“To the airport.” Thomas glances at me from the front seat and puts his hand on my arm. He must have noticed I’m not dancing to the same upbeat tune he does.
“Don’t worry, Elise. May I call you Elise?”
“Yes.” I eye him. What does the question mean? Does he know about the others?
Scott puts his arm around me like a protective lover. He shakes his head and whispers, “I didn’t tell him.”
“You betrayed me.”
Now it is Tom’s turn to look puzzled. “I told you it was Scott who called the police.”
I close my eyes and swallow down the urge to tell him to butt out. This is between Scott and me.
“I didn’t. Believe me.”
“The police officer thanked you for your help. What else could that mean?”
“That’s how you took it? Oh my God. You must have thought the worst of me.”
“I did. I was shattered.”
“I don’t blame you. I took it as a dismissal, as an order to stay out of their way. And I did until they were out of sight. That’s when I followed them. My intention was to follow you to the station and see what help you needed. I got suspicious when they turned into Martin’s driveway. When they brought you into his house and the police car drove away, I knew something was wrong.”
“You followed us? I wish I’d known. By then, I’d given up all hope.”
“Yes. I camped all night in the car until they left with you in the early morning and drove to Greymouth. When I saw the fishing boat, they dragged you onto leave the harbor, I went to the police in Greymouth and they called the Maritime Police. And the rest is history.”
“That means you are one of the good guys after all?”
“How could you ever doubt it?”
“I’m sorry, but… I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m surprised you trust anybody at all. I have never seen such a web of deception woven around a person. Wherever we turn, people who should have cared, have dirt on their hands instead.”
He’s right. But wasn’t I to blame for being indifferent and too wrapped up in my inner world to notice? I never questioned how odd my life with Horace was. It never crossed my mind that the way we lived wasn’t normal. I doubted my sanity, but never the sanity of the people surrounding me. I feared other people, but never Horace and Helen. I disliked them, but never feared them. I always thought their actions were justified. Somehow.
As the taxi files through the traffic on Oriental Parade, the sun falls in through the side window and rests on his tired face. A part of me would like to touch it and smooth out the frowns on his forehead, but I’m too embarrassed.
“I owe you my life.”
“Nah, at the most you owe me one of your sensational breakfasts.”
“Cereal and eggs?”
“That’s the one. Never had anything better.”
A smile settles at the corners of his mouth, driving away the shadows of worry and sleepless nights. It’s a smile that weaves warm strands of care around our heart. When this is all over, I might ask him to be my boyfriend after all. I lean on him and nestle in his arms.
“What now?”
“We have to see when we return home. I gave the police in Greymouth a full statement. They’ve arrested Martin and the police officers.” Scott leans back in his seat. “Tom has the rest.”
Thomas takes off his sunglasses. “They arrested Helen, Heather, Brian Meads, and Jo Carter for kidnapping you and the children. The kids are with the social worker from child social services and they’ve informed their parents. In your statement, you said that Helen spoke with a person called Seb who you thought was a leader of the group. They couldn’t find a Seb and Helen denied that such a conversation took place.”
“She’s lying.”
“We believe you. We were hoping to find more evidence.”
“It’s not over yet, is it?” My dream of a quiet life growing vegetables in my garden and getting lost behind my loom is slipping through my fingers. Well, not my dream, more Elise’s dream. I hate to say it, though, it appeals to me too.
“No, it’s not over, I’m afraid. I don’t believe for a moment that the people we’ve caught are the brains behind the trafficking ring.” Thomas stops as the taxi arrives at the airport. He pays the driver and we walk to the Departure Hall.
“I agree with Tom. Helen and Martin are small fish in a big pond. We haven’t even come close to the head or heads of the Gateways organization.”
The two men took the next fifteen minutes buying tickets and checking in our bags. In the meantime, I’m standing in the large airport hall like a lost piece of luggage. I wonder who among the hundreds of people rushing in and out of gates, hauling their luggage around, is suffering human tragedies and hardships, just like me. There must be many, and yet, we are sailing past each other like ships in the night, going about our lives and putting a smile on our face, as if nothing is the matter.
“Are you coming?” Scott walks up and hands me my boarding pass. “We have two hours to kill. Let’s find a quiet corner.”
Airports are not the first places that spring to mind when you think of cozy, quiet corners, but we spot a table in the Mezzanine restaurant, that looks private enough.
I’m dying to hear what Thomas Aldercroft meant with his last comment in the taxi, but the waiter seems determined to make a mission out of putting the food and the drinks on our table. When he finally leaves us alone, I put a giant question mark onto my face. You know, the one where you raise both eyebrows way up to your hairline and the
