When Hate Turns to Love

Ch. 46

The Melody Mart looked like a crime scene. Yellow tape cut off the entrances and police officers were everywhere. Nini sat quietly on the piano bench, having cried herself dry. The talking around her had turned into white noise and things seemed to move in slow motion. She vaguely heard Kourtney yelling something.

"-ni! -ini! Nini! Nina Isobel Salazar-Roberts!"

Nini was jerked from her fog.

"Nini, Detective Kent is here to talk to you. Ricky is here to." Kourt said, her voice gentler.

Nini mutely nodded at the detective and Ricky. She felt her boyfriend sit beside her and put his arm around her waist.

"Nini, I know you've told the story for what feels like a thousand times," Detective Kent said gently, "But I need to hear what happened again."

Nini cleared her sore throat.

"EJ called me to say he got what he wanted. He said he was giving me a chance to say goodbye to the kids before they moved on to some new life." she rasped.

"Do the techs have your cell phone?" Detective Kent asked.

Nini nodded.

"Do you have any idea where Ej could have taken Charlotte and Connor?"

"The Caswell's are very wealthy. They have many vacation homes. But I don't think Ej would take them to one of them. He knows you'd find them." Nini said, her voice tired.

"We are already speaking to Ej's parents, though they aren't very cooperative. His sister is missing though." Detective Kent confirmed, "And because many of the Caswell's vacation homes are out of state, the FBI has become involved."

"His sister helped Ej get the twins." Ricky spoke up.

"Yes, Officer Armstrong told me that. Nini, can you think of anyone else who may be able to help narrow down where your ex-husband may be?"

"What about Brookelynn?" Red said from his perch upon the piano.

They all turned to look at the red-head.

"What?" he asked, hands up.

"That's a good idea." Detective Kent said.

"I told you people I get them sometimes." Red pouted.

"That's really smart, actually." Kourt said.

"I'll get one of my partners to bring Brookelynn here." Detective Kent said.

"No need." said the blonde in question, a look of determination in her eyes, "I'm here."'

Brookelynn embraced Nini, who returned the hug. It was an odd sort of comfort having her there.

"I may have an idea where Ej and Ellie are headed." Emily said.

LINE BREAK

Charlotte was scared. She wanted her mommy. She wanted Ricky. But she did not cry. Mr. Ej told her she wasn't allowed to cry. He told her to call him daddy. But she didn't want to. So she didn't say anything at all. She held her brother's hand as she stared out at the cloudy sky through the car window. She didn't know where they were going. She asked once, but the lady next to Mr. Ej, Auntie Ellie yelled at her. She heard a sniffle from beside her.

"Don't cry Con." she whispered.

"Shut up back there, little girl." Mr. Ej yelled. "I'm trying to think."

"Where are we going to go Ej?" Auntie Ellie asked.

"Someplace I never told anyone about." Mr. Ej said, "It's one of the vacation homes."

"The police will be all over it!" Ellie screeched, "I wish you'd thought this through."

"Quiet El. It's not on the books. I figure dad needed a place to hide if one of his clients came after him." Mr. Ej laughed, making Charlotte shiver, "Dad told me about it awhile back. No one knows about it. We can stay there until everything dies down, then we'll get out of the country."

Charlotte didn't understand much of what they were saying, but she knew it wasn't good. She squeezed Connor's hand and let silent tears fall.

She was so scared.