Chapter Five
Joselyn
It had been twelve years since I’d been back to Miami. Since the night I fled, I hadn’t returned. When the taxi dropped me off at the bus station, I bought a one-way ticket to Washington D.C.
I’d barely made the last bus for the night, and when I asked how long it would take for me to get there, I wasn’t expecting to be told twenty-seven hours. I had no clothes other than what I was wearing. No toothbrush, no brush to comb my hair, no food—nothing. Luckily, I had the wad of cash I’d stolen from Marco and I had over thirteen hundred dollars left after my bus ticket. Who the hell carried that much cash on them? Maybe it was to pay for our date. I had a feeling it wasn’t, though. I didn’t know Tony, but the way he was dressed, the way he spoke to me, the limo he picked me up in, and his bodyguard Jose all indicated that one’s virginity was worth more than a few hundred dollars, especially if he were splitting it with my mother. The hotel room probably cost more for one night than the cash in Marco’s wallet.
The bus pulled to a stop, jolting and squeaking, causing me to wake.
“We’re here.”
I looked to my left toward Alison. She had become my friend in the short amount of time we’d traveled from Miami to D.C. She hadn’t asked why I was crying when she’d first met me. Instead, she’d started talking to me at our first rest stop about poutine fries she’d had in Canada, and she made me laugh. Gravy and cheese curds on French fries? What had the world come to? She swore up and down that it was the best thing ever and that I needed to try it. I was a chili and cheese girl myself. Granted that was only in the summer when Seth treated me.
“What time is it?” I yawned.
“Almost two in the morning.”
Where the hell was I supposed to go at two in the morning? I had no way of contacting Seth. I didn’t know what precinct he was at. Didn’t know his phone number, where he lived, or if he was even on duty.
I nodded and stood, ready to get off the bus and wander around a city I didn’t know.
“Do you need my mom to take you somewhere?” Alison asked.
“My friend should be here to pick me up,” I lied. How would I explain to her mother why I was dressed like a hooker? How would I tell her I needed to go to every police station until I found Seth? I felt as if I had a big sign above my head and it was flashing that I was just sold to the highest bidder.
“Want us to wait until they show up?”
We began walking down the aisle toward the front of the bus in a single file. “No, no, it’s late. I’m sure he’s here.”
“Give me your cell number and I’ll program mine. We should hang out sometime.”
I almost began to cry again. I wanted so badly to be normal. I was seventeen and I should have a cell phone. This day and age practically everyone had a cell phone. “I—”
Her gaze met mine. “Silly me. You probably left it with your stuff in Miami. Let me find some paper and a pen and I’ll write mine down for you.” I knew I would never call her. The less people knew who I was and knew I was in D.C., the better.
I didn’t know if she did it on purpose, but I was grateful she was quick not to question why I didn’t have a phone or any belongings. I was sure she saw it written on my imaginary neon sign that I was a hot mess. I felt as if I were one. I was broken and still sore as fuck between my legs. My feet hurt like a bitch in those god awful heels too. I couldn’t wait until I got to take a nice long bath followed by a long cry in a bed before I slept for a week.
After Alison and her mother left, I grabbed a waiting taxi and asked to be taken to the closest police station. The driver eyed me through the rearview mirror. It didn’t faze me. The last forty-eight hours had been the worst of my life and having another taxi driver wonder what was going on with me wasn’t bothering me one bit. I was finally in the same city as my best friend. Granted it was a huge city and I had no idea where he was.
I stared out the window watching the orange streetlights as the driver took me to the precinct. Theoretically, I didn’t know if it was the closest one to the bus station, but it didn’t matter. What were the odds that I’d walk in and it’d be Seth’s station? What were the odds that he’d be on duty at this hour or even at the station?
The taxi pulled up to the front of the station and I asked him to wait a few minutes while I ran inside. I took a deep breath and then walked up the concrete stairs. My heart was racing. Even though I’d had over a day to plan out what I was going to tell Seth, I hadn’t really thought about what I was going to say to him. “I ran away, you’re taking me in. The end.”
Before I reached my hand out for the door, I turned slightly to make sure the taxi was still there. He was. Of course he was. He wanted his cab fare. But I wanted this police station to be the station where my best friend was so I could cry in his arms and feel safe. Seth always made me feel safe and I really needed him. I wasn’t the adult I thought I was. I didn’t care that I had less than a year until I was legally an adult. I needed … I needed to know everything was going to be okay.
Taking another deep breath, I reached up and tugged on the door, but it didn’t budge. “What the fuck?” I murmured. I tugged on the other door, but it too didn’t open. My heart instantly dropped. I knew it was a long shot to show up, but I hadn’t expected the police station to be closed. I peered through the glass window trying to find anyone who could help me. I didn’t see anyone.
My eyes started to sting, my chest began to tighten and my head started to feel fuzzy. This wasn’t happening. How could I travel over a day and then show up at a police station only to find it closed? Weren’t they supposed to be there to help you?
The sound of honking brought me out of my daze and I jumped. “Miss!” I turned and saw that the cabbie had yelled through the rolled down window. “You need to pay me.”
I hurried down the steps, needing to decide what to do next. “Sorry,” I breathed as I slid into the car.
“Where to now?”
I closed my eyes briefly, fighting back the tears. It wasn’t the time for them.
“Well?” he asked.
“Just … Just give me a minute.”
“Meter’s running,” he reminded me.
I opened my eyes to find he was looking at me through the rearview mirror. “Is there like a Walmart or something?” I asked. I needed clothes before I walked around in the daylight or for the third day in a row.
“You want me to take you shopping?” he asked.
“Look …” I looked at his name that was on his licenses stuck to the glass divider, but I couldn’t pronounce it. “I had a long bus ride from Miami. I left all my stuff there. Please take me to a Walmart that’s open to buy some clothes and toiletries, then take me to a motel, okay? I’ll tip you good, I promise.” Teenage hormones, lack of sleep, the last few days—everything all rolled into one was creeping up on me and I really didn’t know how much more I could take before I broke down and stayed in the back of the taxi forever. He nodded and pulled onto the street without another word. When we arrived at the store, he turned slightly and told me he was stopping the meter while I ran inside. I didn’t question him. Maybe he felt bad because I was crying. I thanked him and hurried in. I grabbed a few shirts, a pair of jeans, flip-flops, panties, a bra (damn, I’d been dying for a bra), pajamas and the toiletries I’d need to get me through the next few days in case I couldn’t find Seth.
Afterward, the cab driver drove me to the nearest motel. At first they were hesitant to rent me a room without a driver’s license or any I.D. Right away the tears started to flow, but I explained the situation; it was almost four in the morning and I only wanted it for a few hours. When I said those words, I cringed. I was still dressed in my short, strapless dress, heels and I had no doubt my makeup was long gone. I knew that damn neon sign was still flashing above my head.
Finally, they agreed to rent me a room. Once I locked myself in, I took a long shower where I cried on the base of the tub with the water spraying down on me. I didn’t cry for long, though. I was too tired.
The moment my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.
I woke to the sound of knocking and a lady announcing she was housekeeping. Glancing at the clock, I realized that it was after noon and I was supposed to have checked out of the room by now.
“Coming!” I replied. I hurried to the door. “Sorry,” I apologized, unlocking it after I’d made sure it was housekeeping through the peephole. “I overslept. Can you give me ten minutes? I need to get dressed.”
She nodded and pushed her cart to the next room. I hurried to change. Everything was happening too fast and I still didn’t know what I was going to say to Seth when I saw him, but I knew I needed to find him. I needed to find him before nightfall because I didn’t want to be homeless. Being homeless wasn’t part of the plan. Actually none of this was. Why did my mother do this? Why did I do this?
As I gathered all my stuff, it hit me that at least back in Miami I’d have a roof over my head. Granted, I’d have to spread my legs after doing homework. A tear fell and I wiped it before I grabbed the two plastic bags that held the only belongings to my name and left the room in search of my best friend.
The police station the cab driver had taken me to only a few hours before was a few blocks away. I walked there after grabbing a bagel and coffee. It was lunch time, but to me it was breakfast time and I was starving. Everything was so fucked up and I had no idea when or if things would turn around.
When I made it to the precinct, the door opened on the first try. I wasn’t nervous until I’d taken my first step inside. Part of me had thought the station would still be closed. I expected all eyes to be on me, my neon sign flashing, but no one looked at me as I walked up to the desk that was closed off by what I assumed was a bullet proof glass. The clerk looked up after I stood there for what seemed like a full minute.
“Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Officer McKenna,” I stated nervously, not meeting her gaze.
“We don’t have an officer by that name.”
My heart fell through the pit of my stomach and onto the white tiled floor. Of course, the first precinct wouldn’t be where he worked. I sighed.
“Do you have a crime to report?”
I did. A crime that they couldn’t help with. A crime that I couldn’t tell anyone about—ever. I shook my head. “No.”
“Then we can’t help you.”
I sighed again and swallowed back the disappointment. “Can you at least give me the address or addresses of the other stations?” She groaned, but she grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a few addresses down for me. “Would you mind calling me a cab?” I asked and gave a tight smile. I had a feeling I was walking a fine line by asking for so much help that wasn’t crime related.
“You can go outside and flag one down,” she responded sarcastically.
I had no idea and felt stupid for asking. I nodded and turned to leave. When I went outside, cars whizzed by, but I saw a yellow cab, so I raised my arm and waved for it to stop. It pulled over and I slid in.
On the way to the next station, I thought about what I would say to Seth in case I did get lucky and it was his precinct. He knew how much I hated my mother. He saw firsthand how mean she was to me on numerous occasions. I could blame one of those times and the fact that I was a teenager, but how could I explain how I got the bus money to make the trip?
Before I could think about it further, the cab pulled to a stop at the next station. I paid and exited the taxi. I didn’t ask for it to wait. If this wasn’t the correct one, I’d flag down another cab. I entered the station and walked up to the counter like I had at the last station. “I’m looking for Officer McKenna.”
The desk officer pointed behind me and my eyes became huge as I held my breath and turned. He was walking through the doors with another officer.
“McKenna!”
I jumped at the sudden yell from behind me. Seth’s gaze met mine and his eyes widened. “Joss?” he asked. “Shit!” He rushed to me and grabbed my hand without another word, leading me outside to a parking lot and to a police cruiser. “Inside!” he barked when he unlocked the doors with the key fob.
This wasn’t what I was expecting. I wanted him to hug me; wrap me in his arms and tell me it was going to be okay. Tell me that I didn’t have to go back and live with Cruella any longer.
“Seth—”
“Just wait, Joselyn.”
Fuck. He’d used my full first name. This wasn’t going to be good. I was fighting back the tears yet again. I hadn’t cried so much in my life and I feared I’d never stop. My world felt as if it were ending and everything and everyone was against me—even my best friend.
I glanced at him a few times as he navigated the streets in silence. I wanted to ask him why he wasn’t questioning me about being there; it wasn’t like I’d showed up for afternoon tea. We finally pulled into an apartment complex and after he’d parked, he grabbed my two plastic bags.
“Is this all you have?”
I nodded. Before I could slide out of the car completely, he came around and reached for my hand, finally pulling me into the hug I longed for. My throat tightened as I continued to fight the tears that were pricking my eyes, but there was no use. They spilled over and I started to cry against his shoulder. I felt safe for the first time in seventy-two hours. I was crushed hard against him, pressed into things that were hurting me, but I didn’t want to move.
This was Seth.
My Seth.
“Grandma called and said you never came home on your birthday,” he murmured into my hair. “I was trying to get some of the guys to cover my shifts so I could go down to help look for you.”
“I ran away,” I whispered.
“Come inside.” He kissed the top of my head before he reached for my hand and led me toward his apartment.
“Why are you mad at me?” I asked.
“I was surprised to see you.” He reached up and wiped a tear from my cheek.
“But you didn’t talk to me the whole way here.”
“I was thinking, Josie. I have so many questions, but it’s better if we talk in my apartment.” He nudged his head toward his car.
I didn’t know what he meant. Cameras? Audio? I let him lead me to his apartment. Once we entered, he set my bags down and I looked around the living room while he went to the kitchen. I finally smiled because this was definitely his apartment. A big screen TV hung on the wall across from a giant sectional couch. On the coffee table, empty beer bottles sat scattered, but what made me smile was that the picture that I kept in my purse of the three of us was framed and sitting on the end table next to the couch.
“Here.” He handed me a glass of water. “Sit and tell me what happened.”
I took the glass and looked at him for a beat. “Do … Do you have to be dressed like that?” He still looked like the Seth I remembered, only a little older. He had the same short dark brown hair that was almost black and the same sea green eyes. The only thing that had changed was the stubble from a lightly trimmed goatee that framed his perfect smile and teeth. And his body … well, he was a cop who worked the streets. I was sure his tight uniform covered a nice body.
“Josie.” He smiled.
“I ran away and you’re dressed like a cop.” I waved a hand in his direction.
“I am a cop.” He reminded me.
“Am I in trouble?” The question spilled from my lips before I knew it. I wanted to know because I wasn’t sure what my mother had told his grandma. I was a minor who had run away after all.
He looked straight into my eyes. I wanted to tear my gaze from his. I didn’t like that he was dressed in his uniform. I couldn’t take it. I had a feeling I was in trouble. If he wanted to take me back, I was going to beg him to let me stay. If he forced me to go back, I didn’t know what I would do.
“No.” He shook his head. “I’ll go change, but you need to tell me what really happened, okay?”
I swallowed. “O … Okay.”
When he returned, he was dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt. He looked more like my best friend than a cop interrogating me. He sat back down on the section of the couch diagonal from me. “Okay. What happened?” He reached for my hand and ran his thumb over mine.
“Cruella and I got into a fight and I left.” I shrugged.
He chuckled. “Joss, you didn’t run away because of a fight. You two fight all the time. What really happened? And how the hell did you get here?”
I looked up and met his sea green eyes. “What did your grandma tell you?”
He tilted his head a little. “She said your mom told her you didn’t return after dinner.” I gave a sarcastic chuckle. “What’s so funny?”
“Come on, Seth!” I stood out of anger, breaking our contact. “Who the hell was I supposed to have dinner with? You know Cat’s in Hawaii, she probably doesn’t even know I’m missing. I didn’t have dinner with anyone. Cruella told your grandma that, but I didn’t have any birthday dinner plans.”
“Grandma said she saw you get into a limo.”
And there was the swallow. It was, in fact, me swallowing my lie. “I went around the block while Cruella got ready for her date. She had a date on my birthday. You know she doesn’t care about me. When she got home, I left. I’d had enough. I can’t take her shit anymore, Seth. It was my birthday and she left in a limo to have a date. She didn’t even wish me a happy birthday.” More tears streamed down my face. Part of what I was saying was true and it still hurt.
He stood and wrapped me in his arms. “You can’t leave because you got in a fight. You’re seventeen. You need to go back and finish school.”
“I’ll stay here and get my GED.”
“You need to go back. If someone were to find out that you’re here—”
I pulled my head back. “What do you mean?”
“I’m a cop and there are laws. You’re seventeen. You have to be in school. And you ran away from home, Josie.”
“Like I said, I’ll get my GED.”
He took a deep breath. “Fuck, Joss. This isn’t good. Cruella’s gonna be pissed.”
“She’s not going to care.” Little did he know, she would. She was going to be livid. “You don’t even need to tell her I’m here. She’s probably happy I’m gone. One less mouth to feed.”
“I’m going to call Grandma and tell her—”
“No!” I shrieked and reached for his arm as he stepped away from me. I didn’t want him to call her. Before I could utter another word, his cell rang.
“It’s her.”
My heart stopped. I was screwed. I was one hundred and twenty-thousand percent screwed. This was the end of the road. He would tell her I was here, she’d tell Mother, and then I’d be on my way back to Miami to start my new career.
“Hey, Grandma, I have good news …What?” he exclaimed and my head snapped in his direction. My gaze met his. “Are you sure?” He ran a hand down his face. “Everything? … Boxes? … Bryce too?” I sat down on the couch. “Okay. Let me know if you find out anything else. Oh, right.” He smiled and I smiled back. This was a good sign. At least I thought it was. “Joss is here … Yeah. I’m not sure, but she is. She got into a fight with Maggie and ran away … I’ll take care of her until we find out. Okay, I’ll tell her. Love you, too. Bye.”
“What’d she say?” I asked as soon as he pressed a button on his cell.
“Your mom and brother are gone.”
“What do you mean gone?”
“They left with some guys.” I blinked at him, not saying anything. “Joss?”
“Are you sure?”
“Grandma went over to check and the door was unlocked. Everything was boxed up and gone.”
I didn’t know what to say. What did it mean? Why would Tony take them? And then it hit me like a ton of bricks:
“… you and your mother are going to pay.”
“What are you thinking about?”
I stopped swirling my straw in my iced tea and watched as Seth slid into the seat across from me. There was no way I was going to tell him that I was thinking about twelve years ago. He still didn’t know why I’d run away. After we’d found out that my mother and brother left, we’d waited a few days, but they never returned. In fact, Seth’s grandma told us the trailer was cleaned out and rented to a new family. She never saw them again. I never saw them again. I’d tried to search for them in our database but always came up short.
“Just a case.” I shrugged.
“You want to talk about it?” He smirked.
“Then I’d have to kill you.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that.”
Seth still worked for the DCPD as a detective, so he knew I couldn’t talk about it. I eventually became a cop as well, but my heart was focused on special crimes and becoming a part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I wanted … no, I needed to make a difference when it came to crimes against children. At first it was hard to stomach some of the cases I was assigned, but it fueled my fire.
“How was your date last night?” I asked, changing the subject.
“I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”
“Please. You’d miss me too much.” I smirked.
“This is true.”
“So?” I prompted.
“The better question is, when are you going to go on a date?”
All right so this subject needed to change. “Oh shit, look at the time. I have a meeting.”
He laughed and I fought back my own. “You’re so full of shit.”
The truth was I hadn’t dated much in the last twelve years. The bigger truth was that I hadn’t slept with any of my boyfriends. Those boyfriends never lasted; none of them ever wanted to stick around. I was twenty-nine now and none of them wanted to wait until it got serious. When it got hot and heavy and I pulled away, they would say they understood and then wouldn’t see me anymore. Seth and I remained best friends over the years. I needed him as a friend and couldn’t lose him, so I didn’t want to jeopardize our friendship by starting a relationship. Plus, he never once acted as though he wanted more and I never mentioned it either. I wasn’t even attracted to him anymore. I saw him as a brother now. He was my family.
“Bye, jerk face!” I punched him in the arm as I walked by.
“Big baby!” he whined as he rubbed his arm and I laughed.
We’d had plans for lunch, but I was always running from my seventeenth birthday, even when it came to my best friend.
Later that afternoon I really did have a meeting. I sat at the mahogany table with my black, leather portfolio in front of me. I stared at my phone, checking my emails as everyone started to file in.
“We have a new case,” my boss, Eric, informed us. I opened my notepad. “In the United States alone, there are over thirty-five hundred sex trafficking cases reported each year. Worldwide on average about twenty-two hundred girls are kidnapped every single day and forced into the sex trade. They are beaten, raped and almost always killed. On average, a single girl will be raped six thousand times and only have a life expectancy of seven years until she is killed by her ring leader. The odds of her being rescued is one out of a hundred. Word on the street is that women are being taken for sex trafficking in Las Vegas. We don’t have all the details, but we need to find out who’s behind this and where the women are being sold to. My cousin runs an escort business in Vegas, so that’s where we’ll start.”
“Is this a legit escort business?” Ella asked.
Eric nodded. “I’ve run some checks on his business and he knows who I work for. The Green family reunion would be awkward if it weren’t.” We chuckled.
“What’s the business called?” Brent asked.
“Saddles & Racks.” We all stifled our laughs. “I know what you’re all thinking, but they’re paid for companionship only.”
I sat quietly as I listened to everyone chatter. I’d never been to Vegas and had no idea what was involved in an escort business, but I knew if it was anything like Tony’s business, sex was definitely involved.
“I need either Ella or Joselyn to go undercover and see if you can find out what’s going on.”
My hand immediately shot up.
“Perfect. Joss, you leave next week. We’ll get you a new identity and a place to live. You’ll be undercover until you have something.”
I nodded. I’d never been undercover, but this was my chance to finally make a difference or at least try to make a difference when it came to prostitution. Being in the thick of things was going to light my fire more. Since that night I was sold, I’d felt it was my duty to save them all. And if I was able to get one girl off the streets, then that was one girl who would have a better life.
During the week, I tied up loose ends and told Seth what I could about my new assignment. It wasn’t much. He knew I was going undercover, but he didn’t know where. I gave him Ella’s cell number in case anything happened while I was away; that was the only way to get information to me. The bureau also had me take a few lessons in self-defense while wearing high heels. At first I’d thought it was crazy until I realized it was hard to fight off an attacker in those things.
I tried not to think about what I was getting involved with. I knew if I thought about it, I would become nervous and start to freak out. I was going to be involved with girls who were being sold—just like I had been sold. I was lucky to get out, but now I was going back in. Hopefully to save as many girls as I could.
When the day finally came and I boarded my flight for Vegas. I didn’t board it as Joselyn Marquez.
I boarded it as Andi Middlebrooke.