34. Four
Four
Emerson
For ten years I’d thought I’d been living in hell. As it turned out, I hadn’t had the first clue what hell was.
I thought I’d known. I’d been arrogant thinking because I’d seen what the women who were being forced into sex trafficking looked like, I could understand how they felt.
I could not .
I’d thought because I’d stared into their eyes and seen the desperation, I could somehow understand the horrors they’d gone through.
I could not.
I’d thought a lot of stupid shit. As it turned out, the stupidest being I could get away with what I’d done over the last eight years unscathed.
What had Thaddeus said to me? Retribution was an ugly thing . He was wrong, too. It wasn’t ugly. It was downright horrifying, unequivocally revolting. And now I was on the receiving end of that retribution, being paid back for all the wrongs I committed.
I was beginning to understand what desperation truly was. The desolation, the cold fear that ran up your spine, the sheer terror of it.
The heart-stopping shock of being ripped from your bed in the middle of the night, or in my case off the couch where I’d fallen asleep.
And the panic of a rag being shoved in your mouth as you’re taken against your will.
Then the shuttering dread of waking up in an unknown location, not remembering how you got there or what had been done to you.
All of that, the shock, the panic, the dread, was only the tip of it. The beginning of a nightmare I couldn’t fully understand.
I’d woken up as I was being tossed on the metal floor of some sort of box. If I’d had to guess, I’d say it was a shipping container, but it could’ve been in the back of a big rig, though I didn’t think I was moving.
My mouth tasted like chemicals and dirt. My stomach was rolling from adrenaline, fear, and whatever they’d used to make me lose consciousness.
“Don’t fight them.” I jerked back, slamming my head on the metal wall, realizing I wasn’t alone.
“What?” I stammered.
“When they come back. Don’t fight them. It makes it worse,” the woman whispered again.
Suddenly, a soft light bathed the space, taking us from pitch black to just enough illumination I could see the woman. My eyes adjusted and I could see bruising on her face and her lip had been cut.
Shit.
I slid my gaze from her and looked around. The box wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small, either. And neither were we alone. There were more women huddled together in the corner.
Fuck.
“Who took us?” I whispered .
“Don’t know,” the woman returned.
“Where are we?”
“No idea. I was in Tijuana with my boyfriend when they grabbed me.”
Fuck, fuck , fuck.
“The others? Have you talked to them?”
“Yeah. None of them know who, or where, we are. Some have been here a while.”
“A while?”
Panic was bubbling to an all-time high.
“I think I’ve been here three days. Maybe four. I’m not sure.”
I scrambled to the metal enclosure and pressed my ear against it. Nothing. I couldn’t hear a damn thing. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad, but I had to come up with some way to get out of that box.
“How many times a day do they open the door?” I asked.
“Only when they’re taking someone out. Yesterday, I think, they opened it and grabbed one of the girls. She fought them and it was…it was bad. It hasn’t opened again until—”
“They tossed me in,” I finished for her.
“Yeah.”
I glanced back at the other women and a look I’d seen many times was present on each of them. Hopelessness. They’d given up or were beginning to.
Shit.
“We have to get out of here,” I told her.
“No shit?” she clipped.
“What’s your name?”
“Patty.”
“Patty, I’m Emerson. You’re my new best friend, and me and you, we’re gonna get us all out of here.”
Patty looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
Which at that point I probably had. But there was no other choice, we had to do something.
We needed a plan before that door opened and one of us was taken out.
I had a good idea what would happen if I was pulled from this box, and I wasn’t going to be sold.
I’d die first.
Death was a better option than being put up for auction and dying slowly as I lived out the rest of my life, chained up and being violated.
“You’re crazy,” Patty hissed. “Did you hear me? They beat the hell out of the last woman who tried to fight them.”
“And what did the rest of you do? Sit back and watch? The next time that door opens, no one is sitting still. We all go on the attack. If one person can slip away, they can get help.” Patty’s eyes flashed and I sighed.
“Listen, I’m not judging you. I know everyone is scared, but the only way to save ourselves is if we all work together. ”
“Why aren’t you scared?” Her eyes narrowed and her question sounded like an accusation.
“I’m scared to fucking death, Patty. I’m so scared of what happens to us if we’re trafficked, I’d rather die in this box fighting than be sold.
I know what happens. I’ve seen it. Believe me when I tell you, it is worse than you can imagine.
Not only for you, but for your family. So I’m sorry if you think I’m acting a little crazy, but we need to get out of this box, before we all become sex slaves to a bunch of disgusting pigs whose greatest pleasure in life will be to hurt us.
“We all have a choice to make. Do you want to sit here and be a victim, or do you want to fight and be a survivor? Because I’m telling you right now, I will die here fighting for all of us.
But I’d rather not. After ten years of misery, I finally found happiness again.
I have a great man who’s out there right now searching for me.
He wants to marry me, build a life with me, and have babies with me.
So, I’d like to be breathing when this is over. ”
I hoped like hell I was telling the truth and Thaddeus was out looking for me and he hadn’t come home, found me gone, and thought I’d taken off again. Meaning he’d be furious and hurt. Further meaning he wouldn’t be looking. He’d be sitting in our hotel room seething.
That thought hurt my heart—it was bad enough Thad would be freaking the hell out when he found our hotel room empty, but even thinking about him not trusting how much I loved him killed me.
But I’d done that, I’d earned his hesitation.
I just prayed he believed in us as much as he said he did and would know I’d never willingly leave him.
If there’d ever been a time in my life I needed a miracle, it was right then.
“Okay,” Patty agreed shakily. “What do we do?”
Thank God, she was on board. I really wanted to live through this.
“Let’s talk to the others. You’re gonna have to help me convince them.”
“I don’t want to die.” Tears welled in her eyes and some of the fear I felt started to slip away.
I had to pull my shit together, even if I was deathly afraid, I couldn’t show it. Not if I wanted the women to believe we had a chance to escape.
I can do this . Come on, Emerson, you’re a really great actress. Get it together and come up with a plan.
After my short mental pep talk, I gathered all the strength I could muster. For myself, for Thaddeus, and for the women locked in this box with me, I’d put on the performance of a lifetime.
I couldn’t sit huddled in the corner and give in to my fear. I hadn’t endured ten years without Thaddeus to lose him again. Not this way. Not now. Not when his ring was on my finger and we were so close to the beautiful life he’d promised .
I closed my eyes and I swear I could hear Thad’s voice. I’m coming for you, agápi mou. That’s what he’d say. I knew it. And if he said it, he meant it.
When my eyes opened, I was ready.
I was going to fight like hell to get back to Thaddeus.