Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

Frankie

Leaving the safe house without taking the RV felt almost like cheating on a spouse. I had a strange urge to apologize to the RV for leaving it behind and I couldn't help glaring at the new car suspiciously. In contrast, however, it did feel good to not be the one responsible for driving.

Since the shootout with the FBI a few weeks ago, Gabe had managed to procure a different car, so we didn't have to take the RV every time, and now, he sat behind the wheel while I rode shotgun. I tried to keep the frown off my face whenever I looked at him, but it was impossible.

"Stop looking at me like that," Gabe said when he brought the car to a stop at a red light.

I reluctantly turned my gaze out the window. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Gabe let his gaze leave the road to give me a knowing look over the rim of his glasses. "I can feel you glaring at my arm."

"You're still injured." My voice was much softer than I intended, and my glare probably looked more like a pout. "You should still be wearing the sling to support your arm."

Although Gabe shook his head, there was a slight smile on his face. "It would be too noticeable. Besides, the exercises and stretching you have so diligently insisted I do have helped, and the worst of the internal damage is healed. A sturdy bandage under my shirt will suffice."

I was about to argue further when he leaned over and kissed me, which put an end to whatever I was going to say.

In fact, it put an end to any coherent thought for a while.

Damn.

For someone who seemed like such an ice-king on the outside, Gabe was a surprisingly good kisser. At this rate, I'd never win another argument now that he knew how to turn my brain to useless mush.

The sudden sound of a car horn made me jump, and even Gabe flinched a little. We'd been so preoccupied that we hadn't noticed the light turn green, and the drivers of the cars behind us were getting angry.

Gabe didn't even look embarrassed when he started driving again while my face was on fire. Forget the mafia, the corrupt Senator, and the pedophile ring. This man was going to be the death of me.

How was I supposed to live in close quarters with him for an unknown amount of time now that I knew he had this softer side to him?

Despite sleeping in the same bed every night, we hadn't done more than kiss, yet even that felt like too much for my nerves. Because of that, it was almost a relief to get out of the house.

Gabe had agreed to let me come with him when he investigated the location where Tansie Bell's son was spotted. It was a good chance to give Newt and Sebastian some privacy, something I knew they were desperately missing, and maybe even provide an opportunity to figure out where I stood with Gabe.

Assuming I ever worked up the courage to ask.

We arrived in Baton Rouge. It was the same city where I'd been living before all this started, and a place I hadn't expected to see any time soon. Yet, the fact that our investigation led us right back to the same place didn't surprise me. Baton Rouge was the capital, after all. Other than New Orleans, it was the most important city in the state.

Gabe found a place to park the car in an out of the way parking lot, and I stepped onto the city street with an odd surreal feeling.

Although it hadn't actually been that long since my peaceful life was interrupted, it felt like a lifetime ago, and even being back in the same area felt like stepping into an old outfit that no longer fit.

Like most cities in this part of Louisiana, there were a lot of rivers and bridges interrupting the streets. That was the consequence of building cities in an area with so much marshland and swamp. Water was an inevitable part of every citizen's life. Yet, after living in a house out in the woods, where I saw nothing but trees every day, I found my eyes no longer accustomed to the landscape I'd once considered home. I couldn't help watching the river as Gabe and I walked down the street toward the spot where Tansie Bell's son had been seen.

A sign for boat tours of the nearest swamp caught my attention.

"Hey, Gabe. You ever visit a swamp?"

He eyed me for a moment, probably wondering if there was a hidden meaning behind my strange question.

"Yes. A few times, though not recently."

I dodged around a few people on the street in order to stay at his side.

"I went on a swamp tour once for a middle school field trip when I was a kid. Tourists love them, so I was excited to see what all the hype was about." Recalling the memory, I shuddered. "I fell out of the boat right into a slimy patch of algae. I've hated swamps ever since."

A man talking on a cell phone as he walked tried to push between us. I was ready to step out of the way, but Gabe grabbed my wrist to keep me close. The man ended up bumping into us and looked up from his phone with an angry look on his face. His anger died the moment he realized how far he had to look up to meet Gabe's eyes, and he immediately shuffled away.

It was one of the benefits to being tall, I supposed. People naturally got out of his way.

That was a luxury I would never know. I wasn't the shortest person, especially not when I stood next to Newt, but I wasn't particularly tall either.

Gabe kept walking as if we'd never been interrupted, and the hand on my wrist slipped around my waist instead.

"Did you have any help falling out of the boat?"

So distracted by the casual way he embraced me, I almost missed his question.

When I realized what he meant, I gave an awkward laugh and scratched at the back of my head. "According to the official incident report, I fell on my own."

Gabe scowled down at me, but I had learned to read his expressions well enough to understand that he wasn't mad at me, but rather mad at the situation. All I could do was shrug.

"Middle school wasn't as bad as high school, but I still wasn't exactly popular." Gabe gave a little sound of acknowledgement, encouraging me to keep talking without saying a word. "Anyway, the point is that I hate swamps, and I've never understood why they attract so many tourists."

"People like experiencing things that are different from their normal life. And swamps are certainly a different than most people's everyday life."

"If they want to experience something new there are a thousand things I can think of that would be more pleasant than slimy water and alligators."

As we walked, Gabe started playing with my belt loop. It was such an automatic gesture, like his arm just belonged there around my waist, that it left me reeling.

We hadn't even slept together, yet Gabe was treating me as if we were already dating. Our first kiss had only been a few weeks ago, and before that I hadn't been sure Gabe even liked me. He really was a man of extremes, and I suspected he was the type to quickly commit once he decided on something.

We really needed to have a conversation about our expectations going forward, or this could get really messy.

I considered bringing it up right then, but before I could figure out how to start the conversation, Gabe announced that we'd arrived at our destination.

When reviewing a map of the area, we hadn't found anything that would justify why a pedophile ring would need to bring one of their victims here. The closest thing we could find to a point of interest was the office for the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries , which never seemed to actually be open based on their scant hours of operation. Other than that, there was a jewelry store, a few historical buildings, and several restaurants. All completely normal.

However, as soon as Gabe and I stepped onto the street in question, we were immediately brought to a halt by the sight of a familiar face.

Posters with Senator McLeod's image on them were plastered everywhere. Based on the information printed on the poster, it seemed the man was up for reelection, and was trying to advertise his best qualities.

So, of course, "Leader of a Pedophile Ring" was nowhere on the list.

"The timing of this is concerning," Gabe said as he inspected one of the nearest posters. "Although, I'm not sure what this would have to do with Miss Bell's son."

"Yeah." I narrowed my eyes at the Senator's printed grinning face. "If I were the leader of a pedophile ring running for reelection, I'd want as much space between those two parts of my life as possible."

At the front of the street, we came upon a booth that seemed to be the source of the posters. There were several people manning the booth, speaking with passersby about Senator McLeod's accomplishments, and handing out flyers to anyone who would take one.

Gabe seemed happy to watch the campaign efforts from afar, so I stepped up to the booth to see what information I could learn.

"Hello," one of the men running the booth greeted me.

The man's nametag said Ozias. It was an old-fashioned name for a young man, but I'd heard worse.

His face was just a little too plain to be handsome, but he had a boyish quality to his smile that could be called attractive.

"Are you interested in Love Without Limits ?"

I tried to keep the suspicious look off my face. "I'm afraid I don't know what that is."

Rather than be put off by this, Ozias's eagerness only grew as he shoved several pamphlets toward me. "It's our new charity organization. Love Without Limits is Senator McLeod's newest effort to help the community. Its aim is to help women and children, especially those that come from disadvantaged situations. See, here."

He pointed to something in one of the pamphlets, but I didn't have time to read more than two words before he started talking again.

"Our first goal is to set up pop-up stands in major cities where expecting mothers can come for free health evaluations and prenatal care. There are also plans to eventually set up more affordable childcare services, as well as promote awareness for the needs of new mothers. It's a great cause."

"I see," I said absently as I scanned through the pamphlets. "And this is a new charity."

"Brand new, so we need all the help we can get. I can take down your information if you're interested in volunteering."

The man already had a pen and clipboard in his hands, poised and ready to write. For the sake of keeping the conversation going, I gave him a fake name and phone number, and prayed he wouldn't try calling the number before I was able to leave.

Ozias was still writing my information down when I decided to try another line of questions. "I actually know some people who might benefit from a charity like this. What should I tell them to do? Can they just show up at one of these pop-up stands, or do they need to apply to something?"

As soon as he finished writing, Ozias used the pen to point at another pamphlet. "Anyone can show up to the pop-up stands where they can speak with one of our volunteer healthcare workers. Well, not anyone. They would need to be either an expecting mother, or a mother with young children since those are the patients that the pop-up stands are for. However, if your friends need more specific services or supplies, then there are a few different things they can apply for. There's a general list right here, and you can find more detailed information on our website."

"Right." I waved the pamphlets in front of me as if showing them off. "Thanks for the info. I'll be sure to tell my friends about it. I know a few of them could definitely use the help."

"Great," the man smiled again, but this time it seemed distracted as he was already switching his attention to the next person. "We'll reach out to you with volunteer opportunities, and I hope we hear from your friends soon."

I stepped back from the booth and used my shorter height to my advantage in order to disappear among the crowd around the booth. I'd barely taken a few steps away when Gabe's hand snaked back around my waist and pulled me to the less crowded side of the street.

When I showed him the pamphlets and explained the new charity Senator McLeod had apparently started, a deep scowl furrowed Gabe's brow.

"This really isn't good."

"I know, right." I tried to keep my voice down despite the noise of the city, for fear of being overheard. "Like, this kind of charity would sound great if I didn't know about the guy's other interests. But for the leader of a pedophile ring to start a charity specifically focusing on mothers and children… Do you think this is some sort of cover for them to get their hands on new kids."

"Possibly." Gabe nodded as he looked up the charity's website on his phone. "It could be a way for them to find women interested in giving up their kid for adoption without the need to use hospital administrators."

"Could?" I studied his face for a moment and could practically see the wheels turning in his head. "You think it might be something else?"

"Look at the website. There is a bigger emphasis on mothers than children. If they just wanted to get their hands on more kids, then that's what they would focus on."

Gabe handed me his phone, where I quickly scrolled through the website's pages. "While there are services offered that help kids, there was definitely a much bigger focus on helping mothers. Specifically, disadvantaged ones, such as single mothers, and women from poorer income homes.

"So, you think they want to… what, find expecting mothers to kidnap instead of kids? Why? I can't believe I'm saying this, but why wait months for a kid to be born when you can steal one that's already born?"

When I looked up from the phone back at Gabe, I found him studying the sky with deep stress lines etched on his face. Taking off his glasses and storing them in his pocket, he rubbed tiredly at his eyes.

"Because stealing one kid gets you one kid. However, if you kidnap a pregnant woman that you already know is fertile, then you could have access to a lot more kids in the future."

"You mean, like…"

My brain came to a shuddering stop as a single image filled my mind. I could see it so clearly, some young faceless woman imprisoned in a cell and forced to pop out kid after kid as sacrifices to the sick desires of her captors.

Bile rose in the back of my throat.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

Darting into an alley between two buildings, I braced my hands against the wall as I dry heaved. I didn't actually throw up, thankfully, but it was a close call.

When I was finally able to breathe properly, I realized Gabe was rubbing my back.

"I'm all right."

He passed me a water bottle. Where he'd gotten it, I had no idea, but I was too thirsty to care.

Maybe I'd been out of it longer than I thought for him to have time to buy it and come back.

I chugged half the bottle in one go, then slowly sipped on the other half as I waited for Gabe to say something. He never commented on my reaction, just silently watched the street and the people coming and going from the charity booth.

"You have a pensive look on your face," I eventually said once I'd finished the bottle and tossed it into a nearby trashcan. "What're you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that I'd really like to see the list of everyone who works for this so-called charity. And a list of the women who have applied for their services, while we're at it. See that van over there?" He nodded to a van parked in another alley on the other side of the street. "While we've been standing here, I've seen some people working the charity booth drop things off in there. Including the sheets where they write people's names down."

Thinking back to the fake name I gave Ozias, I realized he had written everything down with a pen and paper. I'd been too focused on other things to notice, but once I thought about it, I realized how odd that was. In the modern digital age, a pen and paper were usually a backup option, not the primary plan for keeping important information.

"Digital paper trails are harder to get rid of than literal ones," I suggested. "Maybe this is their way of ensuring that they can easily get rid of evidence if necessary."

"My thoughts exactly. If we could get into that van, we might be able to get our hands on some of those lists."

I studied the street. It was too crowded to break into the van without being seen.

A smile spread over my face, and I looked up at Gabe.

"Hey, Gabe. Can you create a distraction?"