-13-

The morning sunlight shone through into the Morton farm front porch. Chet sat there, nursing a cup of coffee. He looked down at numerous folders of information which had arrived by early morning messenger. He had placed a number of photos out on the table. He seemed transfixed on the photos of Maddie that were taken off of Jaime's phone. Maybe it was just the notion that these were the last photos taken before it happened. Maybe it was because they showed his daughter in a state which seemed well under the influence. He wasn't sure what he was looking for.

The profound sadness of waking up and realizing that it all hadn't been a dream was heartbreaking enough. But he knew he would be of no use to his child if he couldn't maintain some kind of focus. Chet held up the photo of Maddie sitting at the table in the motel room. She appeared bleary eyed. It clearly troubled him that they had essentially used a date rape drug on her. Even if the intent at the time was to simply render her unconscious.

Frank had contacted him early that morning to advise him to expect the courier with the evidence copy they had accumulated thus far. Also, to ask him if he or Callie wanted to be involved in the news conference that would happen later that morning. Chet declined and deferred to Frank to represent them at this time. Chet wasn't interested in talking to the media. He didn't wish to be exploited. He also didn't wish to have the extra stress. One would have to be on their toes at a press conference or things could get out of hand.

He sipped his coffee and stared out blankly into the front pasture. He found it very hard to keep his mind on the task of critically analyzing any of the evidence. All he wanted was to have Maddie back and for the pain to stop! As if a response to his growing anxiety and stress he spied a car coming down their long driveway. As it drew closer Chet realized it was his sister. He had almost forgotten that his sister had gone home yesterday to deal with Joe. Chet wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but from what he could gather, it meant heartache for his sister.

A couple minutes later, Iola was walking through the front porch door. She saw her brother at the table. He looked beleaguered and sleep deprived. She looked down at him with great empathy.

"How are you doing, hun?" Chet didn't look up. He just gave a half shrug. Iola closed her eyes for a moment. "Sorry, dumb question." She took a seat next to him and rubbed his back with one hand. "Don't give up. You know she is out there and she is ok. We just got to find her." Chet nodded and inhaled deeply.

"Easier said than done, sis." He gave her a sideways glance. "How are you doing?"

"hmmf...well, let's just say it's been a shitty week."

"Well, that's an understatement. So tell me, what did Joe do to cause your life to be miserable?" Iola closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Well, where do I start? Not that I want to go into deep detail. Let's just say our savings account is down by a third. And oh, he says he thinks he's in love with his assistant." Chet's eyes grew wide.

"Excuse me? In love?" Iola looked out over the pasture lost in thought. She nodded slightly. A couple moments later she blinked a few times and turned towards Chet.

"He moved back home. But for now, it's all too fresh and I don't know how to process it all. I don't think I want to talk about it, if that's ok." Chet nodded.

"Sure, sis." Iola looked around.

"How is Cal doing? Is she still asleep?" Chet nodded slightly and gestured with his head towards the door.

"In there, on the sofa." Iola saw the expression in her brother's face. She got up and turned towards the door that opened to the living room. She cautiously cracked the door open and peered inside. In the darkened room she could make out the forms of Callie and Aimee laying together on the sofa asleep. Iola quietly closed the door and turned back towards the table. She walked over and took a seat.

"You ok with that?" Chet sighed then took a sip of coffee.

"Maybe not super comfortable, but I know they have a connection. And my comfort level is not really all that important if it can offer Cal some peace for a while. I mean laying with someone you care about in a time of distress isn't a bad thing." Iola, in spite of all the stress that both of them were going through leaned forward and kissed her brother on the cheek. She smiled to him.

"I've got to say, bro, you're quite a guy. And for what it's worth I am sorry I misjudged you in the past." Chet shook his head slightly.

"I'm no saint. I'd be lying if I didn't say I wished that that was me in there lying next to her. But I know that this isn't a time of competition or jealousy. We just need to all come together and get Maddie back. Everything else is just not really important." Iola nodded.

"Yeah... you're right. So, what's all this paperwork and photos?"

"Frank had a courier drop off a copy of the evidence gathered so far. He did say that they got some camera footage from the gas station right next to the interstate 81 on ramp. Between 11:40 and 12:10 there were 3 vans that took the I-81 southbound ramp. Due to the distance it was impossible to get plate numbers. But it indicates there was a strong possibility. He said that it appeared to be an older looking van that took the ramp at 11:46PM. They are doing their best to compare those images to the ones of the van that pulled out from in front of our rooms at 11:41." Iola nodded.

"It's a good lead, bro. Not much traffic that time of night." Chet nodded. He pulled up the photo he was previously viewing. He placed it on the table in front of Iola.

"Look at this. They have her tripped out on some of that crap they give when they date rape. The whole image is disturbing." Iola looked down at it and studied it. She took on a sorry expression.

"My God, was she smoking?"

"I can't believe that she does. I can't rule out the peer pressure angle or maybe if she was already under the influence of the stuff they slipped her. But I honestly don't think she would. Just not her thing. This other kid, well, hard to say." Chet's tone was negative. Iola sensed it had something to do with the other girl.

"Bro, you know you can't blame this other kid. Her name was Jaime, right?" Chet nodded. "I know she isn't your favorite person right now. But she and her sister are every bit the victims as Maddie." Chet sighed slowly and shook his head.

"I know what you are saying. I do. But, I just can't help but think that while she was loose and free that she couldn't have come up with some other angle. Calling in the cops and FBI and letting them help. Giving them info to help track down her sister. Instead of doing this creep's bidding and endangering more victims."

"Well, it's not always so cut and dry. Especially if you are not in that position yourself. Try to think about it this way... If someone had kidnapped me and later told you that you needed to do this series of things or otherwise they would blow my head off, what would you do? Would you defy them and take your chances that the police could somehow find me before I was killed? Or would you bide your time in hopes that you could extend my life and gain advantage at some future point?"

"Well, I see your point. It still doesn't keep me from thinking about all the circumstances which had to be in order for this to have played out." Iola nodded soberly.

"No one event caused this. Indeed, it was a combination of things, and all the stars had to align in just the right way. It's completely unfair. Unjust. and frankly, just sucks. But it was no one person's fault." Chet rested his head in his hands and rubbed his temples.

"This is a damn nightmare! I can't think. I can't sleep. I want to be able to focus enough to figure out a starting point!" Iola began rubbing his back sympathetically.

"We are going to find a starting point. Cal will be up soon..." She was interrupted by the door to the living room opening. A moment later Callie and Aimee walked in. Callie looked pensively at them.

"Cal is up." She focused to Chet. "Any news, babe?!" Chet offered a kind smile, then shook his head slowly.

"No, angel. Frank called earlier. They sent out the early copy of the casebook. He is handling the news conference this morning. The only info he could give is regarding a security cam from a service station that captured a van entering the southbound I-81 about 5 minutes after a van left the motel. They made multistate alerts and the FBI is attempting to draw any connections the cases have." Callie looked down at the table. Upon seeing the photos spread out she immediately became flooded with emotion. Her eyes welled up and she lost her balance. Iola immediately grabbed her.

"It's alright, girl. Here, sit down." Callie, nodded, grateful for the assistance.

"Thank you. I'm afraid I didn't sleep much."

"Would you like some coffee, Cal?" Aimee asked. Callie looked back over her shoulder, then nodded weakly.

"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks." Chet looked over at Aimee and gestured towards the kitchen.

"Should be a pot in there on the left counter." Aimee nodded and looked back at him.

"Thanks." She paused. "Can I get you some more, too?" Chet managed a smile and handed her his empty cup.

"Yes. Thank you. Black with a little sugar is fine."

"Can do." Aimee said softly.

Callie rubbed her eyes and then raked her hand through her disheveled hair. She looked over to Iola.

"You doing ok?" Iola bit her lower lip and nodded briefly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said. The last thing she wanted to do is unload her burden on Callie when she was already overloaded. Callie nodded then looked over at her husband. Their eyes met and the sympathy they each felt for the other. The drain and emptiness that only they understood was apparent. Callie rested her head against Chet's chest. She wept lightly.

"Tell me she's ok, baby." her soft cries reverberated against him. Chet placed her arm around his wife and kissed the top of her head.

Aimee walked in with their coffee. She looked down at the pair having their moment of distress. While it was an unfamiliar sight, seeing them so close, she still felt very sympathetic towards them. Aimee herself had also felt incredibly distraught over the news of Maddie being taken. She set the coffee down near them and quietly took a seat next to Iola. Iola looked over at the pair. While knowing that they were truly going through Hell, she still knew that every moment counted. She softly cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Cal? Bro?" She spoke, offering them a kind look. The pair slowly broke their embrace and turned towards her. Iola looked down at the table. "I know that what you two are going through is nothing short of excruciating. And I think we can all agree that the strain of such a horrible thing would justify all of us being traumatized beyond anything we have been through before. But, Maddie is out there and as much as I have faith in the police, I am not ready to just leave it in their hands. And as I understand it, Fenton is just simply not going to be able to help until he gets off this assignment he is on. So, I am afraid that leaves it to us. We need to make some sense of the little evidence we have and take a direction and investigate. This will require some focus. I am here and ready to help in any way I can. But I really need you two to try to brush aside the emotion as much as possible so we can all focus and make something happen. We need to go find her." She paused and looked at them. "Would you say this is a reasonable idea?" Callie and Chet looked at each other. Callie nodded to him. Chet slowly nodded back. Callie managed an ever so slight smile and looked back at Iola.

Well, girl, leave it to you to be the voice of reason. I quite agree..." She sighed and took a paper towel and began to pat her damp eyes. "We can sit here and be willing victims and cry for the next year, or we can do something. I know I owe my baby more than just to sit here." Chet nodded.

"I agree with that. I won't say it's going to be easy to maintain focus. But I would do anything for my girl. So, I will give it my best! Callie looked at her husband's face. A strong look of commitment and anger were clear. She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"That's right, baby. Don't be messing with a pissed off momma and daddy bear. This son of a bitch just bit off way more than he could chew!" Iola nodded. This was indeed a good step in the right direction. She knew there would be the inevitable moments of weakness. But they were clearly willing to make this go forward.

"Well, it's a solid step. I am here to help and so I suggest we each take some of this case info that Frank sent over and give it our best analysis. We just need some kind of clue to take that first step." She glanced over to Aimee. "We can count on you, too?" Aimee looked at the others. She wanted to help, but also felt a little out of place.

"Well, sure. I mean if you are ok with me being here." Chet closed his eyes. He knew that the statement was probably meant for him. Not in a bad way. Aimee was just displaying courtesy for their situation. He looked across the table at her.

"Aimee, I know that we don't know each other well. And honestly, when we first met I was pretty much a big jerk to you. And I must apologize to you for that by the way. I know that you do something for Callie and it makes her happy. And she in turn makes you happy. I am not looking to delve into the delicate aspects of the unique relationship that the three of us share. It is, to be frank, just not important to debate right now. I think if each of us shares a love and respect for the other, we can all get along ok. I just want you to know that I don't want there to be any animosity between us. You are welcome here and your assistance is greatly appreciated if you are willing to give it." Both Callie and Iola looked over to Chet. They had not expected him to embrace Aimee's presence. Much less apologize for past indiscretions on his part. Callie placed her hand on his. Iola smiled at him with admiration.

Aimee herself was taken aback by Chet's words. She swallowed hard and smiled back at him. She had not expected him to welcome her as he did. Especially during such a trying time.

"Thank you, Chet. It's very kind of you to say that. I am good with letting the past be the past. I hope we can become good friends. And, of course I am on board to help you in any way I can."

"Thank you." Callie and Chet both replied. Iola smiled and started sorting the paperwork that had been sent. He pushed a folder over to Aimee.

"Here you are. This seems to be a bit of history on some of the other victims and their cases." Aimee nodded and took the folder. Iola, Callie and Chet each took a stack of papers as well.

"Ok." Chet sighed. "Let's do this."

The next couple hours passed with all four sifting through the evidence and information.

"So..." Callie looked up from a report she had been reading. "It appears that this phone Jaime had was a TracFone."

"What's that?" Aimee inquired, never having heard the term.

"It's a brand of phone. They are very often referred to as disposable phones. They are prepaid and cheap. If you try to trace one, it generally comes up to a fake registration name. There is no actual registration like a post-paid phone. They are also called burner phones. Anyway, they of course tried to trace the number that Jaime was communicating with. The slime ball had no doubt dumped that phone. It was suspected that Jaime either dropped the phone in the room, or intentionally left it in hopes its discovery would help trace to her captor. But they have not had the perp's number activate. So, it is assumed the phone has been dumped."

"Was there anything significant found on Jaime's phone?" Iola asked. Callie shrugged.

"They are still trying to determine if anything that was deleted can be recovered. But what was still on the phone was minimal. Likely by design. Just the one text conversation between Jaime and her captor. It consisted of thirteen photos in the conversation. With..uhm..." Callie sniffled and closed her eyes briefly. "Maddie's photo being the last one which was selected. The twelve previous photos were all declined by the perp's emoji system of communication. Uhm, the only photos in the camera's gallery were eleven pictures, excluding the dozen pictures of girls at the rink. Nine photos were of Maddie in the motel room. Seven of her sitting at the table. Two more of her and Jaime together in selfie pics."

"What about the other two?" Iola asked. Callie pulled up two enlargements and looked at them. She shrugged.

"Pocket or purse shots it looked like. Look pretty much black for the most part. Nothing on them." She sighed and tossed them over towards Iola, who picked them up. She studied them closely. One picture was nearly black. The other was mostly black but had a blurred streak of light and color in the far corner of the photo. She looked at it intently. Finally, she glanced over to Chet.

"Got a magnifying glass, bro?" Chet nodded and turned to a sideboard next to the table and pulled one of the drawers open. He sorted through the drawer for several moments and finally smiled, pulling out a small magnifier.

"Ah-ha! Mom has a bunch of these around for when she does crosswords and such." he handed over the glass. Iola took the magnifier and held it over the corner of the image.

"Anything interesting?" Callie asked, wondering what her friend was looking at. "Just assumed it was an accidental shot taken in her pocket." Iola shook her head.

"No, don't think so. Look here..." she said pointing down. "This bottom third of the image seems to have an ever so slight reflection. And in the bottom corner is this green looking part." She started moving the picture to see if a new angle helped her determine. She pointed. "Look down here, Cal. Doesn't this look like a really blurry green sign with maybe a short word or number on it?" Callie looked down again and studied the image in the corner. She nodded as she began to realize it was a sign.

"Yes! Now let me see... I think. No... I can't quite make it out."

"Give it here." Chet requested. Callie slid it over. Chet took out his phone and pulled the camera app up. He studied the corner for a moment then took a picture of it with his camera. Chet brought up the image he just took and looked at it. "Now, if I maybe adjust the contrast and sharpness on this pic."

"Great idea!" Iola exclaimed. A couple more minutes of editing and Chet turned the screen towards the others with a smile. Upon looking, the others noted that the sign appeared to be green in color and had white numbers on it. They were able to make out the number 310.

"That looks an awful lot like an interstate exit sign." Callie said with some excitement. Chet had been busy tapping on his phone. A moment later he looked up.

"Exit 310 on I-81 comes up in Winchester Virginia." He held his phone screen down for the others to see the map he brought up.

"Damn! That could be it." Iola said tersely. "Lot of small towns and undeveloped areas around there according to this map. Aimee's eyes lit up when she looked down. She pointed down at it. Iola shot her a glance. "What you seeing, girl?" Aimee looked through her papers and pulled out an image. She showed a photo of a teenage girl with shoulder length brown hair.

"This girl is one of the victims. Sadly, she was found dead. Her name is Heather Norton. She was found in an area of woods near a place called Mount Hope Virginia. A small town called Marlboro is indicated in the report as being the closest village. This area is about 15 miles from the most populated city. Winchester Virginia!" Callie swallowed hard upon hearing this.

"I'd say that represents a connection." She glanced at Chet, who nodded solemnly.

"So, Jaime left us a clue." Iola and Aimee both nodded their agreement.

"I'd say that's a big yes." Iola said. She looked through a stack of papers. "My question is why didn't Bayport PD forensics pick up on it?" Callie shook her head.

"Maybe because they looked at it as quickly as I did when I initially dismissed it. Which is disconcerting to me, because their forensics team doesn't have the same excuse I did."

"What do we have on Heather Norton?" Chet asked. Aimee looked down at a paper.

"Heather Renee Norton, age 15. Abducted from a truck stop in Roanoke Virginia on 18 April. She turned up in Mt. Hope three weeks ago, tied to a tree. Without clothes, and while there were signs of abuse, the perpetrator apparently left her there very much alive."

"Left her there for the critters." Iola said. "Real sick piece of trash."

"Do we know how many girls are out there?" Callie asked. Iola looked back at her.

"Nine unrecovered." she paused. "Which includes Maddie." They sat in silence, looking at each other.

"So..." Aimee asked aloud. "What is the plan?"

"I think..." Callie began, then looked nervously at the others. "We head to Virginia. I think it would be prudent to at least base our operation out of the area where our clue is from. Which wasn't very far from where Heather Norton was found. We need to go to Winchester Virginia." Chet inhaled slowly and looked at his wife.

"Yeah."


Maddie sat in her bed. Her knees drawn up with her head resting on them. She looked down at the steel cable which was attached to a leg shackle. She took in the room which held her. It was clearly an old building. The cinder block wall on the outer side of the room was coated with several coats of now peeling faded institutional green paint. As were the walls. She noticed the lone window was perhaps a foot square. Maybe a little bigger. A steel bar crossed through the center, cutting off any possibility of escape from it, even if she was thin enough. Which she clearly was not. The floor was a hard ceramic tile pattern of alternating 8-inch squares of black and white. The white was no longer white after what seemed many years of going without cleaning. On the far wall was a door. It did not particularly surprise Maddie that it was made of steel. It had a small square window located near the top. The glass seemed to have a wire mesh inside it. There was little doubt that in spite of the general unpleasantness of the room, it was quite secure.

Maddie shifted her vision towards the other bed in the room, and its inhabitant. Jaime lay on the bed. She stared blankly into space in Maddie's general direction. She had been crying. That morning was the first chance Maddie got to actually see her. They had talked a lot back and forth during the night. Maddie saw what appeared to be a laceration and large bruise on the side of Jaime's head.

"You're hurt?!" she asked. Jaime had not told her during the night about being struck. Jaime blinked a few times and seemed to return to being more conscious of her surroundings. She looked meekly at Maddie and slowly nodded.

"I was bad." She replied without much emotion. Maddie blinked repeatedly.

"But..but..how? That looks so harsh!" She could tell by the side of Jaime's face that the laceration had likely bled quite a bit. Jaime sighed. She slowly shifted her legs over the side of the bed and sat on the edge. She rubbed her face and winced. She looked over to Maddie and smiled wanly.

"He was mad."

"But, why? You did what he wanted." Jaime shook her head and looked down.

"Well, somewhere I lost the phone I had. I guess it was probably the motel room. And he slapped me with his pistol. He said I was trying to get him caught. I swear I didn't leave it intentionally. I guess the thought did cross my mind though." Maddie looked angry, though a bit confused.

"I'm sorry he did that to you. But I don't get the thing about the phone. You wanted to lose it?" Jaime shrugged.

"It might have been a thought when he first told me I was going to have to help him find another girl. I guess I figured I'd take some secret pics of here and on the way to wherever he was going to take me. That way I could leave the phone somewhere for the police to find. But the first problem was when he didn't give me the phone until we were in the van. So, that basically kept me from taking any photos of this place." She paused and gave a deep sigh. "Then I thought I'd take some pictures when we were driving. I tried it once and he slapped me in the back of the head. I was trying to take a picture of a road sign. But it was dark out the night before when we went up to Bayport. So, all I got was a photo of black outside. He said if I tried anything again, Jesse and I both would be dead. So, I gave up on the idea. He still thinks I took pictures and intentionally left the phone there. He was mad because he had to throw his phone in the river. But I'm sure he has more of them." Maddie looked around the room again and shuddered.

"So, you don't know where we are?" Jaime shrugged.

"Virginia...somewhere. I remember passing through this little village called Marlboro. Then we got on the highway a few miles later. I don't know what this place is. Or was. I just know it's huge. I can't even hear my sister. But he does keep some of the other girls here in this section." Maddie's eyes widened.

"Other girls?" Jaime nodded.

"Yes. I have met a few others. When we had to...uhm..." Maddie turned red and she couldn't finish the sentence.

"Had to what?!" Maddie asked. Jaime shook her head blankly. She looked slowly back up at her.

"Uhm, you know... sex..." Jaime's eyes clinched tightly at the mention of it. She knew what she had been put through. The idea that she had just helped this psycho line up another victim made her sick to her stomach. Maddie bit her lip fretfully and wrapped her arms even tighter around her knees. She looked nervously at the door, then back to Jaime.

"But...I...I...can't. I won't! I have...uhm...never." She stuttered fearfully. She turned red and started weeping. Jaime watched her and swallowed hard.

"Maddie. You need to try to control your emotions. I know it's so very hard. But I can tell you that this guy...he loves fear. If you act scared he will feel even more turned on." Maddie shot her a sideways glance.

"How the hell am I supposed to feel about it? I am scared to death, Jaime! I don't want to die. I don't want to be...raped!" She looked down at her tight tank top, which left little to the imagination. She so wished that she still had the button-down shirt her mother made her wear! Jaime looked kindly at her and took a breath.

"Maddie, I need to tell you a few things. Maybe they can help. But at least they will prepare you." Maddie looked over to her with a quivering lip.

"Ok..." She managed to rasp between the trying to catch her breath amidst her weeping.

"First, it's very likely he will disconnect the leg wires from us. He did after the first day I was here. I think he did it last night because he didn't want you to freak out and start banging on the door. They are made of steel, but they make a big sound if you kick on them. As you can see, these rooms are pretty secure. I don't know if this place used to be a prison or what."

"Why did he do that to your leg then?" Jaime shrugged.

"Probably because he was very pissed off at me last night when we came back. His way of punishing me for the phone."

"Ok. What else were you gonna say?" Jaime took a breath.

"He is going to try to play mind games with you. To make you feel helpless and that he is in total control. Which I suppose is pretty accurate. But don't be combative with him. It's like fuel for him. He drives off of it. Knowing you will be scared turns him on." Maddie wiped her tears and have a half nod.

"What...what else?" She asked. Jaime exhaled slowly. Her eyes connected to Maddie's.

"He's going to touch you." Maddie's body tensed up at the thought. "I don't mean sex necessarily. Not right off...maybe. Took him two weeks before..." She covered her eyes with her hand as more tears fell. "Uhm, but he will still probably grab your boobs and your butt right off. Run his hands all over you. Make you feel very clear about that he owns you. If you give him trouble it will likely excite him. With me, it has come to where I act like as cold a fish as possible. I try to suppress all my emotions. He doesn't seem to get off on that much. I think because of that he hasn't made me do anything for a few weeks." She paused. "At least not with him." Maddie shot her a look.

"You mean that he made you, uhm..." Jaime nodded.

"Yes..." She paused and looked at Maddie. "Which I guess the only good thing about it is that it's better than having to do it with him. Since I have been here I have had to do things with four other girls. Fairly regularly, but one of them I haven't seen for a while. Her name is Heather." Maddie looked off into space.

"I don't know if I can do that, Jaime. I mean, men or women, I've just never really been in a position to think much about it." Jaime nodded, remembering that Maddie was only 14.

"I know what you are saying. Has there ever been any guys at school, or even girls that you, uhm, were fond of...that way?" In spite of their dire situation, Maddie managed to smile slightly.

"Well, I am a bit...maybe...yes."

"I don't want you to be scared, Maddie. I also don't want you to think for one second that I believe giving yourself to anyone, that way, is or should be a casual thing. Much less something which is taken by force. It means something." Maddie sniffled through her tears as she thought anything about it. The possibility of her having to have sex with anyone just seemed overwhelming.

"Did he take it from you?" Maddie asked. Jaime didn't say anything for a few moments. She shook her head.

"No... I lost it when I was 13. First year of high school." She looked at Maddie with an amused look. "Thought I was in love. He was 16 and a junior. I had no clue what I was doing. Let's just say it wasn't nearly as magical as I anticipated." She paused and took on a somber look. "So, I guess when this happened, it wasn't all that much different. Just being used by some liar who wanted his fix." She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "So, suffice to say I've never been in love. I've always thought about it." Maddie closed her eyes.

"Well, I've never been in love. I suppose I've thought about it. My mom... now she is pretty and smart. And she is in love with two people." This information was surprising to Jaime.

"Serious?" Maddie nodded.

"Yeah. I'm not sure what to think about it really. I love them both. I mean my mom is married to my dad, whom you met. But she also has a girlfriend."

"Wow. Confusion, huh?" Maddie shrugged.

"At first, I was kind of surprised when I found out. But I got to know her and she is a very nice person. We get along good. And, well, I am also getting to know my dad again. We were apart for about a year. And I love him so much. I just hope they will find me. I know they will come looking!" Maddie had to hold onto something to help her not fall completely apart. She had yet to meet her captor. And with what Jaime had told her was his probable motivation, she knew that she would be tested before all was said and done. She had to hold firm a belief that she would emerge from it all safely.

"I hope you are right, girl." Jaime said. I keep hoping myself. But I don't know how much more faith I have. I don't even know if my sister is ok or not. He won't let me see her." Jaime felt exhausted and fell back upon her bed.

Maddie closed her eyes and said another prayer. She did her best to control her emotions.

"So, do you think he takes girls just for sex or is there something else going on?" Jaime shook her head.

"I don't know for sure. But I guess as long as I've been here maybe I'd think there was something more to it. But I don't know what. I know he plays these mental games. Almost like he is trying to make me think a certain way. Grooming me to be compliant. I guess I should also let you know that he has used drugs on me. By the way, I felt like absolute shit slipping you that stuff." Maddie closed her eyes.

"I guess you didn't have much of a choice in the matter. So, you mean he's going to make me drink more of that crap?"

"It's possible. He has other stuff too. Like I said, I think the ultimate goal is to wear you down and even though I said he gets off on when I am scared, I think it could get really ugly if I freaked out and couldn't stop. He likes inflicting fear. But I honestly am not sure how he deals with extreme panic or stuff like that. Which is why I guess I try to be mellow and seem like I am complying. Even though I hate his fucking guts and can't take this much more. He keeps telling me Jesse is fine and I will see her again. It just hasn't happened. I am losing faith."

"How old is Jesse?"

"She is almost 12. She is a tough kid, but this has scared the shit out of her. He kept us together at first. But I guess figured I could help him if he knew how to manipulate me. So, he threatened Jesse if I didn't do what he said. He made me help with another girl from Bayport. He made me sit around the food court and do the same thing. Send him photos of girls. When he selected a photo, I made friends with her and some of the girls she was with and we hung out in the mall. I later asked her if she wanted to come check out my car in the parking garage. Of course, I had no car. It was just a way to get her in some out of the way area so he could grab her. He used something that when you breathe it in you get very dizzy and can basically pass out."

"What was her name?"

"Katie."

"I go to that mall pretty often." Maddie said quietly. Jaime's eyes tightened shut. A distressed look clouded her face. As if by a flood of intense guilt, she began slapping her hand against her head several times.

"I'm such a horrible person! I am horrible! I don't deserve to live..." As angry as Maddie was for being in the situation she was. And even though she knew Jaime played an unwilling role in her abduction, she felt immense sorrow for her. She was beating herself up for something she couldn't really control.

"Jaime... please don't do that. If it makes a difference, I am not really mad at you. It was just an unfortunate quirk of fate. I am so scared, but you are my only friend here. So, no matter how it came to be, I want you to know I see you as my friend." Jaime opened her eyes. She wiped her tears and looked over.

"You are a pretty tolerant person, Maddie. I am just so full of guilt. I am also so tired and want to see my sister. I want to see my parents. I just want us to get out of here. We have to find a way."