Chapter 29—Raine

The wait is agonizing. But we decide to do it at the police station where we can get the latest news right away. The four of us went and got some food when Detective Bennett left. We know nothing would happen while they were flying out there. The food sits in my stomach like a rock. I’m too hyped up to relax. I keep pacing the halls. Jade tried to distract me. She takes a little nap in the interrogation room we have been using. I rested her head on my lap. It’s really uncomfortable in here. But I’m not going anywhere until I hear some good news. Mom is laying down on a couch in the captain’s office. He is a softie and offered it to her an hour or so ago.

There is a Detective in here with us who is keeping in contact with the team in Tennessee. He tells us they are in the helicopters now and should be approaching the compound in the next half hour. Jonah goes to get Mom. Jade sits up and is biting her bottom lip. The worry across her face is disconcerting.

What if she’s right to be worried? What if this goes all wrong and some of the kids die tonight? How would I live with that knowledge? Jonah is just crazy enough to hold them all as hostages to get his way. This could all go very badly. Or maybe my directions were incorrect. What if I sent them to the wrong place? My doubts are starting to pile up. He could have even moved the whole group of them someplace else after we escaped. This speculation is doing me no good.

Jade puts her hand on top of mine and looks me in the eyes. “Raine, you can’t do anything right now. You just need to wait and see what happens. These are capable, trained men. Whatever happens tonight, just know that you did everything you could. Even if they don’t find them this time, they can always try again.” She reassures me. I guess she is reading my mind. Her concern warms me. She loves me. Her happiness or sadness right now hinges on mine. I have to be strong for her and Hope.

The detective says the helicopters have landed inside the fence of the compound. It looks like they are in the right place. He is telling us everything that he is hearing. “It’s very dark. They are entering the building. They broke down the front door. There doesn’t appear to be any movement inside. They are heading to the underground portion you told us about. They are banging on all the doors. There isn’t any response yet. They are calling out to anyone inside.”

“Tell them to go down the flight of stairs at the end of the long hallway. It leads to a door that is probably padlocked. It’s the storage area. Its big enough for all of them to be in.” I tell him. They proceed as he instructs. Minutes pass like hours. He tells us they are trying to pound the door down. It’s very heavy. “They hear voices calling out from inside!” He tells us.

“They got through the door. There are 11 women and 19 children!” the detective practically cheers. “What about Ezekiel?” Mom cries out. “I'm sorry ma’am, they say there are no men there. Just three young boys. The rest are girls. The women are telling them that he locked them in the storage area yesterday and left.”

My blood runs cold. He’s on his way. I know he is. Mom looks pale and terrified. At least the others are safe now. They can hopefully start better lives somewhere else. Those kids will have a chance finally at happiness. I just hope that I can still get mine. Hope is holding tight to Jonah. Jade wraps her arms around me, and I just hold on. I hear Mom crying. I know they are both tears of joy and pain. The Detective tells us that they will be busy with paperwork and taking all of them to a hospital in Tennessee.

He tells us to go home and get some rest. We head to Jades house. I feel numb. I don’t know how to feel. We all decide to just go to sleep and talk about it tomorrow. We retreat to our own spots without talking about anything. I'm pretty sure we need to process our feelings.

The next morning Detective Bennett calls Jonah. He tells him they have a team steaking out the compound to find Ezekiel. They got lots of information from the women and children. There has been one woman added in the last year. She was also taken from the same bus station. She gave them the date she arrived there. They were able to give the detectives working on the tapes something specific to look for. She told them what she was wearing and what bus she came in on. They will be able to prosecute him for kidnapping based on that video alone. She was 17 at the time. This is excellent news.

We are also told that they all want to see us badly. Ezekiel never told them what happened to us. He told them that we had to be killed because we were misbehaving. None of the women had any idea that we had escaped. He didn’t want to give them any ideas. He wanted to put more fear in them with the threat of death. They said they had a funeral for us and some of the kids cried for weeks, asking for me.

This is overwhelming. It’s also making me feel so much better about what went down yesterday. I was devastated that they didn’t catch Ezekiel. I was focusing on only that. But look at what did happen because we came forward. All of them were saved. That is enough to make me content. The detective reminds us that a number of missing person cases are being solved today.

The women and children will all be brought to a facility in Tennessee where their families can come and get them. We are going there to see them tomorrow. A few of the women don’t have any family. They will be placed together with their children in a shelter where they can acclimate to modern society. They will all be given a college education, paid for by the government. That makes me very happy. I know all the women were taken by Ezekiel before they ever got out of high school.

The Detective says they were tracking Ezekiel’s movements since he left the compound. They pinpointed his truck leaving the property with satellite images. But he appears to have switched vehicles at some point. So, they lost him. That’s definitely not reassuring.

Jade is bouncing around excitedly today. She is a bundle of energy. She is excited to meet my old family tomorrow. We go back to the police station where we are asked hundreds of questions about Ezekiel. Like where he grew up, how old he was, if we knew his parent’s names, did he have siblings. We try to give them any information that could be helpful. Jade and Jonah stay pretty quiet. Just having them here is soothing. I always feel myself relax in the presence of Jade. She stays close to my side all day. Asking if I need anything. Squeezing my hand when I seem stressed. She brings me some food now and again. I don’t know what I did to deserve someone like her.