I wish the hopeful, joyous feeling could last forever, but, of course, it can't. In fact, it only twenty minutes later I receive some bad news.
OA calls from the road saying he will be here in five to pick me up, that something came up. He says he'll fill me in when he gets here, but that I should be ready to go.
I look at the little girl who is sitting so contentedly in my lap and wonder how I can leave without destroying this connection. Ria, who is still watching the video link, turns to look at me as I hang up the phone.
"Ria, I have to go for a little while, but I'll be back as soon as I can."
He brow furrows just a little and her lips are slightly parted like there is something she wants to say. Instead she looks at the TV and then back to me.
"It can stay. You can keep watching," I tell her hoping to make this easier.
She nods but keeps looking at me. I gently pick her up out of my lap and set her on the floor. I stand and start to head for the door, but one word stops me cold.
"Stay," she asks, her voice breaking. Her lips starts to quiver and I know she is on the verge of tears.
"Hey, it's okay," I soothe as I kneel down in front of her. "I promise I'll come back as soon as I can."
She doesn't look like she believes me so I take off leather jacket and wrap it around her shoulders. "There, see? I'll have to come back."
I know it's not much but it's all I have to offer. Then I wrap my arms around her and sigh. Then I turn her around and and lift her into a comfy chair not far from where we were sitting. I cover her with a blanket, trace my finger down her cheek, and say, "I'll be back soon."
She turns to look but says nothing before her attention returns to Javí. I'm out the door and get to the lobby before OA just as calls to say he's here.
As I climb into the SUV, I realize this is more serious than I expected just by looking at his face.
"What, OA?"
"Nice to see you, too." He's tryng to joke but is just delaying the inevitable. "There's a sister."
"What?" I ask in disbelief.
"After you sent me their names, Kristen was able to find them. Javier de la Rosa and Maria Vasquez. Turns out they are actually half siblings. Javier belongs to Juan de la Rosa and Isabel Vasquez. Maria belongs to Isabel and a man named Justin Westfield. Kristen can't find a trace of Isabel, but there's no death record. Justin died about a month before Maria was born. Three years prior, Westfield and Vasquez had their first child. A girl named Eva."
I'm trying to take all this in. It's a lot.
"Where are we going?"
"Turns out Juan de la Rosa is friends with Justin's brother, David, who Iives in Brooklyn Heights. We're going to pay him a visit."
XXXXX
We pull into the driveway of the David Wakefield residence. We get out of the SUV and head for the door. OA knocks and a young woman answers the door.
"How can I help you?" she asks.
"I'm Agent Zidan and this is Agent Bell with the FBI," he says holding up his badge. "We are looking for David Westfield. Is he home?"
"Um, Mr. Westfield? No, he's at work. So is his wife Eva. I just take care of their two girls." She takes a deep breath. "I'm Morgan."
"Where does Mr. Wakefield work? We can stop in to see him."
"Listen, I know it's kind of strange, but Mr. Westfield doesn't like a lot of questions. And I really need this job, so when I realized he didn't want to talk about it, I stopped asking. He and Eva are very private people. But I know Eva is a nurse at the Brooklyn Hospital Center."
I can tell she is nervous about our conversation, but seems to be telling the truth. We won't get anything else from her so I take my card out of my pocket and hold it out to her.
"Here, take my card. If you think of anything that might be helpful or need anything, call me. Okay?"
I smile at her and she smiles in return, relaxing slightly. Then two girls, I'd guess four and six years old, appear behind her. The younger of the two grabs the nanny's hand.
"C'mon, Morgie, come play with us!" she says excited.
"Yeah," the older one chips in. "We wanna play hide 'n seek!"
"Is there anything else I can do for you?" she asks, picking up the younger girl and holding her in her arms.
"No, thank you for your time," OA says before we turn and head back to the car. The car doors are barely closed behind us before he is speaking.
"Strange."
"Yeah, I know. I'm going to call Kristen to see what she knows about David and Eva Wakefield."
I pull my phone out of my pocket as he nods and starts the car.
XXXXX
"If David Westfield works as a bank teller, where is the money coming from?" I ask.
Kristen has just told us, over speaker phone, that David has a separate bank account and is bringing in twenty grand a month from some offshore account.
"Beats me," she replies, "but it's obviously nothing good. No bank teller makes that much money."
"Can you get us anything from that account?" OA asks.
"I'll send what I find to your phones."
"Maybe it's time for us to go visit Mrs. Wakefield at work? See what she has to say about her husband," I announce.
"Good idea," chimes in Mosier. "Call with the details."
It doesn't take us long to get to the hospital where Eva works, but the ride seems long. OA keeps sneaking glances at me.
"What?" I ask exasperated.
"How's Ria?"
I sigh. I know where this is going.
"She's fine, I think. She came out from under the table when I went into the room. She sat in my lap," I want to share how great it felt, how relieved I was that she wasn't so scared and alone. But I don't.
"Maggie-," he starts, but I interrupt.
"OA, it's fine. Yes, I'm worried, and yes, I want to help. Is that so bad?"
"I was just going to remind you to be careful. That her emotions are unstable and there will probably be some attachment things there. Just, be careful."
Again, I sigh. "I know. I just have to do something. If I can help her, I have to," I look out the window not sure where else to look.
"Hmm," OA says quickly.
I turn to look at him, but he is smiling slightly which throws me. "What?" I ask, unsure.
"You go from hunting drug dealing, gun wielding psychopaths to helping kids who have no one just because you can." He's shaking his head gently. "That's what makes you a great partner and really good at this job."
I smile and look back out the window. The hospital where Eva works is coming up on our right. Back to business.
XXXXX
"How's your cheek?" I ask, teasing, as we round the corner.
The conversation didn't go so well, especially for OA. When he insinuated David knowing Juan and questioned about the money, Eva slapped him hard. Obviously we didn't get anything helpful. It is clear, however, that Eva is either completely unaware of any illegal activity on David's part, or she is an exceptional liar.
He scowls at me. "Next time you can do the talking," he says while rubbing his cheek.
"Aw, c'mon. You're just so good at it!" I look at him and chuckle.
He rolls his eyes and says nothing but smiles.
"Well, we're officially out of leads. Let's get back to the office. See if Kristen's found anything else."
He nods and grabs the keys out of his pocket. The ride back is quiet, but comfortable.
Kristen has nothing new for us, so we are doing some research of our own. I'm itching to get back to the hospital to see Ria. It doesn't take long for OA to figure it out.
"Want me to take you to the hospital?" he asks nonchalantly.
I turn my chair so I'm facing him. "OA, I just want-"
"You don't need to make excuses. I know you want to help her. I think that's great. And she's our only lead right now. Maybe she will tell you something."
"Wait- I just thought of something. If Juan had Ria, he might come back for her. Or, more likely, send someone else for her. If that happens, we get a new lead."
"That's good, Maggie. You're right. She's a loose end. Something tells me Juan doesn't like loose ends," he says while nodding.
We slip on our coats and are out the door, telling Jubal where we're going and why quickly on our way past him. We are about five minutes from the hospital when my phone starts to ring. My ID doesn't tell me who is calling and the number doesn't look familiar. I accept the call and hold the phone to my ear.
"Agent Bell," I announce.
"Help! I'm being followed. I don't know what to do!"
"Morgan?" I ask, not quite sure who I'm speaking to.
"Yes. I what do I do?"
"Where are you?"
I'm on my way home from the Wakefields'. I'm on Cambridge and 34th."
"OA," I say to him. "Cambridge and 34th, now. Morgan, we're on our way. How close to your place are you?"
"Still four blocks. He's getting closer!"
She's hysterical and getting louder, clearly panicking.
"Morgan, I need you to take a deep breath. We're five minutes away."
I hear her take a deep breath and exhale slowly, her next words ice.
"That's too long."
"Did you get a look at him? Describe him to me."
"He's wearing a mask, black coat. His hood's up. He's white I think. That's all! He's cheating closer. When I speed up, so does he."
"Morgan, I want you to run. Run as fast as you can. Run!"
I hear her footsteps falling quickly. Her breath quickens.
"I'm almost there. I'm turning onto Greenvale; that's my street."
"Good. We're close. Keep running."
I look to OA and pull the phone away from my mouth. "You have to go faster," I warn.
"I'm going as fast as I can," he replies, but still speeds up a few MPH.
I hear her keys as she grabs them from her jacket pocket and hear her climbing stairs.
"What number apartment?"
1402 Greenvale, 201. I'm almost there." Her breathing is short and hard. Suddenly I hear her stop moving as she pushes the key into the lock. I hear the door slam behind her, hear a deadbolt click into place.
"Okay," she sighs in relief. I'm inside and the door's locked. What now?"
"Sit tight. We're just a couple blocks away." We're actually a bit farther than that, but with as fast as we're driving, we'll be there in three minutes.
"Oh my god," she says, and I can hear her fear. "He's trying to kick down the door." Sure enough, I hear the kicks to the door. One, two, three.
"Hide!" I tell her, but's it's too late. I hear the door slam open, hitting the wall inside. Morgan screams and the phone falls from her hand.
"Morgan? Morgan! Can you hear me? We're almost there!"
I look to OA and don't need to say anything. He speeds up even more and I know we're driving at an unsafe speed. Her street is just up ahead- we're three blocks away. We're so close, but not close enough. She's gone when we arrive.
XXXXX
AN: I'm sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoyed. This story is hard to write the way I'd like it, but I hope it still makes sense and is captivating. I haven't even started the next chapter (I almost never post until I have) but I'm just so thankful for all your comments that I didn't want to make you wait. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm hoping to have another chapter up by Friday, but it might be Saturday. Please review! It's motivating! (: