Page 147 of Love Without Control

“Thank you, Agent Saunders.”

“And where have you been all this time, Mrs., uh, Osbourne?”

“In the Florida Keys.” She kept her answers direct and succinct, also courtesy of Kassie’s coaching.

He lifted an eyebrow and nodded, scruffing his hand over the hint of a five-o-clock shadow on his jaw. “All right, I’ll need to pull some files. Would you mind waiting for a few minutes? We’ll also need to get fingerprints from Mrs. Osbourne for verification purposes.”

“Certainly,” Kassie said crisply. “Evie is thrilled to be here and help you put this case to rest.” Okay,thrilledmight be pushing it a bit, but speaking with law enforcement was an inevitable truth we had to deal with.

“Thank you,” Saunders said, sounding a lot less combative now. “Peters, can you get our guests some refreshments?”Ahhh, now we’re guests worthy of snacks.

Both men left the room, and Agent Peters came back a few minutes later with a tray laden with a variety of drinks and a basket full of snacks, including Chex-Mix, chips, and bags of cookies that I knew would taste like dirt. We declined food and each accepted a bottle of cool water before he retreated.

Evie fumbled with the lid of her water before I took it from her, cracked it open, and handed it back. “Sorry, I’m nervous,” she whispered, which earned her a pointed look from Kassie. A look that told us there were probably cameras or at least someone monitoring behind that glass.

After a female worker came in and took Evie’s fingerprints, we sat for almost an hour, not discussing anything more consequential than what we were having for dinner that night. Both agents returned, and Saunders had a laptop and a thick folder stuffed with papers.

They sat across from us, Peters lifting the lid of the laptop and Saunders knocking a knuckle against the worn manila file. “This is only the tip of the iceberg, but it’s the most pertinent information. Would you like to tell us what happened to you, Eden? Sorry, Evie,” he corrected, his ‘mishap’ letting us know he’d done a little research into our lives in Florida while he’d been gone. Yep, he was sharp.

“As you probably know, I was in Cancún with my friends on a Spring Break vacation. I think the resort was called Green Diamond.” The older man nodded, and Evie launched into the story about going to look for her phone all the way to when she was fighting against the two men. “I heard them say they were taking me to a boat.”

Peters took copious notes, his fingers clacking against the keys, while Saunders kept his eyes firmly on Evie. “What kind of boat?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. I’d lost consciousness by the time they carried me to it.”

Saunders made a quiet grunting noise. “We became suspicious they were transporting kidnapped people by boat. The government is patrolling those waters more often now than they did back then.”

“Happy to hear it,” Evie replied.

“Can you tell me what happened next?”

My wife inhaled a breath and nodded. “I woke up in some kind of warehouse, in Mexico, I think, but I can’t be sure. There were four other girls there too. Cara, Nesha, and two girls named Jennifer.” Her eyes dropped to her lap. “I always wondered what happened to them. Have they been found?”

Saunders cast a look at Peters who began tapping on the screen of his computer before typing again. “There was a woman named Jennifer Anderson who went missing from the same area as you. Different resort though.” His lips tightened. “Her body was found a few weeks later in Texas. I see missing persons reports for the other women, but nothing else.” His eyes were shaded with sadness and apology.

A tear slipped down Evie’s downcast face, and Kassie produced a tissue that seemed to appear from out of thin air and handed it over. Evie swiped her face and raised her head, firming her shoulders. “Thank you for telling me.”

“Do you need a break?” Saunders asked kindly, and my wife shook her head. “Can you tell us what happened next?”

She told them what she could remember about the warehouse and then about being transported to the house in New Orleans. For almost an hour, she talked and they peppered her with questions about the descriptions and details.

“Just to clarify, there was a false wall in the back of the truck?” Saunders asked.

I reached for Evie’s hand. This part was always the hardest for her to talk about, the tiny space she’d been trapped in, the lack of freedom that had given her monstrous nightmares.

“Yes. We were chained to the side wall, and then they closed the fake wall. There was barely room to breathe, and it smelled like urine and vomit. I felt like a caged animal.”

Saunders winced and shook his head in disgust. “I know this is difficult, but these details do help us learn more about traffickers. We appreciate you sharing with us.”

“That’s what I’m here for. I don’t like thinking of anyone else going through that,” Evie said with a tremulous smile, but she didn’t drop another tear. For the millionth time in my life, I was astounded by the strength and bravery of my extraordinary wife. “Anyway, like I said, we were taken to a house in New Orleans.”

She told them what she could remember about the house. How many bedrooms she saw. The mattresses on the floor.

“I’m sorry I don’t remember all the details. It’s been a long time,” she said.

Agent Saunders smiled. “You’re doing fine. Better than I would be doing. What happened when you got to the house? Were you assaulted?”

Evie rolled her lips inward. “Not sexually. I overheard Ethan and Felipe saying that it was against the rules to have sex with us, but they did hit me. Dragged me by the hair. Chained me to a chair. I wasn’t allowed to take a shower, even after sweating for at least ten hours in the back of that truck. And I remember being really hungry and thirsty.”

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