Free Not Dead Yet by Pegi Price

said.   “I’m not cut out for this superhero stuff.  I’m just plain old ordinary me, doing my job and making a living.  That’s the way I like it and that’s the way I want it to stay.  My life is finally peaceful and normal.  Nix option number three.”
    “All right,” Mollie conceded.  “That leaves doing nothing, or calling the police.”
    “Those options both suck.  If I do nothing, I’ll feel guilty.  If I call the cops and something bad happens to her, I’ll feel guilty.”
    “Theia, face reality,” Mollie urged.  “Something really bad has more than likely already happened to her.”
    “Well then it’s probably too late for the police to help her — for all we know he killed her at the house and has just been messing with me,” Theia replied.  “What a psychopath.”
    “We both know the cops aren’t going to break a nail trying to find her,” Mollie said, “and I can’t say I blame them.  Even if they find her, and she recovers from whatever he has done to her, she’d just go back to him.  Didn’t you tell me he’d already put her in the hospital a couple of times?”
    “Yeah, once he broke a chair over her head and another time he beat her while she was pregnant.”
    “Oh God, what happened to the baby?”
    “She lost it,” Theia said.
    “So she wouldn’t even leave him to save the life of her child?”  Mollie asked.
    “You know how it is for battered women.  You’ve had cases like this.  They’re afraid to stay and even more afraid to leave.  They’re usually told they’ll be killed if they try to get away.”
    “True,” Mollie agreed, “she probably didn’t have a will of her own anymore.”
    “She may have felt as though she did not have any options,” Theia commented.  “They had a couple of kids.  That’s how she’s connected to Lu Capeto.  The kids were hellions at impressively young ages.  They rotated between juvenile hall and foster care.  Lu was the DJO on one of the cases.”
    “What happened to the kids?”
    “They moved out of the house during high school. Lu lost track of them after that.”
    “What a mess.  Are you actually considering getting mixed up in this?” Mollie asked.  “I feel badly for her, but how can you fix this?”
    “You’re right—I can’t. Okay, so I tell the police, and be done with it.”
    “I think that’s the best option,” Mollie agreed.
    “How does this sound?  Hi, Officer Asshole?  Yes, this is Theia Pearson.  You remember.  You were a jerk at my office the other day.” 
    “You might want to work on your delivery,” Mollie suggested.
    “Okay, I’ll tweak it a little.  I hate being dragged into this situation, but I think the best way for me to help Rose is to cooperate with the police.”
    “I’m afraid so,” Mollie agreed.  “What does your fortune cookie say?”
    Theia cracked open her cookie and pulled out the slip of paper.  “Oh, great.  My fortune cookie says this is my lucky day.  If this is an example of a lucky day, I really don’t want to experience an unlucky day.  What does yours say?”
    “It says ‘You will travel to an exotic place,’” Mollie read.
    “Well, that’s no news flash.  You and David travel constantly.  That’s like saying you’ll breathe today.  Anyway, I am relieved … I think I have a plan now.  Thanks for helping me sort things out, Mollie.”
    “Ready to head back to the office to make that phone call?”
    “I may as well get it over with.”
    Theia discovered it actually was her lucky day when she called the police.  The case had been assigned to Officer McCarthy, a different detective, who said he would be right over to take a follow-up statement.  He was polite and professional.
    “Thanks for coming over,” Theia greeted him warmly.  “I’m hopeful this new information will help you find Rose before it’s too late.”
    “I appreciate your trying to help.”  He put a small recorder on her desk.  “Okay if I