Page 49 of Innocence

“I know, but that seems extreme. Besides, I’ve come to really enjoy that silly cabin of Sor’s,” she smiled. “It’s warm and quiet, and I’ve been getting some great work done out there.”

“Alright,” nodded Nine. “We’ll have the boys check all the cameras and maybe come out and do some recon. See if there are tracks or anything.”

“I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Don’t bother Sor with this. He’s got enough on his mind.”

“Why don’t you take one of the dogs with you?” said Nine.

“Maybe. I’ll think on it. Thank you, guys. I’m sure I’m just being silly. Have a great weekend.” She waved, leaving the office, and headed back out to her car. The three men looked at one another, then behind them at all the faces staring down the hallway.

“I did not like that one bit,” said Ian.

“Me either. Get the tech boys out there to check on the cameras and everything. Maybe we set up some extra alarms.”

The door opened again, but this time it was Victoria.

“We’re just full of visitors today,” smiled Ian. “Hi, hun. How are you?”

“I’m good,” she smiled. “Mama Irene sent food for you from the café. I have it in boxes on the cart outside the door.”

Ian, Nine, and the others grabbed all the boxes, bringing them into the conference room. They passed around the sandwiches, treats, homemade potato chips, huge pitchers of iced tea, and the required salad.

Victoria walked around the room, reading the phobias and fears of the wall. There were so many it was overwhelming. She stopped, tapping a finger on one, and then looked at another, reaching with her other hand and tapping a finger. Moving along the wall, she tapped again, then again, and again.

Nine nudged Ghost, who nudged Gaspar, then Ian. They all turned, watching her genius work.

“Victoria, is everything okay, honey?” asked Gaspar.

“Yes, sir. Something about this one is familiar to me.”

“The initials?” he asked.

“Yes. I feel as though I’ve seen it before, but I don’t remember where. It’s not really legible, which is partly what caught my eye. I mean, if you look at the rest of these, they wrote their initials in print. This one is in a crazy script.”

Bull walked closer to the paper, staring at it.

“She’s right. I can make out the other initials, but not this one. We need to figure out the initials of all these kids. Where is the class roster?”

“Here,” said Mary, handing him a copy.

“Give it to me,” said Victoria. “You guys eat, and I can figure out pretty quickly who this one is.”

Not questioning her genius, they gave her the list and then sat down to eat their lunch. Moving methodically from one phobia to the next, she crossed off the names as she discovered them on the wall. When she was done, she walked backwards, verifying what she thought she’d found.

“Victoria?” said Mary, looking at the young woman. She turned to Mary with shock on her face.

“It can’t be. I mean, I would have never guessed.”

“Who is it?” asked Noah.

“This one. This is the one.”

They all stared at the highlighted name, Mary and Noah the most shocked of them all.

“Holy shit.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

“Let’s go, everyone, on the buses. All classes will be together. Don’t worry. You’ll be home safely by four this afternoon. Come on,” said Mary.

---