“So for instance, those abducted in the northeast are transported to the southwest, and so forth. Here in Oklahoma there are a half dozen low levels like Gus that run things and girls wind up here from everywhere.
“There was a central house of prostitution that was raided a while back and several girls were rescued, but others were not. From what you’ve told me, Lisa and Mandy were two that Gus pulled out of the house at the last minute.
“Knowing the house was a bust, Gus let the two girls live with him. He has other girls that were not abducted and trafficked who just ran away and became prostitutes. He provides them protection.” Bracket made air quotes when saying protection because they all knew the kind of protection that Gus provided.
“The girls all live with individuals who Gus can either control or has a finger on.”
Carrie interrupted. “But what about Pride?”
“Pride is a little different. Since Cami and Jenny were not part of the trafficked girls, they were already living with Pride when Gus took them under his control. Pride has a reputation. She was a prostitute for most of her life and she doesn’t want to interfere. But she provides a place for girls to live.”
Randy and Carrie took this information in. Much of it they already knew, and some they suspected. They’d felt that Gus was not the top of this food chain but they didn’t have a name to put on the next level.
“If Gus was killing these girls, he would answer to this Alexander and I can’t imagine he would want to suffer his wrath. We have discussed the possibility that Gus just went crazy and lost his mind, but if that were the case he would be dead by now,” said Randy. “And we have pretty much marked him off the list of suspects since his DNA didn’t match what was underneath the girls fingernails. It could though, belong to one of his men who aren't in our database.”
Bracket was nodding. “True. The task force has under cover operations in place as well. We need to be careful where we tread. We can’t disrupt what they’re doing while we’re investigating, so be mindful of that. Know that at any time you could be interviewing an undercover agent.”
“It seems to me that these drownings are not syndicate related. If the girls had crossed them, or violated some code, their bodies would have never been found or they would have been killed with a professional hit and zero clues. It's true we have almost no clues here, but drownings are not tidy like a bullet from an untraceable gun or a knife to the throat,” said Carrie.
“These killings are personal. I can see a hothead like Gus being the perpetrator, but I am not sure even he would risk angering Alexander.
“We have to look further. We have to find another person who wants these girls dead.” As Carrie concluded, she looked at Randy. “Any ideas?”
Randy was thinking and analyzing all that they had discussed. “We need to go back to the drawing board and comb every inch of these girls' lives. I keep feeling like we’ve missed something vital that will tell us what’s going on,” he said.
“And both killings were drownings. If it were a hothead, then the method would be whatever was convenient at the moment. It took thought and at least some planning to murder the same way both times,” Randy concluded.
“Here’s the contact information for Marshall. Keep him in the loop so you can work in tandem with their investigation.” Bracket handed a note to Carrie as they stood to leave.
“And whatever you do, stop this before we have another dead girl on our hands.”
Chapter 10
Carrie called Safe At Last early the next morning and asked to speak with Jenny.
“Jenny, yesterday when we were at the diner, someone you saw disturbed you. Please don’t deny it. I saw that you were visibly upset.”
“Yes, I was,” replied Jenny.
“It was that guy who looked like a throwback from the 50s, right?”
Jenny’s mind raced to remember the man Carrie was talking about. “No.” Her reply held surprise.
“It wasn’t? Who were you looking at?”
“There was a man in a suit sitting at a table in the middle of the room. I… I’ve been with him.”
“Why were you anxious when you saw him? Did he hurt you or act strange with you?”
Jenny worked to remember the details of their time together. She always tried to wipe each time as far out of her mind as possible. “I’m trying to remember,” said Jenny. “He was bossy.”
“Bossy?” Carrie asked. Bossy could mean a lot of things to many people, especially where sex was concerned.
“Maybe demanding is a better word. I think he’s someone important.”
Carrie searched her mind to recall the face of the man that Jenny was referring to. The diner had been full of people taking a later lunch.
“Was he sitting alone or with someone else?” Carrie asked.
“He was alone. He was reading a tablet of some sort and then he looked up over the top of it and saw me.”
“What did he do then?”
“He just stared at me. He looked at you guys, then back at me and just stared a hole through me.”
Carrie mumbled trying to put it together. “He saw that we were law enforcement and that you and another prostitute were with us. He may have been afraid that you would tell us about him.”
“I’m sure. He won’t want anyone knowing what we did.”
“Okay, do you think if I found a picture of him you would recognize him?”
Jenny snorted. “Yeah, sure. Show me one of him stripped naked and I’ll point out the mole on his left hip.”
The reality of what they were truly discussing hit Carrie like a brick. This poor girl had been violated time and time again on a daily basis for years.
“Jenny, you will get past this,” Carrie said.
“Everyone keeps saying that. It’s hard to believe though.”
“Hang in there. Beth seems like a good lady and cares what happens to you girls. Follow her lead and it’ll be ok.”
“Carrie I don’t know if I will ever be ok, even if I get an education, a fancy job, and money. There’s a huge rock inside my heart and there is nothing I can think of that could ever make that go away. “What no one seems to get is how dirty we all feel. We’ve seen and done things that are horrible. There isn’t anything, no amount of water or soap that can clean me where I’m dirty.”
As Carrie listened to Jenny, she knew exactly what she was saying. She felt just as dirty as Jenny, and she had the education, fancy job, and money. It couldn’t make her feel clean. And the sad part was that Carrie had chosen to live a life that defiled herself. Jenny had been forced into it unwillingly.
“I know you may not believe me Jenny, but I do know how you feel.”
It was the last full day before Sandy’s kindergarten class started and she wanted to spend it at Safe At Last.
So instead of driving to school, she drove straight to Safe At Last after confirming with Beth that she could volunteer for the day. Once school started, her time would be very limited.
Sandy followed the protocol of parking and then entering the safe house. The house seemed quiet. She stopped by the kitchen to see if they needed any help, but the breakfast cleanup was almost over and lunch prep hadn’t yet started.
Walking on into the main living area, she saw three girls, the young one who had complemented her hair and two others.
She walked over to young Emma and sat down next to her on the sofa. Emma’s face lit up when she saw Sandy.
“Miss Sandy!” exclaimed Emma, and gave her a big hug. “I was hoping you would come today. They found my parents and I’ll be going home later today. I wanted to see you before then.”
A pang of sadness barely touched the joy of Emma’s news about her going home. Sandy was genuinely thrilled for Emma but she had already gotten attached to her over the last few days.
Sandy beamed at Emma. “I’m so happy for you Emma. Where is home?”
“Phoenix. Mom and Dad are on their way to get me. They should be her
e this afternoon.” A look of concern passed over Emma’s face. “I’m a little worried. I haven’t seen them since… since… Her voice trailed off. She removed her gaze from Sandy as if suddenly ashamed.
“Emma, I’m a mom, so I can say without a doubt, that the only thing they will care about is getting you home safe. In their eyes, you are no different. But they will feel bad they let this happen to you.”
Emma’s eyes brightened. “But it isn’t their fault.”
“And they won’t think it is your fault,” said Sandy.
Emma was nodding, understanding. Sandy thought Emma was blessed to have good parents. So many other girls didn’t.
They sat for a while and watched the tv. The feel of Emma’s small hand inside Sandy’s tugged at her heart. She made a firm resolve to try to not get so attached to these girls. This type of pain would not permit her to endure as a volunteer.
“Sandy, can I see you for a moment?” It was Beth beckoning her to her office. Sandy patted Emma’s hand and gave her a smile as she stood to go.
Beth shut the door behind Sandy and motioned for her to sit. “We had a little incident here yesterday after you left. Becky took Jenny’s journal while we were out yesterday and when Jenny discovered it, she attacked Becky.
“I think all her pent up rage for everything that has been happening unleashed all at once, and because Becky had taken her journal she was the recipient of it all.”
Sandy sat and listened. Her entire body tensed as Beth began to tell her what had happened. “Are they okay now?” She had met Jenny and was surprised. She seemed so meek and timid. Becky on the other hand clearly had a chip on her shoulder.
“Yes, they’re fine. Jenny and I had a long talk and I let her call Pride. They talked and Jenny felt entirely different afterwards. It’s important for them to leave the old life and those in it behind, but Jenny needed to talk to Pride to know she was fine.”
Sandy was absorbing all that Beth was saying. “Emma is leaving today,” said Beth. She watched Sandy’s face for signs of emotion. “You’ve gotten close to her in the last few days, and she with you.”
“Yes, but I’m excited for her. Really excited. That’s what we hope to achieve here if at all possible, right?” asked Sandy.
Beth smiled. “Yes. Unfortunately, many of these girls have very little to go home to once they leave. Often the traffickers watch for girls that don’t have a solid support system at home. They bank on the parents or guardians just assuming the girls ran away and won’t even bother to look for them.
“Emma was stolen in a mall in Phoenix. She had gone there with her older sister and when the sister came out of a dressing room, Emma was gone.”
Fear gripped Sandy’s heart. She needed to watch over her kids better. Beth read the look on Sandy’s face.
“Sandy we can’t live in fear that this will happen to our kids. We have to trust that we are doing the best we can and trust God to watch over them.”
“Was God watching over Emma?” Sandy responded.
“He’s bringing her home to her parents isn’t He?” Beth asked. “I don’t have all the answers Sandy. But I know that Emma’s abduction was not God’s doing. When bad things do happen here in this corrupt world, He is there for us when we need Him.”
Sandy nodded trying to reconcile what Beth had just said. She had never felt she could just trust the safety of her children to an unseen entity. They were her children, and it was up to her and Randy to keep them safe.
“Ok, we have four new girls coming in to us today. Let’s go over what I know about them and the procedure of orientation. I’ve also set up a schedule for you, now that you will be starting back to school.”
Sandy took the schedule from Beth’s hands and looked it over. Smiling, she looked at Beth. “Thank you Beth.”
Gus sat with his crew watching the safe house. They had put enough pieces together through surveillance and a little investigation on their own part to find the house.
He’d bought two new girls out of his own pocket to add to Alex’s trough, but he was furious at Jenny, Lisa, and Pride.
He would take care of Pride once the cops had tired of watching her house. They couldn’t stay there forever, so he would bide his time and wait.
For now, he would be content to take care of Jenny and Lisa. He had replaced the two dead ones, so he was trying to decide if he would just add them back to the mix or just kill them for their betrayal, then buy two more.
He hated to have to buy two more, but he wasn’t sure if Jenny and Lisa were worth the trouble.
Gus and his crew had been sitting watching the house since early morning. The only person he had seen come to the house, was a lady with straight, almost white blonde shoulder length hair.
“What, they go in and never leave?” asked Vince, Gus’ driver. Gus knew they were all tired of sitting, but he didn’t dare leave for fear of missing an opportunity.
“I don’t know what they do,” grumbled Gus. He thought to himself that at least he knew where the house was now. He could rotate his guys to watch for a few days then when they had established a pattern of behavior he would come up with a plan.
The last lady that had walked in, had caught his eye. She reminded him of Cami. That lady cop had been right, he had loved her. But the dirty little whore hadn't wanted him.
The lady at the house was older than Cami, but just as beautiful. He could imagine touching her silky smooth blonde hair. She had big blue eyes like Cami’s too. He shifted in his seat and yanked the leg of his pants down to relieve his growing uncomfortableness.
“Okay, let’s roll. I want you guys to rotate watching this house and make a list of everyone and everything that happens here. Then I’ll decide what to do. I may just blow the whole thing up with them all inside.”
“That would fix it,” said Vince.
“Yeah, but I want to look those two in the eyes when the light fades from them. A bomb is only a last resort.”
As the SUV rolled away from the house, Gus was plotting his revenge, still trying to decide if he would make them suffer before putting them back to work, or just killing them. He smiled at that last thought.”
“It’s Rick.” Rick Morris’s voice came through Carrie’s cell phone.
“What have you got?” Carrie responded.
“We’ve been trying to track down the sister, Samantha. We were able to get a description of the man who took her. No name yet, but the description we got says he is somewhere in his fifties, dark hair balding on top, not fat that they could tell, but a jowly face.” Rick paused.
“Where did you get the description from?” asked Carrie.
“From a neighbor.”
Carrie’s face wrinkled in concentration. “A neighbor? How would a neighbor know?”
“At the end of the street there was a little convenience store. Seems the neighborhood kids would hang out there a lot. They didn’t sell gas, just a walk-up type little store to run in and get the necessities, and of course beer and cigarettes,” said Rick.
“The shop owner lives on the same street as Cami and Samantha. It seems the day they went missing, they had been hanging out in front of the store, which they did a lot. He noticed late that afternoon that a man drove up in an old black Chevy Bonneville. The girls went to the passenger side and leaned in to talk through the open window.
“The man said that after a while, Sam got in the car and Cami sat back down in front of the store. He went out and asked Cami about Sam leaving with the man. He hadn’t seen him in the neighborhood before and was concerned.
“He said Cami assured him it was all right. That was the last day he saw Cami too. When she left later that day, she never came back,” Rick concluded.
Carrie was trying to wrap her head around all the facts they had. How did this work into the case, and with Gus and the human trafficking? Instead of things falling into place it just seemed like they were gathering a bunch of loose ends they couldn’t connect.
Bu
t there was a connection, and they had to keep chipping away looking for more. Sometimes cases took a long time to solve. Carrie hoped that wasn’t the case this time, because the longer they took, the more girls could die.
“Did he report this to the police?” Carrie asked.
“No, he had no idea the girls were actually missing.
Carrie thought about all that Rick and Mike had said. Her mind was miles away at the front of a little run down neighborhood store where two girls had left and never returned.
She didn’t remember saying goodbye or ending the call, but she must have, because the screen on her phone was blank. Then suddenly thinking of something she dialed Rick back.
“Did you talk to the girl's parents to see if they knew of a man with that description or a car like that?” Carrie asked.
“Not yet,” said Rick. “We’re trying to get over to them. Their work schedules are difficult to navigate. We called you as soon as we talked to the store owner.”
“I want to go with you when you talk to the parents,” said Carrie.
“Ok. As soon as I reach one, I will let you know,” said Rick.
Carrie got up from her desk and went looking for Randy who wasn’t at his desk. She found him in Bracket’s office and rapped lightly on the door frame.
“Come on in Carrie,” Bracket stood and welcomed her into the room.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt. I talked to Rick Morris, and he has news.”
“Sit down. I’d like to hear it too,” Bracket motioned to the vacant chair next to Randy and sat back down. His eagerness led him to lean forward with his arms on his desk.
Carrie relayed what Rick had told her and then answered questions from both Bracket and Randy.
“I told Rick that when he locates the parents, I want to go with him to talk to them,” Carrie said.
“Do you think you can get something out of them that will help solve your current case? Cami didn’t go with that man and we have no idea where Samantha is. Sam’s disappearance may have nothing to do with Cami’s death. Why not let Rick and Mike do the interview?” Bracket asked.
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