"They did the same thing with me."
"Wait a minute," Rosie said. "You're a supermodel, right? I've seen your face in magazines."
Dana nodded. "Yeah, but I just turned thirty and nobody's going to want me."
"You're still beautiful. I'm twenty-nine and I would love to look like you," Rosie said.
"Me too. I'm twenty-eight," Maria added.
"Twenty-eight, "Jane said.
"Twenty-nine," Belinda chimed in.
"Hmm, looks like our captors are trying to figure out who is her daughter. I mean look at all of us. We're almost the same height and built," Dana said.
The ladies exchanged glances.
"We better start walking." Dana glanced at her watch. "We don't want to be out here at nighttime and die of hypothermia.
"I'm feeling so cold," Rosie said.
"Rosie, the hike will do you good," Belinda said.
Dana went ahead. She had to believe she would reach Jersey Shore soon.
Chapter 11
Rob entered Ginny's cafe.
Mrs. Kestav froze. "We're closed. Didn’t you see the sign? Please leave."
"Please, Mrs. Kestav, I'm sorry about what happened to your daughter, but you have to believe I have nothing to do with her disappearance."
Mrs. Kestav picked up the phone. "I'm going to call the police if you don't leave."
"Wait." He raised his hands up. "I'm telling you the truth. I have a friend named Dana who is missing, and I believe it has to be connected to your daughter."
Mrs. Kestav mumbled something in Russian.
Rob took a deep breath. It did nothing to help calm him. Nothing would, not until he saw Dana again, alive and safe, preferably in his arms. The clock kept ticking. Every minute she was gone could mean she could be gone forever. "The day Dana disappeared, she received a fruitcake from Ginny's cafe. That's why I came here that first day."
Mrs. Kestav studied him. "Do you know how many customers we have?"
"I know."
"Because of you, my daughter is gone. Get out before I call the cops. You're the last person I want to see here."
***
Fifteen minutes had passed since the women escaped.
"Hurry up, guys," Dana said, looking behind her. "We don't have all day."
"My asthma is acting up." Rosie threaded through the snow, her wheezing audible.
Maria was able to sneak out bottled water and she handed it to Rosie. "This should help."
A wave of snow flushed through them like lightning.
Losing her balance, Dana stumbled and spotted an SUV Runner in front of her. "Shit." She clung to Belinda and Jane. "We need to get out of here."
The SUV swerved. The door flung open, and out stepped Skully. In two massive steps, he grabbed Dana's hair. "You think you can escape." He grabbed his M-16 and shot at Belinda, Jane, Maria, and Rosie.
They all collapsed, blood oozing from their chest.
"No," Dana yelled, her body shaking. “How could you do this? They’re innocent victim and don’t deserve this.
Skully gripped her arm so tightly she grit her teeth to prevent crying out. He shoved her inside the SUV. "That's what you get for trying to flee."
"Please don't hurt me." She pushed him but he didn’t budge.
"It's your lucky day."
A Honda Pilot pulled over to the side, and the redheaded driver popped his head out from the window.
"Dump these bodies and get the hell out of here," Skully instructed before slamming the door.
The horror on the women's faces haunted Dana as she closed her eyes. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she silently sobbed.
The ride was eerily silent. It was now New Year's Eve. She had survived another day.
Her mother greeted them as they stepped inside the house. "Where are the other ladies?"
Skully didn't say a word.
Dana wanted to fling her arms around her mother. Of course she refrained. Hands trembling, she removed her Uggs. "I need to take a shower."
"No more tricks," Skully warned. "I'll be in the bedroom. You need to leave the door open."
Dana glanced at her mother.
On cue, Marcy watched Skully. "I don't think the bathroom has any towels."
Skully growled and left the room.
Her mother whispered. "Honey, I'm sorry—"
"I know you did the right thing. I'm sorry for being so mean and hostile to you, but we can't chat about this now. We need to escape before he kills us both. Follow me."
Dana removed the screwdriver from inside her pocket and clutched it. Now or never. She darted outside the room where Skully was on the phone speaking in a hushed tone, his back towards Dana. Dana dashed toward Skully and aimed the screwdriver directly for his eye. Skully elbowed her face. Dana ducked and ended up plunging the screwdriver into his arm.
"You bitch!"
Her mother screamed when Skully grabbed her leg.
Dana ran fast as she could out of the front door, oblivious to the cold creeping inside her body. She looked behind, hoping her mom was able to catch up with her, but disappointment washed upon her. Tears pooled her vision when air escaped her lungs. She could hear her mother's screams, and Skully yelling after her.
Dana prayed hard, wishing somebody would rescue her so she can come back for her mother. No sooner did she finish her prayer when she heard a deafening sound of a propeller. Bright lights shone from above as a helicopter made a sharp curve and landed in front of her.
A tall man in a suit stepped out and approached her. "Dana Simmons." A wave of anxiety crashed upon her when he gripped her arm. "You're coming with me."
"No,'' she screamed, pushing him away."Don't take me back there."
"I'm here to help you." The man reached into his pocket.
"I don't believe you." She pushed him.
The man pulled her inside.
"Please!" Dana yanked her arm away, but it was too late. She had a new captor now.
***
After a trip to the Jersey shore to get some leads, Kerry and Felicia drove back to New York to inspect Dana's apartment. Kerry looked underneath the bed.
Felicia studied her closet. "I wish I had half the pairs of shoes and purses she had."
"What is it with you women with shoes and purses? I can't seem to figure you guys out."
"That's one thing a man will never understand." Felicia peered into a drawer and found Dana's lingerie. "My, my, this woman just loves the color black and white."
"Must be easier to match to clothes, I guess." Kerry shrugged. What did he know about it?
"Believe me, I prefer pastel shades over black and white."
He chuckled. "You're a girly girl."
"Yup." She checked out the shoes. "This woman was abducted. A beautiful and glamorous model like Dana Simmons is not going to leave her home without her clothes. I perceive her to be the type of lady who travels with two suitcases for a weekend trip with her matching entourage. And surely, somebody ought to recognize that woman."
"You're right. Let's hope she's not dead." He rubbed his scruffy chin. "But we've searched everything from Rob's apartment. Her last call was to him. You've also gone over the tapes."
"Yeah, but we still have the mysterious fruitcake gift and card that doesn't make sense."
Felicia followed him to the kitchen and found bread crumbs on the counter and two books. She picked up the books and found a folded note then glanced at Kerry and read the note aloud.
They exchanged glances.
Kerry’s cell phone rang. "Agent Wayne here," he paused. "Yep. We'll be there."
She raised his eyebrows.
"They found four women dead near Jersey shore."
"God bless their souls. We gotta go back there."
"Wait." Kerry picked up another call. "Yes, U.S. Marshall Collins. What can I do for you?" He eyed Felicia. "Uh-huh, you found her."
Chapter 12
Dana rubbed her eyes and rose from a leather couch. Where am I?
She sat inside an office with a desk and an American flag behind it. She spotted three men were whispering, but she couldn't overhear them. A woman had her eyes glued to a folder and another man sat in the corner with a sketchpad.
A man with hair gelled to the side turned around and nodded. "You're awake."
Swallowing hard, she stood from the couch and almost stumbled.
He clasped her arm. She spied a mole on his cheek. This man had been the one to pull her inside the helicopter before she passed out.
“Don’t be afraid, you’re safe now. Coffee?" he asked.
"Where am I?"
The tallest man joined them. "Dana Simmons, why don't we get you some breakfast? You must be starving."
"I'm not eating until you tell me where I am. You can't manipulate me into doing what you want." She raised her voice.
A man dropped the file on the coffee table and approached her. "I'm FBI special Agent Kerry Wayne and this is my partner Agent Felicia Raymond. We are so sorry for what happened, and we're so glad our team rescued you today."
With her hands planted on her hips, Dana mumbled, "Can somebody please explain what's going on?"
The men exchanged glances.
The tallest man unbuttoned his suit and sat down on the couch. "Very well, let me introduce ourselves." He rubbed his chin. "I'm U.S. Marshall Collins, and this is U.S. Marshall Adams. This is Roger, the sketch artist."
Dana didn't blink.
"Please sit down for what we are going to tell you today will change your life," U.S. Marshall Collins added.
Agents Raymond and Wayne moved to the corner and stood there.
Dana sat down, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears.
"Ms. Simmons," U.S. Marshall Collins began. "Your life is in danger."
She gave a hysterical laugh. "Tell me about it. I'm surprised I'm still alive."
U.S. Marshall Adams cleared his throat. "It's more than you think."
"My mother's still out there."
U.S. Marshall Collins leaned closer. His coffee breath worsened her splitting headache. "We tried our very best to check the surroundings but couldn’t find a trace of your mother. You need to tell us about the men who captured you."
"The shorter guy had a raspy voice and a dragon tattoo on his right arm. The redheaded driver never talked much. And those women, they killed all of them." She coughed, wanting to puke.
They jotted down the details.
“Roger can work with you about the details of his features,” U.S. Marshall Adams said.
"Your mother was part of the WITSEC program," U.S. Marshall Collins divulged.
"What?" Dana straightened her shoulders. "Do you mean the Witness Protection Program?"
"That's correct. Your mother was a prime witness of a crime before you were born. She was a Broadway actress in the Big Apple until she discovered that her Russian manager was part of the mob whose business involved the sex trafficking of minors. Your mother witnessed first-hand a container filled with young Russian women who were turned into prostitutes. She also saw them kill women who tried to escape."
Dana rubbed her head. This was too much for her to process. Her gaze sought out the door. I wish I could escape it all. This is just a dream… No. A nightmare I can wake up from.
But U.S. Marshall Collins continued to rattle on. "We plucked her out from her glamorous life in Manhattan."
Dana nodded for him to continue. How had her mother felt when she had to move? Like her mother, Dana loved Manhattan.
"And we let her live a new life in Alaska." His eyes suddenly guarded, he averted his gaze.
"Tell me."
"Your father isn't actually your father.
Dana kicked the chair.
“We had to take her far away as possible where nobody would find her—"
"How dare you tell me all these lies. My father was a good father. He's the only father I'll ever have and just because he's dead, you have no right to tell me this."
U.S. Marshall Collins continued. "We're aware this may be a lot of information for you, but we're here to help."
Dana took deep breaths then covered her face. " I don’t believe you. If he's not my father, then who is?"
The U.S. Marshalls exchanged glances.
"Ugh, don't tell me it's her manager. The Russian guy?"
U.S. Marshall Collins stared at the carpet.
Dana demanded. "You said I need to know everything."
He nodded.
"This is insane."
Agent Raymond said, "Your father protected her and raised you as his own. He knew that at any time, she would have to leave given the circumstances. From what we’ve gathered, it was your father who pleaded for you to stay with him. He couldn't bear losing you."
Dana welled up in tears. "And my mother? Did she love him?"
U.S. Marshall Collins added, "She told us that she learned to love him. Your mother never wanted to leave you, but when news reached the Russian mafia that she was in Alaska, she only had one choice—to escape. They weren't aware she had a daughter until…"
Dana sighed, rubbing her arms. Why couldn't they be a normal family? Why couldn't she have had two parents who took her to school or had barbecues during the rare sunny days in their backyard like her classmates did? Now she discovered that her father whom she loved dearly was not her father. Now she knew why she was hardly allowed to go out and why her father built that tree house for her. The tree house wasn't her only sanctuary, but a place where her father could look out for her. "Until?"
"You're a splitting image of your mother, Dana. You're in every magazine and commercial. Somebody must have put two and two together," U.S. Marshall Collins said. "We suspect your father tried to reach your mother before he died.”
Dana covered her face. "Those men who kidnapped me, who are they? They've also taken my mother and they killed those other women."
U.S. Marshall Collins asked. "Can you tell us what happened when you came back to New York after your father's death?"
"I was mourning and didn't want to go out. I declined invitations to holiday parties and modeling projects. I couldn't bring myself to move on."
"Did anything suspicious occur?" U.S. Marshall Adams asked.
"Well, aside from my lawyer giving me my father's letter, I did receive a fruitcake from Ginny's Delights. I left the fruitcake and took a walk in Central Park. That's where they kidnapped me."
"Ginny's Delights?" U.S. Marshall Collins frowned.
"Yes. And I found their business card inside the drawer in that house, the one I was kept in."
"Ginny's Delights is right down the street. We usually have coffee or desserts. That means this man has been following us," Agent Wayne said.
"You guys are not clear. First you tell me that it's a Russian mob, and now you tell me it's a man. What's the real story here?"
U.S. Marshall Collins cleared his throat. "Your biological father, Anton Markovic, passed away a year ago. He had been searching for your mother and never found her. We learned from an anonymous tip that before he passed away, he discovered he had a daughter and had been hoping to track you down until his heart gave way."
"Great. In one day, I find out that my mother is part of the WITSEC, my father is not my real father, and my biological father is part of the Russian mob and is now dead. Isn't that enough?" Her tummy growled, but she couldn't imagine eating after what she'd been through. Her life would never be normal again. "If he's already dead, why are they still after my mother?"
"He has a son."
"A son?" She paused. "I have a half brother?"
"Vladimir."
She swallowed hard trying to process all the information. "My half brother."
"Technically, he's not. Your father adopted Vladimir when he was five." U.S. Marshall Collins said. "You don't have to be afraid. We are here to help you."
Dana shook her head. "You're not here to protect me. You're going to strip my life like you did with my mother. Do you know what you did to
her? To me? Do you know how hard it is for me to be close to people fearing that I can lose them? I've never had a long relationship." She broke down crying. "I travel a lot, I keep a bright smile on my face, but nobody knows the emptiness I feel inside."
"I'm sorry," U.S. Marshall Adams said.
"Tell me, U.S. Marshall Adams, did you grow up with a mother? Did you have somebody kiss you goodbye before you went to school?"
U.S. Marshall Adams looked away.
"You're never going to give me back the years I lost with my mother. You destroyed my life, and nobody, not even my father, had the decency to tell me the truth. How dare you!"
"We're very sorry, Dana," Agent Raymond said.
She glared at them. "So this is it? You're going to control me like you did with my mother?" You said you would protect her, but after all these years, they've found her."
"We did the best we can."
"Really? Up 'till now, you haven't been able to bust the Russian mob." She stomped her foot. "Why is that, U.S. Marshall Collins? And what makes you so sure that you can protect me?"
Chapter 13
Moments later, despite desperate pleading from Dana, the U.S. Marshals didn't say a word as she chewed her tofu in the same office. What lay in store for her? She lifted her chin and stared at them. "Why are you keeping me as a prisoner?"
U.S. Marshall Collins spoke softly. "We are here to protect you."
“You keep saying that.” Tears prickled her eyes. How she wished she'd hugged and kissed her mother. Bile rose in her throat. It would be a miracle if she saw her mother again. She hated her biological father, and now her step-brother was trying to finish the job. He would not just kill her mother. He would kill her as well.
Agent Wayne sat across from Dana while Agent Raymond leaned against the wall.
"We have a few questions to ask you about your friend, Rob Hanson," Agent Wayne said.
"Rob? Is he in trouble?"
Agent Wayne exchanged glances with Agent Raymond before facing Dana. "A Russian young lady named Stacy Kestav is missing."
"We don't have any reason to believe Rob's responsible for Stacy's disappearance, but he is now involved since he came searching for you" Agent Raymond added, handing Dana a business card.