I look down at her, she has her head cast down low, her hands trembling around the glass of water she’s holding. Looking across at Halliwell, he just shrugs his shoulders, fucking helpful.
I shift, so my body is angled a little more toward her. She surprises me when she speaks first. “When can I go home?” Her question is a little more than a whisper, her voice is laced with fear.
Reaching over I take the glass from her and place it on the floor. “We need you to answer some questions first lass, but we promise we’re going to get you home as soon as we can, you and your friend.”
“Sister…”
“What?” I’m not sure I heard her right.
“Jenna…she’s my sister.” Finally looking at me, her eyes glistening with tears, but she refuses to let them fall.
“Amy.” I take a chance and reach for her, she flinches when my hand touches hers, but she doesn’t pull away. “Can you tell us your surname, and where you’re from, then can you tell us what happened?”
I see her visibly swallow, as a single tear falls down her face. “We’re from Manchester, our surname is Peters. I don’t know when, maybe three months ago, some men broke into our house in the middle of the night. Our father was beaten before we were dragged out of the house and thrown into the back of a van. I don’t even know if our father is still alive, I couldn’t get a look at him, but there was so much blood.”
I hand her the glass of water and let her take a couple of sips, letting her catch her breath as I look over Halliwell who’s tapping away on his laptop, I’m guessing trying to find out more about her.
“Do you think Jenna is going to be OK? I’ve tried so hard to keep her safe. Everything they wanted to do to her, I let them do it to me, as long as they left her alone. But today those men, they just wouldn’t stop, they just kept hitting her. I tried, but I was chained up and I couldn’t get free…”
“Hey…I need you to breathe, can you do that for me?” I move from the arm of the sofa to the seat next to her, and pull her into me. I’m relieved when she leans into me letting me comfort her. “The doc and his team are doing everything they can to take care of her, I’m sure they’ll let us know what’s going on as soon as they can.”
Glancing over at Halliwell I notice he has a look of pure rage on his face. Raising my eyebrows in question at him, he looks Amy, then to me and shakes his head.
Just as he’s about to speak, one of the nurses appears in the doorway. “Your friend is stable, the doctor is just finishing up with her, you can go and see her soon. But…only after I have checked you over, OK?”
“She’s my sister, she’s going to be OK?”
“I won’t lie, she has a lot of injuries, and long road ahead. But she’s doing ok at the moment. Now, how about I check you over then we can get you upstairs so you can sit with her.”
Amy nods, and uncurls her legs from under her. I quickly get up and help her to her feet. As she goes to walk away, Halliwell stops her, “Amy.”
She turns to look at him, “What’s wrong?”
“You’ve been missing for a little over four months, your father…he’s alive, and has been looking for you since you were taken.”
I grab her before she falls to her knees. “Wait, he’s alive, he’s OK?”
He simply smiles and nods, as Amy breaks down in my arms. The nurse takes her from me after a minute telling me. “I’ve got her.” Before leading her upstairs to her sister.
* * *
Ten hours later and we’re in the air headed back to New York. Neither one us have spoken much since Amy divulged what her and her sister had been through. Thinking you know what happens to victims of trafficking and actually hearing it first-hand are very different. They’ve both got such a long road ahead of them, but I am in complete and utter fucking awe of how strong those two girls are. When Halliwell told me Amy was only twenty and Jenna just seventeen, I lost my shit. I was glad when Niall called and asked if I wanted in on teaching a hard lesson to those worthless fuckers who we’d rescued the girls from.
I’d thought about stopping off in Ireland for a couple of days to spend with Nora but torturing and killing those guys didn’t soothe my demon enough, and I don’t like being around her when I’m this angry. So, I’m headed home to wallow. At least I can get in the ring with Ronan, he’ll help me relieve some of the tension I feel and won’t ask me a shit load of questions.
I can’t settle. I’m going to be stuck on this flight for another five hours, without any space to breathe is putting me on edge. Every time I try to relax, my mind instantly goes to where those girls were held, and the torment they’ve been trough.
Deciding I need to find something to focus on, I reach for my bag with Da’s journals in.
Pulling one out I flick to a random page and start reading.
Today wasn’t a good day, I’ll never get over the look of complete hurt that Mary had on her face after I’d accused her of having an affair.
But I just can’t seem to shake the feeling the Finn isn’t mine, the kid looks nothing like me. Sure he looks like my wife, he even has the look of his brothers, but he’s the only one that has that fiery red hair and bright green eyes.
Every time I look at him, I see my wife, but I see nothing of me in there. Even Darragh has raised it. He’s questioned me so many times if Finn is mine, and I’ve defended Mary every single time, but the more he ask’s the more I wonder.
I know she loves me, but I’m always busy with the Syndicate, what if she has found someone else and just doesn’t want to leave me for the sake of the kids.
