by Joan Mauch
"Yeah, news interviews, requests for talk-show appearances, and get this—we even have book and movie offers." Izzie grew more animated as she related the information.
"Wow, that's great. You taking any of them up on it?"
"At this point we're not sure what we're going to do. We’re planning to get an agent and an attorney to handle the details. I mean, there's a lot of money to be made if we do this right." Jackson glanced around the table, "Of course, we’ll get you guys involved."
"Dam straight." Zac laughed and took a pull from his bottle of beer. "So, Detective..."
"Rick. Now that you're going to be part of the force, call me Rick."
"All right, Rick it is. What happened to Leon?
"Little shit's tucked away in a place no one—especially not Cottingham's henchmen—will ever find him. At least that's the plan.”
“Think he’ll stay out of trouble?”
“With him you never know. Maybe he finally learned his lesson.” Anders gazed over to the beach where sunbathers and swimmers were enjoying themselves. “But the fact is, without the information he provided, you’d be dead meat. You do realize that, don't you?"
"Yes, but think about this. If it wasn’t for him and the crap he was involved in, we wouldn't have gotten in that mess in the first place," Izzie said, her chin firmed up as if ready for a fight.
"Well, now Iz, that's debatable," Jackson said.
"Oh no, not this again," Zac said. He stood and tossed some bills on the table. "I gotta go. See you all later."
Taking that as his cue, Anders also stood. "I better get a move on as well. Stay out of trouble you two."
For a few moments Izzie and Jackson watched as the sun began to slide toward the Bay, leaving vivid golds, reds and purples in its wake. Jackson reached across the table and took Izzie's hand. "Mom said she'd come for the wedding when we get around to setting a date."
"You told her?"
"Well, duh. Of course, why wouldn't I?"
"We haven't told Zac yet. Don't you think we should've said something?"
"We'll do it tonight when he gets home. Okay?"
"Yeah, that'll be fine. So what'd your mom say?"
"That she's happy for us and can't wait to meet you." He leaned over and kissed her, then laughed.
Izzie’s forehead sprouted wrinkles. “What?”
“She said she’s glad her boys are finally getting along."
Chapter 94
Leon couldn’t believe his eyes. Where were they taking him? From the back seat of the car, it looked like the surface of the moon. U.S. Marshals had flown him from Tampa to Chicago, then put him on one of their planes, which made him feel mighty important for a few hours.
They continued their journey by car refusing to say where they were headed. Said it was for his protection; that the fewer who knew his destination the better off he’d be. Leon understood their reasoning but thought he should be in on it. For Christ’s sake, it was his hide at stake.
At least they’d let him bring Tiny along. At first they’d balked, but Leon had put his foot down. Said he wouldn’t testify against Seymour if Tiny wasn’t part of the deal. So they’d caved. Score one for his side.
Now if he could only figure out where they were going. It was somewhere west, he could tell by the sun. Maybe it was California, someplace near the ocean, like San Diego or hell, he didn’t know the state; had only read about cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles. Any place like that worked for him.
As he glanced out the window, the landscape seemed just plain weird, like nothing he’d ever seen. Was this California? He didn’t think so. For one thing, there wasn’t a palm tree in sight, for another there was nothing, few cars, and nothing much to see except what looked like rocks that weren’t as large as mountains but too big to be considered hills besides which there was no grass on them. What the hell were they? Even the flat areas were desolate.
“Hey, where’re we going?” He leaned up to ask Deputy Marshal Massey upfront.
“You’ll see when we get there.”
The man hadn’t even turned around, just told him to settle down—like he was a goddamned kid. He sat back in the seat and closed his eyes.
Hours later they pulled off the Interstate into a gas station. Leon, who’d dozed off thought they were going to fill up so, still sleepy, he closed his eyes. A few seconds later the car door opened and the federal agent tapped his shoulder and said, “Hey Leon, wake up.”
“What?” Leon said. “I don’t hafta take a leak.” He rubbed his eyes.
Massey laughed. “Get out. This here’s your new home.”
Leon looked around. This was nothing like the California he’d seen in magazines. Where were the palm trees, the beaches and the beautiful people? For that matter, where was the ocean?
Then he saw it. A sign advertising the “world’s number-one roadside attraction where ice water’s free for weary travelers and coffee costs only twenty-five cents”. It said “Welcome to Wall, South Dakota. Population 850.”
Afterword
ESCAPE FROM AMBERGRIS CAYE is a work of fiction that puts a spotlight on a very real and growing problem. While Izzie, Zac and Jackson managed to survive and escape their traffickers, in real life many are not so lucky. It’s hard to imagine that in this day and age over 27 million people worldwide are believed to be working as personal and sexual slaves.
Those ensnared in such a life may be as close as your next door neighbor, the server at your favorite restaurant, or the maid in the hotel you stayed at on your last vacation. Help eliminate this scourge by recognizing the signs and reporting suspected trafficking situations to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text to BeFree (233733).
A list of potential red flags and indicators of human trafficking may be obtained from the Polaris Project’s website at http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/recognizing-the-signs. The Polaris Project is an organization devoted to the fight against human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Knowing the indicators of human trafficking is a key step in identifying its victims.
Anyone can become a victim of human trafficking—even you. Join the fight and help rid the world of this unsavory crime by educating yourself about it and supporting federal and local laws designed to prevent and combat it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The author of three previous novels including THE WATERKEEPER’S DAUGHTER (2014), THE MANGLED SPOON (2014) and HALIFAX (2013), Joan Mauch’s background ranges from teaching and working for nonprofit organizations advocating for the poor, to a career in marketing and public relations. She has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s in urban studies. Visit her website at www.joanmauch.com or her Facebook author page at facebook.com/joanmauch.author.