Page 18 of Sapphire

Then I fall asleep, feeling safe and secure.

7

TOMAS

“What do you mean she doesn’t exist?” I say loudly to Enrique on the phone. He and his team have been searching through the missing persons reports and databases around the world for any mention of Zoe.

“I don’t get how someone in this day and age doesn’t have any social media footprint,” Enrique adds.

“It’s as if someone wanted her to vanish.” My stomach sinks at that thought. “You think someone has wiped her online presence away?”

“Look at the facts, Tomas. She was found beaten up in a cocktail dress, seemingly far from home. Doesn’t appear anyone is looking for her. Add in that there is nothing online about her. Someone has gone to a lot of effort to make whoever this woman is vanish.”

What the hell is she involved in?

“Without her surname, it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack.” Enrique sighs.

“What about the Australian Police? We suspect she has an Australian accent. Have they been able to help?”

“Nothing but dead ends there also. The only way we can find out who she is, is if she remembers herself.”

I sink down in my office chair, that doesn’t seem possible, no matter how hard she is trying to remember.

“Has she said anything more about her dreams?” Enrique enquires.

“No, she keeps having the same one every night. She’s in the dark, and someone is telling her she can’t escape. We’ve noticed she doesn’t like the doors to her room being closed. I’m worried that whatever has happened to her is bad. A part of me doesn’t want her to remember if it is.”

“Personally, I would agree. I’ve seen this happen too many times on the island.”

“You think she’s been kidnapped?”

“I do. The fact that she can speak many different languages might mean she’s been taken for a while now. The hospital didn’t find any drugs in her system or marks on her arms which is a good sign because a lot of the traffickers drug their cargo.”

“You think because she’s been kidnapped for such a long time, they don’t need to drug her anymore to comply.”

Enrique remains silent.

Shit.

“Are you saying you think she’s a prostitute?”

“Not by choice,” he adds sadly.

Fuck.

“The Russians mainly run the human trafficking rings, so I will reach out to some of our informants to see if any of the gangs might be missing some cargo. I’m going to have to tread lightly because if she has escaped and they don’t know she has, I don’t want to alert them to it.”

“Do whatever you have to do to find out who she is but keep her safe. Mateo will kill me if any harm comes to her.”

“He seems taken by the woman. How do you feel about that?” my cousin asks.

“Uneasy at first but seeing them together these last few days I can see they have an unexplainable bond together. She puts a smile on Mateo’s face and he hers.”

“She’s a beautiful woman, even under all those bruises,” Enquire states.

“She is.”

Silence falls at his unspoken words.

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