by T. K. Leigh
“You’re five minutes late, Jolene, baby,” an older black woman said, rushing up to her in the hallway as she pushed a laundry cart.
“I’m sorry. I tried to get out on time, but it took a bit longer for those pills to work on him,” Jolene whispered in the hallway as she crawled into the cart. “Probably from all the shit he does regularly.” She took a deep, steadying breath as she covered herself with old laundry sheets and bath towels, the musty smell making her gag.
“It’s okay darling. We’re almost done here. We’ll get you out safe.” Rosa pushed the cart down the hallway toward the service elevator.
“What’s going on here?” a loud booming voice called out.
Rosa looked up, her heart racing. “Just bringing these dirty sheets to the laundry downstairs, sir,” she said, mindful of the gun peeking out of the large man’s jacket. She hated working at that hotel. But she didn’t have a choice. The economy was awful and no one else would hire a woman pushing fifty as their head of housekeeping. She was stuck. Every day was a struggle to get through, but at least she didn’t have it nearly as bad as some of the girls they brought into the hotel…like poor Jolene. Rosa wasn’t supposed to know about what happened on the penthouse floor of the hotel. It took her years to actually discover what was happening, even though she should have seen the signs much earlier. It was by chance that she saw Jolene that one day over a decade ago.
She hadn’t been a day over fifteen when she first met her. She was sweet and had just lost her mama. Jolene had told Rosa all about how Mr. Falconi was a friend of her mama’s and was granted custody of her until she turned eighteen. She seemed so excited to be able to live in the glamorous hotel on Michigan Avenue that Falconi used as a front for his less than legitimate businesses, mainly gambling and forced prostitution. Rosa had her doubts from the beginning, her sparkling blue eyes reminding her of a ghost from years ago. Then poor Jolene turned eighteen and her life changed forever. She was forbidden from ever leaving the hotel again, locked in his suite. And it had been nearly ten years.
“Isn’t that supposed to be done in the afternoon? It’s past midnight.”
“I know, sir, but we were short-staffed today.” She shook from nerves. No one was allowed on the top floor after nine at night. That’s when he held his little poker games, auctioning the girls off to whomever offered the most money. It broke Rosa’s heart knowing that, at that very moment, girls were dying a little bit more inside just beyond the hallway’s walls.
Jolene tried to calm her nerves as she lay curled up in a ball beneath the sheets. The slightest movement could raise suspicions. Her freedom depended on her lying perfectly still. “It’s getting done now,” she heard Rosa say, her voice turning strong once more.
Rosa glared at the large man as a scowl crossed his face. “Fine. Get on with it then. Don’t make this become a habit. I really don’t want to involve the boss in this shit.” He walked away, going to check on one of his boss’ many girls to make sure they were earning the money they needed to.
Rosa breathed a sigh of relief and continued to push the laundry cart down the long corridor toward the service elevator. “It’s okay, baby girl. Almost there,” she whispered quietly as the elevator doors opened.
Not quietly enough.
“Who are you talking to?” The large man spun around, running toward the elevator just as the doors closed, banging on the metal exterior in frustration. He had a bad feeling about that night, particularly after noticing that Mr. Falconi’s bodyguards were not stationed outside of his suite.
Grabbing his phone, he dialed a number. “Joe. It’s me. Get someone down into laundry. Check the cart the maid is pushing.” He hung up and walked in the direction of his boss’ suite. Nervously, he knocked on the door. “Boss, you in there?”
Nothing. No response. He tried again. “Tony. It’s me. Ralph. You got Jolene in there with you?”
Still no sound. No rustling. No movement.
“Okay. I’m coming in.” He took a deep breath, hoping he wasn’t interrupting anything between his boss and his girl. Grabbing his universal keycard, he slid it in the slot and slowly opened the door. His eyes grew wide in panic when he saw his boss passed out on the couch in the living room, the room service tray scattered on the floor in front of him.
He drew his gun, scanning the suite for any sign of what could have happened. “Jolene!” he yelled. “Where are you, princess?” He made his way toward the second bedroom, hoping that Falconi had instructed Jolene to take a client in there instead of one of the other rooms for some reason. His heart dropped when the door was wide open, the extravagant bedroom eerily empty. He ran into the room, checking behind the drapes for some sort of indication as to what could have happened. In the back of his mind, he knew that Jolene was gone. Returning to the living room, he grabbed a bottle of scotch off the wet bar and poured himself a drink, hoping that Joe had stopped the bitch maid with her laundry cart. His mind raced, trying to figure out how to tell his boss that his girl was gone. He just hoped it wasn’t too late to find her.
~~~~~~~~~~
“JUST A FEW MORE minutes, Jolene, baby,” Rosa said, looking into the rearview mirror of the old station wagon at the still body covered with ratty blankets. “Patrick is inside getting your bus ticket and you’ll be free of this place in just a little bit,” she explained, her chin quivering. She was relieved that she got Jolene out of the hotel without raising any more suspicion. A bus boy that had helped Rosa from time to time was able to hide her in a storage closet leading to the loading dock before one of the boss’ guys came to search the laundry cart. It all worked out just as they had hoped. Only a few people actually knew about what really went on in the hotel late at night, and even those who knew pretended they didn’t. It was too dangerous any other way, but that didn’t discourage Rosa.
She had helped a few other girls escape in the past, but never the boss’ girl. They said it couldn’t be done, but Jolene was sweet and the other girls wanted her to be free. Now, she almost was. Once that bus left the station outside of Chicago with Jolene safely on board, she would finally be free…something she hadn’t experienced in over a decade.
Rosa saw a tall black man walking determined toward the car, thankful to see her husband clutching the bus ticket in his hand. He opened the car door, his breathing labored from the adrenaline coursing through his body.
“Everything go okay?” she asked.
“I suppose, if your idea of okay is half of your boss’ men stopping everyone inside that station.”
Rosa’s eyes flashed toward the brightly lit station. “How did they figure out we’d be here? We chose this station for a reason, just in case they caught on. I was certain they’d check the downtown station first.”
“I don’t know, but they’re questioning the ticket agents about whether anyone has seen her. They have her photo, for crying out loud. This could be bad.”
“I don’t have any other choice,” a sweet voice rang out from the back of the car. “I can’t go back there,” Jolene sobbed. “Never again. I would rather die than have to…”
“Hush, Jolene, baby,” Rosa said, keeping her eyes straight ahead. “We’ll get you on that bus and out of here.”
Patrick glanced at his wife. “Rosa, it’s only a matter of time until they put all the pieces together and realize we were behind all of it.” His voice was full of concern…and fear. “Are you sure this is a smart idea?”
“Yes,” she hissed. She gave him a pleading look. “It’s the least I can do, having to work for those monsters.” A tear fell from her eye just thinking about what all those girls were forced to endure. “How would you feel if that was our daughter? Wouldn’t you want someone to help her?”
Patrick hung his head in defeat, shaking it slowly. His wife was right. “I certainly would.”
“Okay then. Let’s do this. You got the wig on, baby girl?” Rosa asked.
“Yes. I’m ready,” Jolene responded, thankful that Rosa had tho
ught of everything. She had packed some clothes from lost and found at the hotel that fit Jolene perfectly. She had also grabbed an auburn-colored wig from her sister’s hair salon that looked more natural on her than the blonde hair she was forced to have to make him happy. That’s what he liked. Blonde hair and blue eyes.
“Okay, Jolene, baby. You know I love you,” Rosa said, keeping her eyes forward. “And I’m going to miss our chats, but you need to get far away from this city. I don’t ever want to see you again, you hear?” she choked out through her tears.
Jolene nodded, trying to stay strong. She was so thankful for everything that Rosa had done for her. She never thought she would ever be free, and here she was seconds away from never having to bend to another man’s will for the rest of her life. “Thank you, Rosa.” She climbed out from under the blanket.
Rosa glanced back and the two women shared a look…a look that said everything Jolene wanted to, but didn’t have nearly enough time to do so. “Go, baby girl. Live your life and don’t ever come back to this awful place.”
Jolene nodded through her tears and slowly crawled out of the car. Patrick accompanied her the short distance to the bus, turning to face her just outside of the door to the bus. He protectively scanned the area for any suspicious activity, knowing that not only her life was at risk if they were caught. “Here you go.” He handed her the bus ticket. “Stay safe. And as much as you may want to, do not let us know where you end up. There’s an e-mail address on the back of the ticket. If you want to get in touch, that’s how you do it. Other than that, do not contact anyone directly. Do you understand?”
She bit her lower lip, wishing she would be able to talk to one of the only friends that she felt she had, but she couldn’t. Once she arrived somewhere, she had to stay hidden. It was the only way.
Nodding her head, she looked down at the ticket, wondering where she was headed. Miami, Florida. At least she was going somewhere with no snow. Flipping the ticket over, she made out the e-mail address, thankful to at least have some way to communicate with Rosa to let her know that she was safe, even if she never heard back.
“Last call for Miami,” a man sounded on the intercom.
“Get going now,” Patrick said. “And just remember. Don’t take the bus to the end of the line. Get off somewhere before the final destination. It will increase your chances of never being found.” He held out his hand for Jolene to grab on to so he could help her up the stairs of the bus. She stared at it, slowly stepping back, a look of trepidation in her brilliant blue eyes.
Patrick shook his head and watched as she boarded the bus, in the back of his mind wondering why every one of the girls he had helped escape cowered in fear of being touched. He could only imagine what they had endured to cause that reaction.
Less than a minute later, the doors closed and the bus turned out of the station with Jolene on it, heading south and away from all the horror and misery of the last decade of her life.
~~~~~~~~~~
SENATOR DAVID MURPHY DISCREETLY left Falconi’s luxurious Landmark Hotel on Michigan Avenue, making his way down the dark side alley where his driver was to pick him up. No one could know that he spent tax dollars going to the hotel, not when he had an apartment in the city that the taxpayers already paid for. People would get suspicious as to why he spent so much of his time there. He was a happily married man, after all. A scandal like this would ruin his career, especially when his entire campaign platform was based on re-instilling family values and the sanctity of marriage.
Some would say he could be called a hypocrite, but he was a man. A man with needs that had gone grossly unsatisfied most of his life. When running for state office, his advisor recommended he start a family. He hated having to date and play the sweet, caring individual. That wasn’t the true him. But voters loved a family man, so that’s what he became, although he couldn’t remember the last time he played catch with his son, or had a pretend tea party with his daughter. And his wife… Well, they hadn’t been intimate in years. She wasn’t nearly as adventurous as he needed.
He was thankful to have met Anthony Falconi at a fundraiser for an organization fighting against human trafficking early in his campaign. Falconi was a deeply religious man and contributed a substantial amount to his campaign. One night, after the victory party for winning his race for U.S. Senator, David enjoyed quite a few drinks with Falconi. Rather drunk, Falconi invited him up to his penthouse. That was the first time he saw Jolene. And it certainly wouldn’t be the last. Over the past several years, he had been returning to Falconi’s Chicago Landmark Hotel as much as possible for Jolene, even when he was supposed to be in the nation’s capital, expected to participate in mundane tasks such as solving the nation’s budget issues.
On that warm Chicago night in June, David made his way back to his government car, thinking about the immense pleasure he felt every time he had Jolene tied up and could do with her as he wanted…as he needed. He was startled when he heard the service door open and close loudly, followed by an echoing “Hush.”
He slowly turned around, not wanting anyone to be alerted to his presence.
“Come on, Jolene, baby. Free and clear, honey girl.”
His eyes grew wide. What was going on? Someone was helping his Jolene get out of the hotel? The girls never left. They weren’t allowed. He knew all too well what kind of operation Falconi was running and he supported it one hundred percent, as well as the various charities that Falconi had established to prevent the very thing he was involved in. Senator Murphy didn’t blame him for it. Falconi was a businessman, plain and simple. He saw a marketable need and he catered to the very distinct tastes of wealthy men. But Jolene… She was his… Senator Murphy felt a connection to her that he never had with any other girl, and it wasn’t just because he had mortgaged his house in order to pay Falconi to be her first. Money well spent, he thought to himself.
His heart raced in anxiety when he saw the head of housekeeping hide the tall, leggy blonde in the back seat of a station wagon. He clenched his teeth and fists, his blood spiking in utter rage and anguish at the thought of never being in the presence of Jolene again… Never listening to her sweet voice beg for mercy when she had misbehaved… Never getting his dick hard from the look of fear she had in her eyes. He needed Jolene in his life. She couldn’t get away.
“Where to, Senator?” his driver inquired.
Shaking his head, he snapped out of his thoughts, desperation taking over. “Follow that car. The rundown station wagon.”
“Yes, sir.”
The government town car turned off the alley onto Michigan Avenue, driving the streets of the city that David had called home for years. He watched as the Chicago skyline transitioned from magnificent hotels to smaller apartment buildings, most of them decrepit and in need of serious repairs. The duration of the long drive, he made sure to keep the station wagon clear in his sight. His vision was a little blurry from all the scotch he had drank earlier in the evening, but he had a mission. Follow Jolene. The thought of losing her sobered him up quite a bit.
After driving for a little over an hour, the car eventually pulled into a bus terminal.
“Stay close, but don’t make it obvious,” David instructed.
“Yes, sir.”
He watched for several moments while the station wagon remained in a secluded area of the parking lot, an older black man getting out and running toward the station.
Almost immediately, he noticed a few of Falconi’s men run into the station as well, holding up a photo and asking, David assumed, people if they had seen the woman in the photo. They were looking for Jolene, too. She had escaped and they had no idea where she was. If Falconi’s men knew that she was in a station wagon in that very parking lot, they wouldn’t be frantically asking transients if they had seen the girl. This presented a golden opportunity for him. Instead of calling Falconi and having him forever in his debt, he had a new course of action. Follow her. And get what he always wanted… Jolene
all to himself. He was giddy with excitement over the thought as he watched the black man walk Jolene wearing an atrocious wig to a bus.
As the bus drove out of the station, he looked at his driver. “I hope you’re ready for a road trip. Follow that bus.”
“Yes, Senator."
~~~~~~~~~~
ANTHONY FALCONI STARTLED AWAKE in the middle of the night with a pounding headache. He scanned the room. “Jo-Jo Bear. Bring me some aspirin,” he yelled out, wondering what kind of party he had with her the night before that would cause the room service tray to be dumped all over the floor. And if it was a party, how come he had no memory of it? The last thing he remembered was having a drink with that sleazy Senator Murphy after he had finished with Jolene. Once he had escorted her back to the suite, he said his good-byes to the Senator and then settled down in his suite for a late night snack, courtesy of one of the room service attendants.
“Jolene? What did I just say?” he yelled, his temper beginning to flare. He listened and didn’t hear anything other than the whirring of the air conditioner in the suite.
Groaning, he raised himself off the couch, going in search of Jolene. “What the…” His eyes scanned the guest bedroom, looking for any trace of the blonde-haired angel that should be in that room. She wasn’t allowed to leave, unless it was to earn him some money with a rather wealthy guest.
He ran to the door of the suite, his heart dropping when he found his two security agents were nowhere to be found. “JOLENE!!!!” he screamed, not caring that he may be waking up some high-paying clients at that moment. It didn’t matter. Jolene was gone. And someone was going to have to pay for that.
