Once Trapped

Riley noticed that Jilly was twitching a little in her sleep. The fourteen-year-old was in the adjoining seat, with her head resting on Riley’s shoulder. Their plane had been in the air for about three hours now, and it would be another couple of hours before they would land in Phoenix.

Is she dreaming? Riley wondered.

If so, Riley hoped that the dreams weren’t bad.

Jilly had lived through horrific experiences during her short life, and she still had lots of nightmares. She’d seemed especially anxious since that letter from social services in Phoenix had arrived, informing them that Jilly’s father wanted his daughter back. Now they were flying to Phoenix for a court date that would settle the matter once and for all.

Riley couldn’t help but worry as well. What would become of Jilly if the judge didn’t allow her to stay with Riley?

The social worker had said she didn’t expect that to happen.

But what if she was wrong? Riley wondered.

Jilly’s whole body started twitching more sharply. She began moaning quietly.

Riley shook her gently and said, “Wake up, sweetheart. You’re having a bad dream.”

Jilly sat bolt upright and stared straight ahead for a moment. Then she burst into tears.

Riley put her arm around Jilly and reached into her purse for a tissue.

She asked, “What is it? What were you dreaming about?”

Jilly sobbed wordlessly for a few moments. Then she said, “It was nothing. Don’t worry.”

Riley sighed. She knew that Jilly harbored secrets that she didn’t like to talk about.

She stroked the girl’s dark hair and said, “You can tell me anything, Jilly. You know that.”

Jilly wiped her eyes and blew her nose.

Finally she said, “I was dreaming about something that really happened. A few years ago. My dad was on one of his serious drunks and he was blaming me as usual—for my mother leaving, for his not being able to keep a job. For everything. He told me he wanted me out of his life. He dragged me by the arm to a closet and threw me inside and locked the door and …”

Jilly fell silent and closed her eyes.

“Please tell me,” Riley said.

Jilly shook herself a little and said, “I was afraid to scream at first, because I thought he’d drag me back out and beat me. He just left me in there, like he’d forgotten all about me. And then …”

Jilly choked back a sob.

“I don’t know how many hours passed, but everything got real quiet. I thought maybe he’d just passed out or gone to bed or something. But it was like that for a long, long time, and everything stayed so quiet. Finally I realized that he must have left the house. He did that sometimes. He’d go away for days and I’d never know when he was coming back, or if he was coming back.”

Riley shuddered as she tried to imagine the poor girl’s horror.

Jilly continued, “Finally I started screaming and banging on the door, but of course nobody could hear me, and I couldn’t get out. I was alone in that closet for … I still don’t know how long. Several days, probably. I had nothing to eat, and I sure couldn’t sleep, and I was so hungry and afraid. I even had to go to the bathroom in there and I had to clean that up later. I started seeing and hearing weird things in the dark—I guess they must have been hallucinations. I guess I kind of lost my mind.”

Small wonder, Riley thought with horror.

Jilly said, “When I heard noises in the house again, I thought maybe I was just hearing things. I yelled out, and Dad came to the closet and unlocked it. He was stone cold sober now, and he looked surprised to see me. ‘How’d you get in there?’ he said. He acted all upset that I’d gotten myself into such a mess and treated me OK for a little while after that.”

Jilly’s voice had faded to a near whisper, and she added, “Do you think he’s going to get custody of me?”

Riley gulped down a knot of anxiety. Should she share her own fears with the girl she still hoped to adopt as her own daughter?

She couldn’t bring herself to do that.

Instead she said …

“I’m sure he won’t.”

“He’d better not,” Jilly said. “Because if he does, I’ll run away for good. Nobody will ever find me.”

Riley felt a deep chill as she realized …

She really means it.

Jilly had a history of running away from places she didn’t like. Riley remembered all too well how she’d found Jilly in the first place. Riley had been working on a case involving dead prostitutes in Phoenix, and she’d found Jilly in the cab of a truck in a parking lot where prostitutes worked. Jilly had decided to become a prostitute and sell her body to the owner of the truck.

Would she do anything that desperate again? Riley wondered.

Riley was horrified by the idea.

Meanwhile, Jilly had calmed down and was drifting back to sleep. Riley nestled the girl’s head against her shoulder again. She tried to stop worrying about the upcoming court date. But she couldn’t shake off her fear of losing Jilly.

Would Jilly even survive if that happened?

And if she did survive, what kind of life would she have?

*

When the plane landed, four people were waiting to greet Riley and Jilly. One was a familiar face—Brenda Fitch, the social worker who had put Jilly into Riley’s care in the first place. Brenda was a slender, nervous woman with a warm and caring smile.

Riley didn’t recognize the three other people. Brenda hugged Riley and Jilly and made introductions, starting with a middle-aged married couple, both of them stout and smiling.

Brenda said, “Riley, I don’t believe you’ve met Bonnie and Arnold Flaxman. They were Jilly’s foster parents for a short while after you rescued her.”

Riley nodded, remembering how Jilly had soon run away from the well-meaning couple. Jilly had been determined to live with no one except Riley. Riley hoped that the Flaxmans didn’t harbor any hard feelings about that. But they seemed kind and welcoming.

Brenda then introduced Riley to a tall man with a long, oddly shaped head and a somewhat vacuous smile.

Brenda said, “This is Delbert Kaul, who is serving as our attorney. Come on, let’s go somewhere to sit down and talk things over.”

The group hurried through the concourse to the nearest coffee shop. The adults ordered coffee and Jilly got a soft drink. As they all sat down, Riley remembered that Bonnie Flaxman’s brother was Garrett Holbrook, an FBI agent stationed here in Phoenix.

Riley asked, “How’s Garrett these days?”

Bonnie shrugged and smiled. “Oh, you know. Garrett is Garrett.”