Murder was the Case they Gave Me

Chapter 18

I sat on the couch, a pair of headphones on my stomach. The baby can hear noises, so I was playing some of Eli's music for her. She seemed to enjoy it for the most part, I could feel her moving around while it played.

            "Do you hear that?" I asked. "That's your daddy. Isn't he really talented? Soon you're going to be hearing his voice in real life."

            Tanya was over with an old laptop as she worked hard trying to find Eli. She said it would take a little bit longer using this computer, the coding was different and not what she was used to.

            "I think that he is either in Southern New Jersey or Delaware, I have narrowed it down that much," she said.

            "That's good," I said. "Hear that, cupcake, she's going to find your Daddy soon."

            I felt the baby kick, making me grin. I tapped the spot where she kicked, and she kicked again. I tapped the other side of my baby bump, making her kick there instead.

            "It's like a little game," Adrianna said with a small chuckle. "That's so cute."

            I went into the bedroom to get a pair of slippers when I noticed something sitting on the dresser. It was a picture of Eli, shirtless and covered in bruises, burns, and cuts. Yet, he was still holding the little kitten stuffed animal. He never seemed to want to let that thing go.

            "Adrianna, I found something new in the bedroom," I said, walking out with it.

            She sighed as she looked at it before handing it off to Tanya.

            "Don't show Henry," I said. "Or else he is going to tell Officer Jackson about it and then he's going to take it away."

            "You don't trust your own brother?" Adrianna asked.

            "Just don't tell him," I said.

            "Alright, I won't tell him then, that's fine with me," Tanya said. "They're definitely keeping him alive for a purpose, just not living a comfortable life at all. They're probably feeding him scraps at best. The cuts seem to have mostly healed. It seems like what they typically do is hurt him and then give him a break for a little bit before hurting him again. They only hurt him to show you. That means that they're wanting to hurt you emotionally and mentally just as much as they want to hurt him physically."

            The words hit me like a brick as I stared at her. She was always so blatant, and although the honesty is what I needed, it still hurt like hell to hear.

"And I forgot my slippers," I said, hoping that maybe it would change the conversation. I wasn't really wanting to talk about Eli being tortured at all.

            I went back to the bedroom to try and find the slippers when my phone began to ring.

            "Hello?" I asked.

            "Get rid of her," the voice replied. The voice was gravelly, like someone was using some sort of voice changer on themselves.

            I was about to go out to tell Tanya when the man stopped me.

            "Don't tell anyone or else we are going to kill Eli," he said.

            "Don't, please don't," I begged.

            "We're always watching," he said. "Right now, you're wearing a purple top and grey sweatpants. This is your second time going into the bedroom to try and find your slippers."