“She’s one of the child sex workers,” she whispered.
“What are you talking about?” Jack dropped his shoulder bag to the kitchen counter. “How? Where?”
“A friend who works at Grady contacted me. Said she came in on her own because she stepped on a nail and it wouldn’t heal. I’d been telling him about, you know, human trafficking and he thought I’d want to see her.”
“Okay. I’m confused. Who do you know at Grady?”
“That’s not important. I went down there, made friends with her and offered her a place to stay for a couple days and voila. I have officially saved one child from the streets.”
Jack stared at her and then took two steps back and peered into the living room where Lorna was eating popcorn and watching television.
“You checked her out of the hospital?”
“No. We had to sneak out. As it was, my friend said her pimp was probably going to show up any minute.”
“Her pimp.”
“Or whatever they call them. Her handler.”
“You don’t know anything about her.”
“I know she’s a prostitute and she’s twelve years old. Is there anything else I need to know, Jack? Or you, for that matter?”
He grimaced. She had a point.
“There’ll be a record that she was checked into Grady. The authorities—”
“I don’t think so, Jack. My friend says there are a lot of people who come and go from Grady and there are rarely any inquiries about who or why.”
“Your friend.”
“He’s a nurse there.”
Jack ran his hand through his hair. His shoulders ached and he was tired. “Yeah, okay,” he said. “Have you gotten her story yet?”
“Not yet. Thought I’d leave it for breakfast. I know she doesn’t look it, but she’s really wiped out.”
“She’s not the only one. Where are you putting her?”
“My room. I’ll sleep on the couch. And Jack?”
“Yes?”
“I am so sorry for being such a pill lately. I hate that you went to your cooking job tonight and I didn’t know anything about it. Forgive me, okay?”
“I’m sorry, too,” he said, smiling ruefully. “You said it before I could but it’s not worth being at odds with each other.”
“I know. We’re stronger together.”
“So we’re good?”
“We’re perfect. Go to bed. You look like you’re about to drop. I told Lorna we’d go to the park tomorrow or the zoo. You up for it?”
“Absolutely.”
The next morning, Jack was up early making pancakes, coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice. He wasn’t sure what they were going to do with the girl but he was determined to resist being the responsible one for just this once.
Surely, Mia knew they had to notify the police? Lorna was a minor. You can’t just bring one home every time you find one.
“Morning, Mr. Jack.”
He looked up to see Lorna crawling up onto one of the barstools. She still had make-up on her face although much of it had rubbed off in the night.
“Good morning,” he said. “Can I start you off with three or four flapjacks?”
“Oh, none for me,” she said wistfully. “They smell awesome but I’m watching my weight.”
“Why the hell for?” He frowned. The kid looked emaciated as it was.
“Jamie tells me I lean toward being chubby. It’s a constant battle.”
“Who’s Jamie?”
She hesitated. “I guess you could say he’s my boyfriend.”
He saw Mia’s head as she sat up on the couch. “Morning, you two,” she said sleepily.
“Morning, Mia,” Lorna said. “Jack has pancakes for you. Can I get a cup of coffee, Mr. Jack?”
“As long as you don’t tell me you take it black,” he said, trying to make the jovial act look convincing.
“I’m just used to it that way,” she said. “And it’s fewer calories.”
Mia joined her at the counter. “How did you sleep?” she asked.
“Good.”
Jack handed the child a mug of coffee and noticed that Mia was frowning at her. When he twisted his position to see why, he saw the string of bruises down Lorna’s neck that disappeared into her pajama top.
“How’d you get those bruises?” he asked causally, pouring a mug of coffee for Mia.
Lorna touched her neck and pulled the collar of the pajamas up self-consciously. “I don’t know,” she said.
“Did Jamie give those to you?” Mia asked.
“Jamie is a good guy,” Lorna said. “He loves me.” She started to fiddle with the buttons on her pajamas. “He’s probably really worried about me, wondering where I am.”
“Will he be mad at you for leaving the hospital do you think?” Mia asked.
Lorna didn’t answer for a moment. “Maybe,” she said.
Mia and Jack exchanged a look.
The rest of the day was spent in a series of activities starting with a walk in Piedmont Park, a trip to the zoo—where Lorna, although she’d been born in Atlanta, had never been—and lunch at The Varsity. From there, Jack and Mia took the girl to Lenox Square where Mia bought Lorna several new outfits, her own sleepwear, and an iPod shuffle in bright pink.
Every time Lorna squealed her thanks, with a big hug delivered first to Mia and then to Jack, he felt a little sadder about the reality of what her life must have been like before today.
They left the mall and headed to Jess’s house in Doraville. Mia sat in the front seat with Jack while Lorna played with her new iPod in the backseat. Jack bought her a music download card and she was happily singing to herself and wearing her new ear buds.
“She’s had such a good day,” Mia said quietly to Jack, aware that Lorna couldn’t hear her over her music. “I don’t want anything to ruin it.”
“I know, but we need to ask her where she lives with her boyfriend.”
“I know, Jack. Only not today. Okay?”
He nodded. He didn’t want to upset the child either. It had been a nice day. He pulled into Jess’s driveway and parked next to Maxwell’s car. “Did you know he’d be here tonight?” he asked.
“I figured,” Mia said. “Do you think it’ll be a problem?”
“Is everything okay, you guys?” Lorna asked, her voice louder than usual with her ear plugs in.
“Yep,” Mia said brightly. “We’ve got one more very cool surprise left for you.”
“Is it the dog? Jack already told me. I love dogs! It’s a girl, right? Oh, I wish I could’ve named her. I never got to name a dog. Oh, is that your dad, Mia?”
Jack turned and saw Maxwell step out onto the porch. He was a big man, much of it in his stomach, but he was broad across the chest too.
“No, that’s my mother’s boyfriend. Come on, let’s meet everyone.”
Jess was beside herself with delight to see Lorna. Jack shook his head in amazement. You’d think she was her long-lost granddaughter the way Mia’s mother doted on her, petting her and making sure she had everything she could possibly want. Maybe it was because Lorna let Jess mother her in a way that Mia no longer did. Jack could tell that Lorna loved Jess pretty much from the moment she’d walked across the threshold.
Dinner had been a typical Jess-affair: too much food and all of it good. Jack cursed the fact that he couldn’t just enjoy a meal any more, he had to assess it, try to deconstruct it, determine if he’d ever want to make it himself. Jess was a solid, down-home Southern cook and there were fewer and fewer of those in the South any more. When Lorna, Mia and Jess went into the back yard after dinner to throw the ball with Daisy, Maxwell volunteered Jack to help with the washing up.
Which meant he had something on his mind.
Jack picked up a dishrag and waited. Maxwell would get to it in his own time.
“Really nice that you and Mia came over,” Maxwell said, plunging his hands in the sink full of suds and dirty dishes.
I gues
s that means he’s officially moved into Jess’s house, Jack thought as he watched Maxwell wash and rinse a dinner plate before handing it to him. Maxwell pulled the kitchen window curtain back to watch the others in the yard with the dog.
“Where did the girl come from?”
“Mia found her at Grady.”
“She a prostitute?”
“What gave her away?”
Maxwell ignored the question. “She needs to go to Child Services.”
“I know.”
“Does Mia know?”
“I thought I’d leave that for you to tell her.”
Maxwell handed him another dripping plate and stared at him. “Does she think the girl is the same as Daisy?”
“Don’t be offensive.”
“She can’t keep her.”
“I don’t think that’s what she has in mind.”
Maxwell was silent for several moments, washing and handing dishware to Jack.
“She thinks she can get a lead from her on where the Hispanic kid’s sister is,” Maxwell said. It wasn’t a question.
“Something like that.”
“I don’t like always being the bad guy,” Maxwell said. “I want to be a part of this family and that’s made a lot harder when I have to constantly be the asshole.”
“Don’t look at me.”
“Fine.” Maxwell snatched up a towel and dried his hands before tossing it on the counter. He turned and left the kitchen and soon Jack could hear him talking in the other room on his phone. He heard the words “Lorna” and “runaway” and “Grady.”
He looked out the kitchen window and saw Lorna walking across the lawn, her arm around Jess’s waist.
This next part was going to really suck.
His phone rang. The screen read Unknown Number.
“Burton here,” he said.
“Jack, it’s Trey.”
“I wondered when I’d hear from you again.”
“I have to ask you to be patient a little bit longer.”
Jack cursed silently. The longer the damn feds took with their sting, the longer innocent people were going to suffer. “Dammit, Trey, why? What the hell, man?”
“Look, I’m sorry and I’m not at liberty to say more than that. I shouldn’t even be calling you. But you gotta stand down and keep what you know to yourself. A little bit longer. It’s for the greater good. You know that, right? I gotta go. Hang in there.”
The phone disconnected.
Jack stood in the kitchen and stared out the window at the happy scene. Lorna held hands with Jess now. She was looking up at her adoringly while Mia threw the ball to the dog.
Yeah, this next part was going to really suck.
That night, he and Mia drove back to the condo alone. Lorna had begged to stay with Jess for the night and while Jack could tell Mia was torn—since she was planning on interviewing her in depth as soon as possible, in the end she relented. When they were alone in the car, Jack told her what Maxwell had discovered about the girl.
“She’s a chronic runaway. From a foster home.”
“He’s going to hand her over, isn’t he?”
“He said he’d wait until you had a chance to talk to her. I said we’d come back tomorrow around lunchtime.”
“I feel like I’m throwing her to the wolves.”
“Well, you’re not. She’s with your mom and that’s just about the best place any kid could be. Especially a kid like Lorna.”
“But it can’t last.”
“Let’s enjoy the moments when they happen, why don’t we, Mia.”
“Why, Jack, how positively philosophical of you.”
“I read it on a throw pillow at the crazy broad’s house I cheffed for last night.”
“You’re lying. You’re really a big softie.”
“Keep my secret.”
“We gave her a good day, today, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, Mia. We did.”
He reached over and squeezed her hand and she squeezed back.
*****
Maria could see that it was still daylight between the subtle shifts in the drapery that covered the window. She knew it was the automatic air conditioning that moved the air like an unseen hand, touching the drapes to allow a slit of blue sky to the inmates. She knew the clients liked to be cool.
It wouldn’t have mattered what the girls liked.
Alegra sat on the bed and examined her fingernails. She’d been with Senor longer than Maria although she was nearly two years younger. Maria had tried to reach out to the girl but she was not receptive.
Usually she was just too high to care.
Maria touched a finger to her swollen eye and found herself smiling in spite of the pain. A man had hurt her last night and when she screamed, Senor came in and made the man leave. In fact, he had spoken softly to Maria and kissed her eye and said he would not let anyone hurt her ever. He swore he was her protector.
After he left her bed, he let her sleep the rest of the night undisturbed and in the morning he brought her ice for her eye and hot coffee. Maria knew the other girls were jealous but she didn’t care.
When Senor left for the day, his second lieutenant and two of the bodyguards took their choice of girls into the bedrooms. Maria was grateful her swollen eye made her less desirable to them. When they finished they put two girls in each of the four bedrooms. This had never happened before. Maria wondered if Senor told his men that she was not to be bothered tonight. She was sure he said that to her.
She turned her attention to the window and saw that the glimmer of blue light was gone now. It was nearly evening.
“Pronto,” Allegra said, as if speaking to her nails. “Ellos vendran.” Soon. They will come.
Maria felt her stomach tighten. She walked to the window and touched the curtain. Behind it, she saw darkness and iron bars covering the window.
Where are you, José? She wondered as she looked into the night. Will we ever see each other again?
“Los gringos illegara pronto,” Alegra said, sleepily. The gringos will come soon.
Maria turned to her. “Que es lo que sabe?” What do you know?
Alegra gave a low laugh and when she finally looked up, Maria could see her eyes were half-lidded and dilated. “A la chingada, usted debe pillar una fumada. Es mas facil.” You should get high. It makes it easier.
Maria found herself looking at the closed bedroom door, her anxiety inching up into her throat. “What is happening?” she said aloud, her voice low with dread.
Alegra shrugged and leaned back against the headboard of the bed. “Que vendra ahora uno tras otro hasta el amanecer,” she said.
They will come now one after another until dawn.
10
The next morning, Mia was up before Jack. She wrote a quick note that she left on the kitchen counter saying she had an early morning yoga class and hurried out the door. After such a pleasant day where she and Jack had clicked on all cylinders—finished off with a comfortable evening of conversation and a little mindless television, the last thing she wanted to do was upset all that by mentioning to him she had an early breakfast date with the cute ER nurse at Grady.
As she drove out of Atlantic Station, she realized that Jack was jealous and she also realized that it mattered less to her than it would’ve a week ago.
Talk about being shallow, she chided herself. But the man was obviously never going to make an overture in her direction and torturing him into trying was just childish and…frankly, ineffective.
Or could it be that she was starting to feel her feelings shift from Jack to Ben? That would probably be the healthiest thing she could do. As she drove by the full parking lot of the restaurant where she was to meet Ben, it occurred to her that one of these days she was going to have to tell Ben she was living with a man.
Now that conversation should be interesting, she thought with a rueful grin. She found a place to park off of Spring Street only a couple of blocks from the restaurant. She was twenty minute
s early.
While she waited, she thought of little Lorna, and how happy she seemed last night. Mia hated the thought that Lorna might have to be returned to her foster home. Maybe Jess might qualify as a foster home for her? She found herself getting excited at the idea. Surely, Maxwell could vouch for Jess or maybe even pull some strings to make it happen?
She smiled to herself. If she knew her mother, Jess had already thought of it.
Mia and Jack had talked last night about taking Lorna for a drive around east Atlanta today to see if the girl could point out where she lived with “Jamie” and also where it was that he first found her. Thinking of where Lorna might have met Jamie made Mia remember her question to Taneka. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Liz Magnuson.
“Atlantans Against Modern Slavery,” Liz said into the phone.
“Hi, Liz,” Mia said. “How’s it going?”
“Not a great question to ask someone whose life work is a steadily losing proposition,” Liz said in clipped tones. “In the state of Georgia alone twelve thousand men purchase sex with young women in a single given month.”
Wow. She’s really a zealot, Mia couldn’t help think.
“That’s partly why I’m calling,” Mia said. “I was wondering if you could give me the contact information for Taneka. We had to cut short our—”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Kazmaroff,” Liz said. “Taneka and her mother are moving out of state. Her mother asked me to stop calling so I’m fairly sure she wouldn’t appreciate you doing so.”
“I really need to talk to her,” Mia said. “I think Taneka could be very helpful in finding the location where some of those twelve thousand men are hooking up with young girls.”
“I’m sorry. If it’s any consolation, Taneka struck me as singularly unreliable as an information source,” Liz said.
Mia thought the woman’s clipped tone sounded callous. Mia reminded herself that she still had Lorna, although it would’ve been better if she could have used Lorna to corroborate Taneka’s information, not stand on its own.
“Well, thank you…”
But Liz had hung up before Mia finished speaking.
Complete Mia Kazmaroff Romantic Suspense Series, 1-4 Page 30