have to worry about him again if I get my way.” She stares at me shocked. She knew I wouldn’t kill him when we left the compound, even though she asked me to. But the kind of pain I’m feeling now, is nothing like I felt then. That was me in flight mode, this is me in fight mode. This is so much more intense. The way I'm thinking about Jade is primal. I have to save her. There is no other option to me.

We get off the train near a pier. Somehow, he knows we have arrived. He texts me to get on a boat he has arranged for us. It’s just a regular chartered fishing boat. We are the only ones on it today. The owner seems to know nothing of the reason for our journey. He asks why we didn’t bring our fishing gear. He’s a nice older man with a big beard. His smile lights up his whole face. Ezekiel texts me the longitude and latitude where he wants the old man to stop. I tell the owner and he is puzzled but accommodates us. It takes about 45 minutes to get there. And when we arrive, we see another boat. The man on that boat tells me and Mom to get on. He doesn’t look as nice as the gentle old man we are with now. He seems dangerous. The old man is confused and doesn’t want us to go, but we have to.

The new guy pushes us onto the small boat and takes us on yet another journey to an undisclosed location. I think our next stop will be Jade. I hope so. Its already afternoon. She’s been with him for at least half a day. I'm afraid of what I will see and do when we get there. I still have Mom’s hand in mine. She looks terrified.