Jailbird (30 page)

From the horse I was loaded into Conrad’s
truck. I followed along as if in a dream. Charlie never left my
side. I assumed Elena was in one of the other cars in the
entourage. And it was an entourage. The quiet park had been turned
into a zoo of cars and lights. Camera crews had shown up and
reporters jostled for a position in front of Special Agent
Pratt.

I closed my eyes to all of it, resting my
head against Charlie’s shoulder. They thought I was asleep, but
inside I was a mess. Adrenaline and fear had kept me calm. Now that
they were dissipating, I could feel myself coming apart at the
seams a little. I let the sound of his and Conrad’s gentle voices
soothe my rattled spirit.

Images chased each other round my mind, the
events of the afternoon replaying themselves in my head. Could the
news from Pratt’s radio be trusted? Was Winslow in custody? Had I
really just been in the presence of federal agents and not been
hauled back to Dixon Correctional?

Conrad pulled to a stop and I peeked through
my eyelids. We were back at the hotel I’d been taken from. I wasn’t
entirely sure I could sleep here tonight but told myself that was
ridiculous. The place was abuzz with activity.

“I’ll carry her,” Charlie was telling Conrad.
I sat up and shook my head.

“No need. I can walk.”

They both watched me as if I might break into
a thousand shards at any moment. Truth be told, I felt like I could
easily enough. I focused on putting one foot in front of the other,
allowing myself to be led to a room.

It wasn’t the room I’d been in before. That
made me feel a little better. Charlie said something to Conrad, who
nodded and disappeared. I sat rather numbly on the bed, watching as
Charlie laid out towels and got the shower ready.

Like a robot, I went through the motions of
washing my hair and body. I hadn’t realized how filthy I was until
I saw the brown water racing for the drain. As I scrubbed my skin,
I began to tremble. Tears worked their way free. Trembling turned
into full-blown shaking and once it started, I just couldn’t seem
to get it stopped.

Tears turned into sobs and I gulped in air,
trying to ease the crushing feeling in my chest. I felt completely
helpless and immobile—unable to turn off the shower, let alone stop
crying and trembling.

Charlie must have heard me. Knowing him, he’d
been standing outside the door the entire time anyway. He shut off
the water, wrapped me in a towel and helped me step out of the tub.
He grabbed another towel from the rack and began drying me,
crooning nonsensical words of love all the while. I felt ridiculous
and completely powerless. And really happy Charlie was there.

“Did I hear someone say they caught Winslow?”
my mind finally resurfaced. I took the pajamas Charlie was offering
me and began to get dressed.

“Yes. They caught him not far from where they
found you,” Charlie’s voice was full of implication. I nodded.
“Elena says there was another man with him. The FBI is still
looking for him, but I don’t want you to worry….”

“I’m not. He won’t come after me,” it was my
turn to reassure Charlie. “He didn’t like his job. With Winslow
gone, we’ll never hear from him again.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“He fed me.”

Charlie arched an eyebrow in question and I
tried to explain.

“He snuck me bread, when I was hungry. He
didn’t want Winslow to kill me. I could just tell.”

“I’ll still feel better when he’s caught,”
Charlie seemed skeptical.

“Is Elena okay?”

“Fine. I think they gave up trying to get a
statement from her and gave her something to help her sleep.”

“She’s had a hard day,” I nodded, glad she
was resting now.

“Oh she has, has she?” there seemed to be a
hint of humor in his voice. “Come on. Conrad should be back with
your pizza any time now.”

“Is that where he went?” It was a stupid
question, but I was entitled to a few of those in my present state
of mind.

“Well, first he went to get your clothes from
the other room. Then he went to get a pizza.”

“That was sweet… I don’t want him to go to
any trouble.”

“You have no idea how happy he is to be
buying you a pizza right now. We didn’t think we’d get there in
time,” Charlie’s voice cracked. “I’ve never been so scared in my
entire life.”

“You silly man,” I wrapped my arms around
him. “Don’t you know I’ll always find my way back to you?”

And then it was his turn to cry.

There was a knock at the door. I brushed his
cheek with my thumb and kissed the corner of his mouth. “You go
splash some water on your face. I’ll get the door.”

This time I did check the peephole before
letting Manny in. I was immediately swept into another hug before
being set back on my feet again.

“You scared me, la hermana pequeña.”

“I was fairly terrified myself,” I admitted a
little wryly.

“Manuel, my friend. How was Anjelita holding
up?” Charlie appeared and shook Manny’s hand.

“She’s ready to see Neena again. Otherwise,
she’s okay. Grateful all turned out well. I called Mary, too. She
and Gabrielle are fine. I think they’re planning on bringing
Gabrielle here in the morning.”

“Good. I’m ready to have my family back
together in one place.”

“Can I go home? Just like that?”

“Well, not exactly just like that. The past
few days have been a flurry of activity—especially this afternoon
once we knew you were missing.”

“When you didn’t answer, I broke into your
room. It was pretty obvious someone had nabbed you, so I called
Charlie,” Manny explained.

“And Conrad, who called Rachel… he and I
headed straight here,” Charlie took over. “She started working the
phones. Apparently, Winslow and Ross had been under suspicion for a
while now. What happened today, combined with the information
Rachel had already dug up, was enough to spur the feds into
action.”

“How did you know where to find us?”

“By the time we got to Winslow’s house, you
were gone,” Charlie’s eyes seemed haunted by the memory of that
moment.

“But Marty Ross wasn’t,” a grin ticked the
corner of Manuel’s mouth. “After a little persuasion, he told us
where to find Winslow.”

“Persuasion, huh?” I gave him a look that
said Anjelita would not approve.

Conrad showed up and I was pulled into
another fierce hug. I didn’t think I’d be able to even think about
food, but being surrounded by the men I loved most calmed my
nerves. The smell of pizza might have also possibly helped me
change my mind.

We didn’t talk much. Each ate their pizza
lost in thought until there was a knock at the door.

“I got it,” Conrad stood and motioned for
Charlie to sit back down.

“Gentleman… Ms. Russell,” Special Agent Pratt
nodded briefly at each of us as he and his partner walked in. “I’m
real sorry to interrupt, but we need to take Ms. Russell’s
statement.”

“I don’t suppose this could wait until
morning?” Charlie placed his hand over mine.

“No, it’s okay. I want to get this over
with,” I squeezed his hand reassuringly. “Where do you want me to
start?”

“Do you have any idea why Daniel Winslow
kidnapped you today?” he went straight for the question I’d hoped
to avoid.

I looked at Charlie, who nodded. “Daniel
Winslow has hated me for a long time now.”

“Why is that?”

I took a deep breath, “Because I killed his
son.”

“So, you’re telling me that your true
identity is Kali Langston?”

“At one time it was.”

“Good.”

“What do you mean?” I furrowed my brow.

“We knew. I’m glad you were honest. Now we
can get down to what’s really going on.”

“Ah. Good to know. So, where am I really
supposed to start?”

“How about this afternoon.”

“Sure. Conrad left for work and I waited
around the hotel for Manny to show up…”

“Manny… ?”

“Manuel Torres,” I motioned to Manny. “He was
on his way down to babysit me.”

“Babysit you?” Pratt’s eyebrows shot up.

“I think the guys here were worried I’d try
to spring Elena by myself,” I explained. “So anyway, there was a
knock at the door and I opened it….”

I walked Pratt through the evening, trying to
remember every detail, no matter how insignificant. I didn’t look
at Charlie. I knew the expression on his face would be too much for
me. When it came to the details of the escape, though, I decided
those weren’t terribly necessary. “… and then Elena and I ran.
That’s pretty much when you found us.”

“You ran? Elena said that you ‘kicked Winslow
in the shin,’ would you say that’s accurate?”

“Sure,” I shrugged. “Maybe it was the
knee.”

“And Ms. Taylor also says that you saved her
from an alligator?”

“Lucky break.”

“And knocked her out of the way of Winslow’s
car?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“And you led her through the woods, evading
Winslow until you were found by Federal Agents?”

“It was no big deal.”

“And when you’d been found by agents, you
pulled Ms. Taylor into a tree to hide her until you could ascertain
our identities?”

“You know, she’s heavier than she looks.”

“A tree?” Charlie interrupted for the first
time.

“You hadn’t heard?” Pratt’s partner jumped in
for the first time. “When we found the girls, they were high up in
the tree—hiding like a couple of coons. Then your wife here walked
from tree to tree to get away from us.”

“Our options were rather limited,” I
shrugged. I couldn’t tell from the look on Charlie’s face if he was
amused or irritated. I was telling myself amused.

“Based on some previous information received,
we’re investigating Daniel Winslow on several felony counts. We’ll
be asking you to testify in court at some point.”

“Sure,” I nodded a little weakly. I didn’t
relish the thought of meeting Daniel Winslow’s eyes across a
courtroom again. It didn’t matter if we were sitting in different
seats this time.

“I’m sorry, but I have to ask you not to
leave the state of Louisiana until we are able to get in front of a
judge regarding your conviction.”

My heart froze. “Do I have to go back
there?”

“No,” Charlie answered in a harsh voice. I
had a feeling that was his personal opinion, not a statement of
fact.

“I don’t think that’s necessary. You’ll
remain in our custody here until we can get this straightened out.
Given your status as a federal witness, I think we can work
something out.”

“Thank you,” I began to breathe again.

“Before you agree, I have to tell you that we
have reason to believe that Winslow was an accessory to multiple
crimes against women while his son was attending LSU. You’ll be
asked to testify about… everything.”

I nodded again. I didn’t trust my voice just
yet. I really wasn’t looking forward to this, but it looked like my
chance at a real life. One that didn’t require fake IDs and escape
plans.

Special Agent Pratt and his partner stayed a
while longer, outlining what the next several days would look like.
I eventually kicked everyone out, saying the pregnancy and the
night had me ready to drop from exhaustion. Truth was—I worried
about the circles under Charlie’s eyes. He seemed so weary and I
knew he had to drive back to Hampton tomorrow if he was going to
make it home in time for the custody hearing.

It was a testament to how tired we were; we
barely made it under the covers before we passed out. Charlie was
up and out the door long before either of us was ready. I knew he
was worried, even if he’d never voice it.

“Hey… remember to have faith,” I reminded
him. It felt hollow. Any words felt hollow, but they were all I had
to give.

For the next twenty-four hours, Conrad had to
remind me to do simple things like eat and shower. The only thing I
seemed truly capable of was sitting and worrying. So much of
Charlie’s time had been occupied by my troubles, he hadn’t prepared
for this battle as well as he would have liked. If he lost Cara I’d
never forgive myself.

“Do you mind if I watch T.V.?” Conrad flipped
the channel even as he asked.

“Go for it,” I flopped down on the bed,
prepared to ignore whatever he was watching.

“Child advocate or child broker? Champion for
the little guy or pawn of Saudi oil baron…? Take a walk with our
own Rachel Cooper as we follow a story that sounds on the surface
like the American dream, only to be a nightmare in disguise. Is the
up-and-coming young politician from Springfield God’s gift to the
GOP, or will Nathan Smith be yet another stone around the party’s
neck?”

I rolled back over, turning to face the
television set. “Oh all right. I’ll watch one show with you. And I
won’t even tease you about watching a Rachel Cooper show.”

“That’s big of you.”

As I watched the story I knew—if her last
primetime special had turned my world upside down, this one would
go a long way towards setting it right again.

That gut feeling was given credence the next
morning when Charlie called to incredulously inform me that Julie
had not shown up for her court date. Given her failure to appear
and indications that she had fled the country, the case was
dropped.

As difficult as it was to not race back to
Hampton the moment I heard the news, the knowledge that my patience
was purchasing my freedom made the wait worthwhile. Charlie took
Gabrielle home and registered her in school while I stayed to face
Daniel Winslow in court.

Of course, Charlie left the girls with
Anjelita so he could be by my side the day my life came full
circle.

We listened to testimony after testimony
about the Winslow men, and I realized that I truly had been trapped
in something so much larger than myself. It was odd to see just how
finite the view was from my vantage point.