Searching For Jenna novel Chapter 45

"Wow," Darlene said. "That is quite a tale."

"Yeah, it's been an exciting adventure," Elliot agreed.

"You shot your dad in the elbow?" Darlene asked. "That's some skillful shooting."

"I'd been practicing a lot," Elliot admitted. "At the time, I just wanted him to drop his gun, but taking his right elbow out is going to make hitting women very difficult for him in the future."

Darlene took a slow deep breath. "So what happens now?"

"The preliminary hearing about the woman I saw in the freezer will be in a couple of weeks. That's the only thing I'm involved in, except for him chasing Cara and me and shooting at us. There are a lot of other witnesses that will be testifying about the other things he's done, including you," Elliot explained. "Because his intentions when he shot you were to kill you, me and then himself, he's not going to be released from jail on bond. Mark talks like Matthews is going to get life in prison more than likely."

"Good," Darlene said. "Then we can move on with our lives."

"That's right," Elliot agreed.

Darlene looked down at their hands and asked shyly, "Did Terry tell you about us?"

Elliot grinned. "Yes. I'm very happy for you two. Terry always did have a big crush on you."

"He's a lovely man." Darlene smiled brightly. "I have never been so spoiled in my life."

"That's wonderful," Elliot said. "You deserve to be spoiled."

"I'm glad you think so, but what about you and Cara?" Darlene asked.

Elliot shrugged. "She took finding out I am a man pretty hard. I think the fact that she was attracted to me as a man and not knowing who I was, flipped her out pretty good."

"I can imagine," Darlene said. "You think you're a lesbian and then you like this guy, only to find out he's a girl, sort of."

"Yeah, it's very confusing for most people," Elliot agreed.

The nurse came back into the room. "I'm going to have to shoo you out of here. I need to bath Ms. Darlene."

Elliot stood and nodded. "I have some things I need to do anyway." He turned to Darlene. "I'm staying with Terry while I'm in Evansville. I've got to go back to Salt Lick and check on my stuff out there in a few days. The FBI is still sorting things out, and I'm not sure what my next move will be, but we'll talk about that later."

"Yes," Darlene said. "I'm not going to lose you again. You need to keep me informed of everything you are doing."

Elliot leaned down and kissed Darlene on the cheek. "I will, Mom. I promise."

The nurse stared at Elliot as he left the room and then turned to Darlene. "I thought you had a daughter."

"No," Darlene smiled. "I have a son."

Elliot came back to the hospital later that evening with Terry. Darlene was getting well enough to complain about the hospital food so Terry was sneaking her some Kentucky Fried Chicken. Elliot and Terry could hear women talking as they approached the room. When they walked in, Caroline and Cara Marshall were sitting in the two chairs by Darlene's bed talking to her.

Elliot let out a heavy sigh when she was out of sight. "She's never going to forgive me."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Caroline said. "Granted, she is having a hard time dealing with the truth of what happened. She still feels like there was something she could have done to change the course of events."

"She could not have stopped how things went down," Elliot said. "If anything, she might have gotten herself killed."

"That's right," Terry agreed. "Michael was not going to let anyone ruin what he had going on. He would have probably killed both of them. We all have to be thankful Darren Parker, or William Defoe, whatever his name is, showed up when he did or Elliot would not be with us right now."

"Yes," Elliot said. "I owe William my life."

"So Darren Parker was an FBI agent this whole time?" Caroline asked.

"Yes," Elliot said. "My father had been a suspect in the human trafficking ring for a while, but they didn't have anything substantial on him until I found that body in his freezer."

"I still can't get over that," Darlene said. "How many dead bodies went through our garage and I had no clue?"

"You had no clue because Michael didn't want you to," Terry said. "You and Jenna, or Elliot, were his cover. A family man with a daughter of his own surely would not be involved with kidnapping and handing over young women to a human trafficking cartel."

"How long had he been involved with them?" Darlene asked.

Terry looked at Elliot. The two of them had spent several hours in a debriefing with Mark, William, and Dana and learned some very unbelievable things about Michael Matthews. Elliot cleared his throat and said, "At least ten years."