Page 70 of The Captive and the First Blood Game
“Sounds right.”
“Did I miss anything today while I was gone?”
“Nah,” Jodie said, slouching back into a chair. “Laura has been out of commission, too. Meghan disappeared early this morning. I’ll tell you…I’d really like my own room sometime soon so I don’t have to hear her come and go.”
“Yeah. I think most people are bunking up. I’m surprised I don’t have to share.”
Jodie rolled her eyes. “With vampire boyfriend on your side? Puh-lease.”
Reyna laughed. “Vampire boyfriend. I love that.”
A knock came at the door. “Come in,” Reyna called.
Meghan stuck her head in the doorway. “Hey. Just the people I was looking for.” She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. “I talked with Reyna the other day, and I’ve been thinking a lot about our conversation. And I want to help you. Both of you. I know what you went through was horrible, but we are not Visage. We want you to be happy. We would love to help you find anyone if you have people you want to bring in. Do you have someone we could look for?”
Jodie shot a look at Reyna, who held up her hands in surrender. She’d asked Meghan to look into it, but she hadn’t given out Jodie’s private details. Still, it was important for Jodie to open up just as much as it was for Reyna.
“You want to help me?” Jodie asked.
“Yes,” Meghan said. “I do.”
Jodie glanced down into her lap, where she threaded her fingers together. “Then why did you never come for me? Why did you leave me in there for ten years?”
Reyna could feel something slice open in Jodie. Could see her heart rip and spill all her inner turmoil onto the floor. The abandonment, the years of captivity, the hopelessness. It all came tumbling out.
Meghan’s eyes welled with tears. “Ten years?”
“You saved Reyna after eight weeks but left me forever. Left all those other kids. How could you do that?”
“I didn’t know,” she whispered. “I didn’t know, Jodie.”
“No one knew?” Jodie asked.
“I don’t know, but I personally didn’t know. I didn’t have access to that information. I had no idea that they had done this or that they had you or even that there were others like you. I found out when we got you out. I would get everyone out of there if I could. That is what we want long term. What we have always been fighting for.”
Jodie looked skeptical. “You really didn’t know?”
“No. And if I had, I would have done something about it. We’re still building up to the resources we need to make a jailbreak of that caliber. But I don’t want anyone in there any more than you do, Jodie.”
Jodie deflated as all the righteous indignation she had been riding on dissolved. “I have a cousin, June Gardner. They took me from her.” Jodie looked up into Meghan’s face. “Can you help me find her?”
Meghan shot both of them a bright smile. “Of course. I would love to help you find your cousin. Why don’t we start now?”
“What’s the catch?” Jodie asked.
“There’s no catch, Jodie. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you we’re not Visage for it to sink in.”
“Probably a few more.”
“Come on. With a name, maybe Tony in tech can point us in the right direction.”
Jodie’s gaze shot between Reyna and Meghan uncertainly. “Reyna, do you want to come?”
Reyna’s smile was bright as she said, “If you don’t mind me hobbling around?”
Jodie snorted. “I don’t mind.”
“Why are you hobbling around? Are you injured?” Meghan asked.
