Chapter One
"There! That's her!" Jeremy said, his voice just above a whisper.
Michael leaned to see around the brick pillar into the hotel lobby. "Are you sure?"
Jeremy turned to face Michael. "One hundred percent. It's her. Finally. Let's go."
"What are we supposed to say? 'Hi, you may not remember us, but we're your half brothers?'" Michael asked.
"Something like that. This is our only chance. We have to do something," Jeremy said. He folded his arms. "I'm going over there."
Michael sighed. "Okay. Try not to scare her." He stood up, all too aware of how tall he was and how awkward he looked. Turning sixteen had led to a growth spurt that put him at nearly six feet tall. Jeremy, still only fourteen, didn't quite top Michael's shoulders now.
"Here goes nothing," Jeremy said to himself as they walked across the lobby. He hesitated for a moment, glancing up at Michael, and then walked the final few steps up to the table. "Hi. Mind if we join you?"
The girl at the table looked up in surprise, her eyes wide and her lips slightly parted. "Okay," she said, her voice sounding uncertain.
Jeremy sat down across from her; Michael sat down at the table next to him. The ensuing silence was deafening - Jeremy had frozen now that they were face to face with their sister for the first time in over six years.
"What are you reading?" Michael asked, scrambling for a neutral topic.
"Third Harry Potter book," she said, holding up the book so they could see the cover.
Jeremy grinned. "That's my favorite Harry Potter book."
"Mine too," she said as she shyly returned the smile.
"I'm Jeremy," he said and then he gestured to Michael. "This is Michael."
"I'm Rachel," she said. "Is your family staying here at the hotel?"
Michael glanced at Jeremy: they had walked right into this - he could only hope that Jeremy had some sort of plan.
"Well, sorta," Jeremy hedged.
Michael sighed. That would be a no on the plan, then.
"What about you?" Jeremy pressed. "Is your family here at the hotel?"
Rachel nodded. "My mom is in the hotel room taking a nap. My dad is at work."
Michael looked at Jeremy, trying not to telegraph his alarm. They had known Paul and Vanessa would be here, but it felt very different knowing for sure that she was in the building and he was somewhere nearby in the city.
Jeremy bit his lower lip and nodded once. "Rachel?" he asked, looking around the hotel lobby before turning to face Rachel. "How much do you remember from when you were a little kid? Like, six years old or younger?"
Michael nudged Jeremy's foot and then raised his eyebrows - this was not where he would have started this conversation.
Rachel wrinkled her nose. "Not much, really. I know I was born in California and I lived in England, but I don't remember any of that."
"And then you lived on Hill Air Force Base in Utah," Jeremy added, tapping his fingertips on the table.
Rachel tilted her head slightly but didn't reply.
"We think-" Michael started.
"We know," Jeremy interrupted. "We know that you're our half-sister. Your name is Rachel Chatlin. Our biological mom is Vanessa Chatlin, née Fordham. Michael and I aren't certain who our father is. We were separated from you after our family moved to Hill Air Force Base."
Rachel blinked twice and looked from Jeremy to Michael.
Michael sighed. "It's true. I know you probably don't remember us, but it's true."
"We're here to rescue you," Jeremy added.
Michael held his breath as Rachel considered them.
"Rescue me from what?" she asked, her fingers restlessly flipping through the pages of her book.
"Paul and Vanessa," Jeremy said before Michael could speak. "We've been looking for you for six and a half years."
Rachel looked from Jeremy to Michael and back again. "I think there may have been a mistake," she said slowly. "I don't have any siblings. And my parents were never divorced or anything."
It hurt more than Michael had expected to hear his little sister say that she didn't have siblings - but it wasn't her fault that she didn't remember them.
Jeremy didn't seem deterred. "We remember you. There's got to be a way we can prove to you that what we're saying is true."
"Genetic testing?" Rachel asked.
"That's a good idea," Michael started.
"-but it's too slow," Jeremy finished quickly. "This is our only chance."
"Rachel!"
Michael felt himself flinch as Rachel leapt to her feet. Before he or Jeremy could do anything, Rachel had grabbed her backpack and hurried across the hotel lobby.
Standing at the hallway entrance was one of Michael and Jeremy's worst nightmares.
"Let her go!"
Nick automatically turned in the direction of the voice, his eyes meeting Sara's briefly as they both searched for the source. Sara tipped her head in the direction of the front lobby and rested her hand on the grip of her gun.
Pausing a moment to let Gil catch up with them, Nick followed Sara down the hallway, his hand hovering near his holster.
"-leave us alone! I don't know you!"
"You're our mother!"
Gil moved level with Sara, his hand falling away from his holster as he stepped out into the hotel lobby. Nick saw Sara's expression shutter as she stepped to the side before he was able to see the scene in the lobby. A woman was being confronted by two teenaged boys. She had what looked like a painfully tight grip on a little girl's forearm.
"Just you wait until your father hears about this," the woman hissed loudly.
It was impossible to miss the way all three kids flinched at that declaration and Nick winced as the woman pulled sharply on the girl's arm.
Gil strode forward into the lobby, Nick and Sara following only a half step behind.
"Excuse me," Gil called as they approached the small group.
The taller teenage boy immediately backed up a step and put himself between the CSIs and the shorter teenage boy. The shorter boy stayed focused on where the woman was holding the girl.
"I'm Gil Grissom. I work with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. What seems to be the problem here?"
"Thank God," the woman said, glaring briefly at the boys before focusing on Gil. "These boys are harassing me and my daughter. I don't know them. I've never seen them before in my life!"
"She's lying!" the younger boy said loudly. "She's our mother, and Rachel is our sister!"
"She's hurting Rachel," the older boy said, his eyes pleading with them for help.
"Ma'am, would you mind letting go of your daughter's arm?" Gil asked, meeting the woman's eyes. "We're here to help."
Nick silently encouraged the woman to let go of the girl. This was the last situation in which he'd want to draw his gun. Gil and Sara apparently agreed with him because neither of them reached for their guns even as the woman hesitated.
"If you want to arrest someone, arrest them. They tried to kidnap my daughter!" the woman pointed her accusation at the two teenaged boys.
"We didn't!" the younger boy said loudly as he moved around the older boy. "Now let Rachel go - you're hurting her!"
"Ma'am, I'm certain we can sort all of this out quickly, but we need you to let go of Rachel's arm," Nick said, flashing her his best Southern Hospitality smile. "Now, please."
The woman's jaw tightened, but she finally let go of the girl's arm. "Now if you'll excuse us, we're late. Rachel, let's go."
Before anyone could respond, both of the boys moved a few steps back with wide eyes. Nick turned around just in time to watch a man take the last few steps up to them and place his hands around the little girl's shoulders, like she was nothing more than a possession being handed off.
Sara visibly bristled and Gil raised his eyebrows.
"I'm sorry, what seems to be the problem here?" the man asked calmly.
"That's what we're sorting out right now," Gil said, his gaze resting on the man's hands.
"Excuse me, sir?" the younger of the boys asked Nick. "You work with the police, right?"
"Yes," Nick said. He leaned down slightly, hoping that would make him look less imposing. "I'm a criminalist."
"I'd like to report a crime," the boy continued, his eyes locked on Nick's.
"Okay," Nick said, his stomach turning as he wondered if he was reading the situation right.
"That man's name is Paul Chatlin. He sexually abused me when I was a kid. The girl he's holding onto is my half sister. I remember him raping her when we were little kids." The boy blinked twice, his eyes watering but no tears fell. "Please, help her."
Nick stood up straight and tried to think past feeling like he'd just been kicked in the gut.
"Sir, we need you to let go of the girl. Now," Gil said firmly.
"This is preposterous," the man said, shaking his head. "I've never even seen these boys before today. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have dinner reservations."
"I don't think so," Sara said, stepping directly into the man's path. "Right now you have a prior engagement at the Las Vegas Police Department. I'm sure you'll find our hospitality most welcoming."
"You can't arrest me," the man protested.
"No, but we can detain you and your wife for questioning," Gil said, tilting his chin up. "If you'd like to contact your lawyer, you can do so from the police station. Now, release the child."
The man clenched his jaw and stared at Gil for a long moment before he let go of the girl.
Sara immediately stepped forward and held out her hand to the girl. The girl only hesitated for a moment before taking Sara's hand and allowing Sara to guide her out of reach of both the man and the woman.
Gil nodded his approval. "Thank you. If you'll both come with me, we can get this matter settled. My teammates will ensure the safety of the children."
"I'm not doing this," the woman protested. "They're lying."
"Vanessa, just go with the officer," the man said, irritation coloring his voice.
"Criminalist," Gil corrected lightly as he motioned for two uniformed officers to join him as he led the small group out of the hotel.
"Wow," the younger boy said. He looked up at Nick. "I wish I'd done that a long time ago."
"What's going to happen to them?" the older boy asked, his eyes flickering between Nick and Sara.
Nick glanced at where the girl was still holding onto Sara's hand and then looked up at Sara. "I don't know," he said after a moment. "But we'll do everything we can do to protect you."
The younger boy shook his head. "Michael and I don't need protecting," he said. "But we need you to help us rescue Rachel."
Sara met Nick's eyes and then looked down at Rachel. "We'll do everything we can," she repeated.
"Can we call our adoptive mom?" Jeremy asked as Nick ushered them into the interrogation room.
"That might not be a bad idea. Is that okay with both of you?" Nick asked as he pulled the door shut behind himself.
Jeremy nodded enthusiastically as Michael pulled out his phone. "I mean, we're not in trouble, right?"
Nick shook his head. "You're not in trouble." Their biggest problem was going to be how little time they could hold Paul and Vanessa if they weren't able to find evidence of illegal activities.
"Mom," Michael said into his cell phone. "No. We're down at the police station. We found Rachel."
There was a long silence while Michael listened, Jeremy fidgeting impatiently in his chair and then holding out his hand for the phone.
Michael ignored him. "Okay, we'll wait here for you. See you soon." Michael ended the call and put his cell phone back in his pocket. "Our mom - our adoptive mom - is on her way."
"Okay," Nick said, resting his hands on the table. "Technically I can't ask you anything without your legal guardian present, but if there's something you want to tell me before your adoptive mom arrives, that's okay too."
"She already knows," Michael said.
"She knows most of it," Jeremy corrected. "She didn't know that we'd found Rachel. We didn't think she would have let us go to the hotel if she thought Paul and Vanessa would be there. But we had to go! We've been looking for our sister for six years and this was our only chance to rescue her."
Nick nodded, trying not to imagine if he'd been separated from one of his sisters as a kid. "You were separated six years ago?" he asked.
"Almost six and a half," Michael said, glancing at Jeremy and then sighing. "Paul, well, we're not sure if he sold us, or traded us, or if he just wanted to get rid of us. A few weeks after we moved to Utah, Paul took me and Jeremy on a long drive and left us at an apartment here in Vegas."
"We're not sure how long we were kept there," Jeremy added, looking down at the table. "He sexually abused us too, him and his friends, until he left a few days later. We were at the apartment for a few months until the people there disappeared. After that we wound up in foster care, and then Anita adopted us nearly four years ago."
Nick felt the knot in his stomach tighten again. "Paul sexually abused you before he brought you to Vegas?" he asked.
Jeremy nodded, focusing on where he was tracing the edge of the table. "Sometimes he took pictures. He used to have a video camera too. When we were little kids, Rachel and I shared a bed. I think it was because we were close in age and had the same bed time. Anyway, Paul would show up at night sometimes. We could hear his footsteps in the hallway. He was never interested in me at night, just Rachel. All I could do was hold her hand and wait for him to be done."
Nick couldn't hide the pain from his expression any longer. Some cases just hit too close to home.
"There was physical abuse too. From both Paul and Vanessa," Michael added. "With Vanessa it was mostly slapping. Sometimes she'd grab one of us by our arm and then shake or pull. Rachel will probably have a bruise from today."
"She probably has scars from Paul on her back. I still have a few myself. Would it help for you to see them?" Jeremy asked.
"Possibly at some point," Nick said, forcing himself to meet Jeremy's eyes. Scars were exactly the type of physical evidence they were going to need to make a case against Paul and Vanessa, but they were going to have a hell of a time proving that Paul had caused those scars. "Can you remember what he used that caused the scarring?"
"His belt," Michael said quietly. "A few months before we moved to Utah. Paul beat Jeremy, and then Rachel, because Jeremy tried to get help from a teacher. Paul nearly killed them, while I just stood there and watched."
Jeremy shook his head. "You couldn't have done anything. He just would have beat you too."
"Jeremy's right," Nick said as Michael shook his head. "You both did whatever you had to in order to survive - that's the only thing you could have done."
Michael shook his head again. "I just want to know that Rachel is alive and safe."
"She is," Nick said firmly. "She's with Sara, and Sara won't let anything happen to her."
Michael and Jeremy looked at each other and then back to Nick.
"We've been looking for our sister for six years. We'll do whatever it takes to get her to safety. Just tell us what to do," Michael said, his voice breaking. "Please."