AN: As you all know this is a sequel to my first book "Gone Like The Wind" I didn't know how many chapters I was going to write for it and I have no clue how many this one is going to be. It just seems like something is telling me to keep going and going. I know some of you don't want this story to end. Well as long as I have you all and yes Ana and Christian in my ear it will continue. So "Sail Away" chapter 42 now.
Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and feedback on chapter 41. Y'all are awesome and it makes me feel good to know that you all are staying with me. A heartfelt thanks to each of you.
I asked what you all thought about Slovenia Padre's interrogation and if what she said was the truth or was she lying. I have different opinions about it.
We will get back to the background checks in a little while. Got to make sure they are legitimate and no more surprises. Hang in there lovely people.
Chapter 42 Part 14 Deception comes in many ways
Deception can come in many ways, including outright lying, omitting information, exaggerating details, using misleading language, creating false impressions, manipulating facts, disguising intentions and even through subtle nonverbal cues, essentially presenting a false reality to mislead someone.
Direct versus Indirect; Deception can be direct, like a blatant lie or indirect like leaving out crucial details to create a misleading narrative.
Verbal and Nonverbal; Deception can be expressed through words, facial expressions, body language and even tone of voice.
Different forms; Dissimulation; Hiding or withholding information.
Simulation; Actively creating false information.
Omission; Deliberately leaving out important details.
Distraction; Diverting attention away from the truth.
Camouflage; Blending in or concealing true intentions.
(This came from Google)
"Paula, her story does not sit right with me. I believe there is more to it than what she is telling us. The part about her being given to men at the age of eleven I somewhat believe but I have a gnawing feeling in my stomach that she isn't being honest about that either. I feel like she wants us to feel sorry for her and give her a lighter sentence. It's not up to us it's up to the judge and she should know that."Ana tells her as she is walking over to the window and looking out.
"Yes, I feel the same way. She shows no remorse and she has no tears to shed or feel bad about what she is doing to these helpless young girls. She is just wanting to make money and doesn't care about anything else." Paula tells her as she is looking at the video of the interrogation from earlier.
"Yes and looking at this video now I can see how she is avoiding looking at us directly. Her body language is off. She can't keep her legs and feet still. Her upper body is fighting her lower extremists because she is trying to stay still. She has a lot of nervous tension going on."
"Yes that and the way she talked about the bitch troll. I have a gut feeling she has known her longer than she told us. I believe there is a connection between them that runs deeper than what she is saying." Ana says pausing the video and walking over and sitting down where Paula is sitting and Paula hands her the folder for the interrogation.
"We need those journals now." Ana says as she makes a call.
"Hello Agent Morris. How are you doing today?" She asked him.
"I am doing great Captain thanks for asking and how are you and what can I help you with?" He asked her.
"I am doing well and trying to wrap my head around this interrogation I had with Slovenia Padres earlier." She tells him.
"What are you in a quandary about? Do you not believe her?" He asked her.
"Some of it I do but a lot of it I don't. I can't put my finger on it to explain it to you right now. I need for you to get in touch with the agents in Florida and have them go over her mansion from top to bottom. She says there is a bookcase in her office that has a book in it that says Forever Free on it. That is her journal but I believe there is more than just one because she gave it up too easily. I think she has more and that one is just a decoy. Have them check every nook and cranny and leave nothing untouched. In other words, tear the damn place apart. As I am going to put more agents on the ship Tubor to tear it apart from stem to stern." She tells him.
"Yes Captain, I will call them as soon as I get off the phone with you." He told her.
"She has had dealings with Elena Lincoln and I don't doubt she did work with or for the dead bastard Lincoln." She tells him.
" Have them check under her bed and all the others and look for loose boards and anything that looks suspicious. I am sure they will find more journals." She tells him.
"Yes ma'am and I will have someone bring them over to you ASAP. Anything else Captain?" He asked her.
"Just check everywhere, even the guest houses." She tells him.
"Yes ma'am. I will let you know when they find them and how soon they can bring them here to you." He tells her as he says goodbye.
"Thank you and goodbye." She tells him.
"So Captain, your gut instinct is feeding you information again?" Daddy Ray says as he walks into the room.
"Hey daddy and yes it is." She tells him as she is walking over to give him a hug.
"Hey Ray, how are you doing?" Paula says as she hugs him too.
"I am doing alright but I will tell you both these damn sorry excuses for men that we have are some sorry low down son of a bitches." He tells them as he walks over to sit down at the table.
"Well hell daddy we already knew that." Ana tells him sitting down beside him. She hands him a folder.
"Yes I know you did but they are the scum of the earth. They don't have any compassion for anyone, not even themselves. They don't care about anyone but themselves. They could care less about what is going to happen to their boss, I mean the bitch Queen." He tells them.
He is looking at what is inside the folder and shaking his head. "Let me see the video of this this sham of a tale." He asked them.
"Here take this and hit play. I am going to the tenth floor to make sure those children are taken care of. I am so mad I could spit at the way the doctors and nurses treated some of them. Not letting them bathe or clean clothes. I know one damn thing for sure if they are not all clean and fed there will be almighty hell to pay." She says to no one in particular.
"Hold your horses Annie Rose, they are being fed and were given baths and showers. Just not as fast as they should have though." Ray tells her.
"Yes daddy I know but that doesn't mean they let all of them bathe. You know they could have just given them the clothes and told them to put them on. My lord, they needed baths, poor babies." She tells them.
"Yes Annie I know they did and yes I hope and pray they followed your demands as well." He tells her looking up from the papers he was reading.
"Alright daddy you read and then watch that sham of a video and I will be back later." She tells him.
"Annie I am going to stay with Ray and answer any questions he might have about the interrogation and you know the ones I am talking about." She tells her.
"Yeah I know and alright well I will see you both later." She tells them as she walks out the door.
Ana walks out of the conference room and out of the office.
"Hello Captain, how are you doing?" Agent Stanhope asked her.
"I am ready to call it a day and my day isn't half over yet. Just tired of all of this. Other than that I am doing well thank you for asking Agent Stanhope. By the way, how did you get away from Agents Cooper and Tomlin?" She asked him.
"Well they said that it was my time to stand guard at this door. So here I am Captain. Guess they got tired of my ugly mug staring at them from the elevator." He tells her.
"Ah I see and where did my agents go? I have been busy." She tells him.
"They have gone inside the room to eat and check on the children and medical staff." He tells her.
"Thank you and has there been anyone up here that wasn't supposed to be?" She asked him.
"No Captain, but we have quite a few visitors that you were expecting. I haven't seen anyone hanging around." He tells her as he unlocks the door for her to enter.
"Thank you sir and if Agent Morris calls for me please let him know where I am because it will be important." She tells him as she walks in the door.
"Yes ma'am I surely will Captain." He tells her as she is walking in the door before he closes it.
"Captain Trevelyan my name is Alyssa Novack and I am the manager of the Human Trafficking Resource Center. We were not expecting you after the morning you have had. So glad you could join us though as we have a lot to talk to you about ma'am." She tells her shaking her hand.
"Nice to meet you Mrs. or Ms. Novack?" Ana asked her.
" It's Mrs. Novack, Captain Trevelyan and nice to meet you as well." She tells her.
"Shall we take a seat in the back so we will be overheard by others?" Ana asked her.
"Yes ma'am that will be fine." Mrs. Novack replies as they find a table in the back of the room.
Ana looks up as two people are following them.
"Captain Trevelyan, this is Bobby Moorehead and Mrs. Francine Adams." She introduces them to the Captain.
"Hello and welcome, please have a seat." Ana tells them.
"Nice to meet you Captain Trevelyan. We have heard so much about you. But that can wait because what we have to share with you is vitally important." Mrs. Adams says as she sees the look Captain Trevelyan is giving her.
"Captain Trevelyan I see you are looking at me wondering what I was talking about. It's just that we all follow you and what great things you and your husband have done for others and are still doing." She tells her.
"Thank you Mrs. Adams, yes I was wondering. I have always disliked when someone says they have heard a lot about me but doesn't continue. It could have waited but thank you." Captain Trevelyan replies.
"Yes ma'am I am sorry for popping that off but I was so glad to finally meet you. Now as I was going to say each of the children or young ladies that are sitting here were never abused or threatened to work for the ones that have taken them. Some of the young ladies had been there for months. No one touched them. We did find out that it would be different once they were out of the country." Mrs. Adams told her.
"How so?" Captain Trevelyan asked her to explain.
"The young girls told us that the ones that took them would sell them to the highest bidder in Iran, Yemen, Burundi and so many more places. They told the girls that they were safe and that they could not touch them. They were pure as the new snow that first falls. Then after they were sold the men could make them sex slaves or sell them to brothels or put them to work." She told her.
"Oh my god these men are not men, they are animals of the worst kind. I am so glad we got to them when we did." She tells all of them, sitting at the table.
"We have talked to the young ladies and they have our hotline phone number if anything ever happens to them after they go home to their parents." Mrs. Novack told Captain Trevelyan.
"Thank you Mrs. Novack, Mrs. Adams and Mr. Moorehead. If there is nothing else you all may leave. Please as you know no one knows the young ladies are here. We were not sure if anything had happened to the girls while they were kidnapped." Captain Trevelyan tells them.
"Yes Captain Trevelyan we know and we signed an NDA. If you need us again please feel free to call us." Mrs. Novack told her as she stood up and shook the Captain's hand.
They all shook hands and Mrs. Adams was walking out when Ana stopped her.
"Mrs. Adams, may I speak to you for a moment please?" Ana asked her.
"Yes ma'am." She replies.
"I was just wondering what else you heard about me." Ana asked her.
"Oh my goodness just that you are a business owner of your own Baby Food Plants here and out of the country. By the way, my sisters and all three of them rave about your awesome baby foods, especially your desserts. We are all amazed at what you have done for communities far and wide and keep doing. I for one am in Awe of you my dear.' She tells her.
"Thank you Mrs. Adams and please tell your sisters thank you for the compliments. I appreciate them and my employees will too." She tells her.
"It was nice meeting you Captain Trevelyan and I hope someday when I have babies that mine will love your baby food. You my dear keep doing what you are doing and take care of these young ladies and any children you can help. You are a god send to all of us. Without you and your teams these children wouldn't be here right now." She tells her.
"Nice meeting you as well and I hope so too. Thank you again and you take care of yourself Mrs. Adams." She tells her shaking her hand.
After they all leave Ana walks around the room looking at the young ladies and seeing they all look clean and they are talking but no smiles. Hell they have nothing to smile about except being free and they probably won't smile until they are with their families.
"Hello ladies, have you all eaten and had baths? I see you all are wearing new clothes and you all look very pretty." She tells them.
"Yes ma'am they finally got to all of us. It felt so good to get all that grime and everything else off of us." One of the young girls tells her.
"I am glad to hear that. Have you all had time to give your names, addresses, phone numbers and parents names to my agents?" She asked them.
"Yes Captain we have. Do you know when our parents will be here for us?" One young lady asked her for the group that was sitting there looking at Ana.
"No I do not, we have to follow protocol and do this right. My agents are in touch with people as we speak. This is a long process and it will take time. Please bear with us. We will get your parents here as soon as we can." She tells them.
"Thank you Captain for telling us." She said,
"You all are welcome and I will check back with you all later. I need to check on the others. Now you all eat, drink and enjoy yourselves. You all are very safe here." She tells them.
"Thank you ma'am." They all say.
Ana sees a young girl cowering in the corner and walks over to her.
"Hello I'm Captain Trevelyan and what is your name hun?" Ana asked her sitting down beside her.
"My name is Jessie. Captain Trevelyan is there somewhere we can go and talk? I don't like talking in here where everyone can hear me ma'am." She tells Captain Trevelyan as she looks around the room at the other girls.
"Yes of course. Let me check on these girls and we will go somewhere quite ok?" Captain Trevelyan asked her.
"Yes ma'am that is fine I do not want to be a bother. I know there are others besides me." She tells her with tears in her eyes.
"I'll be right back." She tells her as she gets up and walks over to the next table but keeps an eye on Jessie.
Ana walks around and talks to the girls at the table and they all asked the same questions and Ana gave them all the same answers.
She walks back over to where Jessie is waiting on her.
"Come on hun." She tells her as she is holding her hand out to her.
Jessie takes her hand and they start for the door. Talking quietly to each other.
She looks up when there is a commotion up front at the door. Oh my lord, what in the world? She says to herself.
Ray and two men walk toward Ana. She just stands there and can't believe who it is.
"Captain Anastasia Rose Steele Trevelyan how are you my dear? It has been a while." He tells her when he is standing in front of her.
She is stunned at the moment. She can't speak. Ray discreetly nudges her shoulder and looks at her.
"I am sorry sir I wasn't expecting you. I am fine thank you and you sir? Yes it has been a while." She tells him trying to get over her shock of seeing this man. She never would have thought he would be there.
"I think someone got tongue tied sir." Mr. President told them all, smiling at Ana.
"My dear may we go somewhere and talk privately?" He asked her. Looking at her and the young lady that is holding Ana's hand tightly.
"Yes sir, there is a conference room on the fifth floor we can use. It is soundproof and no one will bother us. Sir but first I have to talk with this young lady. She is scared and wanted to get away from everyone. If you will give us a little time sir I will meet you all in the conference room." She tells him.
"Annie, that will be fine. We need to talk about all of the background checks that are throwing up red flags left and right and dead center." Ray tells her.
"Shall we go then gentlemen? Daddy knows where the conference room is and we will only be a few doors down from there." She asked them.
"Lead the way my dear." The gentleman tells her holding his arm out for her to take the lead.
She looks at all of them and walks away shaking her head.
They get in the elevator and go down to the fifth floor and the men enter the room next to the CEO's office.
"Annie, all of the rooms on this floor have already been swept for any kind of devices as it was before you were here earlier." Ray tells her.
"Does know we are still using this room?" She asked him.
"Yes my dear he does and we will not be disturbed. Your agents will be back soon as they are bringing us lunch." Uncle J told her.
"Oh yes thank you I am starving. I haven't eaten much of anything today. I will be back as soon as I can." She tells them.
They all wait for her to walk into the room she will be using before they enter the conference room.
"Alright my dear, are you feeling better now since no one is around you right now?" Ana asked her
"Yes ma'am." She tells Ana.
"Take your time hun there is no rush. Those men will wait on me. You are important now when you are ready I am right here with you. You can tell me anything hun." Ana does her best to reassure her that she can talk to her about anything.
"Captain Trevelyan I am seventeen years old I will be eighteen years old in two months. I have been away from my family for seven months that I can count. I was trying to mark the basement wall so I could keep up with the days. I know for a fact that I have had seven menstrual cycles and my next one is in a few days. They have always been accurate like clock work." She tells her crying and trying to compose herself.
"It's alright take your time. Breathe hun deep breaths in and out. That's good, yes just like that." Ana tells her as she is watching for any signs of a panic attack.
"Feeling better?" She asked her giving her a wet cloth to wipe her face.
"A little thank you." She tells her.
"Okay can you tell me the last thing you did before you were kidnapped Jessie? Do you remember where you were?" Ana asked her, waiting for her to remember.
"Yes Captain Trevelyan. My dad and I were out on his fishing boat and I remember that I caught a big fish and dad was helping me reel it in. We got the fish in the boat. I was tired and dad told me to go and take a nap. He would wake me when it was time to go home." She said crying again.
"It's okay, try to relax Jessie. We can take a break for a few minutes if you want to. Would you like something to drink?" Ana asked her as she was keeping an eye on her.
"Yes, water please." She replies.
Ana sees a fridge in the corner and walks over to see if there is any water in it. She grabs a bottle of water and brings it back to Jessie.
"Here you go hun. Drink it slowly." She tells her.
"Better?" Ana asked her.
"Yes ma'am I can continue now." She tells her as she is wiping her eyes with the cloth.
"Okay take your time hun." Ana smiles at her.
"Captain when I woke up I was in that wet basement. I don't know where my dad was. I didn't see anyone for a few days. Someone would sit a bowl of water in the door and walk away. I heard the key turn in the lock and I just sat there to scared to move." She tells her.
"What did the person or persons say to you when you saw someone? This is very important but take your time." She tells her.
"I remember asking them where my dad was but they ignored me at first then one of the men turned around and gave me an evil grin and said I would never see my dad again because he drowned when the boat capsized. Then a few days later they came to see me again. I think it was two, maybe three days later a man and a woman came to see me." She told her.
"What did they say to you Jessie?" Ana asked her quietly.
"They wanted to know my name as if they didn't already know it. I heard them say my name a few times before they got over to me. It's like they wanted me to hear them talking about me." She tells Ana as she is looking down and fiddling with her fingers.
"Did you tell them your name?" Ana asked her. She was patient with Jessie not wanting to bombarded her with too many questions at once.
"Yes ma'am I told them my full name. They smiled and said yes we know. They looked at each other and walked out of the room." She told her.
"Jessie what is your last name hun? You did not tell my agents when they spoke to you." Ana tells her as she is looking at her very closely.
"Jessie tells her her full name and Ana is speechless. She knows that last name.
Ana is stunned again and can't speak for a few seconds.
"I'm sorry hun I was thinking for a second. What is your parents name Jessie?" Ana asked her.
"She tells her and she can't believe it." She told her.
"Where do your parents work hun?" Ana asked her knowing who her mother is now.
"Mom works here or she did before I was kidnapped. Can you find out if she still does? My dad was or still is a Border Patrol." She asked her crying again.
"Come with me hun." Ana tells her as she holds her hand out for her to take.
Jessie does and they walk out of the room and walk over to the conference room. Ana knocks on the door.
Ray opens the door and one look at his Annie and he knows something is wrong.
"What is the matter Annie? Jessie are you alright?" He asked them both.
"Dad I need for you to go and bring Mr. Belmont in here and call Paula for me please." She tells him as she pulls Jessie over to a seat and they sit down.
"Alright I'll be right back. I'll call Paula on my way to Mr. Belmont's office." He tells her.
Well that's it for this chapter. I know a cliffhanger but it won't be a long wait. Just wait until you all find out who her parents are and her last name. A little suspense along the way.
Chapter 43 part 15 The truth Will Come Out..is coming very soon. Hopefully I will have it up tomorrow.