“What if an emergency happened or they wanted to leave the island?” Reaper asked.
“Sherguevil has its own hospital with state-of-the-art equipment and doctors and nurses, all of whom are staffed by Allerton. And no, they never left the island, ever.”
“Who would want to work there and never be allowed to leave?” Viper asked. “I could see the islanders being content to stay on Clindale, but if you were an outsider, why would you give up your freedom and never leave Sherguevil?”
T.A. sadly stared down at her cup. “People who have no hope of creating a better life for themselves; people who want more for their families. Allerton gives them the money to send home to their families. And even though they will never get to see them again, they’re allowing the ones they love better lives. Allerton doesn’t only want people willing to sell their souls to work for him, if that’s what you’re thinking. He hires employees who are willing to sell their souls so they will never betray him, and none of them ever have… or Evangeline wouldn’t have spent years running from him.”
“Why did she have to run?” Reaper spoke, turning T.A.’s attention back to him.
“She wasn’t given a choice.” T.A. face twisted in pain. “Sadly, a great deal of Evangeline’s life has been spent trying to outrun the perils she found herself in from those she loves. Most of what I’m about to tell you are things we found out after the fact, and the bits and pieces of what Evangeline remembers.”
T.A. took a deep breath and Reaper had a bad feeling this story was going to be long. “When Evangeline was three, Manny started sneaking her aboard Gyi’s boat; his father only ever allowed the island children. Gyi would never have allowed Evangeline to go.
“Manny had her sing in front of the visitors, who would throw money in the collection box, but what he was really doing was using her to distract them while the other children pickpocketed the guests. The children then gave the loot to Manny, who took his profit, then divided up some for the kids to take home to their parents.”
“What went wrong?” Reaper urged her to go faster.
“Evangeline went wrong. She picked up on what the children were doing and wouldn’t stop bugging Manny until he taught her how to be a pickpocket too. By then, I think Manny had no choice but to give into her, knowing she’d tell our parents—and Gyi—if he didn’t explain it away like a game. So that’s what he did. Manny told her all the children were saving to buy a big boat like the ones docked at Sherguevil Island. They’d all be able to play on it while their fathers fished.
“With the money Manny gave her, she bought little trinkets for the other children and herself in the market. He taught her to hide her purchases and made her promise not to tell our parents or me, or he wouldn’t take her again.
“She was fascinated with the large yachts that were docked at Sherguevil Island.” T.A. gave a small sob but kept going. “If she won the game, Manny told her she would be able to help the other children buy the big boat for the village.”
“Fucking bastard,” Razer groaned, shaking his head.
Reaper could understand Razer’s anger. He had two rambunctious twin boys who would easily have been suckered into doing the same thing.
“Evangeline was a precocious child and wanted to see the boats. She’d always been pointing them out to me. One day there was a large crowd, and she slipped away from Manny. Evangeline told me later that she’d wanted to pick out the best boat for Manny to buy.”
“She managed to get on one of the visiting ships, didn’t she?” Reaper asked, desperately trying to hurry T.A. along.
“Yes. How she did it without one of the ship hands seeing her, I don’t know, but she did … and she took something. Manny must have found her and taken her back to Gyi’s boat.”
Reaper took a step toward her, then stopped himself. “What did she take?”
“I don’t know, and Evangeline doesn’t remember.”
“How does she not remember?”
The expression on T.A.’s face became tortured. “Because of what she witnessed afterward, she blocked the whole thing out. What she does remember is hearing shouts from Gyi and Manny, and the children crying.
“She told me she was terrified and didn’t made a sound when she heard loud noises, but she didn’t know what was happening … until she heard Allerton demanding they return what they’d stolen. When they couldn’t find whatever it was they were searching for, Allerton told Gyi to take the children home, then to come back for Manny. Gyi brought the children back to Clindale, then unknowingly brought Evangeline back to Sherguevil to get Manny. He had no idea Evangeline was on the boat, and worse he had no idea what was waiting for him.