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Chapter Thirty-five
Later, after transferring Sara into the care of Cassie, they headed home, Sloan happily ensconced behind the wheel of his GTO. He’d watched Alia shut down, close into herself, signaling she didn’t want to talk.
Well, for crissakes. He needed answers. The place they’d taken Sara to had been adequate, though a bit rundown. The clinic portion, like a small operating room, was well-stocked, had a couple of hospital beds and enough paraphernalia to appear professional. There was even a doctor, besides Cassie, waiting to look after the girl.
But he still wasn’t convinced of the propriety of taking the girl there rather than a regular institution. He’d just followed Alia’s orders and done what he was told. But now he needed her to share. What the hell was going on?
Before he could break the stilted silence, Alia’s cell rang with a different ringtone than earlier. Her side of the conversation kicked in and he unabashedly listened. “They left before the cops got there? Good. Who called them? You?”
She listened.
“True. I guess gunshots do freak out neighbors.”
She listened again, this time with a slight smile on her face.
“Thanks for the heads-up, and for stepping in earlier and slowing the pricks down. Now can you just stop spying on me and go back where you came from?”
The smile slid away.
“I didn’t think so. Fine, just don’t mess with my kid.” She hung up and her disgruntled sigh let him know she wasn’t pleased.
“I’ve been a darn good sport so far, Alia, but I need to know what you’re up to and if it’s going to hamper the mission we’re on.”
Her hands continually rubbed her thighs, from her crotch to her knees, over and over as if she could massage away conflicting emotions. Finally, she spoke, low but steady.
“My nanny Ruby was taken from the Philippines, brought to the US and forced into prostitution by a ring of human traffickers. This happened over eight years ago.”
So, she was going back to the beginning. That worked for him.“How did you meet her?”
“I was one of the first responders on a tip from a neighbor. He’d suspected there was something not quite right about the old warehouse they’d housed the girls in.”
“You saved her life.”
“Me and others in the FBI squad who were on that mission.”
“Why didn’t Ruby return home after her rescue?”
“She was too ashamed. This trip will be her first time back. Her father’s illness forced her to overcome her dishonor and face her family. It’s been very difficult for her. She’s a soft-hearted woman with only one flaw – as she calls it.”
Interested, and not wanting to hide it, he egged her on. “And… it’s…”
“Hatred for people like Roger and Joey. You have no idea how many confessions that poor girl has made at mass on Sunday mornings.” Alia chuckled, the sound soft and loving. It made him squirm. He liked it.
As if once started she couldn’t stop, Alia added. “Because of those horrific experiences, she formed a network of other people who’ve been hurt in the same way: street people, prostitutes, even drug dealers and pot heads. But they have no confidence in the cops. Or respect or liking for law enforcement. Instead, they’ve formed their own rules, and try to the help the youngsters who are just starting out down the path.”
Fascinated, he questioned the one part of her story that puzzled him. “How do the young ones find out about this group?”
“Ruby, Cassie and a few of the others are on the streets, talking to the kids, trying to help them make the right choices. When the kids won’t listen, they pass out cards with a number only. And that phone is always monitored.”
“By Cassie?”
“Sometimes Cassie or Ruby, sometimes one of the others.”
“So what’s your role?”
“I’m just a transporter. When someone’s in trouble and needs assistance to get to their safe place, they call me, or someone like me, to go and bring them in.”
Sloan soaked in her words for a few minutes, aware of her changing positions frequently, nervously awaiting his condemnation. As an officer of the law, he should feel annoyed that, given her role as an FBI agent, her involvement in this kind of anti-establishment system was against their very principles.
