Rob listened and couldn't argue with the logic behind what she said. Still, he couldn't help but ask, "How about if you tell Detective Harker, who you meet with every week, I might add, to do all of this stuff. Harker has more resources and easier access to this information than you do. I mean, Lorraine, that's his job. Besides, you know he'll do anything to help us find Maggie. I'm sure he would agree with me."

"I know, Rob. I also know that Harker is a good man and will never give up his search. But Maggie isn't the only case he's working on. No one is going to be as thorough as I am. I have to do these things myself. What if Harker gives it to some incompetent asshole who misses just one little piece of information? How would I ever be able to live with myself? I can barely live with myself now..." Lorraine's voice trailed off.

On several occasions, Rob tried to comfort his wife, but he, too, resented her for her poor judgment. He often told himself that if he had taken the kids to the mall that day, he would not have allowed his eleven-year-old to go off alone, not even for one minute. Other times, after he had a few drinks and couldn't hold back the unshakable bereavement that had cast a dull pain around his heart, Rob would sit in the basement alone and cry, unable to escape the hopelessness and feeling hatred toward Lorraine.

"OK, Lorraine. I'm not going to argue with you. But you can't forget that Keith is still here, and he needs us. If Maggie ever comes back to us, she needs to have a family to come back to," Rob said.

"If? What do you mean if she comes back to us? How can you give up so easily? I will keep looking until I find her. So go off to the park and do whatever it is that you do, OK, Rob? In the meantime, I'm going to look for our daughter," Lorraine growled, agitated by his apparent admission of defeat.

Rob left Lorraine sitting at the kitchen table, tears spilling down her cheeks as she wished that she could go back to the moment that she had made the worst decision of her life.

Chapter Seventeen.

In the weeks that followed, Maggie received two more notes from Sabrina. The first said, I'm going to help you. But it was the second note that filled Maggie with anticipation. It said, I know who you are.

Sabrina, whose real name was Abigail Loomis, was an FBI agent. She had been undercover for almost three years, working to break into the sex-trafficking cartel in the Northeast corridor. Her parents were told that Abigail had died in a car accident. The car had caught on fire, and the remains were charred beyond recognition. She had ruined her parents' lives to save the lives of innocent children.

Sabrina was immersed in her new life. She had no contact with the agency, except for the occasional anonymous note that she sent to the bureau, addressed to her commanding officer. The notes were always cryptic, just as she had been taught to write them. They gave little information. When she met and moved in with Bernie, the note read: Living with one now. There was never a return address, but the postmark always revealed the city in which she was living.

As Sabrina infiltrated the cartel and descended deeper into the sick world of pedophilia and human slavery, she wondered if she had the stomach to see it through until the end. Then she met Maggie. She had seen the girl's picture on a local television station when she had disappeared from the mall. The child's cobalt-blue eyes made her easy to identify. They were the most intense eyes she'd ever seen. When she saw the young girl standing in the room that first night, she knew she was Maggie Clarke, the eleven-year-old who had been kidnapped.

By chance, after several months of going to see Maggie with Bernie, Sabrina overhead two men chatting in a well-lit room while waiting to be taken to watch the children perform.

"Yeah, some guy told me last week that Al Capone served time here," she heard a wealthy looking, bald man tell his friend.

"Really? I wouldn't mind taking a look at the cell they kept him in," remarked the tall unattractive, unkempt fortysomething.

It was easy to figure out where they were after hearing that bit of information. Sabrina dragged Bernie to the library one day to take out a couple of books to read. While Bernie was skimming through years of Sport Illustrated swimsuit editions, Sabrina did some research on Al Capone. She found out that Capone had been incarcerated at a prison in Pennsylvania. Later that week, she wrote a note to her commanding officer. All it said was Capone, PA Prison.

Chapter Eighteen.

Cali and Max noticed a change in Maggie. She seemed a little happier and more settled than the rest of them. While they were both relieved when any of the children showed signs of joy, Maggie's seemed to linger. They decided to find out what was going on with her. On a Saturday morning, after showers, Cali and Max went into Maggie's cell.

"Hey, Mags," Cali greeted. "What's going on?"

Maggie looked up from the new book that Dr. Barnes had given to her and smiled. "Nothing. Just reading this book that Dr. Barnes gave me. It's about a girl who gets her period," she said, showing them the cover of Judy Blume's book, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

A smile crept onto Cali's face. She had read the same book right before she'd been kidnapped. While Cali reminisced, Max pursued the conversation. "So, you've been awfully upbeat lately. What's going on with you? One of your clients give you more candy?" he asked, trying to get her to open up.

"Nope. I wish," she stated simply, but her facial expression revealed there was something more.

"You look like you have a secret. We could all use a little sunshine, Maggie. Come on, what's got you so happy?" Max asked in a pleading voice.

Maggie loved the other kids, even Shana. But Max and Cali had been her rocks. They were always there for her and never let her down. Still, she remembered the note that instructed: Don't tell the others about me. Maggie felt a surge of guilt for holding out on her friends, the very people that she considered her family. She wanted to do what Sabrina had instructed, but she also wanted to share the news with the two people she trusted most.

Maggie's voice dropped to barely a whisper. "Did any of the clients ever say things and tell you not to tell anyone?"

The little hairs on the back of Cali's neck went stiff. "Like what kinds of things, Mags?" she asked gently.

"I don't know. Like things that make you feel good?" Maggie hedged.

"Well, once I had a guy who told me he was going to get me out of here and bring me home so that I could be his son," Max offered.

Cali chimed in, "Yeah, sure, there are always one or two people who promise to get you out. That just makes them feel more powerful. At first, you believe them and wait for them to make good on their promise. But months later, when you're still here, you know it was all bullshit. They get you all hyped up, and when nothing changes, you feel totally deflated. Did someone promise to get you out of here, Mags?"

"No, nothing like that." Maggie paused and filled her lungs with air as if she was getting ready to jump into a swimming pool. "That woman, Sabrina. She's been giving me notes. One of them said not to tell any of you guys about them."

Maggie looked at Max and Cali to see if they had a reaction. The looks on their faces told her that she had struck a nerve with them.

"It's nothing bad. It's just that her last note said, I know who you are," Maggie told them. "If Sabrina knows who I am, then maybe she'll send the police here, and we'll get to go home," she added, hoping the other two would agree.

Cali plopped on the cot next to Maggie. "Listen, Mags. First of all, it's really dangerous for you to bring notes back here. Where are they?"

"I wrapped them in newspaper and put them in the toilet," she admitted.

"OK, well, second, it would be really great if this Sabrina woman was for real, but I don't want you to get your hopes up. All these people know we've been taken from our families. They'll do and say whatever it takes to live out their own little fantasies," Cali explained.

"Yeah," Max added, "she might be turned on by making you think that she's gonna save you. It's always some fucked-up mind game with these pervs. I'm not saying it can't happen, but you gotta remember that none of these assholes wants to help us. If we get out of here, we could identify them, and they'd go to prison."

Maggie had never thought about any of the adults who had sex with kids going to prison. She accepted what Cali and Max were telling her-and even considered that there was a high likelihood that they were right. But she had a feeling about Sabrina. The other two weren't in the room with Sabrina. They didn't know that she was kind and looked at Maggie differently than any of the other clients had.

"But what if Sabrina is different? What if she's really going to help us?" Maggie protested.

"Then we will all be home soon," Cali assured her.

Max added, "Maggie, you sure are one special chick. I think you might just have enough hope for all of us. We just don't want you to be disappointed, OK? If nothing changes, we don't want you to be any sadder than you already are just being here. All right?"

"OK. But I still think that Sabrina is different. Just wait, you'll see," she told them with a child's optimism.

Max and Cali then changed the subject and started asking Maggie about some of the books she had read. She read almost three books a week now, and the older teens found her ability to retain information amazing.

While they were chatting excitedly, none of them knew that Shana had eavesdropped on their entire conversation.

Chapter Nineteen.

The following week, after returning to her cell, Maggie pulled out the note that Sabrina had slipped into her panties that night. It read: Help is coming.

Maggie didn't throw the note down the toilet. Instead, she put the note in the toe of her worn sneaker and went with the group to breakfast. Once back in their cellblock, Maggie sought out Max and Cali. Removing her shoe, she pulled out the note and handed it to Cali.

"Fuck me," Cali breathed and handed the note to Max.

Max's adrenaline started to pump. They had both experienced empty promises, but Maggie's optimism had rubbed off on them over the past week.

"Christ! If this chick is for real, we're getting the fuck out of here soon. Oh my God, I could just piss my pants right now." Max's smile spread over his face. Even his eyes were smiling.

"So you believe me, right?" Maggie asked with excitement.

"I sure want to believe it, Maggie. I mean, I ain't gonna lie to you. I have my doubts. But I haven't felt this good in a long time. So even if it's all bullshit, at least I had the chance to feel this good again," Max said, looking to Cali for encouragement.

"You're right, Max," Cali announced. "Even if this turns out to be nothing, we deserve to enjoy this feeling of liberation for as long as we can."

Just then, they heard John William's heavy footsteps in the hallway. He stopped at Shana's cell. "Let's go, girl. We have someone that wants a little afternoon delight."

Shana froze. She was tired from the freak who had tied her hands and feet to the bedposts the night before as he repeatedly raped her. He had seemed unable to get enough of her. She was sore and mentally exhausted from the constant torment that her sick clients put her through. She had recently taken to giving John William blow jobs in the cafeteria in exchange for drugs. It was her goal to be high all the time so she didn't feel the pain and humiliation that accompanied her forced occupation.

After John William had shut and locked the door to the cellblock, Shana turned to him. "How about if I blow you for some dope?"

"Nah, that routine is getting old. What else you got?" he asked with authority.

Shana stammered, "I don't know, John William. I guess I could let you fuck me now, but the client might know."

"Hmmm, what else you got?" he asked, hoping she would offer something kinky, but knowing he could make her do whatever he wanted. He liked it when she pleaded with him for dope; it was an incredible high for him.

Shana thought hard about what she could offer him. She'd do anything to get drugs from him. She was a hardcore addict now. It got her through the sexual torture she had to endure.

"Well, I know a secret. Something about Maggie that I can tell you," Shana offered.

John William was surprisingly intrigued. "OK. First you blow me, and then you tell me the secret," he instructed.

When Shana was finished, she sat on the bathroom floor while John William pulled his pants up. "OK, so what's the secret you have for me?" he asked.

"Well, I overhead Maggie telling Cali and Max that there's a client who is giving her notes. One note said she knew who Maggie was, and the last note said that help was coming," Shana explained.

John William's posture turned rigid. He looked down at Shana with a pinched expression. "Oh really? That's good information. Where are these notes?"

Shana started to sweat, remembering they went down the toilet. "She put them in the toilet. But wait! Maggie was showing one to Cali and Max right before you came to get me today."

John William grabbed Shana under the arm and hoisted her to her feet. "Let's go. Your client is waiting."

"But...but...you promised me some hillbilly heroin," she begged.

The big buffoon reached into his pocket and took out two pills. He shoved them into her hand. "I need a little bit of water to take them."

His eyes narrowed into thin slits as he glared at her. "I don't care if you have to fucking chew them. There ain't no time for this shit. Take 'em or I'll take 'em back."

Shana threw the two pills into her mouth, crushing them with her teeth. The bitter taste tempted her to spit them out. But she kept chewing and swallowed them as fast as possible. She wanted them to take effect before her "afternoon delight" client.

Before John William sent her into one of the rooms on the main floor, he grabbed her shirt collar and put his nose to hers. "Where is Maggie keeping the note?"

Shana, feeling the initial effects of the magical drug, blurted, "She has the last one on her."

Chapter Twenty.

John William stormed back to the cellblock. He strode into Max's cell, where they were all sitting. "You!" he said, pointing to Maggie. "Get naked, now!"

Maggie's skin started to tingle and a sudden dread hit her core. She quickly started to undress as the others watched. She stood naked and shaking before him. He was always in charge. He grabbed her shirt and pants one at a time and turned them inside out. Then he picked up her socks and inspected them. He had almost given up, thinking the little crack head, Shana, had lied to get drugs from him. He turned to leave and kicked Maggie's sneakers against the stone wall. He stopped suddenly and bent down to pick them up. He reached his fingers into the first sneaker, feeling around for what he was looking for. Nothing. He did the same with the other sneaker, and his large fingers skimmed over the note. He had felt the movement of the paper. Pulling the note out, his eyes bore into Maggie's.

"Well, what do we have here?" he asked in a demeaning tone.

"It's...it's just a note," Maggie answered. She unknowingly moved closer to Cali and Max, who were watching John William in horror.

"Let's see. It says, 'Help is coming.' Who gave this to you?" he hollered.

"I...I don't know," Maggie answered impulsively.

"Well, then I will just have to beat you until you remember," he stated.

He stepped forward and slapped Maggie across the face. Then he grabbed a handful of her hair and dragged her across the hall to her own cell. Still naked, she felt even more vulnerable. John William threw her on the floor and kicked her in the thigh. Maggie screamed, putting her hands over her face. "Please stop. Please, John William," she begged.

Cali rushed into the cell and stood before the monster. "She got the note from a woman named Sabrina. Please stop kicking her. She's just a little girl."

Satisfied that he had his answer, John William clamped his hand on Maggie's arm and pulled her up. He held on tightly as he dragged her along behind him. Max, Cali, and Seth looked on as they disappeared. The older teens were fearful they would never see Maggie again. Seth blubbered and held onto Max, who had picked him up during the beating they witnessed.

Upstairs, Maggie was forced to tell some of the higher-ranking cartel members everything that had happened. She told them the message on each of the notes. When she finished, she slumped in her chair, her fiery blue eyes devoid of any hope.

"Get her out of here," the top guy told John William.