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“That first room you saw was just our intake room. We do a quick count, a brief assessment of injuries, then we take them into the actual boathouse.”
“Where are they coming from?” she asks. “What are they doing here?”
My throat gets tight, thinking of what we’re doing here. “I can’t tell you. But I can show you that they are alright. That we are taking good care of them.”
“Okay. I don’t understand, but I appreciate you showing me that the girls I saw are really okay.”
They aren’t okay, they never will be, not really. They’ll carry their pain with them for the rest of their lives, but hopefully, now, they are safe.
I press my finger on the security keypad at the back of the building, which is actually now the front door. No one gets in other than the girls and my small team of trusted associates. The door opens, leading us into a foyer. There’s another door for added protection of the women. I unlock that one the same way and push the door open. A soft glow fills the foyer.
“Go ahead.” I let go of her hand, gesturing for her to go first. It might be two a.m., but there’s no way the women are asleep yet. Dr. Williams will still be seeing after them, and then they tend to like to take hour-long showers.
She steps into the boathouse, offering a timid, “Hello?”
Twelve sets of curious eyes look up at her from their various places in the room. I’ve tried to make the room as comfortable as possible, filling it with several daybeds and couches where the women can rest, but still be together. None of them want to be isolated or alone after what they’ve just been through.
Charlie receives a few waves, a few shy greetings. Dr. Williams is seated next to a young woman, holding a stethoscope to her chest.
She looks up in surprise, then shoots me a glance of admonishment. “I knew you had a soft spot for this Charlie girl, but bringing her in here? Is that really a good idea?”
“Hello, Dr. Williams,” Charlie says, politely. “Good to see you again.”
“Good to see you too, honey. Even under these strange circumstances.” The doctor looks back to me. “How much have you told her?”
“Nothing. And I’ll keep it that way.” I glance down at Charlie. “But she saw the girls arrive and I wanted her to know they are safe and in good hands.”
Dr. Williams nods. “I understand. But not a word of this to anyone, Charlie. Do you understand? It’s for their safety.”
Charlie nods. “Yes, ma’am. I understand. I just needed to see them.” Charlie gives me a grateful look, then to my surprise, leaves my side. She shrugs out of my coat, carefully folding and draping it over the back of a chair.
She goes over to one of the beds where the youngest woman in this shipment sits alone, shivering. I think the name she gave us was Pippa. Charlie grabs a quilt that’s folded at the foot of the bed. Moving carefully, she unfolds the blanket, gently wrapping it around the girl’s shoulders. Then she sits next to the girl, wrapping her arms around her, and just holds her.
The young woman’s features hold steady for a moment, trying to be strong, but with a gentle word from Charlie and a tightening of her hug, the young woman’s face crumples. She buries her face into Charlie’s clavicle. Giant sobs wrack her slight shoulders. Charlie holds her, whispering soft words, smoothing down her dark hair, and just lets her cry.
“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. You’re safe now.” Charlie’s eyes look for mine. She holds them, giving me a small nod.
She trusts me.
And I trust her. I can sense that she knows the last thing these women need right now is someone prying. And with Dr. Williams clearly telling her to mind her business, I have no doubts that Charlie will hold to that.
I thought if Charlie saw these women, she might want to run back to her perfect life in the city. She’s done the opposite, diving right in to help. I should have known she would. I step outside, leaving Charlie to tend to the girls.
I need to call Rockland with an update.
He answers on the first ring. We shoot the shit, and I give him the update. Then I tell him about taking Charlie to the boathouse. It was unavoidable.
“How much does she know?” he asks.
“She knows that we bring the girls here by boat under the cover of darkness. That we keep them under lock and key at the boathouse. That they come to us hurt, that Dr. Williams is working with us, that we are keeping them safe.”
“And she knows better than to pry any further,” he says. “I know Charlie. She wouldn’t do anything to hurt this family. She’ll keep it to herself. You want to tell me why you took her in the first place?”
“She was pregnant with my baby. But it didn’t work out. I wanted Dr. Williams to look at her. She’s fine, but she hasn’t told anyone in the family what happened.” I’m speaking on behalf of Charlie. She’d kept everything to herself, so I can only assume I’m right in saying, “We’d like to keep it that way.”
“Understood. And now?” he asks.
Now? I can’t let her leave. “I’m going to keep her here for a while longer.”
