Her Only Son (5 page)

Kinsey wandered down a hallway off the main lobby that was lined with doors on each side. It appeared these rooms were being used for exercise and education. There were women of various stages of pregnancy engaging in appropriate exercises, and in other rooms, women were listening to lectures on proper nutrition during pregnancy; others were preparing for childbirth. Operation Vala took their program seriously; too bad the educators didn’t know the full story. She imagined she’d soon join the ranks of the women in these classrooms.

She walked back to the main lobby area and found the room where her welcome class would be held. She looked inside and found it empty, so she decided to go outside and take a look at the grounds.

She stood in front of the circular driveway and looked in all directions. This place was colossal and she couldn’t help but wonder what all went on here. In the short time she’d been here, she had already come to the conclusion the employees of the program had no idea how the women were recruited. They truly felt everything was on the up and up.

She noticed a small park on the left side of the living quarters and walked toward it. She noticed women sitting on various benches, some at tables. She also noticed the women seemed to be in well-defined groups. Some were bubbly and excited; others were quiet and subdued, talking in huddled whispers. She assumed she’d eventually be part of the quiet, subdued group. The “Stella” type group would not be her speed.

Along side the park area she spotted a trail and decided to follow it. After a short time, the left side of the trail became a wall of thick shrubs. She couldn’t see through them, but she could hear voices. It sounded like some type of training was taking place. She stopped and tried to push her hands through the shrubs to create a small hole, hoping to get a glimpse of what was on the other side, but her effort failed as the shrubs seemed to reach far beyond the length of her arm.

She stopped and tried to listen to the words being shouted. The voices were muffled, but it sounded like some kind of boot camp exercise.

What are they doing over there?

She rounded a corner and saw two women sitting on a bench talking. As she walked by, she smiled. They smiled back and she decided to take advantage of the connection. She stopped and asked them if they knew what was taking place on the other side of the shrubs.

One simply shrugged, like she could care less. The other said, “We don’t know. They tell us it’s none of our business. I do know on the other side of the shrubs is a concrete wall, but they try to give us a pleasing environment; the shrubs are more appealing.”

Kinsey looked over at the shrubs. They were at least six feet tall, so the wall must have been shorter since it couldn’t be seen. She thanked them and continued her walk around the trail. She passed other women along the way, some alone, some in small groups, and most seemed friendly.

When the trail ended, she found herself on the other side of the living area. Apparently, the trail went around the backside of the park and brought her, pretty much, in a full circle. She looked down the driveway that stretched away from the living area. At the end was a small gate with a guard, but he didn’t look very threatening. She looked to her right and saw another area of buildings. The signs indicated this was the area for the doctor’s offices.

She walked back to the front door of the building for the living quarters and stood facing the circular driveway. She took another look at her surroundings. To the left was the park, which was surrounded by a trail. To the right were the buildings for the medical procedures. The driveway lead out of this area and she had no idea what was beyond it, other than the road she drove in on with Stella.

She walked back inside and made her way to the classroom where her meeting would be held. A woman was there setting up the table for dinner. She looked up as Kinsey walked in.

“Hello. Are you here for the welcome meeting?”

“Yes, my name is Kinsey Garrick.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Tessa Sloane and I’ll be speaking at tonight’s meeting.”

Kinsey looked down at Tessa’s growing belly and asked the obvious. “Are you a participant in the program?”

Tessa smiled and rubbed her belly. “Yes, actually, I am. I’m about six months along and they’ve been asking me to speak at the welcome meetings, answering questions the new participants might have.”

Tessa was a stunning African-American, and in spite of being six months pregnant, was in amazing shape. Kinsey liked her; she had a good vibe and an open, friendly smile.

A few more women made their way into the room, so Kinsey took her seat in front of the place setting that had her name. Tessa handed her a folder that also had her name on it.

“If you have any questions, feel free to ask.”

Kinsey thanked her and started looking through the folder. The other women took their seats and Tessa introduced herself and gave them their folders as well.

Kinsey noticed Tessa’s smile fade when an older man entered the room. She turned and walked to the table that was positioned in the front of the room. Kinsey watched Tessa tense slightly as he approached her. Everything about him was military and Kinsey had the feeling Tessa knew exactly who this man was, and based on her discreet reaction, she wasn’t a fan.

After speaking quietly with Tessa, the man turned and addressed the small group sitting at the table.

“Good evening. I’d like to welcome all of you to Operation Vala. My name is Hakon and I’m in charge of this program. You should all be very proud of yourselves for making the decision to participate.”

Kinsey noticed Tessa’s slight shoulder roll at his words and the woman beside her at the table let out a short squeal. She turned to look at her and recognized her as one of the women she passed on the trail earlier.

Hakon continued. “Before we get started, I’d like you all to introduce yourselves, names only.” He pointed to the woman at the end of the table. “We’ll start with you.”

Kinsey was too focused on watching Tessa’s subtle physical reactions to Hakon to catch the names, but she was brought to attention from the squealer to her right.

“My name is Lisa Butler, Sir, and I can’t tell you how excited I am to be a part of this wonderful program. You’re doing such a….”

Hakon cut her off. “I said names only.” He pointed to Kinsey. “You?”

“Kinsey Garrick.”

Hakon took in a deep breath and slowly released it. “Oh, yes, Kinsey Garrick. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

The way he said the word
you
made Kinsey’s skin crawl. Squealer Lisa sat back in her chair and shot Kinsey a dirty look. A look of concern appeared on Tessa’s face as she turned her attention to Kinsey.

Hakon stared at Kinsey for what seemed like hours, but she never broke eye contact. He finally nodded and addressed the rest of the group.

“You are here for an important mission. Once that mission is complete, you will be compensated and released.” He began pacing the floor with his hands behind his back. “Your objective is a simple one. Produce a child that will benefit your country during war.”

Lisa practically bounced in her seat and clapped her hands together. Hakon gave her a disapproving glare.

“I’m sorry, Sir, I’m just so excited.”

“I’m not paying you to be excited.”

“Of course, Sir.”

Kinsey shook her head and glanced at Tessa, who had a look of shock on her face at Lisa’s outburst.

Hakon motioned to Tessa. “This is Tessa Sloane. As you can see,” he said, pointing to her stomach, “she’s a participant in the program as well and will be answering any questions you have.”

He looked at Tessa who simply nodded in agreement.

“Good, I’ll be on my way. I just wanted to stop by and personally meet the new faces joining the program tonight.” He gave Kinsey one last glance and walked out the door.

After he was gone, Tessa blew out a breath. “Well, that was a first. In the time I’ve been here, I’ve never had Hakon show up at a welcome meeting.”

Lisa started bouncing again. “He must be really impressed with this group.” She sat back and flipped her brown hair. “Or at least some of us.” She smiled to herself.

Tessa gave a smirk. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.” She exchanged a look with Kinsey, who widened her eyes and shook her head again.

Before Tessa could begin speaking, the doors opened and a table was rolled in with covered dinner plates. One was sat in front of each participant, including Tessa, who had taken a seat next to Kinsey.

During dinner, Lisa turned to Kinsey. “I passed you on the trail earlier today.”

Kinsey paused between bites, but didn’t look at her. “Yes, I thought I recognized you.” Lisa’s bounciness was getting on her nerves.

“Aren’t you excited to be participating in the program?”

“Oh, yes, I’m beyond excited.”

“So, what are you going to do with your money?”

“To be honest, that’s the last thing on my mind right now.”

“Really? That’s the main reason I’m here. I can’t wait to get this over with and get back home.” She squealed again between bites. “I’m going to be rich.”

Kinsey looked over at Tessa, who shook her head and took another bite of food.

After the dinner dishes were removed, Tessa spent the next hour going over the details of the program. Most of it was stuff Kinsey already knew from the brochure and her talk with Dr. Westcott, but she listened intently, paying attention to the subtle looks from Tessa.

When she wrapped up the presentation, she asked if anyone had any questions. To her surprise, no one did, so she excused the group. Kinsey purposely took her time gathering her things so the other women were out the door by the time she was done. She turned to Tessa.

“I do have a question, but didn’t want to ask in front of the others.”

“Sure, what’s your question?”

“What’s up with that Hakon guy?”

“I’m not sure what you’re asking, but he’s the head of Operation Vala.”

“Is he in charge of the recruits? The women who are chosen for the program?”

“Yes, I believe he is.” Tessa gave her a curious look. “Why do you ask?”

“Just wondering.” Kinsey paused. “You didn’t seem too fond of him.”

Tessa chuckled. “Not many are fond of Hakon.”

“I don’t understand why. He seems delightful,” Kinsey said sarcastically.

Tessa laughed. “Delightful is not a word people use to describe him.”

Kinsey turned to leave, but changed her mind and turned back around. “Is there anything I need to be aware of? Something you didn’t share with the group tonight?”

Tessa sighed, leaned forward, and whispered to her. “Look, Kinsey, just keep your head down and do what’s asked of you. You’ll be back home before you know it.”

Kinsey studied her for a moment and turned to leave again. As she was about to exit into the hallway, Tessa called to her.

“Hey, want to get together and have dinner sometime? Maybe we can chat a bit more?”

Kinsey smiled. “Yes, I think I’d like that.”

Tessa returned her smile and Kinsey walked into the hallway. She just wanted to return to her room and relax for the rest of the night. Tomorrow she had to start her medical tests.

And so it begins
, she thought. This was going to be the longest ten months of her life.

Hakon watched her enter the elevator. He whispered to himself as the door closed. “Gotcha, Kinsey. No one says no to Hakon and Operation Vala.”

When Kinsey returned to her room, she immediately called her mom to let her know she’d made it safely. She asked about Brianna and her mom said she was doing fine and her prognosis was still excellent. Kinsey told her about her welcome meeting, leaving out the details she didn’t need to hear, and that the room they had her staying in was amazing. She told her mom about the grounds, the park, and the walking trail. She wanted her mom to feel at peace and not worry about her, so she portrayed the situation to be something it was not.

After she finished with her mom, she called Sheila to find out what happened at work. The phone barely rang before Sheila answered.

“It’s about time. I’ve been waiting for you to call.”

“Sorry, I’ve been a bit busy since I arrived. How are things at work? What did they do?”

“Well, since you’re
only
going to be gone for approximately ten months, they brought in some temporary branch manager that was set up by the program you’re in. Stalker guy wasn’t lying when he said they’d take care of it. She’ll be here until you return. She already set up camp in your office.”

“Lovely. By the way, stalker guy has a name. It’s Keith.”

“I really don’t care. He will always be stalker guy to me.” She paused. “Hey, were you able to get a picture of him?”

“Shit! No, I completely forgot, but looking back, I doubt I would have had a chance anyway.”

“That sucks. I was hoping to be able to keep an eye out for him.”

“Sorry. I think as long as I toe the line here, there shouldn’t be any more trouble at home. I’m sure they’re moving on to the next batch of women.”

“So how are things going?”

Kinsey ran through her day again and was about to tell her about her short conversation with Tessa when the voice from her dream popped into her head:
there are ears everywhere.

Kinsey paused. She wondered if her calls were being monitored. She decided to play it safe and simply told Sheila she met another woman in the program she thought she’d be able to get along with.

“Already making friends. That’s so like you, Kinsey.”

“From what I’ve seen so far, she’s the only one I’ll want to be spending any time with.” She paused. While she enjoyed talking to Sheila, she suddenly wanted to be off the phone and just spend some quiet time out on the patio. “Listen, I’ve had a busy day, so I think I’m going to go relax for the rest of the night.”

“Sure, I understand. Check in when you can, okay?”

“I will. Thank you, Sheila, for everything.”

“Just try to relax and get through this so you can get back home.”

“That’s the plan. Goodnight, Sheila.”

“Goodnight.”

Before Kinsey went to sit on the patio, she decided to check out the kitchen since she didn’t take the time to do that before she left earlier. She found the cupboards were packed with healthy, good for you food. She discovered the same in the refrigerator and freezer. Apparently, soda, potato chips, and donuts were not allowed here.

That’s going to suck
, she thought.

She grabbed a bag of Italian herb pita chips, a bottle of some type of juice smoothie, and headed out to the patio. There was a small round table and two chairs positioned in the corner. She moved them to a different area because it made her feel like she had some control. She debated on rearranging the living room and bedroom as well.

Her patio overlooked the backside of the living quarters building and she realized there was a huge park there as well. She could see benches and picnic tables on a concrete area that surrounded a large swimming pool in the middle of the park. The areas around the pool were grassy and well maintained. The entire area was surrounded by trees and shrubs; much like the park in the front of the building. Based on the landscaping, they liked to keep the women in the program closed off from the rest of compound.

She sat, munching on pita chips, and watched a few women swim around in the pool. They were obviously well into their pregnancy and swimming would be good exercise for them as long as they didn’t overdo it. Kinsey decided she would figure out how to access this park tomorrow morning before her first appointment with Dr. Westcott.

After spending some time on her patio, she went back inside and took another look at her living quarters. She debated again whether or not to rearrange the living room, but the layout seemed to work so she decided to leave it alone.

She went to check out the bedroom. Maybe it could use a few adjustments. The bed and dresser could definitely be moved around in an arrangement that would be more pleasing to her and she’d work on getting that done before the end of the week.

Kinsey walked back into the living room and flopped on the couch. She grabbed the remote and turned on the television. She found a movie and settled in, allowing reality to slip away for a while.

The movie ended around 10:30pm and Kinsey missed the last fifteen minutes since she dozed off. She turned off the television and pushed off the couch. She was exhausted and bed was calling her name. She looked around at what would be her home for a while and shook her head. O
ne step at a time. You can do this,
she thought to herself.
She turned off the lights and went to bed.

Around 3am, she woke to what sounded like a door latch quietly clicking into place. She didn’t hear anything more, but she was too afraid to move. She pulled the blankets tight around her head and remained frozen, her eyes watching her bedroom door. When it slowly started to open, she drew in a quick breath and held it. The silhouette of a person appeared in the doorway and quietly walked toward her bed. She closed her eyes, hoping it was a dream, but as the figure got closer, she could literally feel its presence. This was no dream and everything in her screamed not to move. She allowed her breath to slowly push out.

After a few moments, she felt the presence move away and she opened her eyes slightly to see the figure moving back toward her door. Her bedroom door closed and she listened until she heard the front door click.

She sat up quickly and turned on the lamp beside her bed. She jumped up, ran through the bedroom door, and checked the living room. It was empty. She checked the front door. The light on the security box indicated it was locked.

How the hell did someone get in my room?

She returned to her bedroom and sat on the edge of her bed. She’d be talking to someone tomorrow about the security issues with the key card doors.

She let out a loud breath, reached over to switch off the lamp, and there it was; a photo of Brianna in her hospital bed, the breathing tube still down her throat. She grabbed the photo and looked at it.
Son of a bitch!
On instinct, she turned the photo over. A typed message, stuck to the back read:

Just a reminder. Be a good little girl and play nice!

She looked up at her bedroom door again and felt all the blood drain from her face. When the room started to spin, she leaned back against her pillow and closed her eyes. She forced her breathing to slow down and tried to regain control. When were the threats going to stop? She was doing what they wanted and didn’t need reminders of what could happen if she didn’t.

When she had the spinning under control, she got up and went to the kitchen for a bottle of water. She turned on the lamp in the living room and sat on the couch. She was still clutching the photo of Brianna and looked down at it. The sight of her sister brought tears to her eyes and she squeezed them shut in an attempt to make them stop.

She knew she couldn’t go to the police. That would only make things worse and someone else would get hurt. She was at his mercy and it seriously pissed her off. She looked down at the photo of her sister again.

“I swear I’ll find a way to make him pay.”

She laid her head on the end of the couch so she could keep an eye on her front door. She wouldn’t be caught off guard again.