Between chapters 4 and 5 of Lioness
Door. Key. Key into the door. Shaking hands struggled to find the keyhole. Arnold would have laughed at her if he had seen.
She could not bring herself to care. Not when every second counted.
"I found her!"
Excitement escaped unbidden, but the door finally slammed into the wall to let her race into the kitchen. The sudden noise sparked a loud crash from two different bedrooms.
"Arnold! Boys! I found Carla!"
Which became a veritable stampede at her announcement. Shoes and a handful of that horrid jewelry landed in a corner as many pairs of feet pounded closer, her husband still fighting with his tie.
"Rita—?"
Too formal. A gesture cut off Arnold's question. "Get out of that suit. Boys, put on clean play clothes. Something she'll recognize. She's at the jeweler's right now, but she didn't recognize me. And no wonder, in this getup." Her earrings landed in a jar. "Let's go," she urged, already headed for the bedroom though they simply stared. "We can send word to Oscar on the way—"
"Rita, slow down!" Arnold's hands grabbed her shoulders, holding her in place. "Carla? You're sure?"
"Yes!" The necklace and bracelet followed the earrings, then a convenient comb started working the styled curls from her hair. "I'll tell you on the way. Just change clothes. She won't come home unless she recognizes at least one of us."
The boys abruptly—and amusingly—glanced at each other, large smiles forming at the thought, then four pairs of feet scattered as Arnold followed Rita's hurried progress into the master bedroom.
"Mr. Hobbs had her?"
"No." Rushing nearly ripped the dress. A moment's hesitation managed the buttons on the second try. "She and four other children were working in Mr. Hobbs' back room. They made it sound like she was at that Haven the police raided a couple months ago."
Surprise became grief and worry to make him fumble his belt. "The Haven?"
"The Haven," she confirmed, using her dress to conceal the thought of her daughter trapped in that horrible place. "I know. We both read the news reports, but it's Carla. She quizzed me like a Yarder interrogating a prisoner then still refused to leave her kids behind because I didn't 'look' right. She is still the same little lioness she was when she told Sebastian off for choosing games she couldn't play."
And they could handle anything else. She knew enough Yarders to understand the invisible injuries rendered in such a situation. They would have to tread cautiously in the coming weeks, but that did not change that she had seen her daughter, spoken with her daughter, and would soon bring her daughter home.
Provided Carla recognized them. The thought lurched worry in her chest and sent her digging through her older clothes. She still had a simple blouse and skirt from so many years ago. Did it fit?
Well enough, but those shoes would never do. She ignored Arnold's quiet laugh to dive headfirst into her wardrobe. As soon as she found her old platform shoes, she would fix her hair to the style popular when she had lost her girl.
Tonight, for the first time in six years, her family would be whole again.
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