CHAPTER 15
GRACE
“Let’s go in my office,” Snake said when Eli and I arrived the next day. He led us to a room on the other side of the clubhouse, a large room sparsely decorated with a desk and couch and a few chairs. On one wall hung a huge deer head, its dead eyes staring back at me eerily as I sat in the chair across from it. I placed the briefcase I was carrying at my feet and smiled over at Snake as he sat behind his desk. Eli sat next to me, stoic and quiet as usual.
I’d grown to like Eli a lot. He was quiet, but sincere and down-to-Earth, one of those guys that didn’t speak much but when he did he really had something to add to the conversation. His stoic, peaceful presence was a blessing here. He’d never left my side.
“I have your money,” I said to Snake with a friendly smile. If this had been any other kind of business transaction, it would have been almost pleasant. Snake hadn’t thrown me for any real loops, he’d been polite and professional, for the most part.
Too bad he was such a terrible person, I thought. I had no sympathy for men like him. He knew what he was doing, he knew the extent of damage being done to these women and he simply didn’t care. There was no room for forgiveness for men like him, not in my world.
I’d taken down a lot of men and women in the last few years. The mayor of a major city, powerful businessmen, mixed-martial arts fighters — even a few women who thought they were invincible — all extremely dangerous people who’d done horrifying things to other people. And after we’d saved their victims, we’d exacted justice in our own ways to their abusers.
Maybe others wouldn’t agree with our sentences, maybe some people even thought they deserved complete forgiveness — but I didn’t.
And this was my fight.
It was a battle Solid Ground and the Gods fought on a daily basis and we’d seen the extent of the damage done. We’d seen the widespread problem human trafficking had become, in small and large operations all over the country. Because I was so close to the situation, I felt like the punishments that occurred always fit the bill.
Snake’s set-up was one of the largest I’d seen, for sure. He’d managed to grow his business into a monster’s playground. There was no way he was blind to how much he was hurting those women.
He was complicit, plain and simple.
And to be able to do that, one had to be heartless.
And if he was heartless, then he didn’t deserve forgiveness.
He deserved whatever happened to him, to put it bluntly.
I almost smiled at the thought of his demise.
“Well, let’s get this over with,” he said.
“Absolutely,” I said, standing and placing the suitcase on his desk. I opened it up, the clicks of the locks echoing in the room. I pushed it over to Snake and he looked inside.
“Small bills. Just like you asked for. It’s all there. You can count it.”
“I trust you,” he said, smiling up at me and closing the case.
“Great,” I said. “I have another appointment to get to, so I’d like to get the girls and get going.”
“No time for a drink tonight?”
“No, but maybe next time,” I said.
“Will there be a next time?”
“I’m hoping so,” I said. “This has all gone smoothly, and I appreciate that, Snake. I’d love to do business again soon. Before I go back to California, actually. See you again in a few days? I saw five or six other women I’m interested in.”
“Sure, sounds good,” he shrugged. “As long as you’ve got the cash.”
“The cash isn’t a problem,” I said, shaking my head.
“Bring it on, then,” he laughed. Eli and I laughed with him. He stood up, placing the briefcase in a drawer of his desk before turning back to us. “Shall we go get your girls?”
“Yes,” I said. We followed him out the door and back into the clubhouse.
“I’ve got them ready and waiting for you,” he said. “I already separated them from the others.” He led us back to the other building and down a different hallway than we’d gone yesterday. Tiny was waiting for us at the end of it.
Snake paused in front of the door and took a step back.
“They ready?”
“Yep,” he nodded, eyeing us warily.
“Tiny will help you get out of the gates. I’ve got some business to attend to. They’re all yours.”
“Thank you,” I said, watching him walk away. I called out to him. “So, I’ll be in touch soon, okay?”
“Like I said…”
“Cash, got it,” I replied. He held up a hand in a wave and disappeared around the corner, leaving Eli and I alone with Tiny.
“You ready?” he asked.
“Our car’s waiting,” I replied.
He opened the door and we walked in. The girls were sitting on a couch together, staring at me as I walked in. I turned behind me and put a hand up.
“Can I have a minute alone with them, please?” Eli and Tiny stopped and waited as I closed the door. I turned to the girls with a small smile.
“You came back,” Sadie said.
“Yes, I did,” I said. “I’m going to take you with me tonight. I can’t tell you much right now, but I’ll fill you in as soon as we get where we’re going, okay?”
They shrugged, looking at me skeptically.
“I guess,” Sadie replied. The other two were silent, letting her lead the way. “Are you a nice lady?”
“I am,” I said, smiling. “All I need you to do is come with me and get in our car, okay? Then, I’ll explain everything, I promise.”
“Any place has to be better than this place,” Sadie said, turning to the others. They shrugged and nodded and all three of them stood up, looking up at me trustingly.
I nodded slowly and turned around, opening the door as I let my smile fade from Tiny’s view.
“Let’s go,” I said, walking down the hall as everyone followed behind.
****
I held my breath as Eli pulled away from the curb, my heart pounding in my chest. We’d gotten a few blocks away when I asked him to pull over.
I unbuckled my seat belt and turned around to face the girls in the back seat.
“Okay, now that we’re away from there,” I said, smiling gently at them, “I want to properly introduce myself. My name is Grace, that part is true. I’m part of an organization called Solid Ground. We help girls just like you. I want you to know that you’re safe now. All three of you. You never have to be in a place like that again. Nobody will ever hurt you like that again. We’re going to get you to a safe place and make sure you’re taken care of.”
“Are you the police?” Lucy asked.
“No, Lucy, I’m not,” I said.
“The police are the ones that took my mama away,” she said. “She never came back.”
“I’m not the police, I promise. I don’t work for anyone else.”
“So, will we be back home for Christmas?” Sadie asked, her voice rising in hope.
“I’m not sure about that, Savannah, but maybe,” I said. “Obviously, we have a lot to talk about. I’m sure you have a lot of questions and there’s a lot to sort out. Right now, I’m going to take you to meet a couple of my friends, Lacey and Frankie. They’re going to take you to a really nice place to spend the night. After you’ve rested and eaten and settled in, we’ll have some good long talks about what’s going to happen. Does all that sound okay?”
“Yes,” Lucy said, a quiet smile forming on her face.
“Will there be real beds there?” Fiona asked, breaking my heart.
“Yes, absolutely. It’s warm and quiet, too. And all the food you can eat.”
“Okay, good,” she nodded. They glanced at each other with shy, hopeful smiles and I turned around in my seat and nodded to Eli.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said.
He took off and I let out a big, long breath. I think I’d been holding it since we’d arrived.
We did it, I thought.
Three girls down.
Thirty-seven more women to go.