by Madyson Grey
After Rafael and Victoria described to him what they wanted, and after he had walked the property to be utilized, he had sketched out the rough layout within twenty minutes that was absolutely perfect. There was a grand entrance, log framed, that would proclaim on a large sign, “Thornton Memorial Pioneer Farm and Botanical Gardens.”
Upon driving into the grounds, the visitors would park in paved parking lots that flanked the driveway. At the far end of the parking area there would be an old-time split-rail fence that separated the parking lots from the grounds. At an entrance gate, there would be a small ticket booth.
The farmhouse and barn would be on the left; the formal botanical gardens would be on the right. Just past the gardens would be the miniature train depot, where young and old alike could board a small train pulled by a miniature steam locomotive, and be taken on a ride that wound around all through the entire 190 acres that the park would encompass. Some of it would be left in an enhanced natural state, meaning that they would trim and prune and plant, but it would retain a natural look, as opposed to the formal botanical gardens that would cover approximately three-quarters of an acre.
A nature trail would also wind around through that “wild” area, with small signs posted here and there that named the particular tree or plant that it stood by.
The farmhouse, barn, and related animal areas would encompass about five acres. Rafael planned to grow alfalfa and other grains that would not only show visitors how farming is done, but would also supply feed for the animals. He knew he would need a lot of help to pull this all off, but he was also pleased to think of the jobs he would be providing for people.
Milton Payne caught the vision right off and soon had the layout done in such a perfect way that both Rafael and Victoria agreed that it was even better than they had imagined. Milton knew a contractor who would be perfect for the job, also. He was a Midwesterner who had been raised on a farm, so would know just how to build the house and barn.
Rafael gave him the go-ahead to contact Jack Trueblood, the contractor and arrange a meeting between the three of them. He and Victoria rearranged their inspection schedule to only doing three buildings that first week of December. That would complete the California properties. They were a little more than half done, still needing to do all the out-of-state properties. As Christmas was fast approaching, they decided to postpone those until after the holidays.
The new schedule for December became meeting with the architect and contractor in the mornings, home for lunch, then giving any needed attention to Thornton Enterprise business. Victoria was happy to stay at home and begin decorating and preparing for Christmas, and leave the design work to Rafael and the other men.
Rafael would fill her in on the progress, and she could give her input daily. But to be involved in the daily grind of drawing plans and figuring out water lines, sewer lines, power lines, and all that stuff was totally out of her league and she was good with that. When the farmhouse was built, then Victoria would get involved in decorating and furnishing it. She was having way more fun getting ready for Christmas.
Chapter Four
The first Sunday of December Rafael and Victoria went shopping for Christmas decorations. Victoria had kept some of what her parents had, but she wanted more and different things. The first thing they bought was an eight-foot artificial tree that, except for the evergreen scent, could pass for the real thing.
They bought plenty of ornaments for the tree, including a large lighted silver star for the tree topper. They picked up enough lights to completely light up the outside of the house, and chose a huge star to put on the roof. Their house sat on a knoll above the subdivisions below it, so they expected that their outside star would be seen for some distance.
Rafael insisted on a nativity scene for the family room where the tree would be set up. Since they hadn’t even used the formal living room yet, the family room would be the focal point of the holiday decorating. Victoria did choose a lovely candle and evergreen centerpiece for the coffee table in the living room, and they bought electric candles to place in every windowsill in the entire house.
A large wreath would adorn the front door, and a Santa, reindeer, and sleigh would sit in the front yard adjacent to the front sidewalk and door. Assorted candles in a variety of Christmasy colors and scents would be placed strategically throughout the house.
Victoria had already talked with Lena about her decorating preferences for her suite, and Lena had said that she had her own decorations, and if she needed anything new, she would prefer getting her own.
While they were shopping, they also picked up a couple of small gifts for each of their moms. Victoria had decided that she would place an order online for a nice Harry and David gift tower (pears, candies, cheeses, etc.) for her newly acquired Uncle Mac and Aunt Diane.
That evening after supper, they had a great time setting up the tree and decorating it, as well as placing the other decorations around the house. The outside lights and decorations would have to wait until another day when it was light outside. Lena plied them with popcorn, apples, and hot chocolate while they worked. Victoria filled the CD player with several Christmas music CDs to truly get them in the spirit of Christmas.
After Lena had gone to her rooms for the night, Rafael hung some mistletoe in the archway between the entry hall and the family room when Victoria was otherwise occupied. Then he led her over to that spot, pointed at the mistletoe, and proceeded to kiss her soundly. That one kiss led to them giving up their decorating for the night, turning out all the downstairs lights, and going up to their bedroom.
They slowly undressed one another, and succumbed to their rising passion. Afterwards, they showered together, and then went to bed, where again they made love. Snuggling up together, they fell asleep in each other’s arms. Victoria’s last thought before drifting off was, Thanks, Daddy, for giving me this wonderful man whom I love so much.
The next three weeks were hectic ones, yet they were filled with a joy and happiness that neither Rafael, Victoria, nor Lena had ever known in their entire lives. Lena and Victoria reveled in their mother-daughter relationship, Rafael and Victoria basked in their deep love for one another, and the three of them were having great fun in preparing for Christmas.
One of the things that Lena and Victoria did together was to choose several “Christmas angels” from a tree in the mall they most frequented. These paper angels each represented an underprivileged child who otherwise wouldn’t have much of a Christmas. The two of them had a blast shopping for these kids.
Victoria had chosen two boys, ages 2 and 10, and two girls, ages 3 and 12, just for a good variety. Lena took a 6-month-old baby girl and a year-old baby boy to shop for. They bought both clothes and toys for the little ones, according to the needs and wishes stated on the paper angels. Victoria chose a couple of age-appropriate books and some art supplies for the 12-year-old, in addition to a couple of “cool” outfits, some pajamas, socks, and underwear.
She had a hard time not buying out the stores for her kids. But Lena cautioned her that these kids may have siblings that might not get gifts as lavish or in as great a quantity. That made Victoria want to go back to the Angel Tree and get more paper angels, which she did.
The second time, she noticed that there were little codes on the angels that indicated which kids belonged to the same family. So she looked on the angels she had chosen the first time around and matched them up to their siblings on the tree. Lena did the same, now choosing the older brother to her baby girl, and the two older siblings, a boy and a girl, to her baby boy.
By lunchtime, they had shopped until they were just about to drop, but were both happier than they could have ever imagined. They got some lunch in the mall’s food court, and then headed for home. On the way, Victoria pulled into a Walmart to get gift bags, wrapping paper, ribbon and bows, and gift tags not only for the kids’ gifts, but for what all she would need for all the gifts they would all be purchasing to give.
&nb
sp; When Rafael came home later that afternoon, both women spread out all the goodies they had gotten that day and told him all about their day and the joy they got from shopping for these needy kids. He was happy for them, and envious that he had been left out of the fun.
The next day, Victoria and Lena took the “Christmas Angel” gifts to the drop-off location where they were gratefully received. The only thing that would have made this act of generosity any more joyous would be to get to watch the kids open their gifts on Christmas.
Christmas Eve arrived and with it a flurry of activity, especially in the kitchen. Lena and Victoria had both been busy in the baking and cooking department for several days. Platters of fudge, divinity, Christmas cookies, and other goodies lined the countertop and spilled over onto the kitchen table. Six pies—apple, pecan, pumpkin, and mince—were in the freezer ready to thaw at a moment’s notice.
Christmas Eve supper would be a warm fruit soup and biscuits from Lena’s family tradition; tamales from Rafael’s family tradition; and a vegetable relish tray and dip, deviled eggs, cheese and crackers from Victoria’s family. They all knew it would make for an unusual combination, but each one would have their own traditional Christmas Eve comfort foods. Rafael’s mother and Lena’s parents were all invited over, and invited to spend the night so they could all be there first thing Christmas morning.
It was a grand holiday. Victoria missed her dad, and Marian, too. Rafael still missed his dad especially at Christmas. Even though he was little when his dad died, he remembered how his dad had made Christmases special. Manuela missed Mateo. But each one was thankful that they were together with the ones who were there.
They spent Christmas Eve eating, listening to Christmas music, and opening one gift each. At one point, they all piled into the Chrysler and went for a drive to look at Christmas lights.
Christmas morning was filled with joy and laughter and gratitude for the gifts given and received, the peace that had finally come after the long storm of the summer and fall, and the love and friendship shared by all. By evening, everyone had eaten way too much, but nobody cared. The parents were all persuaded to spend one more night there before making the drive back to their respective homes.
It’s a true blessing that human beings can’t see into the future to know what lies ahead. Otherwise we would overwhelmed with anxiety to the point of despair. For, even though life was good again for Rafael and Victoria, it wouldn’t always be so. The new year would bring ups and downs such as are common to all. That’s why the good times are to be cherished, as they serve to bolster us up when the storms come.
Work progressed on the Thornton Park after the holidays, but not without headaches and wrestling matches with the authorities. But one by one, each obstacle was overcome, and the utilities were put in, the wells dug (after much haggling with the county), and everything was in place so the buildings could begin to be built.
Victoria and Lena had settled into a routine that suited them both in regards to the household chores. Victoria and Rafael decided to put off inspecting the out of state properties until spring when travel would be safer and more pleasant. But they did revisit the ones in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego just for general principles.
Rafael’s birthday was January 17, and Victoria planned a nice birthday dinner celebration for him that included his mom and hers. She made reservations at a swanky restaurant near the beach in Malibu. It was just the four of them, and they had a great time. Victoria had arranged it so that, after they had finished their meal, the waiters brought out a birthday cake and sang “Happy Birthday” to him. Most of the other patrons joined in singing, too, and thoroughly embarrassed Rafael. But he loved every minute of it.
It was late afternoon on a Monday the third week of January that they paid a surprise visit to the strip mall in Long Beach where the adult bookstore was located. Before going inside any of the units in the mall, Rafael drove around behind the mall to where the delivery entrances are located. He was just in time to see a man opening the door that they had learned led down under the mall to the underground utility maintenance area.
The man was not a utility worker, nor did he appear to be a plumber or electrician. There was no work truck parked nearby. Now they were curious. Rafael parked down a ways behind one of the other mall units so they wouldn’t be as noticeable. They just sat there and watched for a while.
Around four forty-five, cars began to pull in and park behind the adult bookstore, one after another. Each car held one woman. They were each dressed very skimpily, and each one went into the bookstore through the back door.
“I suppose those are the girls who work the cages,” Victoria said.
“Yeah, I’m sure they are,” Rafael agreed.
By five o’clock, ten girls had gone inside, presumably to work.
“I wish we knew someone sleazy enough to hire to go in there posing as a customer,” Victoria said. “I’d sure like to know if the manager was telling us the truth about how he operates.”
“Would be interesting,” Rafael agreed.
It was growing dark, and they were just about to leave when Rafael spotted a cargo van pull up to the side of the building where the door was that led to the utility basement.
“Wonder what’s happening here,” Rafael mused as he peered intently through the gathering darkness.
They didn’t have long to wait. The driver got out and opened the side doors of the van just as ten women emerged from the basement door. Rafael counted them as they walked to the van and got inside. A man came out last and got into the front seat of the van on the passenger’s side. The van started to drive away.
Rafael quickly started the car and followed the van.
“I want to see where this guy is taking these people,” he explained to Victoria as he pulled out onto the street a reasonable distance behind the van.
“Help me keep it in sight while I try to stay far enough behind so as not to be noticed,” he told her.
They followed the van as it drove all the way into Los Angeles. If the driver was aware that they had a tail, he showed no signs of it. But they were in for the shock of their lives when the van pulled into the back parking lot of one of their buildings. The one that had several basement apartments in it. The one where Antonio Cantu lived alone in a three-bedroom apartment.
“I’m tempted to call the police,” Rafael said. “I don’t like what I’m seeing here.”
“You should,” Victoria encouraged him. “I don’t either.”
“I wish I could follow them inside to see where they are taking those women. If it’s to Mr. Cantu’s apartment, like I suspect,” he said.
“Go around to the front of the building and use your key to get inside,” Victoria suggested.
“No, can’t do that,” he said. “I didn’t bring keys to that building, and besides, it’s probably alarmed, and I would set off the alarm. But I am going to call the police.”
Rafael dialed 911 while Victoria wrote down a description of the van and its license plate number. She listened as Rafael described to the dispatcher what they had been observing, including what they had seen several weeks ago down at the Long Beach docks. The dispatcher agreed to send a unit out to their location and that it would come quietly.
Meanwhile, the people in the van had gone in the rear entrance that was for the basement apartments. Fortunately, the van driver stayed long enough for the police to finally arrive fifteen minutes later. Rafael again explained what they had observed to the officer.
“We have been trying to figure out where these women are coming in at and how they get moved from one location to another,” said Officer Bradshaw. “We know that there is a fair amount of human trafficking going on in the LA area, but we’ve never been able to trace the movement of the people.”
“I don’t know how those women got into the basement of my strip mall over in Long Beach,” Rafael told him. “We sat and watched the women who work in the adult bookstore enter the st
ore by the regular back door. But the women who came out of the basement were not the ones who went in the back door.”
“There couldn’t possibly be an underground tunnel that far, could there?” Victoria wanted to know.
“Not clear from Long Beach, I wouldn’t think,” Rafael said.
“Don’t be too sure about that,” Officer Bradshaw told him. “There are subterranean tunnels running all through this area. And that’s in addition to the sewers. I’d like permission to enter the basement of this building of yours over in Long Beach and take a look around.
“Actually, it won’t be me personally, as I would be out of my jurisdiction, and I’m not a detective, who is more likely to be sent out on a thing like this,” he added. “But if you could come down to the station in the morning, I’ll leave my report with the day shift and tell them you’ll be coming in to give permission to enter your premises.”
“I’d be happy to,” Rafael said.
Officer Bradshaw had been running a make on the van parked behind the building, and the report on it finally came back to him. It was registered to one Donald Percival Dottler, who was a registered sex offender.
“Can you get in the building?” the officer asked Rafael. “And do you know where in the building they could be?”
“Yes, I can get into the building,” Rafael replied. “The basement is nothing but apartments. I think we may even know which apartment they entered.”
“If you will let me in and show me where they might have gone, I would appreciate it,” Officer Bradshaw said.
“Sure. You wait here, honey,” Rafael told Victoria. “Lock the car doors and I’ll be back in a little bit.”
The officer told his partner, who was still sitting in the patrol car, to call for backup, and then follow him inside. Then he and Rafael headed for the basement entrance. They slipped quietly inside. It took a bit for Rafael to get his bearings, since he’d only been in this basement one other time and it was from a different entrance. But he soon knew which way to head to get to Antonio Cantu’s apartment.