by Rayna Morgan
Tom alerted the nurse on his way out, handing her his card. “Let me know if she has any visitors, or if anyone comes to pay her bill.”
CHAPTER TEN
The next morning at breakfast, Paul seemed preoccupied.
“Something on your mind?” Lea asked.
“I think I’ll drop by to see Jim Mitchell on my way into the office. If I know Tom, he’ll take that tip you gave him last night and run with it by going to speak directly with Mike Young. I’ll feel better if I give Jim a heads-up, so he won’t think I’ve gone behind his back with suspicions about his associate.”
“He can’t help but think that; it’s exactly what we did.”
“I sent you in order to prevent unwarranted accusations,” Paul said. “That’s the part Jim won’t know unless I tell him. I’m sure he’ll understand we were acting in his best interests.”
“Jim may understand that, but I’m not sure Mike will see it that way.”
“All the more reason to get ahead of it now that Tom’s involved.”
“Good luck. Let me know how it goes.”
• • •
Lea answered her phone later. “Hi, Tom. If you’re looking for Paul, he’s left the house already.”
“That’s all right, it’s you I’m looking for.”
Lea’s interest was piqued. “What can I do for you?” she asked and set aside the file on her desk.
“Are you still a volunteer at the Second Chance Children's Center?”
“Yes, I am. I hope one of the kids isn’t in trouble with you.”
“Not a kid living there now,” Tom said, “but I’ve got a victim in the hospital I think you may know. When I checked for prior arrests, I found juvenile charges for shoplifting. The name of her court-appointed special advocate was noted in her court appearances.”
“I’ve been an advocate for several young people in the past, but they’ve all aged out of the program. Those kids turn eighteen years of age, and the bottom drops out for them. No more public funds are available, and private donations subsidize them for less than a year.”
“Do you stay in touch with them?”
“I try to,” she said. “It’s up to them once they’re officially released from the program. In the best case scenario, the young person can return home to a safe family environment where the parents or siblings have received counseling. In the worst case, their eighteenth birthday signifies freedom to them. They want nothing more to do with authority figures and shut off further contact. I’ve had both kinds of experience with the kids I advocated for. Who are you referring to?”
“Amber Owens.”
Lea gasped but didn’t respond.
“Lea, did you hear me?”
“I heard you, but I wish I hadn’t.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry to hear Amber’s in trouble, although I can’t say I’m surprised. She had no family to return to when her stay at Second Chance was over. Her mother’s a heroin addict. I always suspected her father of being abusive, but she never accused him.”
“She sounds like easy prey for some pimp to give her the family she didn’t have,” Tom said. “These girls get lured into the game by the illusion of love and a secure future. What makes them stay is the fear of being beaten, outed as whores, or left for dead. That might have been the outcome for Amber if we hadn’t found her in time.”
“Has she told you what happened?” Lea asked. “Who did this to her?”
“I’ve run into a closed door. She’s like other victims of sex-trafficking. When they come in contact with law enforcement, they aren’t exactly running into our arms begging for help. They’re scared, and they don’t trust the police. Maybe they’re threatened by their trafficker, maybe not. Either way, they’re not usually cooperative in identifying themselves as victims.”
“What do you want me to do? I’ll do anything to help Amber.”
“I‘m hoping she might open up to you,” Tom said. “You'll have difficulty getting her to talk unless you can break through the protective barrier she’s thrown up, but she knows you advocated for her before. She may still believe you’re on her side. At least, you can use a softer approach.”
“You mean, instead of slamming her in an interview room with bars on the windows and metal chairs, I can meet her in a room with sofas and pillows and offer her a hamburger and soda.”
“That’s the idea,” Tom agreed. “I know Second Chance provides housing and counseling for women rescued from trafficking situations. If you can convince her she has alternatives other than returning to her pimp, whether it's getting a job, going to school, or moving away to get a fresh start, she might be more willing to help us.
“You won’t have much time. The hospital is releasing her today or tomorrow, and I don’t have charges to hold her. Unless her pimp’s thrown her out for good, he’ll be there to pay the bill and take her. He may be through using her as a whore, but he’ll want to make sure she doesn’t tell us anything. He may even feel he needs to shut her up permanently.”
“I’ll do what I can, but I can’t make any promises.”
“She may be a lost cause.”
“The only lost cause,” Lea said, motivated by his comment, “is one we give up on before we enter the struggle.”
• • •
Lea went to the hospital during early visiting hours and was directed to Amber’s room. The patient was propped up on pillows staring at a television screen. Lea was glad to see the other bed of the shared room was empty.
The young woman had changed since Lea last saw her but not in a good way. Her complexion was dull, and her once luxurious hair was dry and brittle. The eyes above the black-and-blue bruises had a hollowed-out look.
“Hello, Amber,” Lea said, sitting in a chair beside the bed.
“What are you doing here?” Amber asked, pulling the sheet to her chin.
“Detective Elliot called and asked me to visit you.”
“He had no right, I didn’t ask for you.” She squeezed her face like a pouting child.
“We’re worried about you,” Lea said. She spoke in a calm, soothing voice. “Why didn’t you ever call? I had hoped we’d stay in touch after you left Second Chance.”
“Yeah, well, I was busy trying to survive. As soon as my monthly allowance from the state expired, I had to support myself.”
“Your family couldn’t help?” Lea asked, but she was reluctant to open wounds.
“I can’t believe you’re even asking me that question. Did you honestly expect my all-American family would be waiting with open arms to welcome me home?”
“I arranged for you to attend night school to get your GED. How did you like it?”
“I dropped out after two classes.” Amber lowered her head like a child anticipating a scolding. “I had to change my address and phone number to get the counselor at Second Chance to stop bugging me.”
“I’m not here to criticize or to judge you,” Lea said. She reached over, placing her hand on top of Amber’s. The young woman didn’t pull her hand away. “But I would like to know why we’re having this conversation in a hospital room.”
Amber reached for a tissue from the box beside her bed and dabbed at her eyes and nose. “I’m sorry, Lea. You’ve always tried to be a friend. I shouldn’t take my problems out on you.”
“That’s what I’m here for. I may not be able to help, but I’m willing to listen. Maybe together, we can sort things out.”
Amber leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Just so you know, I did make an effort to patch things up at home.”
“What happened?”
“That was a wasted effort if there ever was one,” the girl said, looking miserable. “My mom was so whacked, she barely knew who I was from one day to the next. I wasn’t about to hang around and give my dad a chance to use me as a punching bag.
“I ran into a friend from school, a fellow drop-out. She invited me to her place. She had a nice apartment, spending money, and a cool wardrobe. I asked h
ow she paid for it. She told me about some guy who was taking care of her and offered to introduce me. She said if he liked me, he might help me out.”
Lea didn’t comment, unwilling to interrupt her story.
“Joey was real nice when I met him.” Amber picked at the corner of the bed-sheet, and her lips turned upward in a half-smile. “We started going out. He took me to parties where there were free drinks and drugs, and everyone drove flashy cars. He bought me gifts, and we talked about our future. Once he’d shown me the life we could have, he hinted at how much money I could make dating other men.”
“Couldn’t you see how wrong it was, what he was suggesting?” Lea asked. Her heart was breaking over what she was hearing.
“Joey showed me a picture of the house we would buy and live in together,” Amber said, her voice trembling. “He said I’d just have to do it for a little while, and then we’d never have to worry about money again.
“I thought it was the sacrifice I had to make to get the dream life we talked about. He said we’d get married and have kids, and I could give them all the things my parents never gave me.”
“And you believed him?” Lea tried to hide her skepticism so Amber wouldn’t feel ashamed.
“He told me all the things I wanted to hear; it was like he was reading my mind. I didn’t realize how badly I wanted those things until he made me believe I could have them.”
“When did you realize Joey’s stories were lies?”
“The first time I said I didn’t want to turn tricks anymore. I told him we had enough money to start our life together. I begged him, but he laughed at me.” A tremor ran through her body. “And then he beat me.”
“Why didn’t you run away when you realized how dangerous he was?”
“I knew I should leave, but I was trapped,” Amber said. She twisted the bed-sheet between her fingers. “Joey got inside my head. I felt like he had hold of me from the inside, like he was controlling my mind.”
“What about your friend, couldn’t she help?”
“I found out she isn’t a friend,” Amber said. Her voice turned angry and bitter. “She’s his recruiter. She draws girls in for him, like a spider spinning a web. Joey has a whole stable of women working for him.”
An oppressive silence hung in the air. Amber’s pale complexion reflected the toll that telling her story had taken. Lea felt drained herself.
“What happened last night, before the police found you?”
“My last date had left the motel room. Joey came to pick up the night’s take. I talked to him again about leaving the business. I told him I’d pay him a lot of money if he’d let me go and leave me alone.”
“How did he respond?”
“He spit in my face. Asked me where I’d get money for an exit fee since I turned over all my money to him.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I didn’t have a chance before the maniac totally lost it. He accused me of holding out, asking how much money I’d stashed away.
“I told him I turned over every penny I earned, but he didn’t believe me. The last thing I remember was blood spurting out my nose as his fist hit my face. I must have blacked out. When I came to, I was in this hospital room. The cop who sent you came to see me, but I don’t remember much of the conversation.”
“I’m sure you remember him asking you to tell him who did this, so he can protect you.”
A high-pitched laugh from Amber sent a shiver through Lea.
“Your cop friend can’t protect me. Once you’re part of the organization, you never get out unless they have no more use for you. Then they throw you out like a wounded animal.
“Joey will give me time to miss him. When he thinks I’ve learned my lesson, he’ll come to find me and suck me back into the business.”
“You’ve got to get away, Amber. Your life could be in danger if he thinks you’d turn him in.”
Amber shook her head. “Joey knows no one would be that stupid. He has nothing to worry about.”
“Tom can protect you. We’ll help you start a new life.”
“I know what you’re after. You want me to rat Joey out in return for witness protection, but what you don’t understand is that I don’t want to go away.” Her tone was belligerent, but her eyes searched for answers. “You may think I don’t have anything to lose because I don’t have much of a home here, but this is where I’ve grown up. This town is all I know, it’s all I want to know.”
“I’m not saying you have to move away to start over, but you need help to turn your life around. There’s no place you can run to which will be any different unless you straighten out who you are. You’ll have the same things to face anywhere else that you’re facing here.
“The first step is to let Tom help you break away from this man who’s destroying you. You can’t start a new life until you end the one you’re living.”
“Are you crazy! You don’t know what you’re saying. Helping the cops is a sure way to end my life, not to start a new one.”
“No, it’s not,” Lea said. “I know you’re afraid of Joey, but don’t you see? He’s brainwashed you into feeling threatened by him, that’s how he controls you. He knows you have no family support system, and he’s separated you from any other source of help. He wants you to believe he’s the only person in your life and that you have no one else to turn to.
“He’s convinced you that you can’t survive without him and that you’re not worthy of having a better life. He’s stripped you of your belief in yourself.”
An instant passed with Lea not knowing if Amber’s response was one of anger or regret. The young woman’s body rocked back and forth, and her hospital gown slipped off her shoulder.
“Look me in the eyes and tell me,” Lea said, lifting Amber’s chin and watching tears stream down her face, ”that the way he’s made you feel is how a man who loves a woman wants her to feel.”
“It’s not that I don’t want my life to be different,” Amber sobbed, “but I don’t have the strength to change it.”
“You may not have the strength to do it by yourself because Joey’s made you feel that way, but you’re not alone anymore. There are other people in your corner now.”
• • •
They spent the next half-hour making plans for Amber’s future. Before leaving, Lea remembered to ask Tom’s question. “One more thing. Joey isn’t running his operation as a lone wolf. Do you know who his boss is?”
“I’ve never met him, but he’s called when I’ve been with Joey,” Amber said. “Those are the only times I’ve seen Joey nervous, scared even. He’s usually an arrogant SOB, but when he gets those calls, he turns into a shriveling ‘yes’ man. I asked him once why the guy shakes him up. He slapped me and told me to mind my own business. Is it important?”
“Nothing for you to worry about,” Lea said, pressing the young woman’s hand. “I have to go meet my sister now, but I’ll call Lieutenant Elliot to make arrangements for your safety at the hospital and a place for you to stay.
“I’ll visit you tomorrow. In the meantime, keep your chin up. The detective will have Joey behind bars in no time. He’ll never be able to hurt you again.”
• • •
Lea sat in her car in the parking garage and tapped Tom’s number on her cell phone.
“Hey, Lea. Hope you’ve got good news about Amber.”
“Yes and no. She’s ready to accept help to get out of the business.”
“What’s her pimp’s name?” Tom asked, cutting to the chase.
“The only name she could give me is ‘Joey,' but she’s willing to look at mug shots and identify him in a line-up. She wants immunity from soliciting charges and her record of previous arrests expunged.”
“Great. I’ll talk to the district attorney; that should be do-able. What about his boss? Can she finger his boss?”
“That’s the bad news. Whenever his boss called, Joey made her leave the room. She doesn’t know his name, and she didn
’t hear any of their conversations.”
A brief silence registered Tom’s disappointment. “Maybe if I talk to her—”
“No way, Tom,” Lea warned. “She’s worried enough about Joey. If you pressure her about her pimp’s boss, it may scare her away. I don’t want to lose her. If you ever want my help again, don’t pursue that line of questioning. It’s a dead-end.”
“Okay,” Tom said. “I’ve heard you use that tone enough times with Paul to know that arguing is pointless. I’ll do it your way.”
“When she’s released from the hospital, I’ll take her some clothes and other things she might need. In the meantime, I’ll contact Second Chance and line up a safe place where she can stay until you’ve arrested Joey. I don’t think she should go back to her apartment in case he shows up looking for her.”
“I agree. We’ll send someone to guard her room. When the hospital discharges her, the officer will take her to the living quarters you’ve arranged. After a couple days of rest, we’ll bring her to the station to go through mug shots.”
“I’ll call you as soon as I’ve found a place for her.”
“Thanks, Lea, you’ve been a big help. I owe you.”
“All you owe me is keeping Amber safe. I’ll contact people who can help her get her life back on track. The rest will be up to her.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Paul was glad to see only one car parked in front of the construction trailer at the condominium site. Jim Mitchell was seated at his desk when Paul walked in. He looked up in surprise.
“Two unannounced visits in one week. Something else come up at City Hall?”
“Sorry I didn’t call before coming,” Paul said. “Can you spare a few minutes?”
Jim put aside the papers he was working on and pointed to a chair in front of his desk. “What’s on your mind?”
“I hesitated about having this conversation,” Paul said taking a seat, “but you’re a client and a friend. I’d feel remiss if we didn’t discuss what’s troubling me.”
