Chapter 1 - Reopening Old Wounds
Rebecca closed the file as she looked across the table and smiled gently.
"Thank you Jade that was really helpful."
Jade nodded her head and let out the breath she had been subconsciously holding.
"Are you ok Jade?"
Rebecca frowned slightly, she knew that the conversation hadn't been easy but it had been necessary, they needed to know exactly what Jade had been subjected to in order to finalise all the paperwork.
"I...eh...would it be possible to speak to Emily or Tara please?"
Rebecca smiled gently as Jade looked away and down at the table.
"Of course, I'll speak to them and get one of them to come and see you."
"Thank you."
Jade shuffled in her seat and Rebecca knew that she had to go before Jade got even more anxious.
"Take care Jade."
Rebecca picked up the file and left the toom, waiting until she was in her car before she rang Tara.
"Hey."
"Hello you, I wasn't expecting to hear from you today, is everything ok Rebecca?"
"Yeah is Emily with you?"
"She's in her office, why?"
"I just need to talk to you both."
"Of course, hang on."
Tara had already started to walk towards Emily's office, poking her head around the door as Emily nodded at her to enter. Tara closed the door and sat opposite Emily.
"Hang on Rebecca just putting you on speaker."
Tara put the cell down on the table, Emily frowned a little as Tara shrugged her shoulders.
"Hi Emily, I have just been getting the last of Jade's statements. She asked if either if you could go and have a chat with her?"
Rebecca sighed as she spoke, taking a moment before she continued.
"I think I have stirred up some memories and made things worse for her."
"It's not your fault Rebecca, we knew that this might happen, it's why Tara and I have continued to go and see her. Please don't blame yourself."
"Thanks Emily."
Emily looked across at Tara as she spoke.
"I'll leave now and go and see her."
"Thanks Emily, I've got to go back to the office so I'll catch up with you both later."
Rebecca finished the call before Tara looked across at Emily.
"Are you ok to go?"
"Yeah, it gets me out of a boring budget meeting!"
Emily grinned as she grabbed her keys and bag and began walking as Tara shook her head in response.
Emily sat down in the relatively comfortable chair, despite the last minute request they had found a room with two armchairs and a rug, less clinical than some of the other rooms and Emily knew that subconsciously it would help Jade. Emily smiled as the door opened and Jade walked in, her head bowed as she took the seat next to Emily.
"Hi Jade, how are you?"
Emily smiled as she reached across and took a hold of Jade's hands, giving them a soft squeeze as Jade brought her head up and smiled at Emily.
"You came!"
"Of course sweetie."
"I just..."
"I know Jade, we're here for you, how can I help?"
Jade closed her eyes and tried to pull her hands away from Emily's but Emily kept a gentle hold of them until Jade opened her eyes and looked at Emily once again.
"I was talking to Rebecca about the compound and what happened there, she went through a list of staff who they had arrested. I had heard a girl was missing but once Rebecca said who they had arrested I knew I had to talk to you or Tara."
Jade swallowed deeply as Emily leant in closer and stroked Jade's hands with her thumbs.
"One of the senior staff isn't on the list, a Mr Phillips, there is also a girl, Harper, missing, she's only 14 years old Emily!"
"This Mr Phillips..."
"He's evil Emily, worse than any of the others. He selects girls and takes them on a mission to train them, if he is alive and with Harper then dead bodies will soon turn up. Emily he knows all about you and your team, he will want revenge for what I did, you are all in danger!"
The tears escaped from Jade's eyes as she finished speaking as Emily took a deep breath.
"What about Harper, will she be helping him?"
Jade quickly shook her head, she moved her hands away from Emily and wiped her tears away.
"Her training hasn't really started yet, she's too young. He takes the girls to keep him occupied while he carries out his missions. He thrives on hurting girls, he's sadistic Emily, his training methods are built around pain and appeasing his sexual desires."
The tears streamed down Jade's face, Emily instinctively got up and hugged Jade, holding her tightly as she whispered into her ear.
"I am so sorry Jade."
"The last I heard Emily was that there was a body outside of Fredericksburg."
Jade pulled slightly away from Emily and looked her in the eyes as she spoke.
"I'm sorry I should have spoken to you all earlier about this, if anything happens to Harper."
"It's ok Jade we will find them."
Emily spoke softly as she crouched down and took a hold of Jade's hands once again.
"Jade can you think of anywhere they might be, anything else that might help us?"
Jade closed her eyes in a vain attempt to stop the tears from falling as she spoke.
"I can't remember much, he took me in the middle of the night, it was about a 30 minute drive and we were headed westbound. It was a wooden cabin in the woods."
Emily embraced Jade once again, holding her head against her shoulders as Jade let the tears fall.
"Thank you sweetie, that is so helpful. I know how hard that was for you."
Emily stroked Jade's hair with one hand and rubbed her back softly with the other.
"I know that this is going to bring the nightmares back Jade, but you are strong. I'll get Tara to come and see you tomorrow ok?"
Jade lifted her head from Emily's shoulder and smiled gently at the mention of Tara's name.
"Thank you Emily."
Emily kissed the top of Jade's head and slowly pulled away from her, they both smiled at each other as Emily slowly walked out of the door. Emily quickly walked to her car, once inside she put her head in her hands and allowed the tears to escape, taking five minutes to herself before she sent a message to the team and Rebecca to meet her in the conference room.
