“I’m so sorry, my love,” he said, willing himself not to break down and cry. He had to be strong for her. She was so broken that he had to share his strength with her. “I’m just so sorry that I wasn’t there to protect you. So sorry.”
It took about twenty minutes to reach the hospital. Rafael pulled up to the emergency entrance, parked, and helped Victoria out of the car. He led her inside where he found Officer Bradshaw already waiting for them. Officer Bradshaw offered his sorrow for what Victoria had been through, and then let them go through admittance.
While they were waiting to be seen, Officer Bradshaw questioned Victoria about her experience. He made notes as to the names that Victoria had heard used, and all of her impressions about where she had been taken. Then he told them what had gone on from the police side of things ever since they had all discovered Victoria to be missing the previous evening.
Officer Bradshaw and the other officers had stayed there at the building where they had taken the girls and Antonio Cantu for a while. They questioned Antonio about the human trafficking business that he was involved in. Bradshaw told Antonio what to say in reply to that message that had been texted to him regarding Victoria and dropping the investigation.
Bradshaw told Antonio to text back the message that they would comply with the demands. He sent a couple of the officers back to the station to get an ankle bracelet that he then put on Antonio so that he couldn’t disappear on them. Then they sent him and the girls back into Antonio’s apartment, so it would appear that the police had let him go.
Antonio agreed to comply and give up all the information he had in exchange for immunity. Bradshaw had called the district attorney, even though it was late, to tell him what was going on, and to ask for immunity for Antonio in exchange for the information needed to bust wide open the human trafficking ring there in the Los Angeles area. The DA was willing to go along with that. He was a very outspoken opponent of the sex slave trade and was as eager to put a stop to it there as were the police.
When the two officers returned with the ankle bracelet, they came back in street clothes and in the personal car of one of them. It was quite dark in that back alley and parking area, so it was hoped that when they went into the building with Antonio and the girls that if anyone were watching from a distance, they wouldn’t be noticed.
Even though Antonio had agreed to comply and turn state’s evidence against the smuggling ring, Bradshaw didn’t fully trust him. Hence, the ankle bracelet and guard. The police guard kept Antonio’s cell phone so he couldn’t surreptitiously text the ringleaders and alert them as to what was happening.
One of them, Officer Simpson, typed a text that was supposed to be from Antonio telling the ringleader that Antonio and the girls were back in his apartment and all was well. He had Antonio send the text, and then took back the phone.
Half a dozen undercover agents were placed in and around MacArthur Park that morning. A jogger, a park groundskeeper, a homeless man, a bicyclist, a businessman sitting on a park bench doing something on a tablet, and a woman watching the children play on the swings—all were police officers, trained in kidnapping extractions.
The bicyclist had followed the kid on the bike who had the money a couple of blocks to a parked car where the kid handed over the briefcase to a man inside. The officer noted the make, model, and license plate number of the car, spoke the information into his mouthpiece, and when the car pulled away from the curb, it had grown a long tail. Three unmarked police cars played leap frog in tailing the suspect car, so that the driver wouldn’t know he was being followed.
They followed the car to a house that was situated near railroad tracks. They watched from a distance until Victoria was brought out of the house, placed in the car, and then the car was on the move again. The tail fell in behind this car and followed it until Victoria had been released and reunited with Rafael, and then those officers, along with three other units, surrounded it and made the arrest.
Meanwhile, the FBI and the Long Beach police raided the dock and discovered a fresh load of human cargo had just arrived from Thailand, and arrested those in charge there. Simultaneously, the adult bookstore in Long Beach was hit and Thornton Enterprise was short one tenant in that mall. It seemed to be a clean sweep.
The young girls that were rescued were taken to a large complex that had been set up especially to care for rescued sex slaves. There they would be housed and fed, taught English, and placed in paying jobs within the Asian community in southern California. At any time, they had the option to either remain in the States and become American citizens, or to return to their families in Thailand.
Officer Bradshaw had just finished his description of all the arrests when Victoria was called to come to an exam room. He bade the couple goodbye, wished them luck, and told them he’d be in touch. There would be a trial at some point that their testimony may be needed for.
The nurses and doctor who examined Victoria were all profoundly sympathetic and outraged at what she had been through. But, aside from many painful bruises, she was physically uninjured. Meaning that there were no broken bones. However, her body had suffered the trauma of the rapes and the beatings. Protocol was followed for collecting the rape kit that would be used in court at some later date.
The doctor prescribed some pain medication for her, and some sleeping pills, as he suspected she might have problems sleeping for a while until the shock of the experience dulled somewhat.
They were finally able to go home where Rafael tenderly helped Victoria into the shower. He asked her if she wanted him to get in with her and wash her, but she said no, she wanted to shower alone. He knew that it would be a while, maybe a long while, before she would be able to tolerate intimacy again. But he loved her so much that he would be patient and let her lead in that area.
Lena was not at home yet. Rafael had nearly forgotten all about her. He felt guilty that he hadn’t checked on her and her folks. On the way home, he had told Victoria that Lena didn’t know anything yet, but that she should text or call her to ask about her grandpa. Victoria agreed, and texted her mama asking how things were going.
Lena texted right back and said that her dad had broken his hip, but that he was all right otherwise. He would be in the hospital for a few days and then go home. She said that she would be home later that evening.
After Victoria got out of the shower, she put on some comfy lounging pajamas. Rafael asked her if she wanted anything to eat.
“I don’t know if I can eat,” she said. “But I guess I should have something on my stomach so those pain pills don’t upset my stomach. Maybe just some mushroom soup and crackers. I think I could keep that down.”
“Do you want to stay here in the bedroom, or do you want to come downstairs?” he asked.
“I’ll come down. I want to stay by you,” she said.
They went downstairs and Victoria sat at the kitchen table while Rafael heated her up a bowl of mushroom soup. He got out a box of crackers and put some on a plate for her.
“Want a glass of milk?”
“Chocolate milk, please.”
“Coming right up.”
As long as he was fixing food, Rafael heated a bowl of soup for himself and made two glasses of chocolate milk. Then he put everything on the table and sat down to eat with Victoria.
“I know that neither one of us thinks very much about God, or ever prays, but I would like to thank God that you weren’t hurt worse or even killed,” Rafael said solemnly. “Is that okay with you?”
“Please do,” Victoria said. “I was praying desperately all the time I was kidnapped, so I would like to thank God, too.”
So there at the table, over steaming bowls of soup, they bowed their heads and said a simple, heartfelt prayer of thanks to a God whom they barely knew, but were overwhelmingly grateful to for sparing Victoria’s life.
They had finished eating, and Rafael had put the dishes into the dishwasher and tidied up the kitchen when Lena came home. Whe
n she walked in, she was absolutely horrified to see Victoria.
“Oh, my baby, my baby,” she cried. “What has happened to you? Rafael, what has happened to my baby?”
“I’m okay now, Mama,” Victoria said. “I was kidnapped last night. You tell her, honey,” she said to Rafael.
Rafael spent the next half an hour telling Lena the entire story from beginning to end of how they had stumbled onto a human trafficking ring, had gotten the police, and themselves, involved. That Victoria had been kidnapped, beaten, raped, and held for ransom, but that all of the perpetrators were behind bars and were likely to be there for a very long, long time.
Lena wept for her daughter, and Victoria was finally able to break down and cry, which was therapeutic for her. Rafael knew that she would begin to heal now that she had cried. He held both of the women while they held each other and wept. It took a while for all the tears to be cried, but at last, Lena and Victoria were able to dry their eyes, and Victoria smiled her first smile since the ordeal.
“I don’t know what I would do without my mama and my husband,” she said, looking at each one. “I wish Daddy were here, too. I miss him so much. But I’m so grateful for both of you. I love you both so much.”
Both Lena and Rafael assured her of their love for her, too, and they all clung to one another for a long moment.
“Have you eaten?” Lena inquired after she had recovered from her initial shock.
“Yes, we had soup and crackers just before you came home,” Rafael told her. “Had I known you’d be home so soon, we could have waited for you. Have you had supper?”
“No need to wait for me,” Lena said. “I haven’t had any supper, so I’ll just go in and rustle up something for myself, since you two have already eaten. Do you want anything more, or did you have enough?”
No one could ever say they went hungry as long as Lena had access to a kitchen. She was ever mindful of people and their need for food.
“I don’t,” Victoria said. “I think I would like a cup of hot chocolate, though. Rafael can make it while you get yourself some supper, won’t you, honey?”
“Of course, I will, my love,” Rafael said. “I’ve had enough supper, too, but I’ll make me a hot chocolate, too. Might even have a piece of that pecan pie I saw in the fridge. You want one, too, Vic?”
“Uh, yeah, a real little piece. It does sound good. Comfort food, I think,” Victoria replied.
So the three of them went into the kitchen. Victoria sat at the table while Rafael made the cocoa and put pie slices onto plates for them, and Lena opened a can of tomato soup and heated it up for herself. She fixed a slice of bread with peanut butter and honey, too. They all sat at the table and talked over the happenings of the past couple of days. Lena told them all about her dad’s fall and trip to the hospital, and of his condition.
“You should go help Grandma take care of him for a few days after he comes home from the hospital,” Victoria said.
“I had planned to do that until I got home and saw the shape that you’re in. Now I don’t know who needs me the most,” Lena said.
“Grandma and Grandpa do,” Victoria said firmly. “I have Rafael to care for me, and I will be all right. Really I will.”
The pain meds that she had been given had taken away most of the pain and she was able to talk better. She also felt that they were beginning to wear off. It was getting along towards eight o’clock in the evening and she was exhausted. She’d had no sleep the night before. She had been running on adrenalin up until now, but now she was about to crash.
As soon as she had finished her pie, she excused herself and said she needed to go to bed. Rafael was finished, too.
“Good night, Mama,” Victoria said, giving her a hug. “I’m so thankful for you.”
“Good night, honey,” Lena said. “Sleep well. You’re safe now.”
What she really wanted to do was to go upstairs and tuck Victoria into bed as she had done a number of times when Victoria was little. But she was a married woman now, and it was Rafael’s job to tuck her in. So she resigned herself to just giving Victoria a good night hug.
The couple took their cups of cocoa that had been topped off up to bed with them. As they got ready for bed Victoria wondered if Rafael would expect her to make love tonight, as they did every night. She really was not up to it yet.
Not only was she still very sore from her ordeal, she was also repulsed by the very thought of sex at this moment. She hoped it would pass, and pass soon, but for now, she hoped that Rafael would be understanding.
She needn’t have worried.
Rafael came over to her where she was looking at herself in the bathroom mirror. She gingerly touched her swollen eye, and then looked woefully at her butchered hair.
“I’m gonna have to go to a hairdresser tomorrow and see if anyone can do anything with this mess. This looks hideous. I should get a wig to wear out in public until it grows out some,” she told Rafael.
“I can make that happen,” he told her.
He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her gently around to face him.
“I just want you to know that I know you’ve been through something that no woman should ever go through,” he said. “I don’t know how it feels to be raped. I can’t even begin to understand what you must be feeling. But I want you to know that unless and until you want to make love with me, that I won’t pressure you into it. I won’t do anything you aren’t ready for.
“But you’ll have to be open with me, and tell me what you want and when you want it. I want you to heal inside and out, physically and emotionally, and I hope that someday you will again enjoy making love, and that the memory of this awful experience will fade away.”
“Oh, Rafael,” Victoria said in an anguished tone. “I feel so repulsed right now by just the thought of sex. But I love you so much, and I know that this will pass, and I will heal, as long as I know you love me and will be patient with me. Right now, I just need you to hold me and make me feel safe.”
Rafael put his arms around Victoria and held her close for a long moment until she pulled back a little and said, “I’m exhausted. I need to go to bed.”
So Rafael helped her into bed on her side, and then went around and got in on his side. They sat there in bed and drank their cocoa until the sleeping pill that Victoria had taken kicked in and she could hold her eyes open no longer.
“Please hold me while I go to sleep,” she implored.
Rafael held her for a long time after she went to sleep, his mind still churning over the events of the past thirty-six hours or so. Finally, when he knew she was out cold, he slipped out of bed and took an over-the-counter sleep aid so he could get to sleep also.
Thanks to both the sleeping pills and complete exhaustion, both Rafael and Victoria slept until eight o’clock the next morning. Even then, they both felt a little groggy when they did awaken. Especially Victoria. The pills she had taken were stronger than the OTC ones that Rafael used.
When Rafael realized what time it was, he forced himself out of bed and went in to take a cool shower in an attempt to clear his head. He had an appointment with the contractor at nine. He barely had time to groom, dress, and gulp down a cup of coffee before heading out the door. Fortunately, his meeting was there on the developing property, and he could quickly cover the three-quarters of a mile on the quad that he’d purchased just for running back and forth from home to the park and back again.
He arrived at the meeting spot just as Jack Trueblood, the contractor, was getting out of his pickup. They discussed plans for the day, which included laying the foundation for the pioneer farmhouse and the footings for the barn.
“Missed you yesterday, Rafael,” Jack said casually.
“Oh, yeah,” Rafael said. “Did you need me? You coulda called.”
“Not really. Not bad enough to call,” Jack said. “Everything all right?”
“Not really. We’ve had a rough couple of days.”
Rafael pr
oceeded to give Jack a condensed version of the occurrences of the past two days. Jack expressed great sympathy for the ordeal, and asked Rafael to pass along his thoughts to Victoria. Then they got down to the business at hand.
Chapter Seven
After Rafael left, Lena went upstairs to check on Victoria. Rafael had told her that Victoria was awake, but still in bed. Lena carried a cup of coffee up with her in case Victoria was ready for it. She found her sitting on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands. Victoria looked up when she heard Lena come in through the open bedroom door.
“Mornin’, Mama,” Victoria said.
“Mornin’, honey,” Lena replied, crossing the room to sit by her daughter.
“How’re you feeling this morning?”
“Awful, just awful,” Victoria moaned. “My head hurts, my face hurts, everything I’ve got hurts. I’ve got to get up and take a pain pill, but I haven’t made it to my feet yet. Is Rafael gone?”
“Yeah, he had to meet with the contractor this morning. He left about ten minutes ago. Can I get the pills for you? Where are they?”
“I think I left them downstairs somewhere in the kitchen. I’m really not sure. They’re here somewhere, but my head is too fuzzy to remember where I left them.”
“I’ll find them,” Lena assured her. “Do you want to stay in bed or get up?”
“Oh, I’ll get up in a bit,” Victoria said. “I feel like I need a shower again this morning. I still feel so dirty. I just couldn’t scrub it all off last night.”
“Oh, baby girl, I’m so sorry,” Lena said, holding Victoria’s hands. “I wish I could make it all better. I’ll go look for your meds while you get in the shower. You’ll feel better afterwards.”
“I’m sure I will,” Victoria said, pushing up off the bed. “I’ll come down as soon as I’m dressed.”
“Okay, honey.”
Lena left the room to go hunt for the elusive pain meds while Victoria got into the shower. After she got out, she brushed her teeth. She examined her bruised face and decided that makeup wouldn’t help much this morning. She tried some, but it almost looked worse than without it.
The Perfect Revenge: The Couplete Series Page 48