Kidnapped

Chapter 23

(Lucy's POV)

"They- They've been found?" My heart leaps in my chest at the news.

"You can see them now if you want to." The officer's breath is back to normal and his words are rushed.

"Yeah, yeah let's go." Jason is now standing behind me and we head towards the car to follow the officer. I practically run to the car with Jason hot on my heels.

The car is immediately started and put in reverse. We speed away from the park, following the officer.

When we arrive, I'm out of the car before it's completely stopped. I run in after the officer and we walk down a long hallway.

We enter a room and the table is filled with the girls I had once known as kidnapped.

"Oh my gosh." They all gasped at seeing me. They all stand to meet me at a group hug. I can't help but cry and I can hear the rest of them crying, too. My heart aches for these girls.

When we pull apart, we all have tears streaming down our faces. "I- I" I'm completely at a loss of words.

We all laugh slightly before joining in another group hug. After another minute or so, we pull away. "Where were you guys? The police went to the cabin you were last at, but you weren't there."

"Luke must have had another accomplice, some man came and moved us further out. He said he worked with Luke and that's all before he left us." Carla explained.

My chest tightens. "He has- He" I can't even speak. Luke has accomplices everywhere. He has people in and outside of everything. My head is starting to hurt and I'm becoming frustrated.

"More accomplices?" Mandy interjects.

"Yeah, that." I breathe. I need to sit down.

I grab a chair and sit down, staring no where in particular. The girls sit around the table and look at me blankly.

"What are you going to do about this?" I glare at the officers.

"We're working on that. We're trying to work on that. Maybe work out a deal so he'll tell us his accomplices and if he's done this to other girls. We have not yet talked to him, but we will soon." The female officer explains.

"He shouldn't be allowed visitors!" I exclaim.

"I understand you feel that way, but we can't forbid him to have visitors without probable cause." She continues.

"This is probable cause!" I yell.

"Not until we're positive that he's been talking to an accomplice. Yes, these visits are monitored, but officers are not permitted to say anything. Until we can prove that the man who moved these girls was given the order by Luke after being put in jail, we can't do anything but arrest the man and keep Luke away." Her voice is forceful and it's giving me chills.

"You need to do something!" I exclaim.

"We're doing everything we can." Her voice has gone soft and she's looking at me with eyes that tell me to shut up.

I sigh and look back at the girls. They've all grown and they have no need to go back to families. No need whatsoever. Some of these girls don't even have families. "Where are they going to go?" I question the officer.

"They can live in a group house we've set for you all, or they can live with friends or family. Just until they get back on their feet." The woman explains.

After seeing where they wanted to go, all of them chose the group home. "Okay parents and relatives are on the way." She smiles softly and the officers file out of the room.

I look around at the girls who have family and see as their eyes light up. For once they seem to genuinely smile. Some of them at least.

"Should I go?" I question.

I don't want to be rude and interrupt them while they reunite with family. I feel like I'm intruding. "No, please stay. I want to show my family who gave me the strength to keep me going." Carla smiles softly and I nod, smiling back.

"So who is this?" Mandy asks, pointing at Jason.

"Oh, this is Jason, my boyfriend." I look at him as he smiles at all of the girls. They all seem to be unnerved with a male in the room, but I'm not the least bit surprised.

Katherine is sitting in the corner of the table twiddling her thumbs. I can only imagine how she feels. She lost her sister to some wretched rapist and murderer. Then she came from a broken home and no relatives as far as I've been told.

Carla is probably ready to see her family. Her brother aging at almost 30, her boyfriend who was deployed. Even her parents who actually cared about her.

Mandy is probably ready to just leave. She comes from a broken home, too. She has friends, as I was told, but her father's a drunk after his wife died in a car accident. I can only imagine how everyone in this room feels.

I wonder about Chloe. She traded herself for me to be kidnapped again. She gave herself another shot and let me suffer. She's probably laughing and smiling, not caring that me or the other girls are back. It'll be hard to gain my trust. Very hard.

There's a knock on the door and several people file into the large room. Everyone's eyes are teary and they all look like they're going to break. I make the first move of stepping out of the way. Everyone seems to reunite with someone.

Mandy with what looks like a friend. Even Katherine is a hugging a teenage boy. Carla's parents are squeezing Carla, but it doesn't seem like her boyfriend is here.

After a few more minutes of tears and hugs and cries, we've all settled down into seats around the table. "So this is Lucy." Carla's father, I assume, breaks the silence.

"Yes, sir." I answer, staring up at him.

He surprises me by bringing me into a hug and squeezing me. "Thank you. Thank you for giving these girls strength to go on. Thank you so much for giving my daughter hope." I can feel the tears on my shirt and I just do my best to comfort him.

He pulls away and wipes away his tears.

"Where's Ryan?" Carla questions. I assume that's her boyfriend.

"Uh, he couldn't make it." Carla's mother trails.

"Oh." Carla replies, looking down.

After a few minutes of silence, there's another knock on the door. A man is standing there in a military uniform with his hat in his hand, against his chest.

Carla gasps and that's when I realize that it's Ryan. They hug and cry together while we sit back and watch them.

They finally pull away and sit down, holding each other close.

"So who is this?" I gesture towards the boy clinging to Katherine.

"This is my little brother. He's 17." She breathes.

I see the resemblance now. "I'm so sorry." I tell the little boy.

He hasn't gotten to see neither of his sisters for three years, his other sister was brutally murdered and he had to live in a broken home. He nods as tears slip from his eyes.

"The girls have all chosen to stay in a group home, if that's alright with you." I can only look at Carla's parents as they're the only true adults in the room.

After a few moments of silence, they sigh and nod. Before I can say anything, the door is pushed open and a girl and an officer are standing there.

"Danielle." I breathe.

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Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy lately. This is more of a filler, but here you go. I hope you enjoyed it.

-Kayla