Truth and Light

Chapter 18

Once inside the bathroom, I took care of business, washed my hands, put my clothes on and opened the letter. I was shocked to see what was inside.

Dear Alina,

You have stolen everything from me, and now I will I take something important from you. If Gabe ever wants to see Joshua again, you will come to me, alone. Otherwise, I will give him to the Pitch and they'll destroy him. What will Gabe think of you then, to be the cause of someone he loves dying?

You have until midnight to get to the gas station in town or Joshua dies. Come alone.

Amanda Jenks

Tears ran down my face for the umpteenth time that day. Would she really do that to Josh? He was innocent in all this. Had she really taken him? I remembered not seeing him on the beach and wondering where he was. Callie had said he wasn't feeling well.

I ran to the teen wing. There was always an adult working in case one of the kids needed something. A young woman, Alyssa, was stationed there today, reading a book. I had only met her a few times.

"Alyssa, right?" I asked her, still out of breath from my run.

"Yeah, and you're Alina, right?" Alyssa smiled at me and put out her hand to shake. I didn't want to be rude, but I didn't have a lot of time to waste. I shook her hand.

"Have you seen Josh around?" I asked, looking at the groups of kids that were hanging around in the game room. I couldn't see Josh anywhere.

"Umm, no, I don't think so. The last aide said he wasn't feeling well, so I just let him sleep."

A sudden thought came to me, and a breath caught in my throat, "Alyssa, who was the last aide on duty?"

Alyssa retrieved the sign in/sign out sheet and checked it, "That's weird, Stacy, who was scheduled, wasn't feeling well either so Amanda took over for her. There must be a bug going around. When one of the kids gets sick, everyone does."

"Why is that weird?" I asked.

"Well, she doesn't usually work the teen wing and she hasn't done the mandatory training," Alyssa said, she looked at the paperwork. "I'm going to have to let Gabe know about this."

Alyssa searched the desk for the list of important phone numbers. I knew it was in the left drawer, but I didn't tell Alyssa. Instead, I stood in front of the drawer, and leaned against the desk to block her access.

"You know, I'm about to head down to the dining hall. I'll let him know," I told her, trying to sound calm. Inside I was freaking out. How could Amanda do this to a kid? This was Josh, he'd already gone through so much, he didn't deserve this.

Sunshine, what's wrong? Gabe's voice came in so clear in my head, I almost turned around to see if he was behind me before I remembered the soul bond.

Nothing, I'm fine. On my way to the dining hall now. I just wanted to check on Josh. Callie said earlier he wasn't feeling well. I told him and tried not to think about Amanda or the situation with Josh.

Are you sure? I can come get you, if you need me, Gabe sounded distracted, and I could feel that others were talking to him.

I'm fine, I'm walking towards you now. I tried to concentrate on the food that we would be eating tonight so Gabe couldn't sense my anxiety. The corn on the cob, one of my favorites, that Sue had recently harvested, was incredibly sweet and I couldn't wait to taste it.