He walked over and kissed her. After swaddling the child, he placed him in his car seat and put him in the car beside him. “Oh, little one, what is wrong with you?”
The restaurant was open for twenty-four hours. Scanning for and not finding any cameras, Dixon parked beside the dumpster in the back of the parking lot. After pulling his hood over his head and putting on black gloves, he darted around in the darkness of the night and removed the car seat from his car. He made sure the little one was covered and warm from the elements.
“May peace be with you.”
After placing the car seat where he was sure it would be found, he returned to the car and drove off.
* * *
Gwen walked Eleanor back to her apartment. She slid her ID through the card reader and waved to the desk personnel. Gwen did the same. “Do you want to come in for a few minutes?” Eleanor asked.
“You’re sure you don’t want to turn in?” Gwen asked.
“I need to decompress. That was hard. You could feel it in the room—fear. The hope they won’t break. Jeff was ready to let go, and I’m glad it happened here. It’s away from his home turf. I think he will begin to recover.”
“He responded to you. I watched it. Mr. Crockett saw it too. Everyone was nervous he was going to hurt you. We had a sniper on the roof of the barn just in case. But after you sat on the ground, though we couldn’t hear you, we could see the pain and trust on Jeff’s face. All that pain built inside of him began to flow. As we watched, you could hear a pin drop. Ellie, you won a lot of fans.”
“The mind is a powerful tool. It can bring joy and pain.” Eleanor unlocked the door to her room. “Coffee?”
“Sure.” Gwen walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a container of milk. “I drink it black most of the time, but if I’m drinking for enjoyment, I use milk.”
Eleanor chuckled. “There’s your brain. Making a distinction between work and play.”
“It’s hard sometimes. My team’s mission tempo has been very high. Not much downtime, and it’s certainly hard to have or maintain outside friendships since a lot of what we do is classified.”
“I understand a bit of that with HIPPA. And it’s hard to switch gears after what happened today. I also get the loneliness,” Eleanor said.
“Ellie, today with Lance…I saw you were scared. Why does he want to take you away?” Gwen asked.
“You see a lot.” There was a pause. When she started speaking again, her voice was barely above a whisper. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I can’t…. I beg you not to repeat this to anyone. Lance is a US Marshal. I am the daughter of two evil human beings. At fourteen, I turned my parents in for weapons dealing. In addition to their gun crimes, my parents were abusive. Beatings were frequent. Expectations were…” She shook her head.
“They tried to kill me, and I was told they also tried to kill my twin Lindy for my actions. We were adopted by the first Marshals assigned to us, Jason and Phyllis West. We were rescued, given therapy, and we were well taken care of. Given a great education.
“They died in an auto accident when we were twenty, and Lance was assigned to us. I was naïve about social interactions, especially with men. I am embarrassed to say, at thirty, Wes was my first kiss. I hoped he would help me find my way. But…I’m not sure if I am a means to an end for him and his investigation. Ian Chase showed up at FBI headquarters and took responsibility of me. That’s why I’m not sure of Wes. I’m a mess.”
Gwen cocked her head. “I don’t think that’s true. Standing on that fence line, he wasn’t acting like you were a means to an end. He was worried.”
Eleanor stood and poured them both mugs of coffee. Returning to her seat, she wrapped her hands around her mug. “I want to believe that’s true; you don’t know how much.” Eleanor shrugged.
“On our twenty-fifth birthday, Lindy and I drove to Fredericksburg to celebrate. We got a hotel room and went out to dinner. Instead, the last thing I remember was the bartender buying us a round of drinks. I woke up on a dirt floor. About fifteen months ago, I managed to escape after over eight hundred days in captivity.”
Gwen offered a sad smile and placed her hand on Eleanor’s forearm. “I’m sorry. Were you able to give the police information that could help them find your sister?”
She closed and opened her eyes. “I did, but by the time they got there…no one was there. Nothing was there. But it wouldn’t have mattered. The FBI agent didn’t believe me; he still doesn’t,” Eleanor sniffed.
“Is that why they picked you up?” Gwen said.
“Yes. It wasn’t the first time. When I recuperated and started to put my life back together, I returned to my old job at the Coventry School. I also volunteered at a community-based program at the Howler Community Center. The FBI brought me in monthly to ask the same questions. They always waited for Lance to get there as my attorney. They don’t know about him being a Marshal. I could have run again, but I didn’t have the strength.
“This time, they wouldn’t let me call Lance and threatened me with a Protected Witness warrant. Can you be a protected witness twice during the same time period?” Eleanor laughed and coughed. “I guess you can.” Eleanor swiped at her sore eyes.
“I have big shoulders, Ellie.” Gwen placed her hand on top of Eleanor’s.
“When I woke up in the hospital, I was told I was found in a barn lying in blood—and that I miscarried.” Eleanor wrapped her arms around herself. “I didn’t miscarry. When I escaped, I was thirty-five weeks pregnant. As I ran, I went into labor. I found shelter and made my way inside. It was January; I was freezing and bleeding.” Eleanor began to cry. “They wanted to know how I got pregnant. When I tried to explain what they were doing, the FBI called me a liar and accused me of being involved.”
“I’m sorry.” Gwen pressed her lips together and raised a brow.
“You don’t believe me either,” Eleanor said.
