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All right. So far so good. Nothing illegal about that. At least not that I knew of. I made a mental note to ask Jade about it.
“Then they got greedy.”
Ruby nudged me. She’d told me about the talk with her uncle, Rodney Cates. He’d said the future lawmakers got greedy.
“And…?”
“Selling illegal stuff yielded much higher profit margins. So they started dabbling in firearms. Then drugs.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “Drugs,” I repeated.
“Yes. First just marijuana. Later cocaine. Then they got into narcotics.”
“God…”
“But even drugs didn’t make as much money as something else.”
I wanted to puke. “What?”
She smiled her plastic smile once more. “People.”
Chapter Thirty–Seven
Ruby
I nearly heaved up my breakfast. Wendy was hardly a reliable source, but if she was telling the truth, my gut instinct had been correct.
My father and his cohorts were in the business of human trafficking. No wonder Juliet and Lisa’s plight had affected me so deeply. This shit happened in the Caribbean and countless other foreign places, but it also happened right here at home.
I was going to lose my lunch. I stood. “I’m sorry. Please excuse me.”
Ryan grabbed my hand. “Don’t go. Please.”
I swallowed. “You don’t understand. I’m seriously going to be sick. Now.”
“Take a deep breath. Please. I need you.”
Wendy went on as if nothing else were happening. “People, you see, are a dime a dozen. They’re easy to get. Much easier than drugs. And you don’t have to pay up front.”
God, she was talking like this was something normal! So matter of fact. I swallowed again to hold back the acid that was lodged in my throat. Ryan needed me. I’d stay. I’d hold it back.
“Easy to get?” Ryan said. “How can you say that?”
“The homeless. Runaways. Kids walking to school. Sometimes their own children.”
I clamped my hand over my mouth. Sometimes their own children. This would have been my fate. Gina’s fate.
Ryan turned to me. I must have looked green, because he said, “Go ahead. I got this.”
I stood and ran out of the room. I looked around for the restroom but couldn’t find it, so I headed for the nearest trash can and emptied my stomach.
I continued heaving once nothing was coming up. Sweat poured from my brow. Tears poured from my eyes. I shook, my stomach cramping. After what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes, I was finally able to stand.
An orderly came to me with a basin. “Are you all right?”
I took the basin from him. “I’ll be fine. Thank you.”
