The Water

by Nancy Jackson

  When they got to Main Street, they turned east. “Damn,” exclaimed Gus. They were almost to the Bricktown police precinct. Gus had Vince park in an alley with heavy tree cover and waited.

  Instead of going into the police precinct they went into the bail bondsman across the street. Looking at the sheet there were no instructions after arriving at Bricktown. Apparently whoever had been giving her instructions, told her to remember their last destination or Pride just thought she would, and saw no need to write it down.

  That’s okay, Gus thought. They will come out eventually and then he would have them.

  Once inside the Presto Bail Bond building, Pride and Jenny just stood there unsure of what to do. It had worn them out traveling for over three hours in this hundred degree heat. Arriving here was their last instruction, so they waited.

  “Are you Pride?” A lady came up and asked them?

  “I am,” said Pride. Her face was red, and she felt as though she would faint.

  “Here sit down. You look like you might pass out. Are you okay?” The lady asked.

  Pride gladly fell into a chair. The whooshing was loud as the air exited the pleather cushion. Her heart was pounding. The exertion of their afternoon travels was threatening to kill her. It had been hard on Jenny, but at Pride’s weight, it could prove fatal.

  The lady left and returned with two bottles of water and gave one each to Pride and Jenny. They both thanked the lady, and Pride gulped hers down even knowing that drinking too fast wasn’t good.

  Her thin cotton house dress was wet with perspiration and her thin hair was damp and limp against her face. She knew she must look a fright, but all she wanted right then was to catch her breath and breathe.

  Jenny’s concerned face looked at Pride. “Are you ok?” Jenny asked.

  Pride patted Jenny’s hands that laid in her lap and smiled. “I will be. I just need to catch my breath.”

  About fifteen minutes after they arrived, a nice-looking lady with short brown hair came from the back. She looked to be just a little younger than Pride, but maybe she had just lead an easier life, Pride thought.

  The lady squatted down in front of where Pride and Jenny sat. “My name is Beth. We spoke on the phone.” Her voice was low so prying ears couldn’t hear.

  Let’s slip out the back to my car and we can go to a better place to talk. Pride had had time to catch her breath, so she and Jenny stood and followed the lady out the back door.

  There to the right off of the back door sat a silver Toyota Highlander, fairly new. Beth motioned for them to quickly get inside and as soon as they shut both doors, Beth had the vehicle moving.

  “Are you sure no one followed you?” Beth asked.

  “We looked and we couldn’t tell. I really don’t think so,” said Jenny. She was scared to death. This traveling and skulking around had set her nerves on edge. Then there was Pride. Jenny had thought more than once she would pass out on her. She couldn’t lose Pride, she just couldn’t.

  They rode with Beth until they reached Penn Square Mall. Beth pulled into the garage parking and traveled to the top of the garage. She parked close to the bridge which led to the mall. She then led them across the bridge and into the mall itself.

  It was late afternoon in the middle of the week and the mall was subdued. Pride immediately felt self conscious. She knew she looked atrocious.

  Pride stopped once inside the mall and said, “Beth I don’t belong here. I look terrible. I’m hot and sweaty from being out in the heat this afternoon and honestly I can’t walk another step.”

  Beth gave Pride a genuine smile and put her arm as far around Pride’s shoulders as she could. “Pride you are fine and you are beautiful in God’s eyes. We aren’t going far.”

  She led them to a little eatery that was just a few feet inside the door they had entered from. Jenny’s mouth was agape at the sites and sounds around her. Across the way, she could see mannequins of beautiful new clothes like the ones she’d seen in the magazine. Clothes she would never own.

  Beth sat them at a table. “Shall I get you something to eat or drink? Have you eaten today?”

  “I would love some water,” said Pride. Jenny asked, “Can I have a Dr. Pepper?” She was almost too afraid to ask, but was willing to pay for it if she needed to.

  Beth laid her hand on Jenny’s as she was reaching to pull money out of her little purse. “No Jenny. I want to treat you.” Then she smiled at Jenny.

  “I think I would like a snack,” said Beth hoping that if she ate something, then they would not feel timid about also eating. “What would you like?”

  “Come on now, it’s my treat,” Beth encouraged them.

  Jenny perked up and said, “I would like to have some of those fries with chili and cheese on them.” She pointed at the picture meant to entice customers.

  “Pride, what about you?”

  Pride was not used to allowing people to give to her. It usually meant they would want something in return. But his lady made her feel different. She felt genuine.

  “I’ll have whatever you’re having ma’am. I’m not picky,” said Pride.

  Both Jenny and Pride felt out-of-place even though this wasn’t a fancy place. They well knew of their station in life and that it was well below anyone that would be at this mall, or any other mall for that matter.

  Beth returned with a red tray full of fresh hot french fries topped with chili and cheese. Three orders, one for each. Normally Beth would have ordered something else, but she wanted more than anything for these ladies to not feel out of place, so she followed Jenny’s lead and ordered chili-cheese fries for them all.

  Beth allowed the ladies to rest, eat, and settle into her company before attempting any more conversation. Once they’d made a considerable dent in their food, Beth began, “How did you ladies come to know about our program?”

  Jenny and Pride looked at each other then Pride said, “Well a few years ago someone gave me a paper with your info on it. I don’t normally keep stuff like that, but this time I did. I folded it up and shoved it in the back of my junk drawer. I’d forgotten all about it until lately."

  “I would like to hear more about you ladies. Can you tell me a little about yourselves?”

  Jenny ducked her head and kept nibbling on her fries, so Pride began, “Well, years ago I was a prostitute,” Pride swallowed and continued. “Finally, I couldn’t do it no more. I get a disability check each month and that keeps me alive. I have… had two girls live with me. I kind of watch out for them.” Then the reality of what Pride had just said overwhelmed her. She had not taken good enough care of Cami though, had she?

  She choked up and looked away from Beth as tears slid down her cheeks. Beth reached out and covered Pride’s hand with her own. “Pride what is wrong? I’m here to help.” Beth’s face was compassionate and her voice sounded sincere.

  Pride took a long look at Beth, then told her of Cami’s death and all about Gus and Jenny. Jenny let Pride tell the tale, she wasn’t sure if she would have the words.

  Once Pride had told Beth everything she could think of, Beth turned to Jenny. “Jenny our goal at Safe At Last is primarily for rescuing those who have been victims of human trafficking. We want to rescue them and then get them home to their families. Sometimes they have no one to go back home to.

  “They have no skills or knowledge of how to live in the world. We provide an initial place to stay, we have counselors that come by and help them to get past the pain, shame, and guilt of that life. We have other volunteers that help prepare them for the GED so they will at least have a high school equivalency.

  “Then we work on job placement. We know that just getting one out of the life is no good if we can’t provide them with the skills to live life differently.

  “I will tell you that if you are serious about this, you will have to be willing to do the work. You will have to stay focused on learning and doing what is necessary. You must leave that life and all those that are tied to it. You
must, absolutely must, break all contact with anyone you are currently associated with now.” Beth stopped to let that soak in.

  Jenny wasn’t sure she comprehended everything Beth had just said. She had no one to leave behind. She had lost Cami and part of the whole point of this was getting away from Gus. Surely she didn’t mean Pride too.

  Her concerned expression looked from Beth to Pride and back again. “Surely you don’t mean Pride too.”

  “Jenny I know that is hard to comprehend. Pride has done right by you. She has loved you and taken good care of you, but those that are in that world, Gus and the others will use her to get to you if they know you are still in contact with her. For Pride’s safety and your own, it is best to cut all ties.”

  Jenny thought her heart would break. She began shaking her head. “I can’t. I just can’t.” Jenny thought she would be sick.

  “Jenny, don’t worry. I am not here to force you to do anything you do not, cannot do. But I want to be honest with you. We go to great lengths to keep the whereabouts of the safe house private so that the residents can feel safe.”

  “But,” Jenny turned to look at Pride. “Pride won’t be safe if I leave her. Gus will come looking for me whether I break ties with her or not and he will kill her!”

  Panic set in and Jenny felt dizzy. “We’re dead. We’re both dead Pride. He’ll kill us both no matter what we do.” Jenny turned in her chair and bent over resting her head on her hands.

  Beth got out of her chair and squatted down by Jenny putting her arm around her. The girl, riddled with panic and grief, was resistant to her comfort. “Jenny we’ll try to help Pride too.” Beth’s heart was breaking. There had to be something they could do for Pride too. She knew Pride loved these girls.

  “No ma’am. I’m okay. Jenny I’m okay. You hear me now, girl? You can do this. You have to do this. Do it for me, please.” Pride’s eyes were pleading with Jenny. She knew Beth was right, Jenny had to break all ties with everyone from her past. Gus didn’t scare her. She had dealt with men like him all her life.

  She would miss Jenny, but there would be other girls come along that she could help. Girls that didn’t want to leave the life. It would break her heart though. She had gotten so attached to Jenny. Had Pride ever had a daughter, it would have been Jenny.

  “You don’t have to decide right now Jenny. But with a killer on the loose and killing girls you know, the sooner you decide, the better.”

  Beth stood up and sat back down in her chair. She began cleaning the trash from the table piling it back on the red tray. Jenny sat numbly looking at Beth’s actions.

  Pride couldn’t look at either of them.

  Chapter 8

  Penny’s Place was an old traditional diner. Randy liked it. It was filled with early morning workers stopping to eat before heading on their way. The waitress Alice, her nametag read, seated the three in a booth by the front windows.

  “Thank you for agreeing to a meeting with us Beth,” said Randy.

  “I want to do whatever I can to help, but please remember I have to walk a fine line to keep my girls safe,” said Beth.

  “We understand,” said Carrie.

  They ordered breakfast and Randy and Carrie talked about their case. They had two girls dead and two missing. The common denominator was a man named Gustavo Hernandez, or Gus as the girls called him.

  At the mention of the name Gus, Beth’s head jerked up from her western omelet to look at Carrie eye to eye. “Did you say Gus?”

  Carrie felt her skin prickle. This was it. They were about to learn something key to help them in this case. “Yes. What do you know?”

  Beth sat her eating utensils down before beginning. “One of the girls we now have lived with Gus. The other girl that lived with her there is one of the murdered girls,” said Beth.

  “Who do you have there?” asked Carrie.

  “Lisa.”

  Carrie and Randy looked at each other, both about to shout, but didn’t want to make a scene in the diner.

  “We have been looking for Lisa,” said Carrie. “We need to talk to her.”

  Beth had suspected they would ask to do that. She wanted to help in whatever way was necessary, to help find who was murdering those girls, while still protecting them.

  “I know you need to, but we have to do it in a way to keep her and the others safe. These men, as you well know, will stop at nothing to take back these girls or kill them.”

  Randy and Carrie were nodding. “We well know,” said Randy.

  “I can’t have you come to the safe house, but I can arrange for Lisa and I to meet you somewhere.” Beth looked at her watch. “It’s still early. What about meeting back here in a few hours at nine?”

  Just then Beth’s Safe At Last cell phone rang. She never wanted to miss a call on that line because to her it was a potential lifeline to a victim.

  Mumbling her excuses she answered the call. “This is Safe At Last…" Before she could finish she heard Pride’s voice on the line.

  “We need to get Jenny to you now. When we came home last night, our door was busted in. I know it was Gus looking for Jenny. She went out and worked last night but avoided being where Gus would find her. We have to get her out of here now.”

  “Okay,” said Beth. “Let me call you right back with a plan.”

  “Problem?” Randy asked, seeing the interaction between Beth and the caller.

  Beth took a deep breath and looked intently at Randy and Carrie. She explained the situation behind the call.

  “We know Jenny and Pride,” said Carrie.

  “Come with us. We will go get her right now,” said Randy. He tossed some bills on the table and all three of them hurried out the door and to their SUV.

  They knew the way and in fifteen minutes were pulling up outside of Pride’s house. When they approached her house, they saw the mangled front door and frame. Someone had done a poor patchwork job to repair the damage that Gus had done.

  Randy knocked on the door, and it quickly flew open. Having gotten a quick return call from Beth while on their way, Jenny and Pride had been watching out the window waiting for them.

  Jenny was standing in the middle of the room with an old bag at her feet. She was wringing her hands and shuffling from foot to foot.

  Beth put her hands on Jenny’s shoulders and looked her in the eye. “You remember what we talked about yesterday? If you come with me you are breaking all ties to the past.”

  Jenny looked up at Pride. Her grief was clearly evident on her face as she nodded. “Can Pride come too, please? Gus will kill her.”

  Beth looked at Randy and Carrie. What could they do to help Pride? They looked back at Beth. “We can have a patrol car periodically drive by, but we can’t guarantee constant surveillance.”

  Beth made a quick decision. “Pride we have room for you now. Would you consider helping us at the safe house? You have experience with these girls. You might as well help us out.”

  Pride smiled at Beth, then looked at Jenny. “I need to stay here Jenny. There will be other girls like you. I will be more help to them if I help them here and then maybe I can get them to Beth.”

  “Pride is there somewhere else you can go for a while at least?” asked Carrie.

  Once again Pride smiled at Carrie. “I’ll be fine.” There was an eery calm to Pride, thought Carrie. It was as if she was resigning herself to her fate, whatever it should be.

  Beth nodded. “If you change your mind, you have my number. Promise me you will call if you need us,” said Beth.

  Randy and Carrie confirmed their readiness to help as well, assuring Pride that a patrol officer would be close at hand.

  Carrie was already on the phone requesting a forty-eight hour watch outside before random patrols started.

  Randy, Carrie, and Beth stepped outside to give Pride and Jenny a private goodbye.

  Pride was summoning all her strength for this moment. She’d never loved another person the way she loved and cared for t
his young girl. She was willing to give her life for her. She also knew she needed to be strong right then. If Jenny saw her waver in the least, then Jenny would not go.

  “Jenny this is your chance to have a new life, a good life. Please go and do all that Beth tells you to do. Know you are loved. I will always love you.” Pride enveloped Jenny in her warm embrace and held her for as long as she dared; any longer and she would have never let her go.

  Jenny looked up at Pride and nodded, unable to say a word. With tears in her eyes, Jenny walked out of Pride’s house for the very last time.

  Gus pulled down Pride’s street just as the black SUV arrived. It was those stupid OSBI cops. But they had someone else with them.

  He ordered his driver to pull around where they could see but be better hidden. It was that lady from yesterday he’d seen Pride and Jenny ride off with.

  His driver had gotten separated in the downtown construction traffic and they hadn’t been able to catch up with them. But now she was here with the cops.

  Waiting was not Gus’ strong suite. He squirmed in his seat wondering what was going on inside. Then the door opened, and the three walked out and soon Jenny followed. But Pride remained inside. Good, he thought. I’ll get her.

  His driver was ready to pull up to Pride’s curb as soon as the black SUV left, but a second before it did, a black and white patrol car pulled up across the street at the vacant house and parked.

  Gus slammed the dash again and cursed. He couldn’t catch a break.

  “Let’s go!” Gus demanded. “We’ll come back. That car can’t sit out there forever.”

  Four girls. He’d lost four girls. Alex would kill him for sure. But what if he replaced them? If he found more girls, profitable girls, then what could Alex say? It was all about the money right?

  Gus made a few calls to the men who had brought Mandy and Lisa from Texas. They had a steady supply. It would cost him, but it would cost him his life if he didn’t.

  After a few hours of calls and back-and-forth negotiations, he’d bought two more girls. He resolved to keep them far away from Pride though. It didn’t matter; he would kill her anyway.