Page 15 of Mia Amata

“That’s wonderful. Speaking of that, I need to go check in to see what the progress is on her situation. After that, I will come help you finish up supper.”

“Sounds good,” Eva said.

Lauren went into her office, closing the door behind her. She called the number. “Checking in,” she stated. She waited while she was connected to another contact.

“I have some news,” the man on the phone said. “I was able to get her a place to live. I am working on finalizing the deal. We have a small 2-bedroom house for her.”

“That is great,” Lauren said. “So she has a house to rent. Any news on a job?”

“She will own the house outright,” the man on the phone said. “It was donated by a previous contact. The job is almost completed. I have her being set up as a legal transcriptionist. Have a few more details to work out on that too, but the equipment will be set up for her in the house.”

“That sounds great. She actually does have typing and some computer skills. It should work perfectly. When are we planning on moving her? She is hot news here now.” Lauren was worried about this.

“I will know more tomorrow, but I think we can move her in a couple days, probably Friday if that is agreeable. Do you think you can safely drive her to a location where she can then continue on by herself?”

“Yes, I will make it work. I’ll check in tomorrow for more details.” With that, they hung up. Lauren was very nervous about this one. Mattie’s husband is a cop, actually a detective. They are running a huge risk, but it was one she knew they had no choice about. She left the office, going out to help Eva finish up supper.

Chapter 9

I woke up from my nap feeling well-rested. I had not slept so much in years. I really was starting to feel better although my body was still sore from all the beatings it had. I lay there, wondering if there would be long-term effects from being abused. I had no idea if I ever had any broken bones because going to the hospital or doctor was never a possibility for me.

I decided that there was nothing I could do about that right now, so I rolled over, looking at the clock. I was surprised to see that I slept the afternoon away! I decided to find something to eat for supper, as I was going to be getting my makeover soon. I was really looking forward to that. I have been forced to keep the same hairstyle the whole time I was with Allen. I was not allowed to cut or color my hair. It was very long now. I usually braided it or put it up in some way.

I went out to the kitchen, deciding today to have a bowl of soup. I found a can of beef stew in the pantry, heating it up on the stove. I took it, along with a few crackers, to the couch. I wanted to sit down to watch some news.

I figured I had better see what was going on, plus Eva had said that my husband was going to be on tonight making a plea for my ‘safe’ return. I turned the TV on, watching the end of a show right before the news. There was a knock at the door, so I went up and unlocked it, finding Eva and Lauren waiting, so I invited them in.

“We didn’t mean to bother you while you ate, but we figured you would be watching the news. Thought you might like a little company?” Lauren stated.

“I would like that,” I said. “Please sit down.”

Eva sat next to me, while Lauren sat on the other couch, saying. “Don’t let us stop you from eating. You need to keep your strength up.”

I nodded, taking another bite when the news came on. Turns out I was the top news story again. There was my face staring out at us. I had no recent picture taken of me, so the picture they were showing was from our honeymoon.

The news anchor recapped the story of my disappearance and then stated there have been some new developments. They talked about how my car had been found, but it was not in the parking lot of the grocery store where we left it. Apparently, someone saw my keys and purse lying on the seat with the doors unlocked and stole the car.

The thief drove the car to a neighboring town and then used the money he found in my purse to buy some alcohol. He then proceeded to get drunk and attempted to run from the police when they tried to pull him over for suspicion of drunk driving. A car chase started, then the police soon realized that this was the car of a missing person after running the plates. Thinking that maybe I was in the car with the thief, they backed off hoping he would slow down.

They wanted to avoid an accident if at all possible. They followed at a safe distance, calling on the state police to help. The man panicked when he saw even more police cars, even though they were not closing in on him. He picked up speed, missed a curve in the road, missed a bridge, and landed in the river.

They went live to the scene where a reporter interviewed a state patrol officer. According to him, they had not been able to get to the car as the river in that area was deep with a very fast current, as it was currently at flood stage due to recent storms. They were waiting for a special dive team to arrive even though enough time had passed that the driver and I were assumed dead, drowned in the river. In the background, I could see my husband standing there staring out at the swirling water.

Another police officer took him by the arm, turning him away. The emotion on his face was one that I was used to seeing. He was angry. There were no tears of sadness, no signs of mourning my death. He was angry that I had escaped him, even though it was through death that I had.

Lauren and Eva looked at each other, then looked at me. “This is great,” Lauren exclaimed. I looked at Lauren, but I knew what she meant by that. If I was dead, the police would stop looking for me.

The state patrol officer was talking about how they would do their best to search for the car to recover the bodies, but he stated that they may never find the bodies. The search wouldn’t start until the next morning, it was too dangerous for them to dive at night. I reached out without looking, and Eva took my hand.

“I’m free,” I said. “I can’t believe it. I am finally free.”

“Believe it,” Eva stated, squeezing my hand. “They will search for you for a few days, but I think it is over.”

“We can’t get careless though,” warned Lauren. “You can’t be seen. We still need to give you a makeover, get you out of here. We also cannot assume that he will believe you are dead. Obviously, we know they will not find your body. Who knows if he will accept the fact that you are dead or if he will continue to look for you?”

What she was saying made a lot of sense. Knowing my husband, unless he had absolute proof I was dead, he would not believe it.

“Let’s hope they can’t find the driver either.” I glanced at Eva. She said, “If they find his body but not yours, he will figure you were never in the car to begin with.”

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