Tony: Alvarez Security Series (35 page)

“You let me sleep late,” she accused, glancing at the clock.

“You needed it, baby. I don’t figure Mr. Marks is going to fire you for being late for the first time ever.”

Sherrie sat up in bed suddenly, and said, “I forgot to tell you. He’s retiring in a month and moving away.”

Tony sat up, propped himself against the headboard and pulled her back against him. “Retiring?”

“Yes,” she lamented. “I like Simon well enough and Mr. Marks said that my job was secure, but…he’s been kind of a father to me for the past year.” She twisted around to look at him. “Not only that, he’s selling the mountain cottage. I wanted to be able to go there again with you.”

Tony tucked her into his side again, brushing her hair from her face. “I’m sorry, babe. We’ll find another cabin to visit sometime. I promise.”

She nodded against his chest, but knew that nothing would ever hold the memories of the Marks’ cabin. Sighing, she looked over at the clock. “I’ve got to get ready for work. I may be late, but I’ve been working so much overtime, I don’t think they’ll mind.”

“I’m going to be at the office today, Sherrie, waiting to see what comes from Matt and Shane. I need you to be safe and promise me to stay out of trouble.”

She saw the fear once again in his eyes and never wanted it to be there again. “I promise. I’m going to the office and seeing what I can do to help Mr. Marks’ retirement transition go smoothly for Simon and the office. Believe me, I’ll be busy.” She started to get out of the bed, but then turned back. “Tony?” she said tentatively. “Will you let me know what’s happening? I’m really scared for Betina.”

“Absolutely, baby. I promise.”

*

Betina woke, only
able to open her swollen eye to a slit and she could feel her lip just as puffy. She tried to sit but found nausea forced her to lay back down. Memories of the previous evening filled her mind.

The house was empty when she got home after work. Her mother must still be at work, but Betina did not mind. In fact, alone time was welcome. She could read, listen to music, or draw. Anything to pretend for just a little while that she was not the recruiter that sent other girls to their bondage.

She spent so much time self-loathing, that the few minutes of respite were the only time she did not want to either run away again or kill herself. But neither would help the girls; the clues she had slipped to Sherrie would have to work. Please let them work.

Hearing the door open, she hoped it was her mother, but it was Hernando’s angry presence that filled her doorway. Stalking into her room, he backhanded her before she could react. Falling back on the bed, he grabbed her by the front of her shirt and backhanded her again. This time her head snapped to the side and she saw stars before her vision became so blurry she saw nothing.

Screaming, she tried to scramble away from him, but he was too strong.

“You stupid bitch. I have given you everything. All you had to do to keep living here with your mom was recruit for me. But no, you had to run off and get the police and court services involved. Now you got that Mullins bitch snooping around. What did you tell her?” he screamed.

“Nothing. I told her nothing!” Betina cried, holding her face.

“Well, she’s been snooping around the laundry, I saw her follow you the other day. She looked upset, so I want to know what she knows.” He walked toward her, his hand raised again.

“Nothing, I swear,” she cried again.

Hernando stopped, his mind working. Looking at her split lip and seeing that her eye was already swelling, he knew that he had to get her out of the house. “Come with me,” he ordered. Before she could protest, he added, “Your mama will be here soon. If you don’t want me to hurt her then come with me and I’ll keep you somewhere overnight. I’ll tell her you are spending the night with a friend.”

Once again the threat against her mom was all it took and Betina stumbled out of the bed and followed him to his car. Her mind numb, she barely paid attention to where he was taking her. He pulled into an alley that was barely lit and they walked through a back door. Taking her up a back stairwell, he left her in a small room with a bed and a dresser. There was a small bathroom with just a toilet and sink through a door. No closet. No window. No escape.

He locked her in and as she sat, overwhelmed at her life, the tears began to flow.

And now it was the next day and she had lost all sense of time. Hernando had not come back. She was hungry, but at least could drink using her hand from the sink faucet. With no mirror, she could not even see what she looked like.

The lock on the door sounded and she turned to the bedroom. In walked a large man wearing a cowboy hat, jeans with a leather belt and huge buckle, as well as cowboy boots on his feet. Not understanding what he was doing there, she stood numbly for a moment.
Is he here to rescue me?

That notion was quickly disbanded when he lunged for her, a leer on his face. “I paid extra for a virgin, but didn’t expect her face to be all smashed up. I aughtta get some of my money back.”

He grabbed her, pinning her arms as she began to scream and struggle to gain freedom. As large as he was he had no problem ripping her shirt as he pushed her back on the bed and threw his large frame down on top of her. Her shirt in rags, he began assaulting her as he tried to get his hands down her pants. Squirming, she was doing nothing but inflaming him even more as the large bulge in his jeans was indicating.

Her mind racing, she quieted, laying completely still. He looked down in surprise before grinning. “You can’t wait to get holda’ my cock, can you girlie? Well, ol’ Bobby’s gonna give it to you good.”

She tried not to move as he leered at her naked breasts just a few inches from his face. Seeing the fight go out of her, he stood and tossed his hat to the side. Unbuttoning his shirt, he quickly discarded it as well. Pulling his leather belt out of his jeans he snapped the leather, making a popping sound.

“We might use this later, little lady. Your little ass may just need tanning by my belt.” He tossed the belt on the bed beside her and her eyes latched onto the large, heavy metal buckle.

He bent over to remove his boots when she moved like lightening, kicking at his crotch when his pants were halfway down. He hit the floor, clutching his dick as she flew off of the bed. She had the belt in one hand and swung it down toward his head. The metal buckle cracked against his skull and he stilled. Heart pounding, she grabbed his shirt, throwing it over her torn one and then saw his cell phone lying on the floor. Scooping it up, she fled the room, running down the back stairs and out into the alley. She did not stop running until she finally collapsed in an unfamiliar neighborhood near the river.

She pulled out the cell phone and called the only person she knew she could trust.

*

Sherrie was almost
finished with the work day and ready to head home. Tony had only texted her once to say that ‘things were progressing’.
What the hell does that mean?
she wondered, but did not want to ask too many questions.

Her phone buzzed and she slid it out of her purse as she was walking out of the building. Not recognizing the number, she almost let it go to voicemail, but then thought that maybe Tony was calling from a different phone.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Mullins?” came a timid, shaky voice.

“Betina? Is that you?” she asked, her blood turning cold. “Where are you?”

“He hurt me,” she cried. “The man…he…”

“Oh, Jesus,” Sherrie said. “Where are you?”

“I don’t know. I ran away from him. I…I was…locked up.”

“Can you get to somewhere safe? Can you call 911? Find a policeman,” Sherrie’s voice began to rise with fear.

“No, no police. He said he’d hurt mama.”

“Okay, baby, listen to me. I’m going to come get you, but you have to help me find you. Do you see a street sign or business?”

“Um, I’m peeking around a corner and I see 81
^St
SW on the street sign.”

“That’s good, Betina. Now are there any businesses or store signs around?”

“Across the street it has a closed up sign on the door, but above the door it says Club Edge.”

Club Edge. Oh my God.
The name of the club where Sherrie and her sister used to work. Locked up now, it was in one of the seedier areas of town. “Keep hiding, honey. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

Jumping in her car, she called Tony. Quickly telling him what was happening, she knew what he was going to say and she was ready.

“No, Tony I can’t let you go in. She won’t trust anyone but me. It sounds like she was assaulted and I’m not having her more traumatized. Can you meet me there?”

Coordinating, she drove as fast as she could to the familiar location. As she rounded the corner where her old workplace was, she looked across the street seeing the alley that Betina had called from. Scanning the area, she bit her lip wondering how long it would take Tony to get there. Just then a dark SUV came from the other direction and she could see Jobe as the driver.

Heaving a sigh of relief, she jumped from her car and ran, pointing to the alley. “Betina?” she cried out. “Oh, thank God,” she muttered as she saw the girl hiding behind a dumpster. Running to the frightened teen, she threw herself at her, wrapping her arms around Betina as protectively as Tony held her. Betina’s tears flowed freely before she started gasping, jerking from Sherrie’s arms.

Twisting her neck to see what was wrong, she saw Jobe cautiously coming behind her. “It’s okay, honey. He’s with me. He’s here to help us.”

Jobe came up quietly and said, “Sherrie, we need to get her to the hospital. Why don’t you let me drive?”

Betina was shaking her head violently from side to side, so Sherrie looked up at Jobe and pleaded, “I’ve got to be the one to take her.” Sherrie stood, pulling the girl up with her. They started out of the alley when Betina tripped over her feet. Jobe stepped up and carefully scooped the injured girl into his arms. Making soft, comforting noises, he carried her to Sherrie’s car and placed her in the passenger side.

“I’m following right behind,” he informed Sherrie as she quickly hopped into the driver’s seat.

“I’m taking her to Richland General and will call her social worker so she can meet us there.”

Making the trip as quickly as possible, Sherrie was pleased to see not only the social worker, but also Tony as well as Matt with a female detective. Jobe carried Betina in and she was whisked back into the ER bays. The social worker and detectives went back with her, leaving the others in the waiting room.

Tony enveloped Sherrie in his embrace, seeing the shock on her face. “You did good, baby,” he murmured into her hair. “You called me, followed the directions that kept you and her safe, and you got her here.”

“I wasn’t scared until I saw her and then, it hit me…this was real,” she said, looking up into his face. “Does that make sense?”

Nodding, he said, “Absolutely. Sometimes a mission doesn’t seem real until you are right into the thick of things.”

They did not have to wait long before Matt and the female detective came out. Matt gave a quick report to an anxious Sherrie. “She gave us a lot. Told about Hernando, how he got her to recruit for cheap labor for his store and the laundries. Then she admitted that he had coerced her into recruiting for the club. The underage girls he wanted her to get would be held in the upper rooms as essentially sex slaves. When he caught her talking to you, she defied him and he threatened her mom again and got her to the club. He had a customer that wanted a virgin and that was when she finally fought back and escaped.”

Tony took her weight as she leaned heavily against him. “Oh my God,” she said, tears in her eyes. “I, of all people, know the depravity of some, but…this just seems like a bad dream.”

The female detective spoke up and said, “It doesn’t appear that she was sexually assaulted, but only because she managed to get away.”

“What now?” Jobe asked.

“For Betina,” the detective said, “the social worker will stay and then they will put her in a protective, therapeutic foster home. Ms. Mullins, she said she’ll call you tomorrow.”