The manifest folded and under her arm, she straightened. The intense pain hadn’t dissipated. Her head still throbbed. Her wrists still hurt. Her legs were still wobbly. But there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

  Now if she could just find the tunnel.

  “Mom…”

  The word made her stop. She didn’t turn, but she stopped because her feet wouldn’t move.

  “Mom, don’t go.”

  Maria felt her feet root to the floor. Why couldn’t she move? She knew her daughter, Ilsa, wouldn’t be in the creepy place. Besides, she was in prison. Despite Maria’s efforts to protect her, she’d followed in her father’s footsteps.

  “Ilsa?”

  “No, mom. It’s me. Ericka.”

  The manifest dislodged from Maria’s arm and floated to the floor. A hand appeared from the darkness and grabbed it.

  Maria didn’t care.

  Ericka… that name meant something to her. Why did she long to figure out what it meant?

  ****

  Greg backed against the wall and placed his foot on the white plaster. His arms were crossed. This was the last place he wanted to be.

  Burle and Blake were in charge of interrogating the kid who killed Rochelle Rawlings. He was supposed to be out looking for Ericka. Instead, Director Manis had called and insisted that he return to the office. He didn’t say why, he just ordered him to do it. With the threat of losing his job hanging over his head he feared saying no.

  Quinn had strict orders as well. He was to report in as soon as he learned anything about Ericka. He’d pinged her phone and she was located at some whacked out old sanitorium in the middle of nowhere. Greg couldn’t imagine why she was there, but he didn’t care. They needed to get her back and tell her about her mother.

  “I asked you what you were doing in that store?” Blake leaned in and gritted his teeth. The young kid had been trembling for the last hour, but he wasn’t talking.

  Greg thought they should have come up with a new plan of attack.

  Burle finally interceded. “Lex, I know that this wasn’t what you wanted to do. I know all about this gang you’ve joined. They make you desire the family aspect, the food, the shelter, then they force you to do something you would never normally have done.”

  Lex nodded.

  “So, why don’t you tell us exactly what happened?”

  Lex snorted and ran his finger under his nose. Greg recoiled inwardly.

  “It’s like this.” He laid his hands folded on the table. “This dude that runs the family, gave me a sheet of paper telling me what I had to do. And I had to kill someone, ah right. So, well, so I went to town, and I wasn’t going to do it. But this guy, well he walks into the store and while Rochelle’s back is turned, he pulls out his finger like a gun and pretends to fire. So, well, I thought, maybe that if I killed her then a tape would look like he did it. I guess not, huh?”

  “Nope. In fact, the guy didn’t have a gun. It was his finger.”

  “Oh, no, he had a gun. It was the gun I used.”

  Greg came up off the wall.

  “He was mumbling something crazy, like number twelve or something. I wasn’t real sure. But I hid and grabbed the gun he threw in the bushes when he came out.”

  “I see.” Burle paused. “Will you write all this down?”

  “Yeah. I don’t reckon it’ll help me, huh? I’m going away for a long time.”

  Blake stood at the open door. “Well, look at it this way. You just got a new family, food, and shelter.”

  Greg kept his mouth shut at Blake’s words. The boy before them was just that: a boy. If he was eighteen it was barely. And he was homeless. Prison for life didn’t seem like it would happen. He’d get out on good behavior or prison overcrowding. Why not get something for that time he’d lose?

  Once the door closed, he drew closer to the boy. He slammed his hand down on the pad of paper. “Can you describe the guy who ordered you to do this?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And the man who pretended to fire?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good. Then maybe you can get a reduced sentence.” Which was sure to happen anyway. The boy was sympathetic.

  “I don’t even care, man. That was a good woman I killed. She helped everyone. After I did it, it was too late. I panicked.”

  “You turned yourself in. That’s something.” Burle added.

  “It’s not enough. I promised I’d never be like my dad or my mom, and I did it anyway. I’ll help and I don’t care what you do to me.”

  Greg removed his hand and Lex continued to write out his statement. Burle took it when he finished.

  “Hang tight, kid.”

  Lex leaned back in his chair. He actually looked relieved.

  Greg followed Burle out of the room.

  “Sad story. Couldn’t break the cycle.”

  “Sadly, that’s a reoccurring theme.”

  “I became an officer to stop crime, but all I do is come in after the pieces are broken.”

  Greg could sympathize. He’d joined the force not for some great calling, but because it seemed the closest to what he’d done in the past. Although, being in the military and doing this was vastly different.

  “Did you really want to help the kid or just get the description?”

  “Both.”

  Greg wouldn’t say it out loud, but Ericka could have been that kid. Some stories he’d heard about, others he could only imagine. The ones he’d heard sent chills down his spine. For her to be where she was today was only through the grace of God.

  “Well let’s see what we’ve got then.”

  Burle and Greg read the description with their head butted up next to each other. They both gasped at the same time. It wasn’t very manly, but there it was.

  Greg reread the descriptions of the two men. The gang leader was a mystery, but not the man that Lex had said held the gun.

  “He’s describing the mystery man with Maria Petrov.”

  Greg swallowed. His chest hurt. Burle was half right.

  The man described wasn’t only with the assumed Maria Petrov, he was with Ericka’s mother. They needed to find Ericka and Morgan now, before it was too late.

  ****

  “Mom?” The word ripped from Ericka.

  It was the first time she remembered saying the word other than in her dreams. It wasn’t how or when she thought she would say it, but there it was.

  Morgan Taylor, her mother, faced her. Minus the hair color, she looked like an older version of who Ericka saw in the mirror every day. Her hair had a few more strands of gray. A few more laughter lines embedded around her mouth and her forehead, but the image was so similar.

  Ericka took a step back and swallowed.

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m Ericka.”

  “I-I don’t know—”

  “But you do. I’m your daughter. You left me outside Mercy Hospital in Florida when I was three. You hoped my father, Robert, would take me—”

  “Robert…”

  “Yes.” Ericka licked her lips. This was more difficult than she’d anticipated. She’d offered to go in first and talk to her mother in hopes that she wouldn’t run. So far, that was working.

  Robert and Sasha were supposed to be taking care of Paulo. Ericka didn’t know if they had, nor did she care.

  “He didn’t take you?”

  “No, he didn’t.” The pain of saying those words made her squeeze her fists. How long would the pain of abandonment last? She’d asked Dr. Ellen, but she hadn’t had a clear answer. Apparently, a long time.

  Morgan looked frantically back and forth. “I came here, didn’t I?”

  “You did.”

  “I agreed to be Maria Petrov.”

  “Yes.”

  Morgan’s memory was returning. Hopefully that was a good thing. Ericka wasn’t sure yet. Robert had mentioned over and over that proper deprograming needed to be done. This might or might not be it.

  “Why?”

  “I’m not sure.” Good ole dad could probably answer that question. But she wouldn’t bring up his being in attendance yet. Morgan was on the way to realization, and she needed time to process.

  She placed her hands on both sides of her head. Ericka wished she could take away the pain. All she could do was wait.

  “I need to get out of here.”

  Morgan attempted to run from the room. Ericka grabbed her hand. She stopped and looked at their clasped hands.

  “I left you?”

  “I like to think you had a good reason.”

  She sighed. “I can’t remember.”

  “I’m sure it’ll come back.”

  Morgan guffawed. “I’m not sure what memories I’d rather have. Maria Petrov’s aren’t too good either.”

  Ericka knew the things Maria had been doing since Morgan took over after the asylum escape. Those things were probably way worse than what the original Maria had done. But Ericka wouldn’t bring that up.

  Morgan forced her hand from Ericka’s grip. She walked from the room. Ericka followed but there wasn’t a need.

  Morgan opened the front door and came to a dead stop. A silhouette stood in front of her highlighted by the moonlight.

  “Robert?” The small questioning voice stopped Ericka as well.

  “Yes, darling. It’s me. It’s time for you to come home.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Tito, Nick, and Regina began their search at Ericka’s home. When they didn’t find anything there, he called Quinn. Quinn reminded him that they had been at the club, and she’d disappeared from there.

  After their brief conversation, he drove the car over to the Backstreet Jazz Club. Nick and Regina were having a heated debate over whether tacos were a real meal that someone made. Nick said of course because the meat was cooked. Regina had a perfectly different take.

  He didn’t bother to stop either of them as he made his way into the club and straight to the bartender.

  “Don’t you think it’s too early to drink, pal?”

  “What? Oh, I’m not here for a drink. I need to ask a few questions.”

  “Probably too early for that as well. The lady here last night rocked the house. I’ve been getting calls all night and all morning to bring her back. Of course, that chick just randomly shows up. Guess I’m lucky to have her when I do.”

  That was true for all of them. Ericka wasn’t the stick by your man kind of gal. At least that he’d seen so far. But maybe she just didn’t have the right man.

  He rolled his eyes to the ceiling and tried to focus. He’d been hitting on Regina. He had no right to even think about Ericka and her inability to stick to a person, place, or thing.

  “Well, go ahead. I’ll tell you right now I don’t know if she performs at weddings or parties. I don’t know her fee and I don’t know if she comes with the piano player.”

  Tristan got noticed. That was good news for Maggie.

  He shook his head to clear the forming cobwebs. “No, I have a different question. Did you see where she went last night after her set?”

  “I have no idea where she went, but I know she looked at her phone, frowned and left all by her lonesome. I only knew that because I was watching her. She was more gorgeous last night than the time she came before. I kind of couldn’t take my eyes off her, you know? Hey, now that you mention it do you know if she has a boyfriend?”

  “No.”

  “No, you don’t know, or no she doesn’t?”

  “Can we stick to the topic?”

  “Touchy. Anyway, I have no idea where she went. I hate to say that I checked the cameras after that one guy got all bristly about her leaving, and besides when someone rushes out like that and they’ve been sitting alone, I feel I should do my due diligence before the tape resets. And well, I saw her climb into someone’s car, and they sped off.”

  “Could you describe the car?”

  “Not really, but I got a screen shot.”

  Tito took the phone from the bartender and sent the shot to his phone. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. And if you find out if she’s taken…”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Tito waved his words away as he rushed out the door.

  The heated taco debate was still underway when he opened the car door. Instead of interrupting he messaged the picture to Micah back at the office and waited for a reply. The image was grainy, and the license plate was hard to make out. He hoped that Micah had better luck.

  “I’m telling you anything that goes on the stove is considered a cooked meal.”

  “And I’m telling you that most of your items come from a box or a bag and that doesn’t make it cooked food.” Regina forcefully turned her head toward Tito. “Tell him.”

  Tito threw up his hands. “I’m not getting in on this debate.”

  “Humph. Men!” Regina crossed her arms and looked out the passenger side window.

  Maybe not dating her was dodging a bullet. She seemed easy to anger.

  “So, what did you find out?”

  Tito rapidly blinked. Regina’s tone and mannerisms had completely changed. It was as if she was a different person.

  “Well, um, I-I found out that Ericka left the club in someone else’s car.”

  “Well, duh. She doesn’t have a car.” Nick’s smart Alec comment wasn’t welcome or warranted.

  “So, where did she go?” Regina batted her long lashes. The entire action was odd. One minute she was upset with Nick and him, the next she was flirting and trying to learn things.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Oh. I guess that was what the text was about.”

  He was surprised she noticed with all her actions that he’d sent a text.

  “It was.”

  “Are we waiting here until we know something?”

  “I thought so. I don’t know where else to go. We know that she left from here, but that’s it.”

  “We could try traffic cameras. We could try the other places nearby to see if they have cameras. We could walk the area and see if anyone saw anything.”

  Regina was correct, these things could be done, but he didn’t see the point. There hadn’t been a crime committed. It was wasting valuable resources just to warn someone that their mother was back in town and might be with a dangerous man. They didn’t even know that they were together.

  The phone pinged.

  He looked at his screen.

  The make and model of the car were given. The owner’s name was listed. As well as the fact that the vehicle was rented under an assumed name.

  He turned the key and revved the engine.

  “Do we have a lead?”

  “We do. We’re going to a rental car company.” With any luck the person who rented the car would be there and they would finally have a way to track who took Ericka.

  ****

  “Robert?”

  “Morgan.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I could ask you the same thing.”

  “I came to get the manifest. Remember I signed up for this job to get away from Harry. And I wanted you to know that I have wait it takes.”

  “You left our daughter for the last twenty-four years. You escaped the asylum and started committing crimes. Your handler tried to reach out to you when he came out of hiding, but you just kept doing it.”

  “They did?”

  “They did.”

  Morgan scratched a spot beside her brow. Robert felt for her. He felt for Ericka. She was standing beside her mother, her tiny hands folded in front of her. At least that’s how he imagined she might have looked at three when her mother left her on the stoop of the hospital.

  Leaving their daughter hadn’t been part of the plan. He’d only agreed because he thought Morgan could keep her safer. But she hadn’t been able to do that. Still, the life he’d led before kept him from taking her. He’d done too many things. Angered too many people.

  Morgan had thrown all that trust away when she left her.

  “I don’t understand any of this.”

  “Which part?”

  “The part where you’re here. The part where you’re trying to stop me. Why would you do that? You know this is the last mission. After this one, we’ll be done. I just have to do one more and then I’ll be free.”

  “Who said?”

  “The captain of the White Lily.”

  Robert narrowed his eyes. “But you’re supposed to be the captain of the White Lily.”

  She shook her head. “No, no, I was the captain of the Black Dahlia. I brought people away from the White Lily and back to their countries. It was a round trip.” She laughed.

  The maniacal laughter made Ericka cringe. He wanted to get her away from the discussion.

  “Ericka, could you go with Sasha and find our exit?”

  “I thought you two were after Paulo?”

  “Paulo? You leave him out of this.” Morgan gritted and bared her teeth.

  Morgan was ill.

  Deprograming was all that would help her. Ericka had thought she could do it by revealing herself, but that wouldn’t be enough.

  They needed to get her back to the agency so that could happen. However, in her current state he didn’t see her going with them.

  He opened his mouth several times to explain the situation but stopped himself.

  Sasha stepped onto the porch. One of her feet rested on the step above. She drummed her fingers on the railing. He knew that look.

  She’d lost Paulo.

  “You lost him.” There was that laugh again. “I expected as much. He’s sneaky. You know he’s killed people.”

  Ericka’s eyebrow cocked.

  “Morgan…” He went to grab her, but she pulled away.

  “Don’t touch me. I’m fine.”

  “You are not fine.”

  “I am. I’m perfectly fine. I can have two people in my brain. I told them so and just look at me. I’m the picture of health.” She smiled, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she dropped.

  When Robert looked up, he saw that Sasha held an empty needle in her hand. She’d moved around behind Morgan and taken action. How had he missed that?

  “We need to get her out of here. I heard on the scanner that the car I rented has been located. They are coming here.”

  Ericka moved forward. “You guys go. I’ll wait for them.”