Page 49 of Bringing Chelsea Home

“Maybe,” said one of them. “But they won’t let us have phones or watches, so we stay confused about the time of day or day of the week.”

“He also said you were just moved to this building late Thursday night or early Friday morning,” Elaine continued. “So why are you locked in here?”

One of the girls began to cry. “They said we weren’t learning the new routines fast enough when we practiced this morning,” she sobbed. “So, they locked us in here to ‘teach us a lesson.’ And I’m so hungry.”

“Don’t cry, Suzanne,” Chelsea said. “If Elaine is here, we’re gonna be out of here in no time, you just wait and see.”

“You bet,” Elaine said, hoping and praying her cousin was right.

CHAPTER24

“What the helldo you mean Silas Clark is alive?” Griff stared at Grant Miller as the world he knew it rocked around him. “The news report said–”

“I’m telling you what I just learned after we arrested Tina Paxton,” Miller said. “I may need a tetanus shot because she bit me more than once when we busted her at the Wellness Clinic for conspiracy to kidnap. Whoever said dynamite comes in small packages was right. It took both Patrick and me to take her down. But she was wearing Elaine’s locket.”

They had returned to the safehouse within an hour of leaving. Griff had poured over every possible location of whereThe Honeysand Elaine might be kept but had found nothing.

Please God, let her be with them.

“We kept our techs on the phone all the way to the clinic,” Patrick added. “The tracker worked like a charm, and we found the charming Ms. Paxton behind the front desk. She called us every name in the book and then some of her own, but clammed up good and tight when we got her to the station. Wouldn’t say a word about Elaine, but kept screaming ‘I want Big Daddy’, so I guess we know who’s behind this.”

“But what about Clark?” Griff’s head was still reeling. “Whose idea was it tell the press he was dead?”

“Apparently my CO had orders from the commissioner to release that little gem.” Miller scowled as he spoke. “She was sent to interview Clark, who once he was told he was under arrest for among other things, trafficking underage girls across state lines for immoral purposes, went bat-shit crazy and started clucking like a Saturday chicken before Sunday dinner, claiming that he thoughtThe Honeyswere just a group of strippers.”

“Do you believe him?” Patrick snorted.

Miller shrugged. “Hard to say but my CO saidhebegged the doctors to tell everyone but his family he was dead because he’s convinced Big Daddy tried to kill him because he found out about his side deal withAbernathy Enterprises.”He grinned and added, “The CO said Clark was sure ready to give you and Elaine up in a hurry and nearly had a stroke when she told him we had both his meetings with you on tape.”

“Does he want protective custody?” Griff asked.

“Probably,” Miller admitted. “But they’re going to let him sweat a whole lot more.” He paused, his mouth turned down in thought. “There’s something about this thing with Clark that doesn’t add up. Someone’s not telling us–or me–everything.”

“Griff, what were you saying before I left about Elaine’s boss being a pedophile?” Patrick asked. “That has something to do with this, right?”

“I think all of it,” and Griff described what he’d found out about Gibbons on the pedophile website. “The ‘Ape Man’ handle and the picture of the Gibbons primate gave it away, he finished. “He’s definitely looking forward toThe Honeyscoming to town.”

“Son-of-a-bitch,” Patrick breathed out. “But how does this have to do with Big Daddy? Does he know Gibbons is a pedophile? And how does Elizabeth Burke fit in with all of this?”

“Imagine this,” Griff said. “Big Daddy learns Gibbons is one ofThe Honeys’customers, making him a pedophile. Big Daddy has had it in for Elaine from day one since she helped Lulu get away and has tried to kill her or have her killed at least three times and keeps failing. And he knows Gibbons is Elaine’s boss–”

“Holy God,” Miller whispered. “Gibbons got into Elaine’s files at Families United. Is Elaine…Elizabeth Burke’s therapist?”

“She will be soon,” Griff said. “The day we met, Elaine told her to call and make an appointment. Looks like she did.”

“And Gibbons told Big Daddy that and Big Daddy somehow got Tina Paxton to call Elaine and pretend to be Elizabeth Burke so he could trick her into coming to St. Nicholas and grab her,” Patrick finished, his voice thick with rage.

“Why would Elaine not recognize Elizabeth Burke’s voice?” Miller asked.

“We only met with her once.” Griff drummed his fingers on his knee. “She’s the one who told us about the underage strippers coming here in the first place. And Elaine said Elizabeth–I meant who ever called as her was crying so hard, Elaine couldn’t understand her.”

His phone pinged and he checked the text. “It’s Martin Driscoll,” he said. “He thinks he might have remembered something important. I’m going to set this up as a Zoom meeting.”

They filed into the office and a few minutes later, were looking at Martin Driscoll on the computer’s wide screen.

He was seated in what was probably his old bedroom, with a happy looking dog in his lap. “That must be Frosty,” Griff said.

Martin gave a shy smile. “Yeah. And Elaine was right. He remembered me. Hardly left my side since we got home.”

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