“That’s not true,” Alma said. “Just a few of us hung out by the merry-go-round. I found out about a couple of girls who had run away, but were now back home. Besides, the girls at the merry-go-round were too old. The money was better for the younger girls.”
“I kind of recruited Alma to help me.” Richardo looked at the floor. His fingers working the fabric of the bedspread. “She needed the money, since she was paying for her own apartment. And I told her there would be more money for younger girls. It was Alma who helped set up Yolanda’s kidnapping.”
Richardo spilled his guts, but made sure Alma was going down with him.
“Yeah, we kinda know that now,” Max said sarcastically.
“Why did you come to me?” I asked.
Alma rocked back and forth, her hand between her knees. “I was afraid. I wanted out. I never thought they’d take me, too. They expected me to have sex with strange men, even though I was providing them with the girls.” She looked down at her lap, then looked up, her eyes brimming with tears. “Until they took me, I had no idea that I was selling them girls for sex. I had no idea they were turning them into prostitutes.”
Lacking sympathy at this point, I got right in Alma’s face. “What did you think you were doing? Why on earth would grown men with foreign accents want access to young girls? You can’t be that stupid.”
“I guess I was just blinded by the money,” Alma sobbed.
“Is any of the story that you told us true? You escaped from a hotel room, and took the bus back to Salinas?”
Richardo sat up straight and raised his hand. “That was me. She called me from a pay phone, and I came to get her. I dropped her a block from your office. When she told me what was happening to the girls, I wanted out, too.”
“How did you know where to pick her up?” I asked. “She told me she didn’t even know what city she was in until she got to the bus station.”
Meekly, Alma said, “I asked the worker in the store. The pay phone was in a store. I asked her for the address and she told me.”
I could feel my head on the verge of exploding. “You had the chance to tell me what was going on when I was at the apartment complex when I met you with your father. You could’ve told me everything. Instead, you played games on your phone and pretended to know nothing.”
Richardo shrugged. “I didn’t know who you were. Besides, my dad would kill me. I couldn’t tell you. I’d never seen you before, and I didn’t know you were there helping Alma. All I knew was that you were talking to my dad.”
He was right. I didn’t give my real name, and I didn’t let them know that I was a private detective.
“We’re taking you back to Salinas. The men you’re working with have been…captured. You don’t need to fear them anymore. But both of you are under arrest…” Max read them their rights, then handcuffed both of them. I helped him escort them out to the car.
With Richardo and Alma tucked in the back seat, Max and I got in the front seats.
Alma asked, “Are we in trouble?”
I turned to face her. “Yes, you’re in a lot of trouble. You put me and my employees in danger, and you didn’t even care. You could have gone to the police, but no, you were involved up to your neck. You’re a selfish young lady. You and the boy here will probably be charged as adults, and never see another free day as long as you live.”
Alma cried, “But I was a victim, too.”
“Victim, my ass. You were collateral damage. I don’t even believe half of your story. And if you hadn’t offered up girls to these monsters, you’d have never been taken in the first place. You’ve messed those poor girls up for life.”
“But I didn’t know it was a prostitution scam,” Alma sobbed.
I didn’t know what she really knew and what she didn’t. I just knew that she put my employees in possible harm’s way, and she was lucky it turned out the way it did. I had to turn away to keep myself from slapping both of them up beside the head. I just hoped justice would be served.
Epilogue
Charles
It had been a week since the sex trafficking ring had been brought down. Eleven of the twelve girls were placed back in their homes and taken off the missing persons list. Nick and Gabe had arranged for regular therapy appointments for the girls to help them acclimate back into the real world. I told them I could take care of the therapy, but they had it taken care of. Personally, I knew they would never be the same. Once you’ve been through something that traumatic, it’s always there.
Yolanda was placed in foster care until her mother could get back from Mexico. She’d been arranging a flight, but money was tight with the surgery and medical bills. In the end, she’d chosen to take a bus. I was thankful that her mom was a U.S. citizen, so there wouldn’t be any complications in her getting back home.
Richardo Ruiz and Alma Medina were being held on five million dollars bail. I didn’t see either of their families coming up with the half-million to bail them out. They had been charged with assisting in the kidnappings and participating in sex trafficking. Since none of the girls were transported over state lines, I didn’t know if this would be a federal case. We were still waiting to hear. But with twenty-four charges each against them, I didn’t see them getting out of prison anytime soon.
As much as I’d like to know, I had no idea what was going on with the Russians. Three had been killed in the raid, but that was the end of what I knew. And suddenly Agents Jackson, Ogilvy, Carmichael, and Reagan had never heard of us. They’d even kicked Max out of the loop.
Three days after the girls were rescued, a huge article came out as a feature in USA Today. It talked about thirty or more girls being rescued from a sex trafficking ring and a dozen mob guys being taken down. Without mentioning names, it gives 100% credit to the FBI. I was okay with that, because anonymity had its perks.
The article ended by saying that this was just the beginning. It was an endless problem. As soon as one sex trafficker was shut down, another one started business. It was a terrible cycle. Heading into the office that morning, I went straight to Mimi’s office and closed the door. I didn’t bother to sit down.
“There’s something we need to talk about,” I said.
Mimi looked up from whatever notes she was reading at her desk. “Well, that’s never a good beginning to a conversation.”
“You and Nick never got to take your vacation. And after this last huge case, I think we’re all a little burned out. The only ones writing decent reports are your mom and Lola.”
With that, Lola lifted her head up off the bed where she had been sleeping in the corner. She looked around, then put her head back down, and went back to sleep.
“You’re really funny. You know Lola’s reports are better than Lydia’s any day.” Mimi laughed.
That’s just it, I think everyone needs a break. I’m proposing we shut the agency down for a week.” I held my breath and waited for Mimi to rant.
“How can you justify that? As much as I need a vacation, and you do, too, we can’t just shut the business down.”
I walked up to the chair and sat down, crossing my legs and getting comfortable. “We’re in a good place financially. This is a great time. I say we wrap up the cases that we are currently working on and don’t take any more. Once everything is wrapped up, we close up shop for a week.”
“Sure, that’s a great idea, and where will we get the new employees when we reopen? Uta needs a job. So does my mother.”
I uncrossed my legs and leaned forward. “I said the office needs a vacation. Everybody: Cortnie, Lydia Uta, me, you, everyone. We will give Cortnie, Uta, and Lydia vacation pay, and we will just not work for a week.”
Mimi leaned back in her chair. I could almost see the thoughts turning in her little brain. “You think we can do that?”
“I’ve been going over the books. We could close for a month if we want to, and it won’t hurt us. Granted, we won’t be taking on new cases for a week, and will be starting from
scratch when we do reopen…”
“So wrap up what we have, no new clients, come back refreshed?” She sounded like she was mulling it over and considering my proposition. “Okay. I’m in.” She slapped her hands on the desk in triumph.
I didn’t say it out loud, but I thought, When we get back, if we still feel burned out, it might be time to sell the agency.
* * *
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About the Author
USA Today bestselling author, Jamie Lee Scott, started writing to release the stress from running a fast food restaurant with her husband. Always having loved mysteries, she decided to write one. Never did she imagine how far her career as a writer would go when she published Let Us Prey.
Jamie is also a produced screenwriter, and had directed short films. When she’s not writing or making movies, she competes in barrel racing and roping with her horses.
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Other books by Jamie Lee Scott
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Gotcha Detective Agency Series
Let Us Prey
Textual Relations
Death of a Sales Rep
What a Meth
Bad Vice
Electile Dysfunction
Who Gives A Split
Mary Had a Little Scam
Trespassers Will Be Prostituted
The Knife Before Christmas
A Lie In Every Truth
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Willa Friday Culinary Cozy Mysteries
Pasta, Pinot & Murder
Sushi, Sauvignon & Murder
Mousse, Moscato & Murder
More coming in late 2018
TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSTITUTED
Copyright © 2017, 2018 by Jamie Lee Scott
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Novels & Coffee, Forest City, IA 50436.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Scott, Jamie Lee, 3-30-18. Trespassers Will Be Prostituted. Novels & Coffee.
Trespassers Will Be Prostituted. Page 14