Sweet Revenge
Page 36
She picked up her pen and began to jot notes. “Describe them for me and how you met them.”
“A friend hooked me up.”
“And this friend’s name would be …?”
“Arnold, Ernie … something like that.”
Mia ground her teeth together, the vague answers from Sandi putting her on edge. Again, she fought the need to shake the girl. “Sandi, look at me.”
Startled and too-old eyes widened as Mia’s stern voice shook Sandi from her lethargic state.
“You either give me all the information you have—answer all of my questions—or get up and leave with the knowledge that you’ll probably never see your daughter again. Which is it?”
The girl released a shaky breath and said, “It was my friend Freddy.… I just didn’t want to get him into trouble. He hooks me up with the good stuff sometimes. When I told him I didn’t have any money, he told me about these men who might be willing to help me out. I called them.”
“Describe them.”
“There were two of them. They never told me their names.”
“What did they look like?”
“One was real short and kind of fat. The other one had a foreign accent, was tall and thin and walked with a limp. They were both kind of old.”
“Old? How old?”
“I don’t know … maybe forties or something like that.”
Though life experience had aged her considerably, Sandi was most likely still a teen. Forties probably was old to her.
“What about hair color?”
Sandi slowly began to describe the men. Once the girl warmed to her task, her descriptions were surprisingly vivid and detailed. Flipping to a clean piece of paper, Mia sketched the men. When Sandi stopped, Mia quickly finished her hasty drawing and then turned the paper for the girl to see. “Did they look anything like this?”
The gasp Sandi released told Mia she’d nailed the drawings. Not for the first time, she was grateful for the art classes her elite education had provided.
As Sandi suggested a few changes in the drawings, Mia absently made them while her mind zoomed toward what she needed to do. These men weren’t any she’d seen or heard of before. Since setting up her rescue business, she’d become acquainted with the local slime that traded in people as if they were marketable merchandise instead of human beings. In some cases, she’d helped the police put the creeps away; others continued to evade detection. But she knew most of them by sight or reputation. These men were new.
What had they done with Sandi’s one-year-old daughter? Was the child even still in Chicago, or had she been taken to another state already? Or another country?
“If I get your daughter back, Sandi, you’re going to have to clean yourself up and be the mother your child deserves. You going to be able to do that?”
The emphatic nod seemed genuine, but Sandi’s physical appearance indicated she was a longtime addict. Making promises and not following through was as habitual to her as the drug itself. Little did the girl know that Mia would make sure that either she cleaned herself up or the child would be taken away from her. She’d do all she could to help, but no way in hell was she going to put a kid back into her mother’s arms if she was going to be endangered or sold again.
Mia opened a drawer in her desk, withdrew a disposable phone, and handed it to the younger woman. “I need to be able to get in touch with you. My number is already on speed dial. I’ll call you if I have other questions, and if you think of something else, you can get in touch with me at any time.”
The girl stood. “That’s it? Is there anything else I can do?”
“Yeah. Clean up and get yourself some food. There’s a restaurant on Eighteenth Street called Maxie’s. Tell them Mia sent you. They’ll feed you as many times as you need. Do you have a place to stay?”
“I’m staying with a friend.”
“Is your friend using?”
“No. She’s been trying to get me clean. She’s the one who told me to come see you.”
Eager to get started on the investigation, Mia stood and walked the girl to the door. “I’ll call you as soon as I know something. And remember, if you think of anything, call me. Okay?”
Sandi nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “Do you think they’re feeding and taking care of her?”
As much as she wanted to snarl at the girl that her motherly concern was too little too late, she wouldn’t. Having Sandi’s cooperation was imperative. Mia had learned long ago to keep judgment out of her tone and manner. Putting people on the defensive rarely helped a case.
However, neither would she lie. “I don’t know what their plans are for your daughter, but I promise I’ll do all I can to bring her home.”
The instant Sandi cleared the door, Mia turned back to her desk. Even with a detailed description of the men, she had her work cut out for her.
She picked up her phone and began to make calls to the network of people she relied on daily for help. The little girl had been gone for two weeks. Finding her after such a long time was going to take everything she had, but she refused to believe it wasn’t possible.
Having overcome impossible odds before, Mia was determined that this would be just one more thing she would conquer.
ALSO BY CHRISTY REECE
No Chance
Second Chance
Last Chance
Rescue Me
Return to Me
Run to Me
Sweet Justice
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Excerpt from Sweet Reward
Other Books by This Author