Chapter 6: The Waiting Game

01 November 2013 – Old Littleton Road, Harvard, Massachusetts

Sabrina tried to relax on her date with Moose, but couldn’t. Nothing about her date made her anxious – normally, the Halloween costume party at Moose’s house would have been fun – but she was constantly keyed up after the incident two weeks ago.

Her parents’ frank talk with her after the meeting at the State Police barracks and the meeting itself did nothing to allay her fears. Through the partially open door of the interview room at the barracks that day, Sabrina heard a State Police detective admit to Josh Abernathy that the slavers likely wouldn’t let things go. She wasn’t sure which news bothered her more – that or the fact that the Petersham officer had been killed outright as she watched.

The men she followed killed five kidnapped girls in the basement of the house before coming out guns blazing. Hearing the girls were all close to her age only added to her apprehension over the events of that day. That those men had been killed helped only a little.

“Sabrina?” Moose asked. “You okay?”

He knew the real answer, though he expected the answer he got.

“I’m fine.”

“I haven’t dated all that much, Sabrina, but I know enough to know I should be scared if I hear that answer from my girlfriend.”

Sabrina gave him a weak smile. Moose was trying, she had to admit. She’d noticed the concerned looks from all of their friends as well as Moose’s gentle treatment since that day. She’d deflected all questions about the incident ever since, but she couldn’t continue keeping them in the dark.

“You’re right, Moose,” she sighed. “We need to get everyone in a group. I need to tell you all what’s going on.”

It took them about ten minutes to find their friends and a quiet room to sit in. Sabrina shut the door to the room before she stood in front of them.

“You’ve all picked up on my mood since about the middle of the month. You’ve all asked at one point if something is bothering me, and unfortunately, the answer is ‘yes.’ I’m sure everyone saw the news stories about the Petersham officer’s murder two weeks ago and the ones about his wake and funeral last week?” Her friends nodded that they had. “I witnessed that murder.”

Everyone’s jaw dropped. Shawn’s face went pale. As a police officer’s son, the death of a police officer always hit him hard, regardless of where it was. Hearing that one of his friends had witnessed such a thing shocked him and brought back the feelings from that day.

“What?” Shawn croaked. “How?” Sabrina cocked her head, and he suddenly knew how. “Right, your flying lessons. Never mind.”

“I was orbiting over the traffic stop and saw him fall when he was shot,” Sabrina said as she wrapped her arms around herself. “I saw him lying on the ground while his killers sped away. Alex had loaned me his camera that day to get some foliage shots, and we used it to photograph the getaway car and its license plate. We didn’t need them in the end, of course.”

Moose pulled her into his lap and hugged her. She returned it, relieved to finally be able to tell her friends what was going on. She had to tell them the rest, though.

“There’s more, guys.”

“More?” Erica asked while gripping Tommy’s hand.

“Yes, and you can’t tell anyone else. This is, technically, an active investigation even though everyone involved in the shooting is dead, and I don’t want this all over school. I mean, you can tell your parents, but that’s it.”

Her friends all looked at each other before nodding in agreement.

“The two from the car who died shooting it out later? They were human traffickers.”

“Holy shit,” Tommy breathed into the silent room after a few moments.

“They had two girls in the car with them when that cop pulled them over. They were ‘storing’ three more back at the house where the police surrounded them.” Sabrina took a deep breath to steady herself. “They killed all five girls before shooting it out with the cops.”

The others couldn’t speak again after that news.

“The State Police have no hard evidence that the people higher up in the slavers’ organization will be after me or Hamish, nor any soft evidence, but they believe that they will. That’s what has me on edge. Mom and Dad have been spending a lot of time reminding us to be extra vigilant about watching our surroundings, to ensure that no one is following us when we go out. But the bad guys only have to be right once.”

“What can we do?” Naomi asked.

“Just be patient with me for now. I’ve been on edge since that day. Also, like they’re saying these days, ‘If you see something, say something.’ My family can’t see everything all the time.”

“We’ll do what we can,” Tommy promised.

Life drifted along through the first half of November without any apparent hiccups. Hockey practices started up a few days after Moose’s party. Not having to wait for the MIAA-mandated start date for high school hockey was nice. Sabrina was able to focus on playing hockey while at the rink and not worry about things in real life. But the doors to the rink slamming shut sounded like gunshots, and Sabrina jumped every time she heard it.

She and Moose grew closer despite her anxieties. Her dad didn’t try intimidating Moose at all, which was nice, if a bit unexpected. Sabrina came down the stairs before one date to find Moose in her father’s office, laughing up a storm with him. She eyed both of them closely, but they didn’t seem to care or notice her. Jeff clapped Moose on the shoulder before kissing Sabrina on the cheek. She gave her father another look before stepping through the front door.

That night was Moose and Sabrina’s first extended make-out session. They intended to catch a movie and grab a burger afterward, but the film they wanted to see was sold out. None of the other movies interested them, so they grabbed some fast-food burgers and found a secluded spot.

Moose was very much the gentleman that night, much to Sabrina’s dismay. Her feelings for him had ramped up, and she was ready. The next time they went out, she attacked him. After ripping open his shirt, she all but pulled him into his car’s back seat by his ear. Once there, she clawed at his belt, and his pants flew open.

“Sabrina, are you su – OH, SHIT!”

Moose’s head started spinning at what she did, and that was the last thing he clearly remembered for a while.

“Sabrina, I’m sorry,” Moose said as he drove her home. She sighed.

“Moose, you have nothing to be sorry about or ashamed of, either. Look, I attacked you tonight, not the other way around. You tried to slow me down, remember?”

“Well, no, not really,” he admitted. “My brain has only just reset. Are you sure you’re okay? You’re bleeding.”

“You remember what they taught us in health class about a girl’s first time, right? And it’s not like I didn’t want it. You did nothing wrong, Anders.”

“’Anders?’ Only my grandmother calls me ‘Anders,’ Sabrina. Even my parents call me ‘Moose’ these days.”

“I called you that to get your attention.”

“You did earlier, remember?”

Sabrina smacked his arm.

“I’m trying to be serious, here!”

“Yeah, I get that. I’m trying not to be.”

“And why not?” she asked with her arms now crossed. “You don’t think the first time we have sex is a serious subject?”

“Of course it is, Sabrina! I’m trying to keep you from adding to your worries, you know, like you’ll regret this in the morning or something.”

“You think I’m going to regret this, Smolinski?”

Moose grimaced. He’d prefer being called Anders over hearing that tone of voice again.

“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. “You seem like you are already.” Her glare was back. “Look, your first time was in the cramped back seat of a car in the middle of November in Massachusetts. Not exactly a nice, warm bed with candles scattered all around, on the beach in the moonlight, or some field under the stars.”