CHAPTER FIVE

Getting into the naval hospital in San Diego was easy. Getting to the woman in question was not. They had her guarded like she was the president. With some carefully orchestrated distractions and a few minutes of begging and pleading, Wilson, Ghost, and Nine entered the room while Ian and Gaspar kept the guards chatting.

"Good morning," smiled Wilson.

"H-hi. Are you a new nurse?" she asked, looking frightened.

"I am a nurse, but I don't work here," he said softly. He picked up the tablet at the end of the bed and quickly got into the medical record. Jane Doe. "You don't have a name?"

"I-I didn't. The men gave me one. They named me April."

"The men?" asked Nine.

"Who are you?" she whispered with tears in her eyes. Wilson lowered himself to her level, pulling the chair a little closer while Nine and Ghost took their seats.

"We're not going to hurt you, sweetie. We saw the story on the news and think you might be able to help us. My name is Wilson. This is Ghost and Nine." She frowned at the men. "Weird names, we know. We own an investigation company. The best in the world."

"Okay."

"You were pretty fucking brave to be out there in the ocean for that long in that boat. They said the lifeboat belonged to a yacht they think sank recently." She stared at him a moment, then nodded.

"Honey, where were you?" asked Ghost.

"I-I don't know. The man who owned me brought me to an island where there were three older men."

"Owned you?" frowned Wilson. "Honey, no man owns another man or woman."

"He does. He owns lots of people. He owned my mother. He owned me." Wilson stared at the tablet, finding the photos of her back. He showed them to Nine and Ghost, who immediately had the deadliest of stares on their faces.

"Who is he?" she asked, pointing behind them. Wilson, Nine, and Ghost turned, gripping their chests as the expletives flew from their mouth.

"Fucking asshole! How the hell did you get in here?" asked Ghost.

"You are getting old. I came in behind you," grinned Trak. "Hello, little one. My name is Trak, and I am here to ensure that no one ever touches you again." She stared at him for a moment, then a slow smile creeped across her face.

"I believe you."

"You said the man who owned you brought you to an island, and there were three other men," said Nine. "Were they wearing these?" He pulled his dog tags from beneath his shirt, and the girl nodded.

"There were lots of those hanging in the cave."

"Did these men touch you?" asked Ghost.

"Never. They were kind to me. They fed me, let me sleep closest to the fire, and tried to save me. I don't think they knew I could swim. It was the only thing we were allowed to do with the other girls."

"Honey, I need you to back up for me. This man who brought you to the island. What was his name?" asked Wilson.

"I don't know. I never heard a name. They kept us apart most of the time at the tent. When a man paid for us, we were told not to speak unless he wanted us to speak. That's how my mother died. She screamed."

The deathly silence in the room nearly made the young woman cry out in fear and absolute terror. So well trained she didn't dare even though it was safe to do so.

"So this man put you on his boat?" asked Ghost.

"It was a big boat. Really big. There were stairs and everything. I thought they were going to make me go to him, but they just had me locked in one of the rooms until we got to the island. They put me in a boat like the one I found and left me on the island."

"Okay. Okay, you're doing so good, honey. The men on the island, were they old or young?" She stared at the men in front of her, cocking her head to the side.

"Old, maybe. But maybe not. I heard one of them say he'd been on the island almost thirty years."

"Thirty years," whispered Nine. "Thirty years?"

"There were lots of lines on the wall. Like this," she said, writing on the blanket with her finger.

"They were marking the days," said Wilson.

"Did you ever hear their names?" asked Ghost. She nodded and smiled.

"They were the only men who ever told me their names. The only men who were ever kind to me. Calvin, Vic, and Damon. I knew I could swim for the boat. The coral was right below me, but I'm skinny. But the boat wouldn't make it to shore. They waved for me to go on."

"Did you tell the Navy this?" asked Trak.

"Yes. I'm not sure they believed me. One of them said he thought I had sunstroke. The other said I was most likely hallucinating," she frowned. "I don't know what those things are, but I don't think it's true. Look in that closet. That shirt was given to me by one of the men because my dress was torn."

Ghost opened the closet in her room, and sure enough, there was a man's shirt hanging there. It was a good quality linen he suspected. The tags had been removed from inside the shirt.

"Take a photo and send it to Gwen. She might be able to identify the manufacturer or designer," said Ghost.

"I'm going to call you April since that's the name they picked for you, okay?" smiled Wilson. She nodded.

"When the man took you to the island, do you know where you were located? What country you were in?" he asked.

"Dagupan."

"The Philippines?" frowned Ghost. "April, this is really important, sweetie. How long was the boat ride when you left Dagupan and got to the island?"

She frowned, looking down at her hands. They were so small, the nails bitten to the quick. Her arms were thin, scarred, and bruised. Her face was still peeling from the sunburn she got while on the ocean.

"Six nights. I counted it by the number of nights. Six."

"Six," nodded Nine. "That helps us so much. If you were on the big boat for six nights, the currents might have taken you only a certain distance."

"That's what the captain of the big boat that found me said. He said he thought I came from somewhere near Ja-Pan," she said carefully. Wilson smiled at her, nodding. "I don't know much. I didn't get to go to school or learn to read and write."

"Would you like to learn those things?" asked Ghost. She nodded, nibbling on her lip.

"Yes, but the man in the uniform with all the pretty ribbons and gold on his chest, he said I couldn't leave any time soon."

"Is that so," frowned Nine. "The man in the uniform is about to have a meeting that he isn't going to like."

"Trak? Get her out of here and somewhere safe. Ian said the house on Coronado is still available and open for us. Take her there. April, sweetie, we need you to trust us. We're going to get you well and help you, but we need your help to find that island again and find those men before they get sick and die."

She nodded, all too quick to agree to walk away with strangers.

"Calvin looked sick," she said. "He was skinnier than me."

"Then let's bring him home."