Witness Read Online Free PDF

thought of her wielding those to cut your restraints is a little overwhelming.”
    “I bet,” Brock agreed.
    “One of the little ones wanted to help, I think he was five, but Callie is six and she said felt she could cut the zips off us better than Caleb—” Bailey gasped. “Caleb. He’s the little blond one I couldn’t remember. His name’s Caleb. Tell Jax. Tell him now in case we forget.”
    “ Okay , babe.” Brock smiled as he grabbed his phone and sent a text. “Done.”
    “Callie was amazing. She got Ali’s ties cuts and then Ali took it from there. She wanted to do mine because she said she didn’t want me in anymore pain, although, Ali didn’t look much better than me. She cut me and the kids loose and then we looked for a way out. There was a window we could get to if we scaled, but that meant that one of us had to stay behind to lift the kids up. Ali said it had to be her because I only had one usable arm, so she hoisted me up first, high enough for me to use my legs and good arm to crawl out. I then turned around and reached down for Callie, then Conor.” Bailey felt the tears clog her throat.
    “It’s okay, sweetheart.” Brock took her hands again.
    “Someone was coming and Ali waved for me to go. There wasn’t time to get the other kids, so I had to go. She threw my purse at me and hissed that I was to go and not look back. I had two of them, and I knew that if I could get them somewhere safe, at least they would be okay. Then I would come back for Ali. Maybe I could even find some help. So we ran. We ran until Callie fell and she just couldn’t go any further. I picked her up, but for obvious reasons, once the adrenaline started to wear off, I just didn’t have the strength to keep going. The pain was overwhelming. So, Conor and I saw a house without any lights on. It appeared to be boarded up, so we tried to find a way in. We did. I told them not to touch anything, watch where they stepped, and to stay close to me. I would try my best to protect them. So we found that room and saw that it had a mattress which was gross, but really at this point, we were exhausted and didn’t care, and we all just kind of collapsed on it. Callie settled beside me and Conor wrapped his little arms around both of us.” Bailey let the tears fall. “Seriously, that kid is the most incredible kid on the planet.”
    Brock nodded.
    “When we woke up the next day, I saw my phone was dead, and the kids were still frightened, so we sat for a little while just talking. I needed a plan. But you guys came in and the rest is history.” She cocked her head. “Why were you there?”
    “Reports of kids going into a known abandoned meth house had a few of the neighbors on edge.”
    “It’s good it was you who showed up and not…” Bailey wiped her tears and took a labored breath.
    “It’s okay, babe. It’s over.”
    She closed her eyes again, the memories flooding in. “I heard Ali scream. I heard her from almost a block away. I knew. I just knew she wasn’t okay.”
    “Do you remember anyone speaking Russian?” he asked.
    She shook her head as Brock reached out and pulled her to him and she broke down. She let herself relax into Brock, let him hold her, and reveled in his protective arms.
    Brock kissed her forehead and wiped her tears, keeping her close to him. “The kids were being ransomed.”
    Bailey sat up. “What?”
    “Conor and Callie’s parents were told that if they didn’t send three-point-two million dollars to an off-shore account that the kids would be killed.”
    Bailey gasped. “Oh my god.”
    “You saved their lives, sweetheart.”
    “But what about the other ones. I failed them,” she said, and burst into tears again.
    He pulled her against him again. “No, you didn’t. Look, we have that off-shore account number and we’ll be able to trace the other parents. What’s disturbing is that no kids matching the descriptions you gave Jax have been reported missing. At least none