Mia remembered getting her driver's license. They were in a crappy town in New Jersey and had just finished a job. The man in the suit had already set up the appointment and there was a woman with a tight bun waiting for her and her sister when they arrived. She drove about twenty-five miles an hour and almost ran over the curb while trying to parallel park. "It will do," the woman said when they parked in front of a gas station. She wrote up a piece of paper and told her that she'd get her license in a few weeks.
Ada got her license the same way five years later.
That was how it worked out. The man in the suit showed up every once in a while. Mostly with money and a job so that they could do things, get clothes, food, toiletries. He made them go to school in backwards towns that didn't ask questions when they left a few months in. They got their degrees easily enough because they were smart enough for it. That was the weird thing, they just got that sort of stuff.
Ada was driving and Mia was trying to focus on the laptop as her sister sped down the road. There was nothing around for miles except fields and the occasional sign for a rest stop in a few miles.
"Victoria Bender was a Piano protegy. She won five trophies by the age of eight and was kidnapped during a competition." Victoria's mother and father had gotten divorced not soon after their daugther's abduction and now her mother was living somewhere in Texas. Her father was off the grid completely.
"Emily Ryder was in the foster care system for six years and was adopted right before she was taken from a playground not far from her house." Mia scrolled down. "All of these are different. They're not consistent, so they wouldn't be suspects."
She read more on the different children. She had all the information on different tabs. On a job not too long ago the man in the suit had provided them with codes to hack into the FBI and any local law enforcement. She was reading the FBI's casefile now. "Russell Thomas was taken and his kidnappers left a ransom note. His parents paid two hundred thousand dollars but he was never handed over. The suitcase was found a few miles from the drop spot with the GPS locator."
She didn't understand it. Why would someone go through all this trouble to cover up the similarities in the kidnappings? And where were the kids now?
She clicked on another tab. One of the first to go missing, Mary Hensen was found dead three months ago. She had been missing for nine years. "Shit."
"What?" Ada asked.
"Mary Hensen's body was found under a tree three months ago. An anonymous tip placed a call in, you're not going to believe this, Austin, Nevada. You think she's really dead?"
A worried look spread across her sister's features. "Why would they kill her?"
Mia scanned the article. "The identification was inconclusive but there was a bit of a match with the dental work. Enough that the FBI, who already stopped the investigation, decided to pronounce her dead."
On a hunch she checked the next kid to go missing, Derek Paul. He was found dead in a car trunk in a lot in Oregon. His face was shot but he was wearing the clothes, his favorite batman pajamas that he was wearing when he disappeared eight years before he was found dead.
Mia ran a hand over her face. "This can't be good."
Ada got her license the same way five years later.
That was how it worked out. The man in the suit showed up every once in a while. Mostly with money and a job so that they could do things, get clothes, food, toiletries. He made them go to school in backwards towns that didn't ask questions when they left a few months in. They got their degrees easily enough because they were smart enough for it. That was the weird thing, they just got that sort of stuff.
Ada was driving and Mia was trying to focus on the laptop as her sister sped down the road. There was nothing around for miles except fields and the occasional sign for a rest stop in a few miles.
"Victoria Bender was a Piano protegy. She won five trophies by the age of eight and was kidnapped during a competition." Victoria's mother and father had gotten divorced not soon after their daugther's abduction and now her mother was living somewhere in Texas. Her father was off the grid completely.
"Emily Ryder was in the foster care system for six years and was adopted right before she was taken from a playground not far from her house." Mia scrolled down. "All of these are different. They're not consistent, so they wouldn't be suspects."
She read more on the different children. She had all the information on different tabs. On a job not too long ago the man in the suit had provided them with codes to hack into the FBI and any local law enforcement. She was reading the FBI's casefile now. "Russell Thomas was taken and his kidnappers left a ransom note. His parents paid two hundred thousand dollars but he was never handed over. The suitcase was found a few miles from the drop spot with the GPS locator."
She didn't understand it. Why would someone go through all this trouble to cover up the similarities in the kidnappings? And where were the kids now?
She clicked on another tab. One of the first to go missing, Mary Hensen was found dead three months ago. She had been missing for nine years. "Shit."
"What?" Ada asked.
"Mary Hensen's body was found under a tree three months ago. An anonymous tip placed a call in, you're not going to believe this, Austin, Nevada. You think she's really dead?"
A worried look spread across her sister's features. "Why would they kill her?"
Mia scanned the article. "The identification was inconclusive but there was a bit of a match with the dental work. Enough that the FBI, who already stopped the investigation, decided to pronounce her dead."
On a hunch she checked the next kid to go missing, Derek Paul. He was found dead in a car trunk in a lot in Oregon. His face was shot but he was wearing the clothes, his favorite batman pajamas that he was wearing when he disappeared eight years before he was found dead.
Mia ran a hand over her face. "This can't be good."
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