"the little one has trauma... apparently, it's related to their parents deaths and she keeps muttering uncle Will... though I wonder who he is ..." she said, rolling her eyes and flicking her wrists.
"they're Adam Hart's" Rita said rolling her eyes.
"oooh" Monica's mouth rounded in surprise.
"shiver me smithers" she said eventually, brows raised.
"Lorenzo you've really done it this time" Monica said with a grin.
"I didn't know alright? seriously! How am I intentionally going to bring trouble to our doors?....they couldn't be left behind...you know the rules... mother c'mon say something" Lorenzo said, turning his gaze to his mother.
Jerome just eyed him and gave him no reply.
"What is to be done ma'am" Rita asked
Jerome paused still in thought.
It wasn't like those bunch of cunts could do anything against Arasia, but it would spark interest.
Attention would be drawn to Arasia and she hated attention.
She preferred being invincible...less attention was good for business.
"are you a novice at these kind of things Rita?.... tsk tsk tsk oh how gravely disappointed I am" Monica said in her usual drawl, teasing Rita.
"what happened to a name change?" Monica asked, brows raised.
"oh ..."Rita said, her mental OS finally booting.
She glared at Monica.
She hated it when Monica provided a solution to a problem she could not, and this one was so obvious.
She mentally kicked herself.
"bury their files as well.
Create a fresh one with the counterfeit names" Jerome said suddenly, startling Rita out of her thoughts.
"yes madam" she replied still glaring at Monica who had a dirty grin on her face.
"now how do we get the kids to follow the plan?" asked Monica
"easy... fear of death is enough....no one wants to die... even children" Lorenzo replied with a shrug.
"now that it's out of the way, is there anything else?" Jerome asked, eyeing the two of them.
"nothing more madam" replied Rita while Monica shook her head and echoed the same words before they both bowed.
"if that is all, I have to talk to Lorenzo" Monica and Rita took the cue.
They stood up and walked out the door one after the other.
The moment the door was shut, Rita turned to Monica.
"what do you think you're doing? she asked, cradling her tab, brows raised.
"what am I doing? did I do?" asked Monica in mock surprise.
Rita gave a loud grunt in response and turned to walk away.
Monica watched her retreat.
They actually hadn't always been like this.
They'd been best of friends in the beginning but became rivals due to a misunderstanding.
A misunderstanding that happened years ago.
Now their rivalry kept going from bad to worse, the only thing still giving them the ability to stand in the same room, being madam Jerome and their jobs.
Monica Walked out of the mansion, deciding not to take any of the jeeps.
She wanted to stretch her legs.
After she'd taken Annie to the female living quarters, she'd gone back to her office and taken a look at the File that housed Annie and Bertha's personal info.
Then she realized it, the trauma thing with the kid, she had to let Jerome know.
Kids with trauma were a problem.
They could easily be manipulated from the outside and easily give up information if they didn't get help.
Lorenzo must have told Jerome, but she couldn't entirely be sure and in her line of work, there was no room for probabilities.
She went directly to Hayes' Bertha was sitting on one of the couches in the office, playing with a miniature doll.
Monica scooped her up and headed directly to the lone building that served as a hospital in the premises.
She only knocked once before pushing the door open, then she stated her business to the doctor on duty.
After a brief examination, the doctor requested another appointment, with Annie being present.
Monica took her back to Bonnie Hayes'
Annie found herself in her room that looked more like a dojo than an actual living quarters.
These people sure we're wierd she thought.
Instead of soft comfy beds, they had bamboo!
Actual bamboo beds! Ha!
Who actually used those in this modern age!
Oh if she could para venture run into the god of luck, she was going to give him a piece of her mind! probably a good spanking too.
She and her siblings had been getting fucked by luck, one even after the other.
He was actually doing too much!
Even as she was pissed, she shouldn't be complaining.
They were alive.
The men chasing them had been back in San Jose..now, she didn't know what the future held for them.
She produced that piece of paper from her pocket and gave it a long stare.
If only she could figure out what it meant.
She'd shoved it in her pocket the moment her shorts dried up back in San Jose and she was glad she did.
The clothes she'd bought and the shoes were nowhere to be found.
Probably tossed somewhere or left behind somewhere in San Jose.
Maybe the damn thing held the solution to all their problems.
She was still deep in thought when she heard footsteps and girls the same age as her trooped into the room, in the same black attire as Monica, all sweaty.
Some carried water bottles in their palms, some carried bag packs.
There were 15 girls in all.
Annie glanced at the beds and back at the girls.
Her brain produced the mental image of an orphanage.
"lookie here... we've got a new one" one of the girls announced, drawing the attention of the others.
15 Pairs of eyes turned to Annie at once and it made her feel really uncomfortable.
Her butt would have shifted from left to right on the bed she sat if they could move like her legs.
"what's your name?" one girl asked, her legs swinging over the side of one of the beds.
"Josephine" Annie replied flawlessly. Even the thing sounded odd and sour on her tongue.
Monica had been by earlier to give her the first instruction.
"never on any account should you tell anyone your name" Monica had said to her.
"why?" she had asked.
"you have your family name to thank for that" Monica replied.
Annie wondered what connection that had.
"if you want your siblings and yourself to stay alive" Monica added, before producing the new identity.
Annie had nodded her head in acknowledgement. She'd learnt pretty fast.
Around here,it was apparently obey first, ask questions later.
Disobedience had consequences she didn't have plans of finding out what they were.
She was surprised at herself, the way she followed everything she was told.
She didn't argue, didn't protest, didn't fight...well, only when it came to her siblings was she defensive.
Still it wasn't her style.
It utterly seemed as though she'd lost the fight left in her... resigned herself to fate.
"nice to meet you" another girl said, then she added " I am the room captain"
Annie nodded her head in reply and took the hand the girl had offered out.
The girl's grip was firm as she took it.
They left her and found something else to do, the moment the fascination with her ended. Some headed directly to their beds and dumped themselves in it, others made the bathroom their direction.
Soon it was nightfall and Annie had her first night in the new unfamiliar terrain, and it was extremely uncomfortable.
**********
Flint told his wife the full version of events that had landed him in the hospital and she listened as though it was the last tale she'd ever hear on the surface of the earth.
After he was done, she let out a loud breath.
"you have to drop it Flint" she said with a shaky breath.
She couldn't loose her husband and her children still needed a father.
She was not ready to be a widow.
"you need to stop the investigation Flint" she repeated.
Flint couldn't believe his ears! Even his wife was now against him.
"but Shonda..I can't just drop it like that...what about the children... they're still missing... they're still out there.... Nobody cares.... I'm the only person decent enough to hunt the truth Shonda" he said, looking at her.
She knew he was right, he lived for this in kind of thing.
Tough cases...but this one has hit too close to home..she wasn't about to be an accessory to his sucide.
"still Flint... stop it...the world isn't yours to perfect...you are one man. You cannot help everyone at the same time Flint" she said, this time, with moist eyes.
Flint felt his heart stir.
Her tears were his weakness...he hated to see her cry so he promised her, knowing he would still go back on his promise.
He just wanted to make her happy at the moment.
"I'll stop Shonda... you're right..I really can't save everyone.. maybe it's good to give up every once in a while" he replied, holding on to her hands as he spoke.