“We were clearing the debris field… It was wrapped in a silver blanket.”
“That rules out a chance this is an old burial ground. We’re on our way,” Wes said.
“I’ll notify up the chain and the sheriff; you two go,” Troy said.
* * *
Eleanor stood under the warm shower. Water sluiced down her body mixed with soap bubbles as she washed the day clean. Her body tingled remembering the look on Wes’s face before he kissed her…more like possessed her.
For a brief moment, she had started to believe he did care. But he lied again—Gwen. She was an operator.Why?I want to keep you safe.Wes’s voice floated in her mind.
The injured—they were stoic, but Tobey O’Mara. He was too weak to hold tight to the stoicism. And, god, when his heart stalled… His wife was so afraid, but it was the sound of the infant in the background that broke her. That baby needed both parents.
My baby… They took my baby, a baby I have no idea how I conceived. I only had you for eight weeks.
After rinsing the soap away, she turned off the spray, toweled dry, and from a suitcase someone left for her, she put on a pair of yoga pants to sleep in. Two more Midol and with her feminine issues dealt with, she found the bed soft and inviting. She climbed beneath the warm covers and fell asleep, letting her exhaustion win.
Eleanor’s eyes fluttered beneath her closed eyelids. “I promise I’ll be good,” she said in a childlike voice. “Please give me my dolly back.”
The dream continued with a song:
Let 'em run, let 'em hide
Let them eat before they die.
Salute our family crest
The Divine End is the best.
She rolled over in bed.Fwww-thwack-sob.Her father, in a black uniform, swung the whip.Fwww-thwack-sob.He swung again.
“Treason!” her father screamed at her.Fwww-thwack.
Two other men adjusted a naked girl to the large central column. “No more, please,” she begged. Instead, the two men, her brothers, joined the beating. She looked up to see a woman drag a girl away. A girl that looked like her.
Her eyes opened. A man in a suit knelt beside her bed. “I’m Jason. You’re safe now, Eleanor.”
She awoke with a set of loud screams, panting. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she rocked. She forced her eyes closed, trying to identify the other woman—Lindy.
Bang, bang, bang.“Ellie, it’s Josh; I’m coming in.”
She heard someone calling her name but remained mute, pale, sweating and rocking. “Ellie…Ellie?” Her bedroom door slowly opened. The soft light of the hall filtered inside.
“Hi, Ellie.” Josh walked over and crouched at her side.
She felt something warm wrap around her frozen palm—a hand. Another set of hands wrapped her blankets around her. A woman’s voice said, “I’ll make some tea.”
The bed dipped beside her, and she turned her head, making eye contact with Josh. “Hey, that’s it,” he said.
“I’m in Wes’s house.” Her childlike voice surprised her.
“Yes, honey. I heard you scream.”
“I’m sorry. Everyone has been so nice to me, and here I go waking you up with a nightmare,” she whispered.
Adina walked in with a tray; on it sat a mug of tea, a small pitcher of milk and a sugar bowl. “I brought you some tea. Josh, I got it.” She placed the tray down. “This will take the edge off.”
“You and Josh weren’t asleep, were you?” Eleanor added some sugar and milk to the cup.
