Riley sighed as she read the response on her messaging app. She had been in communication with this girl calling herself Samantha for the past three days since she had returned from her trip. This girl was very interested in the Wollingworths thus her eagerness to help Riley dig up dirt on the latest heir. Apparently there was some deeper conspiracy with them. Dramatic to be sure, but with a family as rich and old as the Wollingworths not totally unexpected. Though all roads seemed to lead to the same eventuality, a drive back up to the cabin to investigate it. Riley wasn’t looking forward to the long drive and had been trying to come up with another solution but it appeared that was the only option. And it would have to be soon since the longer she waited the more time whatever cleaning crew Rachel had would be able to wipe any evidence away.

Riley switched to the text messaging app on her phone. She doubted she could make the trip in a good pace on her own and she knew one other girl that, while she didn’t believe her, would probably help her out. Annabelle was reliable as ever, though Riley was sure she would have to pay her back for this later.

“I can’t believe we are actually doin this,” Annabelle sighed as Riley put her bag in the back seat of Annabelle’s truck. “Drivin half way across the damn country to chase a conspiracy theory that someone on the internet told you.”

“Yup,” Riley huffed as she shut the door. “It hasn’t changed since the last time you complained about it.”

“Watch yer attitude. You know the only reason I’m coming with ya is to make sure you don’t get stabbed or git yer kidney’s stolen.”

“And I appreciate it A.J. I really do,” Riley sighed. Despite the genuine appreciation Annabelle’s complaining was starting to wear on her. They haven’t even gotten on the road and already they were getting sick of each other. It was going to be a very long and very unpleasant trip. Riley had to keep reminding herself that Fara was worth it.

“You better,” Annabelle got in the driver’s seat. “An you better be payin’ for all this gas I’m wastin’ too.”

“Geez are you already sweatin’ me about this A.J.?”

“Do you know how long of a drive this is?” Annabelle began to angrily drive off. “I had to take off three whole days for this nonsense trip a yours.” Riley lazily laid her head on the window as Annabelle continued ranting. She supposed she had this coming, it was asking a lot, and she was taking advantage of Annabelle’s protective nature to get her to do this. It’s something Sarah would do. That didn’t make Riley particularly proud. Eventually Annabelle would calm down, but for now Riley would bear the brunt of her frustration.

It was in the dead of night as Riley drove Annabelle’s truck to the motel she had picked out. Riley was asleep in the passenger seat. She had been for the past few hours, Riley had driven most of the trip actually. She groaned as got out of the truck, stiff from the long ride.

It didn’t take long to get the keys to their room. It wasn’t exactly as nice as the cabin Rachel had gotten them, the consequence of a college girl budget. If everything went well though they would only need it for one night. They would stay tonight, wake up early tomorrow to do their investigating, and hopefully be back later that day. Riley hoped so, between the gas and the room this trip was already going over her meager budget. She hoped this would all be worth it.

“Ya got the key,” Annabelle had woken and lowered her window to talk to Riley as she left the motel office.

“Yep,” Riley sleepily flashed the key. “It ain’t exactly the rits but …”

“I’ve slept in worse don’t worry bout me,” Annabelle grabbed their bags and walked toward the room. Riley sighed, clearly the nap had only slightly alleviated Annabelle’s sour mood. Though Riley couldn’t exactly blame her. Nothing she could say now would alleviate the issue, she would have to hope that whatever they turned up in their investigation would change her mind about the trip being a waste of time.

Riley’s description that that room “wasn’t the rits” was accurate. Thankfully it at least appeared to be clean and presumably free of bugs. Not that Annabelle seemed to care either way as she flopped down onto one of the two twin beds and already began to fall back asleep. Riley rolled her eyes lovingly. Annabelle was predictable in a very cute way, though she would likely be very upset if Riley pointed that out to her.

Riley brushed her teeth and got ready for bed while Anabelle snoozed. Eventually she was able to crawl into the other bed and get as comfortable as the cheap bed would allow. She had to give Rachel credit she knew how to pick out a nice spot to sleep at least. Not that it mattered all that much to Annabelle apparently.

Riley quickly logged onto her messaging app to confirm with Samantha the time and place they were meeting. Samantha was as short as she ever was but the meeting was set. Riley couldn’t help but be a little nervous about meeting the girl in person for the first time. She would have to see how everything went tomorrow.

The next morning Annabelle and Riley waited at the familiar cabin, waiting on their online friend, and she arrived exactly on time pulling up to the cabin in a Grey van.

Samantha was a fairly tall slender woman, with jet black hair the fell down to her neck. She was wearing a business casual looking shirt and pants, though her most striking article of clothing was the rather thick leather collar around her neck. She looked better than Riley and Annabelle did in their hastily packed clothing. Without much fanfare she approached the two.

“Riley I hope?” She asked holding her hand out.

“Samantha,” Riley said shaking her hand. “This is my friend A.J. She helped with the drive over.”

“Hello there,” Rachel politely shook Annabelle’s hand. She could tell that Annabelle didn’t quite trust her, just as Annabelle could tell that Samantha didn’t really care. “Well let’s get right to it.” Samantha began approaching the cabin while pressing on a tablet that she had kept inside her coat. Riley and Annabelle followed. “Newer electronic lock like this always have a weakness somewhere, just gotta find it.”

“If ya don’t mind my askin’?” Annabelle said as Samantha stopped in front of the door. “What exactly is yer angle here?”

“It’s a very complicated story,” Samantha was dismissive. “It was my understanding that you were only interested in getting proof that your friend was being manipulated. Did that change?”

“No,” Riley answered quickly.

“I just don’t quite understand why you’re helping is all,” Annabelle clarified.

“What does it matter?” Samantha had gone from tapping to just waiting on her tablet to finish something.

“Cuz I don’t wanna be tied to the murder of an heiress. I dunno what yer doin here, and I’m not gonna be happy if whatever plans you got for Rachel end up blowing back to me.”

“Ah ok that’s fair,” Samantha turned around and addressed Annabelle with more attention. “Rest assured I mean no physical harm to any of the Wollingworths, but their family is tied up in a very complicated conspiracy. One that I’m very invested in. My intention is to hopefully find incriminating evidence here that I can use as blackmail to get the information I actually want out of your friend.”

“Blackmail,” Annabelle gave Riley a glare.

“If she didn’t do anything than we won’t find anything to blackmail her with,” Riley said defensively.

“Oh she definitely did something,” Samantha was confident. “If the stories you told me were accurate anyway. It’s some classic reinforced conditioning at the least. Not to mention a lot of lying. A lot of what you said just doesn’t add up. No state has a car seat law like that, and that’s not the only hole in her escuses.” Samantha’s tablet beeped and she confidently opened the now unlocked door into the cabin. She moved inside without hesitation into Fara’s room and began looking around.

“So what’s the conspiracy?” Annabelle asked while Samantha searched.

“Like I said long story,” Samantha was inspecting the crib like bed.

“Even better the long ones are always the most interesting.” Samantha rolled her eyes.

“It sounds like you’re not going to believe me, but whatever, talking helps me work,” Samantha had popped a small circle attached to a wire out of the ceiling. “Hidden camera, and I doubt it’s the only one.” Samantha set the device on the floor at Annabelle’s feet, and suddenly she became more interested in what Samantha was saying. “It happened about 9 or 10 years ago. There was a Russian crime syndicate that specialized in human trafficking that was about to go under. Rather than lose all of their product they hatched a scheme for one last payout. They would ship all of their stock to America to be picked up by gangs or cartels state side.” Samantha had popped another of the hidden cameras out of the ceiling. “They tricked the U.S. government by claiming they were all Russian intelligence officers, and the U.S. of course eagerly smuggled these people into the country for them. Once they realized they had been duped, they attempted to treat their new captives with intense therapy and then release them to live out lives as normal citizens, and that did work for a time. But as they were released they were almost immediately picked up by either gangs or cartels and sold again. Their conditioning is deep and hard to remove. Even after all their treatment, all it takes is someone saying the code phrase to make them obedient and docile again. My mother was among them, and I am eager to find out where she is. The Wollingworth’s, believe it or not, were involved in reselling these people.” Rachel finished by revealing a final camera.

“Wow,” Riley said shocked. “I mean I didn’t like her, but to think Rachel was involved with all of this.”

“Well her level of involvement is still up in the air,” Samantha was quick to explain. “But her father for sure was. Yup remote hinges and a hidden lock,” Samantha said pointing to the crib door. “Anyone who didn’t know how this lock worked would be stuck in here, and it looks like she could close this gate remotely.”

“How did you …” Riley started but Samantha was quick to answer.

“I’ve spent some time in little land, so I know a lot of these tricks.” Riley and Annabelle both gave her a look. “As a nurse!” Samantha huffed and moved to the master bedroom. After some light digging she found the tablet in the nightstand next to the bed. “Yup this is it.” Samantha tossed the tablet to Riley. Riley opened it in shock, she could see on three screens the view from the cameras Samantha had removed, as well as some controls for the room. She saw controls for closing the crib, and an option to play several different audio files, all with their effect on the person listening helpfully labeled. None of them were positive effects. With a little more exploring Riley found several recordings of Fara in the room.

“Wow this is just,” Riley began.

“It’s everything you said,” Annabelle said amazed. “I didn’t believe you it sounded so crazy but.”

“Well it sounds like that’s all you need to convince her,” Samantha said happily. “And keeping your friend locked in a crib while you watch her on hidden cameras definitely constitutes some good blackmail. There’s probably more in there if you go through all the files.”

“We need to tell Fara about this,” Annabelle began but Samantha quickly snatched the tablet.

“Hold your horses,” Samantha locked the tablet and tucked it under her arm. “I need to get my crack at her first then you two can let your friend know. I can’t risk this getting out ahead of time.”

“Are we supposed to just sit on this?” Riley questioned angrily.

“She’s been with them for this long,” Samantha retorted. “A little extra time isn’t going to hurt. It’s not like being babied all day is that bad for her health anyway. It can be quite relaxing actually.”

“You said you were a nurse at little land right?” Annabelle questioned.

“I’ll send you the relevant info after I’ve had my talk with Rachel,” Samantha ignored Annabelle’s question. “I’m going to stay and poke around some more. You two have a long drive ahead of you if I understand.” Riley and Annabelle got the hint and left. Riley wasn’t too concerned about getting the video back. Just having ever honest Annabelle vouch for its existence would be enough to convince Fara.

“Thanks again for helping out A.J,” Riley and Annabelle made her way to Annabelle’s truck.

“No I should be thanking you,” Annabelle said quickly. “Or at least saying sorry. I can’t imagine knowing the truth, and having us all …”

“Well it’s in the past,” Riley interrupted not eager to drudge those feelings up.

“You seem hesitant. I figured you’d be happy or at least vindicated,” Annabelle started the truck and began the long drive.

“I am it’s just… I’m not so sure what’s gonna happen anymore. She seems so happy.”

“You’re worried she’s gonna stay?”

“I’m worried because I’m not so sure that her leaving is what’s best anymore. If this makes her happy, and Rachel can give it to her.”

“What’s important is that she makes the decision for herself. If she still wants to stay with Rachel then at least she did it on her own, not because Rachel manipulated her.”

“Yeah I guess you’re right.”