The Perfect Burn_A Thrilling Romantic Suspense

by Madyson Grey

  Chapter Ten

  Rafael and Victoria were up early the next morning. So early that they were groomed, dressed, and breakfasted by seven o’clock, and eager to get over to Thornton Park to make sure that everything and everyone was ready to open at ten o’clock. They rode the quad over to the park. Rafael had blazed a trail from their house through the back of the park property that connected with the driveways of the three mobile homes.

  It was a beautiful, sunny day, full of promise. They had requested that all the employees be there at eight o’clock that first morning so that Rafael could go over their duties with them and make certain that everyone knew what he or she was to do.

  They had a group meeting first, and then Rafael and Victoria took the group on a tour of the grounds. They felt that it was very important that every employee know as much as possible about the whole park so that they could answer any question about any part of the park that any guest might ask.

  The staff meeting had been held in the barn, as it had the most standing room. When they left the barn to start the tour, it was eight-thirty. Rafael and Victoria were shocked to see a line already forming at the ticket booth. Here it was still a hour and a half until opening time, and cars were already streaming into the parking lot.

  The tour took the better part of an hour as questions were asked and answered, and they walked and rode the train through the whole park. As soon as the group arrived back at the gift shop, Rafael gave them one more short pep talk about being friendly, courteous, professional, and happy. Then everyone was sent to their posts of duty.

  At precisely ten o’clock the ticket booth opened and people of all ages began pouring into the Thornton Memorial Pioneer Farm and Botanical Gardens. As there was no particular order in which a visitor had to tour the park, people scattered everywhere, with some going straight to the farmhouse, others to the barn and the petting zoo, others to the gift shop and the botanical gardens, and still others opted to take the train ride first of all.

  Rafael and Victoria roamed the park all day, going home only to grab a quick lunch, and then hurry back. They watched the employees interacting with the visitors, and talked with visitors themselves. The park was packed with people, and they began to wonder if they had dreamed too small.

  Several reporters from local TV stations and newspapers were there with their cameramen, too, to report on this new attraction. Rafael gave several short interviews, and gave them permission to roam the park, take photos, and interview willing visitors.

  “Say, aren’t you the woman who was recently kidnapped and held for ransom?” one reporter asked Victoria. “You two are the ones who cracked that human trafficking ring, aren’t you?”

  Victoria hesitated and looked to Rafael for help. He nodded.

  “Yes, I’m the one who was kidnapped,” Victoria admitted.

  “I’d like to do a human interest segment on you, if you would be willing,” the reporter said.

  “I, I don’t know about that,” Victoria said slowly. “It wasn’t very interesting, I’ll tell you that much.”

  She gave the reporter a wry smile.

  “I’m sure this isn’t a good time here and now,” the reporter said smoothly, “but if you’ll just name the time and place, I think your story would make a great piece. You have proven that even ordinary people can make a difference in the community in regards to reducing crime, if they are just willing to get involved.”

  “I got involved, all right,” Victoria said dryly. “Way too involved to suit me.”

  “I’m sure it was a horrible experience,” the reporter said in a sympathetic tone.

  “You have no idea.”

  “No, I’m sure I don’t.”

  “We might be interested in agreeing to an interview,” Rafael said, stepping into the conversation.

  “We might?” Victoria questioned.

  “Sure, honey. It would be all right. Maybe it would inspire someone else out there to blow the whistle on any crime that they are aware of. It could do some good,” Rafael explained.

  “He’s right, you know,” the reporter said. “Your example could inspire others to report crime.”

  “Well, if you think it would do some good, then I will,” Victoria conceded. “I just don’t want my experience to be sensationalized and exploited just for the sake of ratings.”

  “Oh, no, Mrs. Rivera,” the reporter said. “I truly think that your story, done from a very tasteful angle of what can happen with John Q. Public reports a crime when he sees it. Here’s my card. When you have a free time slot, give me a call, please.”

  Rafael took the card, and slipped it into his shirt pocket.

  “Thanks, we will,” he said.

  The reporter moved on to capture scenes of the activities and insights from visitors throughout the park.

  “We’ll talk about this later,” Rafael told Victoria. “But I do think it could be a good thing.”

  “All right. Later.”

  When the six-thirty closing time came, and the last visitor had gone, they called all the employees together again to thank them for all of their efforts to make opening day a tremendous success. The woman in the ticket booth reported that she had sold 713 adult tickets and 10,320 children’s tickets that day for a whopping total of 11,033 people who had gone through the front gate that day.

  Sarah, who had run the end of day report for the gift shop, reported sales of $22,965.46. That combined the gift shop and the snack bar. Adult ticket sales, at $5 each, amounted to $3,565, and children’s tickets, $2.50 each, added another $25,082.50. The bottom line was that they had taken in $51,612.96 that day, gross. Unbelievable!

  Naturally, that wasn’t all profit, but it was a mighty fine take for the first day of operation. They dismissed the employees, telling them that they wouldn’t need to report for duty until nine forty-five in the morning.

  Rafael and Victoria looked at each other with totally shocked and thrilled expressions. They grabbed each other and hugged and practically danced around the gift shop. Although Victoria had grown up in the lap of luxury, she had never been involved in any of the things that her dad did to make his money. So this was a totally new experience for her. One that she had had a hand in creating. So the success of the first day was thrilling to her beyond words.

  Rafael bagged the cash and credit/debit card slips, put it all into his briefcase to take home. He would take it to the bank in the morning. The POS system that he was using would generate the reports directly to his accountant. Because most people nowadays use plastic instead of cash, the amount of cash for deposit was relatively small.

  They rode the quad back through the park, up past the Ericksens’ house, and on up to their house. It was only about half a mile, so didn’t take them long to run back and forth on the quad. Lena was anxious to hear how the day had gone. She had walked over there earlier in the day and was also pleasantly surprised to see the crowds of people who had come out for the grand opening.

  After Rafael had stashed the deposit in the safe in his office, he rejoined his wife and mother-in-law in the kitchen to hash over the day’s events and eat some supper. Lena had dished up bowls of chili beans for them, along with generous hunks of cornbread, and glasses of cold chocolate milk.

  As they ate their supper, they told Lena about their day, how well they had done, and all of the nice things that people had told them, or that they had overheard. They also talked about the reporter who wanted to interview them about the kidnapping and the human trafficking ring.

  Lena encouraged them to go for it, saying, “Not only will it inspire someone else to report a crime, but it will make people aware of that horrible practice.”

  “I never thought of that,” Victoria said, her eyes lighting up. “I know, let’s do it on the condition that the reporter will also interview the people up at Angel’s Retreat, if they are willing. Maybe even interview some of the women who have been rescued.”

  “Say, that’s a great idea,” Rafael said
enthusiastically. “This one interview could turn into a whole series on human trafficking for that reporter, if she is interested. Maybe I’ll call her now. I wonder when a good time for us would be to talk with her.”

  They tossed around dates for a couple of minutes, finally deciding on the following Thursday morning around eight o’clock, if that was agreeable to the reporter, whose name was Carmen Blakely.

  “Hello, Carmen Blakely?” Rafael said into his phone when someone on the other end of the line answered.

  “This is Rafael Rivera. We spoke earlier today at the Thornton Memorial Pioneer Park about you interviewing my wife and me in regards to her kidnapping by ringleaders of the human trafficking ring.”

  Pause.

  “Yes, well, we are free Thursday morning at eight o’clock if that works for you.”

  Pause.

  “Good. Where would you like to meet?”

  Pause.

  “How about my office downtown. It’s in the Thornton Building on South Broadway, first floor. When you enter, just ask the receptionist where to find us.”

  Pause.

  “Very good. We’ll see you then.”

  “So, that’s all set,” Rafael told Victoria. “I thought meeting at the office is better than here at home. I want to keep our home out of the public eye for as long as possible.”

  “Yeah, me, too,” Victoria agreed.

  It had been a long day, so they turned in early. They knew that they wouldn’t always been in the park from open until close, but that first week, at least, they did want to be there. They speculated on whether or not the turnout would be as good on Monday as it had been on Sunday. They knew that there were plenty of activities competing for the public’s attention, as it was Memorial Day.

  First thing the next morning, Rafael took the money to the bank. He and Victoria had previously opened a new business account in Westlake Village just for Thornton Park. He was too early for the bank to be open, so he just put the deposit into the night drop and went back home. After breakfast, the couple went back over to the park about nine-twenty, just to make sure everything was in order before opening time.

  They needn’t have worried about the turnout. There was already a long line at the ticket booth of folks waiting for ten o’clock. Rafael went to the barn to check on the animals. He found Jim gathering up the eggs that the chickens had laid that morning. He had already told the “farm hands” that he and Victoria would like to have a couple of dozen eggs each week, and that the three on-site employees could divide up the rest.

  Victoria went into the gift shop to restock the shelves and generally tidy it up before the doors opened. She found Sarah Dixon already at work doing the same things. April and Caryn, the two cashiers for the day came in shortly afterwards, and pitched right in to help get the store ready to open.

  The day went much as had the previous day. The numbers, if anything, were somewhat higher. But Victoria and Rafael both knew that not every day would be like the first two. For one thing, it was a holiday weekend and more people were out looking for something fun to do. And for another, it was the grand opening of a new attraction. Once people had been there, they might come back again at some time, but not day after day after day.

  But that was fine. Actually, the crowds had been a bit overwhelming. If fewer people came at one time, those who did come would have a richer experience. This park hadn’t been developed as a means of making more and more money for the Riveras. As long as it paid for itself, that was all they cared about financially. Rather, their goal for this park was that it bring joy to as many people as possible.

  Thursday morning at eight o’clock they were in the office downtown, as was Carmen Blakely and her cameraman. It had been quite a while since Victoria had been in the Thornton Building. She had instant flashbacks of Marian’s standoff there in the lobby, along with all the usual memories of coming to see her dad in this office.

  Frankly, she had been so busy, and so much had transpired since that awful day that it had gotten pushed to the back of her mind and she hadn’t consciously thought about it for a while. Which was a really, really nice thing.

  Before they went on camera, Rafael put their proposal to Carmen about doing a series on human trafficking, and contacting the directors of Angel’s Retreat to see if they would be willing to allow her in there to film and to interview the rescued women. Carmen thought it was a splendid idea and wished she’d thought of it first.

  “I would be willing to contact Angel’s Retreat and put in a good word for you, if you want me to,” Rafael offered. “After we see how this session goes, that is.”

  “That would be very kind of you,” Carmen said. “It would no doubt pave the way for me to get in there. How about this: as soon as I get this interview edited and ready to air, I’ll email you a copy of it and you can watch it before it goes on the air, and approve, or disapprove, of it.”

  “Sounds fair,” Rafael said.

  Carmen began her interview with Rafael and asked him just how it came about that he and Victoria suspected that something was going on that wasn’t what it appeared to be. He told the story, blow by blow, with Victoria interjecting a comment now and again, until they came to the part where she had been kidnapped.

  Carmen Blakely had a knack for putting people whom she was interviewing at ease, and Victoria was no exception. Before she knew it, Victoria was completely relaxed, answering Carmen’s questions, and relating the harrowing tale of her kidnapping and rape.

  Carmen was genuinely sympathetic and outraged at the treatment that Victoria had received at the hands of those three thugs. The questions she asked were heartfelt, tactful, and sensitive. Victoria’s answers were raw honesty regarding how she was treated, how she felt, and how unbelievably frightened she had been.

  “I really didn’t think I would get out of there alive,” she told Carmen. “They kept hitting me and hitting me and raping me over and over again.

  Tears threatened to spill as she recounted those horrifying hours. Carmen had to tell the cameraman to stop filming a couple of times while Victoria found a tissue to wipe her nose with.

  “They also chopped my hair one clump at a time whenever I gave an answer that they didn’t like,” she continued. “My hair used to hang just past my shoulders, but they cut it all off. I had to have a hairdresser even it up and do what she could with it. But it wasn’t more than an inch long all over my ear when those creeps got done with it. It is beginning to grow out a little, but it’s still extremely short.”

  The interview went very well. It lasted about an hour, but Carmen told them that it would be edited down to a fifteen-minute segment that would be aired on a local program called Life in Los Angeles.

  “I hope that when you doing the editing, you don’t cut out parts of what we have said, so that it sounds like we are saying one thing when we really said something else,” Rafael said. “I’ve seen too many interviews that were edited to make the interviewee say something he really didn’t say at all.”

  “I know what you’re saying,” Carmen told me. “But I’ll do my best to preserve the essence of your story and still fit it into a fifteen-minute time slot. I’ll let you preview it, and then you can tell me what you think.”

  “That sounds fair,” Victoria said.

  They shook hands all along and Carmen and the cameraman left. Rafael and Victoria stayed in the office for a little while.

  “It seems like forever since I was in here,” Victoria said.

  “I haven’t been here much, either,” Rafael said. “Since we moved, I’ve only been here a few times. Glad to see the place is holding together.”

  “Yeah, me, too,” Victoria said.

  Chapter Eleven

  Friday was pretty much a repeat of the rest of the week. Rafael and Victoria went over to the park to open it, but then after they knew things were rolling smoothly, they left. They drove over to Angel’s Retreat to fulfill their offer to Carmen Blakely. Upon their arrival, they were us
hered into the director’s office.

  “Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Rivera,” director Gene Hillman said, rising to greet them.

  “Good morning, Mr. Hillman,” they both replied.

  “Please have a seat,” he offered. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

  “We have a favor to ask of you,” Rafael began.

  “Yes? Go on.”

  “I don’t know whether or not you are aware of it, but we just opened the Thornton Memorial Pioneer Farm and Botanical Gardens over near Westlake Village.”

  “No, I wasn’t aware of that, but please go on,” Mr. Hillman said.

  “We opened last Sunday, and there were a few reporters who came out to do a story on it. One of the reporters figured out that we were the ones who alerted the police to the women being smuggled in, and that Victoria was the one kidnapped, and so on. Anyway, she wanted to do an interview with us.

  We agreed only to make the public aware of the horrible crime of human trafficking right here in our own area. Then we thought it would be interesting if she did a segment on Angel’s Retreat and the good work you are doing here for the rescued women. Maybe even interview some of the women. So we wondered if you would consent to having her come in with a cameraman and do a story on this place?”

  Mr. Hillman made a tent of his fingers as he leaned back in his chair and pondered Rafael’s request.

  “That might be a good idea,” he said, leaning forward again. “If enough awareness was raised about this crime against humanity, maybe others would be on the alert to watch for signs of criminal activity, and do the honorable thing and report it just as you folks did. The women’s safety and security would be my only concern.”

  “Maybe they would blur the women’s faces that show in the film,” Victoria suggested.

  “That would be good, I think,” Mr. Hillman said. “Although if even one woman was brave enough to show her face on television, it would give the public a face to identify with and to sympathize with. Yes, the more I think about this, the better it sounds.”