by Amy Shojai
The man gathered up the ends of Karma’s leash. The woman grabbed Tee’s rope, opened the car door, and yanked hard. Tee’s startled yell squeezed off in a squeal of pain as her air cut off. She made a frantic grab for the lamb-toy on the seat and missed.
Karma didn’t think. She lunged to attack without need of command, teeth snapping at the bad woman who dragged Tee from the car. But Karma’s own leash, anchored by the man outside her window, kept Karma in place as she thrashed and struggled to protect her family.
Tee clutched at the rope to relieve the painful pressure. She managed one final command before the woman dragged her away. “Karma, guard lamb. Guard lamb!”
Without pause, Karma grabbed the toy, but that didn’t stop her outraged, toy-muffled barks. She only fell silent when Tee disappeared into the house.
She turned her attention to the bad-man outside the window. Karma growled, pouring her soul into the sound, intent clear in a hard-eye stare.
“Hey, need some help here.” His voice stuttered with fear, and that pleased Karma, so she growled louder.
The woman reappeared without Tee and seized the second rope. The two strangers moved apart, each holding a rope taut when Karma’s door swung open.
Karma roared, dropped the toy and leaped at the man. Jaws snapped closed on empty air, though, when the woman’s rope yanked Karma back.
Together they dragged Karma, howling and snarling, toward the house. At the last moment, Karma remembered to snatch up the lamb-toy before they heaved and yanked, and then tied her to a stake in the ground by the front porch and left her there.
Karma yelped, and jerked this way and that way. The noose tightened around her throat until her voice rasped raw and tongue dried with foam. Finally, she paused to draw the toy closer to her tummy, obeying her girl’s final command. Karma curled up in the dirt beneath the strange house.
It was a good-dog’s job to protect her family. But she’d failed. Tee was gone.
Chapter 66
Combs stared at the boots they’d found discarded beside the country road. The tracking device remained secured inside the instep. They’d also found Tee’s abandoned truck, parked behind a nearby billboard.
He wanted to strangle the cop and was ready to send Tee back to Chicago. She’d offered initial help back in August, but since then, she’d been a thorn in his side. Rather than following direction, she always had better ideas than the experienced team of detectives. Reining in her impatience and boundless energy exhausted his patience.
Once they made the connection with Momma Ruth, the team had put the next steps in place involving an undercover officer. Tee volunteered, and he had to accept. Combs would have preferred a more experienced officer, but no other officer fit the requirements.
He knew this case had personal implications for Tee. She hadn’t shared what, but he could tell. Granted, they all took it personally and wanted to nail anyone connected to abuse of minors. Those engaged in child pornography or sex trafficking of children deserved eternal damnation. Combs shuddered, thinking of his own kids. He’d almost lost Melinda and Willie in the tornado in February, but having a child caught up in this sort of evil must be a special kind of hell.
Gonzales returned from searching the car. “Find anything?” Combs asked. Tee was resourceful. If they’d taken her boots, she’d find another way to leave behind a trail.
Gonzales shook his head, smoothing his neat mustache with one hand. “Nothing helpful. Truck’s clean. No gun, no phone. It’s registered to Lia Corazon, though, not Tee.”
“That’s right. Tee doesn’t have a car, and Lia was pissed hers got taken. Thought her dog was in trouble.” At least Lia hadn’t been pressed into playing chauffeur, though he suspected Lia knew more about this than she’d admit. One sister at a time took his breath away, but two at once caused more ruckus than a Texas twister. “Sure her phone isn’t there? She called me ten minutes ago. She must have ditched it or hid it somewhere.”
“Too risky to call her.” Gonzales had already jumped ahead to the next logical step. “Bet she shut it off, too.”
“If it’s on her person or in the vehicle she’s in, the ring tone could give her away. You’re right, we can’t risk it. But we can get an order to track it.”
He smiled. “On it. Sounds like something Tee would do.”
Combs hoped she’d not pushed safety boundaries too much. They’d planned to have Tee wired before she went in, but maybe they could still make this work. “What else you got?” He took out a stick of gum, offered one Gonzales, but he demurred. Combs had given up smoking ages ago, but at times like these, he needed something to stem the urge.
“Lots of slobber marks inside the windows, some still tacky. And the front window was open. From the police dog?” Gonzales shook his head, puzzled. “Did Tee take the dog along for some reason? How’s that play in the sting?”
He didn’t know. He’d rushed away from Lia’s place before finding out. As long as Lia had no vehicle, she’d be out of the way without a way to go after the dog. Combs unwrapped another stick of gum. This might turn into a five-stick operation. “Go on.”
“Techs are collecting any trace they can find. If the abductors took Tee and the dog out of the truck, there’s sure to be something.” Gonzales hesitated, then added with relish, “Hope Karma nailed ’em.”
Combs grinned, and silently seconded the notion. Everyone at the station knew and loved Karma. They spoiled the gregarious Rottie every time she showed up. The dog’s heroics during the fire last August were the stuff of legend, and all agreed she’d make a spectacular K9 officer. That is, if Lia ever turned her loose. They had a running bet on the dog’s delivery date, and number of pups Karma would whelp—and who got first dibs to claim one. Gonzales said his kids wanted a pup. Lia didn’t know, but the buy-in for the bet created a fund to pay for Karma’s evaluation.
“Tee does a lot of stuff spur of the moment.” But Combs couldn’t imagine she’d take Karma, especially in her condition, and for sure not without Lia being part of the decision. Dammit! He should have talked to Lia before leaving. She couldn’t lie to save her life. God help them all if the two sisters cooked up their own plan to trap the sex ringleaders.
He’d ignored Lia’s angry text long enough. He sent a quick answering text: Truck found abandoned. Tee & dog AWOL. U holding out on me?
He waited. She typically replied immediately, so when nothing happened, he called and left a similar terse message, with an urgent demand that she call back ASAP.
Combs also wanted to dial up Momma Ruth, but that could make her run if she thought Tee hadn’t played straight with her. Or, it could tip off Boss that something was amiss.
He pocketed his phone, heading back to his car. “I don’t have my laptop with me, but Tee’s is nearby at her place. I need to talk to Lia anyway.” They needed answers, so they could put this ugly case to rest, before any more girls got hurt.
Chapter 67
Lia stared at her grandparents as if seeing them for the first time. The shock and betrayal in one expression met the guilt and stubborn defense in the other.
“Cornelia? What’s she talking about?” Grandfather’s ashen face aged him another decade.
Grammy refused to bend. She lectured Lia, voice growing ever more strident, and spots of red hectored her high cheekbones. “Listen to your Grandfather. That man wasn’t good enough for Kaylia.” She rounded on her husband, the tiny woman vehement in her own defense. “We had plans for her, she had a place in society, after this family fought for years to be taken seriously. The Corazons are somebody in this community. And she wanted to throw the Corazon name into the trash.” Her chest heaved.
“What did you do?” He steadied himself with one hand against the wall, braced for a hurtful punch.
“I did what you wouldn’t! I protected our daughter. You pretend to be macho, the strong father, but you always encouraged Kaylia’s defiance. So proud of that headstrong Corazon blood. It’s your fault she ruined h
erself!” She whirled, this time throwing the bitter words at Lia, still justifying an anguished confession. “Yes, I had that paniolo boyfriend trash arrested, got their so-called marriage annulled.” She smoothed her throat, playing with the strand of pearls, and aimed another shot at her husband. “You weren’t strong enough to do the hard thing. The right thing.”
Grandfather stared at Grammy for endless seconds. That seemed to spur her on.
“She had prospects here, don’t you see? A place in the community. That no account wouldn’t have fit in here. He wanted to keep her in that Godforsaken island place. So I had to smooth things over, for her own good. For our family’s sake.” Grammy grabbed Lia’s hands, held them tight. “Nobody knew about you, and we had to keep it that way. To protect your mother.”
Lia dragged her hands away and staggered several steps backwards. Grammy followed, tottering and clacking on her high heels that now seemed ridiculous rather than stylish.
“All that changed after you were born, Lia. You have to understand.” Grammy held a pleading hand out to her husband. “Your Grandfather agreed. Tell her, Dub. And we would have convinced your mother to see reason. Tell her!” Grammy appealed to the man, who still seemed rocked to his soul.
“Agreed to what?” Lia looked between the two.
He rubbed his face and spoke in a hush. “It was the only way to give your mother a fresh start. Without painful reminders.”
Grandfather meant her. She would be the painful reminder, a reminder of love gone wrong. Of love derailed by meddling parents.
“My mother didn’t want to give me away, though, did she?” Her voice filled with wonder. Her stare pinned Grammy, still hungry for details. “But you had already made the arrangements to keep the dirty little secret. That’s why I was born here, and not in a hospital? So the inconvenient baby could disappear, and your society snobs would never know?” Her tears finally overflowed. “That’s why my mother died, with no doctor nearby to intervene. Isn’t that right!?!”
“What? No! We never planned for you to be born here.” Grandfather held up both palms toward her, as if fending off a blow. “You came early. I was gone on a buying trip. Cornelia called to tell me. You came too fast to get to the hospital. Tell her, Cornelia. For God’s sake, tell her!”
Grammy crossed her arms tight across her chest, turned her back, and stalked away, making surreptitious swipes at her eyes. She bowed her head. Her shoulders shook.
Shocked understanding turned his features dusky. Grandfather sucked in a ragged breath before his attention returned to Lia. He looked broken, proud carriage stooped and bent, and his rough voice trembled. “When your mother died, I couldn’t bear to lose you both.” He held one gnarled hand out to her.
She knocked it away, choking on a sob. “You were right all along. I don’t belong in this family. You lost me a long time ago.” Lia whirled and ran out the door.
Chapter 68
Tee squinted against the single bare bulb swaying high overhead. It painted stark shadows in the smelly bathroom. She flexed achy wrists, zip-tied by the silent red-haired woman—Momma Ruth?—who had dragged her through the shabby cowboy diner and down the narrow hall, to lock her in. She suspected a back room in the building played host to cockfights, if the birds in the yard were any indication. The smell of chicken poop added to the miasma.
With quick efficiency, she searched the tiny room. In the last of the three stalls, a figure cowered, squatting between the nasty commode and the wall in an effort to be invisible. Dark hair curtained her face, making it hard to judge age. “Hey, are you hurt? Come on out.” Tee gestured with her bound hands. “We’re locked in. But not for long.” She imbued the promise with as much conviction as possible, knowing Combs and the team would find them. Without the tracking device, it would take longer, but he’d figure out her backup plan. She had to believe that, anyway.
The delicate form unfolded, and Tee helped her up. “What’s your name?”
“Alana.” A child, maybe ten or twelve at most. Scarred skin. Haunted eyes.
Tee looked away, seeing too much of herself. “Pretty name, Alana.” In Hawaiian, it meant offering. Tee wondered what sicko had made an offering of this child. “How you stay? You okay? My name is—”
Karma’s distant barking stopped her words. Alana shivered and retreated again into the stinky stall.
“It’s okay, that’s my dog, my īlio. She on our side, Alana.” Tee drew close to the locked bathroom door and pressed her ear to the panel. Muted shouts from the driver and the redheaded woman made her smile. Karma wouldn’t do their bidding.
She turned back to the child. “How long have you been here? Momma Ruth bring you here, child? You the only one? All Hawaiian girls?”
Alana shrugged. “Boys, girls, from many places. We come, then we go. Boss teach what t’do, so mens come pick ones they want. Some go ‘way, never come back. Boss say I’m for special someone.” She shuddered, knowing what that meant. Her little hands flitted like hummingbirds to smooth waist-length hair.
Tee’s stomach clenched, and for a moment, her vision tunneled. She pinched her bare thigh, and the stinky surroundings returned to focus. “Who da boss?” Couldn’t be the muscle man who drove her here. “Big man? Small man?” Hell, anyone would be big from this girl’s viewpoint. “He haole, or maybe Hawaiian? What he like?” She fell into pidgin to better connect with Alana.
But Alana’s lips pressed tight. “I no tell, or Boss gi’ me to Tony.” She shuddered.
“Tony, he work fo’ Boss?” Must be the driver. “What about Momma Ruth, she treat you good?”
Alana burst into tears.
Tee moved to hug the child, despite her hobbled hands. But Alana shrank away, leery of any touch.
She’d pressed too much. Alana knew few details anyway, no more than Mele had known. But this place looked deserted. Boss must be planning to move on soon, if only a single child remained in their sick inventory. Why, then, had they taken the bait she’d set up with Momma Ruth?
Momma Ruth had answers. And so did the mysterious Boss. They’d be more willing to gloat and share incriminating info in front of her, the merchandise. Play the part, and meet the Boss.
Tee returned to the locked door and banged so hard on it the plywood cracked. Given time, she could break through the shabby patched barrier. For now, though, everything she did should prime her captors to talk. Momma Ruth drew a hard line about revealing details, and only agreed to get Tee inside to find out firsthand. Tee wanted the Boss and everyone else involved put away for good. Combs and his team needed to hang back so nobody ran too soon, before she got the info needed to put them all away.
She banged on the door again. “Hey! Let me outta here. You got no right t’keep me. Hey! You talk t’me, what you doin’ here. An’ leave īlio—my dog alone. Hey there, hear me? Hey! Hey! What you doin’ here anyways?” She banged again and again until her fist bruised. She’d wear them down. They had to answer eventually.
***
Outside, beneath the porch of the tacky building, Karma lay in the dirt. She chewed the rope tether that kept her confined. She heard Tee’s muffled voice, a clarion call for a good-dog to protect. She’d been trained to serve those she loved and respected, and Tee was chosen family. Her girl was in danger! Karma whined, and redoubled her efforts, pulling against the strong rope to test progress.
A strident mewling made her ears twitch, and she twisted around to look. Something stirred in the far reaches of the makeshift shelter. Despite the crazy rooster crowing that hurt a good-dog’s ears, and dusty-feather smells of stale nests and dead critters, this life-affirming sound made Karma’s stubby tail wiggle despite other worries.
She stretched her broad neck as far as she could reach, and whined low, low in her throat to keep from scaring the creature. Karma wrinkled her muzzle in the effort to sift scents and find this one’s signature odor amid the multitude of smells. She whined again, detecting the unmistakable stink of decay. Others hadn’t survive
d.
But this baby toddled closer, questing with tiny pink nose, mouth agape with ever more strident cries. With a low woof, Karma scooted nearer until able to grasp it by its blond scruff. She settled the three-week-old baby next to her tummy beside lamb-toy, and set about washing it nose to tail. She stiffened with surprise when it purred and latched onto her nipple, and then she relaxed. For a moment, as the kitten nursed, Karma sank into a peaceful doze.
Then a mechanical sound, something no human ear could detect, vibrated deep inside lamb-toy. Karma paused, tipping her head, and nudged the stuffed toy with one paw.
“Hello? Hello? Where the hell are you, Tee, and what have you done with my dog?”
Chapter 69
Lia ran from the house, tears blinding her, the revelations from Grammy beyond anything she could have imagined. All she’d been raised to believe turned upside down. Winded, she stopped halfway down the long drive in the shadow of a huge bois d’arc tree she’d played beneath as a little girl.
The past hour’s revelations replayed through her mind like a video on a loop. Her father had a name. Wyatt Teves. He hadn’t abandoned them. She’d been wanted and loved. That explained a lot.
Grammy wanted a do-over, to make Lia into the ‘perfect’ daughter to replace the one she’d lost. Grandfather, unbending and unforgiving, believed his wife’s manipulations, maybe because he couldn’t stomach the alternative. In Lia’s eyes, that made him just as culpable.
She’d tried to fit into the box they wanted until she’d had to rebel or lose herself. Training dogs and opening the boarding kennel was the first thing Lia had ever wanted just for herself, and not to please someone else. But as expected, her grandparents had done everything possible to quash Lia’s desires, to remake her in their image. To keep the caliber of the Corazon name.