“You’ve been on the hunt for her ever since.”
“You know when a person goes missing the longer the hunt continues, the less likely it is for the person to be alive?”
“Yes.”
“Mandy’s alive. I know she is, and I can’t, I just can’t bring myself to stop looking.”
Russ sighed. “Mandy didn’t just go missing, Lewis. She was taken. Look at Karen, Anna’s friend. She died. I know this is hard for you to accept, but you’re going to have to come to agree that Mandy may no longer be alive.”
Lewis shook his head. “No. I need a body. I need records, and proof. I’m not giving up until I get that. I’ve not turned my back on everything to give up now. This club is about helping those that can’t help themselves. This MC means fucking more than just a bunch of guys getting their rocks off. I’m not giving up, and I’m not stopping until I find her, dead or alive.”
Lewis sat forward, and started looking through the details again.
“She wouldn’t forget about anyone, Russ. Mandy, she was good from the inside.”
“It has been nearly fifteen years. She would have survived fifteen years in the hands of her kidnappers. Child abductors. You know what comes after that, don’t you?”
“I don’t need you to spell it out to me. I got it. I know everyone thinks I’m wasting my time, but it’s my time to waste. It’s my life that I’m giving up in search of her, and I’m not going to stop. You know, there are times that I think my informant is her.”
Russ paused. “What?”
“A few years ago, long after Mandy was taken, there was a possible sighting of her in Italy, and when I got the file on her disappearance about two years ago, I went over to Italy to get some answers, and I made some noise. A lot of noise, and I dug into every piece of known information they had over there on Mandy, which was nothing. While I was over there, I had put Mandy’s picture through an, erm, aging software. You know, you take a picture, and it gets aged to see what they’d look like today. I had a multitude of these done, and I posted them on a missing persons website. Within an hour of this photograph going live, along with all her personal information, I got a call. An anonymous call about a group of girls about to be taken via boat across country.”
“That was our first mission as a club.”
“It was our first, and every time this person gets in contact, I can’t help feeling like it’s her, it’s Mandy. She loved helping people, and she would be the kind of person who stayed trapped to help others.”
Russ didn’t want to burst his bubble about Mandy. He didn’t know anything about her, and from the hope shining in his friend’s eyes, he didn’t want to take that from him.
“I’m working on some software that will take the recording of her voice, and remove the distortion. I may be able to hear her soon.”
“That kind of technology is unreliable, Lewis. You heard her childhood voice, and that was a long time ago. How are you even going to know it’s her voice?”
“I know. I know everything, okay? You can’t blame a guy for trying.”
Glancing through the computer, Russ got lost in his own thoughts about Anna. He wasn’t going to leave her alone. She needed protection, and she was so damn stubborn.
“You know, I went to see Anna today.”
“You’re going back later, right?”
“Yes. Today she found out I was a billionaire.”
Lewis snorted. “Was she all over you?”
“No. She wasn’t. She looked more unnerved than anything, like I told her I had the plague.”
“Maybe she thinks you do. It’s not normal for women to look a little shy about your bank balance.”
“I know. Crazy huh.”
“I guess. How is she handling everything?”
“I’ve still got her on suicide watch. I have a feeling she’s going to crack any moment. When she’s been discharged from the hospital, I’m taking her home.”
Lewis glanced up from his computer then. “What?”
“She needs someone, and I’m available to help her.”
“You’re going to take care of her?”
“Yes. What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing. I guess. Well, I don’t know. She’s a woman you saved, Russ.”
“When you find Mandy, will you leave her alone? Will you let her come to terms with what has happened?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Then don’t judge me.”
“I’m not judging, but there is a big difference between Mandy and Anna.”
“What is it?”