Billie Bossa Nova

43.

"Oh my God, I'm free! I can't believe I'm free!"

Billie chuckled at Lula's overjoyed exclamations. Just a few minutes ago, Lula had been sobbing her eyes out and that transitioned to laughing and now this. Billie understood. The way that Lula was brought here could not have been half as unfazing as hers. First reason being that Lula was not a spy, which meant being kidnapped to her was over millions of odds. Secondly being that Billie had known from the beginning that she would escape. Lula, on the other hand, had her only hope on car keys and no way of getting to the car to use them.

They switched from Kayden's BMW to a 4x4 they stole from a shabby looking middle-aged farm boy who was now laying unconscious at the gas station. At least now, he had a BMW. That is, if Kayden didn't put a tracker on it, which was a heavy doubt. Then Billie had to contact CRO to fly them down from Puerto Rico which is where Kayden had them captive all the way back to LA.

"How did you know it was me?" Billie asked Lula once she calmed down, remembering how fast the girl had risen from bed when she came in.

Lula looked out the windows, her feet resting on the dashboard as she explained, "I couldn't sleep. I was staring at the door the whole time. I saw your shadow pass my room under the door." Billie nodded her head. "And then I heard him call for you. I thought he'd catch you."

Billie's eyebrows rose. She glanced at her when the road was moving straight. "You're the one that made that sound?"

Lula nodded. "I threw a book at the door. Then he walked in and I got scared."

"You acted really cool, though," Billie complimented.

"Thanks," she grinned. "And thank you for coming with me."

Billie wanted to tell her that she was the whole reason why Billie left so soon. There was still so much she had to do. She was yet to investigate the rest of the house. Go through Kayden's office, search for a hidden room, anything that she could find about him that linked to Adan Rivera's underground trafficking chamber.

"Do you know where your house is?" Lula went silent. For a moment, Billie couldn't quite tell why, not until it hit her. "You do have a house, right, Lula? And parents?" More silence. "Lula."

"No. Me and my sister live by ourselves. Mamà and pappì were taken from us a couple of years ago when I was a baby. Then my sister, Veronica ran away with me."

Billie frowned. "Why were they taken?"

"Nica says they came here illegally, by crossing the Mexican boarder through the desert before she was born. They lived here for twelve years before the police found them. Then Nica ran away with me. We keep moving around, Nica gets freelance jobs to make money for us. I don't know where she might be right now."

Billie exhaled. This little girl was barely blossoming into puberty, yet her life had been one hell of a train wreck. Billie knew that she wasn't aware how much better her life could be. To what extent she was being deprived of simple things. Her dreams were probably as simple as her life and little things made her happy because there are bigger things capable of making her sad.

"I'll help you, Lula."

"You'll help me find Veronica?" Her smile was bright, like nobody had ever said something like that to her in her life. It made Billie's heart sink further down than it already did.

"That and more."

The sun rose above them in the horizon, brightening the sky from the dark morning navy blue to hues of red, orange and yellow. Billie suppressed a grin.

They were home.

***

Kai was not home when she arrived. She grabbed the spare key from the counter downstairs. The lady, Tabitha, knew her well and did not refrain from asking questions about where she came from and why she was dressed so ruggedly. Billie wasn't too messy, but the woman was probably so accustomed to her being dressed in modest clothes that she may have looked out of sorts without them.