Manhattan Miracle

by Dawning, Dee

  "Fantastic," I said, with an embarrassed smile, without meeting her eyes.

  So, that was the penultimate risqué, public sex of our honeymoon. From then on as we visited must see Paris attractions we behaved ours with a single exception—the late night boat tour on the Seine River.

  We'd seen the boats and expressed an interest in taking the tour. After a late night tour of Notre Dame we noticed the boat tour we'd thought of taking departed from there and the last one of the night was about to leave.

  Knowing we were leaving the next day and this was our last chance, we glanced at each other and rushed to make the tour. Since it was 11 p.m., there were only about two dozen people on a boat that could hold at least two hundred and they all stayed in the front, while we went to the very back row.

  Brad wrapped an arm around me as the boat left the dock. The lights of Paris reflecting off the water, the easy motion of the boat and the soft hum of the boats engine were very romantic. Brad caressed my breast and I rubbed his crotch as we kissed and once again we joined in carnal bliss. No one was within fifty feet of us. Nevertheless, when I started pant and move erratically, Brad covered my mouth, and the audible evidence of my orgasm died in his hand. That wonderful experience on our last night in Paris, would remain in my memory for years.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  The next morning we flew back to New York and we reprised our wild mile high escapade. Paris was wonderful and we were glad we went, but there was too much to see in so little time. From the Eifel Tower to the Louvre, we visited many attractions, but we'd barely touched the surface. One week was just too short, especially when our libido kept interfering with our sightseeing. That's why we vowed to return some day to the City of Romance, and spend much more time.

  Nonetheless, we were back to work on the 40th floor of the newly renamed Bayshore Tower in the equally wonderful New York City. We faced a daunting backlog of work—our penance for taking time off for marriage and honeymoon in the very busy time after consolidation.

  After a week of catch up, I finally started to see daylight when Amber, the new Publicity Director, rushed into my office in a huff and leaned on my desk. "Ginger, we have to hurry, we need to be at the Calverton Airfield by 1 p.m."

  The Calverton Airfield? I cocked my head. "What for?"

  She took a deep breath and rolled her eyes. "For the big event. There'll be dignitaries and reporters and TV coverage and we are expected."

  I thinned my eyes and shook my head in confusion. "What big event? I'm supposed to rush out of here for some big event that I don't even know about?"

  Amber took another deep breath and sighed. "The award ceremony. Didn't you get the email I sent this morning?"

  I lifted my hands to the side and looked up as if seeking a higher power. "I haven't read my emails today. I've been too busy."

  "Well, there's no time like now."

  "Now?" I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Just tell me. What award ceremony?"

  "For Willie and Jimmy and all the brave State Troopers who saved us from being flown to God knows where. The Governor, the New York Police Commissioner and Police Chief plus a ton of important dignitaries are going to be there."

  "How come I never heard anything about this?"

  Amber shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe, because you were having fun in Paris, which by the way, I'm very jealous about, and when you came back, you barricaded yourself in your office for a week."

  "Yeah, you're right." I stood. "Let's take my Jag. It'll get us there faster."

  Amber shook her head. "No, it's too cramped, We should take Brad's Hummer. He and Bella need to come with us."

  My brow dipped. "Bella? Why Bella?"

  That question seemed to stump her. "Bella…um…she's, I mean…she is our lawyer."

  "If you say so." I grabbed my purse. "Let's round them up and get going."

  As Amber suggested, we took Brad's Hummer. After a two-hour drive, we pulled into the tiny airfield. Amber had been right. The tiny parking lot was full and cars, trucks and vans had spilled out onto the shoulders of the two-lane asphalt access road. In the vacant area between the two runways, several people sat or stood under a reviewing stand-like tent or cabana. This structure was ringed on the sides and back by telecasting vans and TV crews circulated the area interviewing anyone who seemed like they might be interesting.

  One of the men who'd rescued us, looking dapper in a suit and tie, saw us and headed our way. Smiling, he stopped just short, and asked, "Hi, remember me?"

  "Of course, you're Jimmy, Sergeant Smith's partner and one of the policemen who rescued us, Come over and give Amber and me a big hug."

  He grinned then stepped up and embraced us. When he pulled away, he said, "You ladies should come over to the award tent. This wouldn't all be happening if it wasn't for you."

  "Is Willie there? I don't see him."

  "No he isn't here yet, but he's on his way. C'mon, you really belong over there."

  Amber and I nodded. "Okay." Then we each took one of Jimmy's arms and Amber said, "Lets go."

  We hadn't taken four steps when one of the reporters shouted, "There they are." In seconds, reporters and TV crews blocked our way. They surrounded us shoving microphones and TV cameras in our face, but before any of them could ask a question, someone else hollered, "The plane! It's coming in."

  Everyone turned and watched as a large jet—bigger than our Gulfstream—glided in for a landing.

  With the landing gear in place, when it touched ground it hit the brakes and reversed thrust. When the large plane came to stop, it turned and taxied up to and stopped within a hundred feet of the gathering. Ground crew members rolled stairs up to the front exit of the plane and locked them in place. I had the feeling everyone knew more than I did, when the media people who had surrounded Amber and me abandoned us to get closer to the stairs.

  The anticipation was thick as a coastal fog as all eyes stayed glued to the exit door. Then, just as everyone began to fidget around because it was taking so long, the door pushed open, and a pretty red headed woman accompanied by a man who wore some kind of badge came out and down the stairs. Everybody clapped, what for I had no idea. When the first pair reached the bottom of the stairs, a second pretty woman, a blonde, in the company of a different man came out and everyone clapped. As the first woman was led by her partner to a bus I hadn't noticed and the second reached the bottom of the stairs a third lovely woman, an African American, came out in the company of a third man as the first man returned and scrambled up the steps.

  And so it went through forty-seven beautiful women, many of whom had a dazed if haggard look. I was beginning to get an idea of was going on when the forty-eighth woman stepped out in the company of my friend, Sergeant 'Willie' Smith.

  A scream of, "Lily," arose and Bella ran by us, confirming what I'd begun to suspect—these women were rescued from where Amber and I had been scheduled to be taken. I choked up and tears began to flow as Bella ran up the stairs, and her sister ran down for a heart warming embrace.

  Willie joined the sisters, led them down the stairs and then after they embraced once more, Willie put Lily on the bus, which subsequently drove away.

  After the busload of rescued women headed for points unknown, probably to be debriefed, the award ceremony started. The Governor, and the New York Police commissioner, gave short speeches, but no mention was made of how the women had been rescued. The Chief of the State Police and the New York City Police Chief made even briefer statements about the bravery of those about to receive the New York Crime Fighter Achievement Award. The Police Chief called Amber and my names and asked that we come forward.

  When we did, he introduced us, gave an outline of our harrowing rescue and asked if we would hand out the awards. Amber gave the awards to the five troopers and I gladly gave the awards to Jimmy and Willie.

  When the presentations ended, Amber and I cornered Willie. "Willie, are we friends?"

  He posed a wide smile. "Of course."


  "Then tell us what's going on?"

  Willie raised his hands. "Okay, I couldn't tell anybody anything since we arrested the Generalissimo and his Bozos, but now that it's pretty much over, I'll tell you what I can."

  I tapped my foot. "Go ahead."

  "Not here. I'll meet you somewhere."

  Amber asked, "Can we bring Brad and Bella."

  "Sure."

  She looked at her watch. "It's four o'clock. Meet us at Libation Station at seven."

  We arrived at Libation Station at six-thirty. As we walked in, Bayshore employees, former co-workers of ours stared at us, probably wondering why the CEO and President of the company were slumming. Brad waved at a couple and they waved back.

  In hindsight, it was probably a mistake to meet Willie at our employee's big hangout, but old habits die hard.

  Since we hadn't had anything to eat all day and Willie wasn't going to be there for a half hour, we decided to get something for everyone to snack on. Brad ordered large onion rings, two orders of sliders and when I suggested nachos, he added a large nachos and a quesadilla. Besides gorging ourselves on tasty appetizers, we made a list of what we knew followed by a list of questions about what we didn't know.

  We knew that seven worthy policemen received a well deserved award. We also knew that somehow Lily and forty-seven other young women had been rescued from a brutal life of sexual slavery from some unknown location. I glanced at everyone. "C'mon guys, what else do we know?"

  Bella finally spoke up. "We know that a bus took the women somewhere. Lily told me she would get in touch with me as soon as she was debriefed."

  "Okay, that means they're probably going to debrief the others, too. Anything else?"

  They shook their heads.

  All right, what would we like to know?

  Amber said, "I can think of a half dozen things right off the bat. Where were the women held? How were they treated? Are there any more being held? How did we find them? How did we free them?"

  Bella added, "Yes and I'm curious about who the women are? Where are they from? Are there missing person reports on them? Have their families and friends been looking for them?"

  Brad chipped in. "I'd like to know how Willie, a NYPD detective got involved. Shouldn't this have been a federal operation?"

  I glanced toward the entrance and saw Willie heading our way. "Here comes the answer man right now."

  Brad slid right and I followed to make room for our detective friend. "Man, I'm starved," he said as he scooted in next to me. Hitching his head toward the center of the table where the appetizers were, he asked, "May I?"

  I slid an unused appetizer plate over. "Help yourself. I think we're pretty much finished."

  As Willie filled his plate, Bonnie, the waitress, came up. "Would you like to see a menu?"

  He glanced up at her. "Let's see if these do the trick. I would like a large Miller draft, if you have it."

  "We do. Would anyone like anything?"

  I gazed at her. "I'll have another frozen margarita."

  Bella raised her hand about a foot above the table and stuck out her forefinger. "And I'd like another glass of this delicious Chablis."

  Brad and Amber said they were good.

  Bonnie cleared the empty plates and glasses and said, "I'll be right back with your drinks."

  As promised Bonnie returned with the drinks in five minutes. After Willie had consumed the food on his plate, he filled it up again. Looking at each of us he said, "I know you have questions, so let's hear them."

  Amber said, "I have several questions. Let me start off with two. Where were the women held and how were they treated?"

  "The women were held in eight locations, but I can't go into where. The ones who cooperated were treated well and the ones who didn't, not so well, but remember they made money off these women so none were physically abused in any way that would damage their beauty."

  "I'll tell you what. Let me tell you what happened. That should answer a lot of your questions, if you have more after that, I'll answer them, if I can."

  "Sounds good. Go ahead," Brad urged.

  "As you know, six months ago we arrested Milton Grimes, his sister Grace and his henchman Raymond Lancaster, all U.S. citizens. Bail for Grimes and Lancaster's previous charges have been revoked, and new charges of kidnapping and white slavery have been filed against the trio.

  "Also arrested were billionaire, South American, gangster Generalissimo Parata and twelve of his subordinates. Being foreign nationals, they were more problematic. Parata has his fingers into everything from drugs to murder for hire, but his main source of income is prostitution. While they sat in jail our State Department negotiated with the country of his origin for permission to charge these mobsters. The trouble was, he was indicted on many charges in his own country and they wanted to try him.

  "Then about two months ago, I was thrown into the spotlight when the Generalissimo asked to see me. Why, I have no idea. I expected to meet a ruthless, vicious killer, but frankly, I grew to like the guy.

  "Generalissimo's English is very rudimentary as is my Spanish so the State Department supplied a Spanish speaking interpreter to monitor and interpret our conversation. It was somewhat difficult, but through a series of meetings we got to know and trust each other.

  "Imagine my surprise when one day he admitted he'd been a very bad person and was ashamed. As the days went on he said he deserved to be hanged or spend his life in jail, but didn't want that because dead or in jail he'd be unable to make up for what he'd done."

  "Really?" Ginger interjected, That's amazing."

  "I agree, but there's more. The next time I met him he said he was very rich and had no need for so much money when there was so much misery in the world. He said he would like to free all the women in his possession, help locate and free others he knew about. In addition, he'd like to set up a trust with his money to help the impoverished.

  "It was about then our conversation turned into negotiation and the State Department official got involved. In three days, we hammered out a deal where we wouldn't charge him with any crime and he would be free to return to his country in return for freeing all women in his custody cease all other illegal activities, and set up his trust.

  "The last part was, of course, unenforceable, but I think Renaldo—that is his name—will stick to his promise. The main thing was getting the women back so two weeks ago the State Department guy, four U.S. Marshals and I flew to South America in the plane you saw today to return Renaldo and his men home and to repatriate the ladies you saw today. I was included in the party because Renaldo felt he could trust me. As for who the women are and where they are from, we really don't know yet. We know some aren't even American. We hope to find out more in debriefing.

  "That's it. That's what happened. Any questions?"

  Since Willie's account of what happened touched on all the things we wanted to know, nobody had any additional questions. They all shrugged and shook their heads. Nevertheless, something about the story didn't make sense to me. "I have a question."

  He smiled. "Yes Ginger?"

  "I find it curious that this criminal, who went from Satan to saint, asked for you. Had he talked with you, before that?"

  Willie scratched his head. "No, I wonder about that too. As a foreign national, his interrogation was being handled by the Feds until he asked for me."

  "How did he get your name?"

  He snickered. "That's another mystery. At first I thought maybe he got my name through one of the many New York druggies or dealers I've dealt with over the years, but that didn't make sense, so I asked him."

  I leaned forward. "Did he answer?"

  Willie gestured with his hands. "Yes, but that didn't make sense either. He said one of his madams told him, he could trust me."

  "Did he say it plural like that—one of his madams?"

  "No, he said madam. I didn't take his answer seriously. Since none of his madams, who were ten thousand miles away, didn't or c
ouldn't know me, I figured he was joking or he didn't want to answer."

  Denouement

  "What's so funny?"

  "Ah Suzi, my dear. You should hear this. Sergeant Willie, whom I just love, thought Renaldo said madams when he told him how he got his name."

  Suzi laughed, "That is funny. Willie mistook 'Madame' for 'madam', because Renaldo has madams. Or rather had them. He won't need them anymore."

  Soriano grinned. "Yes, the whole operation has turned into a huge success, hasn't it?"

  "Yes, but it wasn't really an operation. It was a f…screw-up that snow balled into something big."

  Soriano touched Suzi's wrist and glanced around. "Shhh, we don't want to give away all our secrets. If your little faux pas had backfired, we would have paid the consequences, but since it blossomed into four star happy ending, I intend for us to take credit."

  "You're the Boss, but what I want to know was why it was all right for you to go into Renaldo's mind, but when I did it with Brad and Ginger, it was 'a terrible no-no', and that 'we don't violate the sanctity of a subject's mind'."

  "Perhaps I was a little harsh. But don't forget that I said we could do it 'in emergencies and cases of extreme duress'."

  Suzi smirked. "This was extreme duress?"

  Soriano cupped her chin. "Of course not, but it was an emergency and we did rescue forty-eight hopeless women from captivity and sexual slavery."

  "I agree. It couldn't have turned out better, but remember, things never wouldn't have gotten to that point if not for my alleged fuck-up!

  Soriano giggled. "I should be offended by your choice of words, but I'm in such a good mood, I find your colorful language charming. Just don't let Gabe hear you say things like that, all right?"

  Suzi laughed. "I was a fucking marine. What do you expect?"

  Soriano shook her head. "Carpenter, you are too much. Getting back to your eff-up…giggle…the mind entering thing worked out so well, I would consider using it again."