Page 21 of Unspoken Passions

“He’s killed at least three women,” another one whispered, her voice choked and her hands clenched into fists. “We saw him.”

Several others nodded.

Ella stared at the angry women, then slowly nodded. “Then we need to get out of here so you can face him at the trial.” She looked around. There was a touch of energy in the room now. “If we can get out of here, then wouldn’t it be nice to visit him in prison? You could all dress up and taunt him.”

Another woman stepped forward, Ella wasn’t sure what color her hair was normally. At the moment, it was a matted mess. Her skin was filthy, but she had pretty, blue eyes. “Could I pay someone to…” she hesitated, licking her lips, “to do the things he’s done to us? But…I want this person to do them to him!”

Ella wasn’t sure what to say. “I don’t know if that’s possible,” she said with a soothing tone, “but if I could get this tied to something so that the red is flying out the window, then we have a better chance of getting rescued.”

Moments later, all of the women agreed to form a pyramid, kneeling on each other’s backs. Ella slowly climbed to the top of the pyramid, trying to be careful not to hurt these women who had obviously been hurt over and over again.

When she reached the top, she looked for a way to attach the dress. Thankfully, there was a rusty old nail right at the edge of the window. She attached the spaghetti straps of the dress to that nail, pushed the rest of the material out through the window, then climbed down again.

“That’s great!” she told everyone, slipping her feet back into her sneakers. “Okay, so tell me what else is going on here.”

Mick used his binoculars, scanning the factory. Other than the cars parked outside, there was no other indication that Ella, or anyone, was inside. And the cars were dusty, as if they hadn’t been moved in a while

“Are you sure this is the site?” he asked Bobby.

Bobby stared through his own binoculars. “It looks deserted.”

A split second later, something flashed through one of the upper windows. “What the hell?” Mick grumbled. He narrowed his eyes, then adjusted the focus on his binoculars. “Is that…?”

Bobby chuckled, relief in his tone now. “That’s a red dress,” he confirmed.

“Ella!” Mick breathed her name reverently. He was positive that the red dress hanging out the window was her “flag”, letting him know that she was inside.

Mick picked up his radio. “Everything is a go,” he said. “Repeat. Operation is a go.”

Moments later, the farmland, currently covered with knee-high soybean plants, began to tremble. Twelve FBI agents and ten deputies rose from their crouching positions amid the plants and slowly, cautiously moved forward. Mick moved closer, his rifle loaded, cocked and ready to fire at anyone who threatened the law enforcement personnel moving in on the factory.

Moments later, everyone was in place. Agents paused outside four of the steel doors. The head of the SWAT team radioed for his people to be ready for the explosion that would release the doors. They didn’t have to worry if the doors were chained since the explosives were set to disable the hinges.

Seconds later, in a coordinated effort, all four doors blew open. The agents knew to step back and allow the steel doors to fall to the gravel, then they raced inside, guns ready and screaming for everyone to get down on the floor.

Mick heard women screaming. There were a few shots fired, but the whole thing was over in moments.

He followed the SWAT team into the factory and what he saw made his stomach churn. There were dozens of women in red dresses kneeling on the floor, sobbing with their arms in the air.

He glanced to the right and found the other SWAT team members looping plastic handcuffs on four large men and one snarling woman that was wearing the most hideous shade of red lipstick he’d ever seen.

But he didn’t give a damn about them. He searched the faces and…was nearly knocked to the ground as Ella threw herself into his arms. She came out of nowhere and he barely managed to catch her.

“I knew you’d save us!” she whispered against his neck. “I knew that you would find me!”

“Ella!” he groaned, pointing his rifle to the side and held her close with his free hand. Several of the officers chuckled as they watched the spectacle, but Mick didn’t care. Ella was safe! For the first time in his life, he ignored his responsibilities and carried Ella outside so that he could feel her and make sure that she was unharmed.

“Are you okay?” he demanded, his voice rough with the fear he’d refused to acknowledge over the past several hours.

“I’m fine,” she replied. “I knew you’d rescue me.” She leaned her cheek against his chest, listening to the rapid beat of his heart. “I just knew that you’d be here for me.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Are you the one that put the red dress out the window as a flag?”

“Yep.” She grinned, looking up at him. “Did it help?”

“Yeah,” he said with a chuckle. “It solidified our plan.” Mick paused to kiss her gently. “You’re brilliant, Ella.”

She blushed, then laid her cheek back against his chest. “Nah. It was just common sense.”

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