Aden pulled into the long circular drive at 531 Everglades Drive. The dormant landscaping was lightly covered in leaves but Aden could imagine the lushness spring would bring to it. The house was a Southern style mansion complete with the marble columns and wrap around porch. A love-seat swing swayed back and forth in the breeze near the main entrance. The shutters were intact and silent. The exterior was the color of sandy white accented by deep green. Lace curtains hung still behind modern vinyl windows. A cat ran across the railing away from the light of his headlamps. It didn't resemble a monster's lair in the least. It looked inviting, pleasant.
There weren't any guards that he could see; no dogs barking a warning; just a neighbor's dog from a few houses down could be heard. He looked for security cameras both on the grounds and the home itself. None. There weren't any fences, chains, armed gunmen in the shrubbery to make the girl go inside and stay there. No, nothing gave the appearance of this house being a prison. He slowed the truck to a stop at the front steps. "Doesn't look so bad." He mused, wondering if the inside looked as Southern as the outside.
She rolled her head to face him. "A cage can be made of the finest gold and jewels, but it is still just a cage."
"You seem to have enough power at the station to get whatever you want, when you want it. Couldn't you just leave if you wanted to?"
She exited the truck before answering. "Power isn't freedom, Agent. Don't ever forget that."
He watched her enter the house without looking back. He sat there for several minutes trying to digest the day's events. Finally, he pulled away from the house knowing that woman would be in his dreams.