Page 75 of Tony

Determined to not give in to her tears again, she asked BJ to focus on the eyes and enlarge. He did so and the script came into focus. “I don’t know what it means other than possibly the names of the kids she was drawing.”

During the argument with Tony in his office, where he alternated between hugging her and threatening to paddle her ass, she had explained what she had discovered and why she had gone to the laundry.

Tony rubbed his hand over his face, torn between being furious at her for trying to play detective, and impressed at what she had found. He turned the pages slowly as BJ enlarged and focused on the eyes. Coming to the name Alecia, he stopped immediately, his heart rate zooming.

Sherrie looked around in confusion as the air in the room began to crackle. “What…what is it?”

BJ pulled the focus off of the eyes and the full face of the young girl filled the screen. “Goddamn,” Vinny exclaimed.

“Is there one of Elizabeth in here?” Tony asked, his voice forced.

Licking her lips nervously, she nodded as she leaned forward to flip several pages ahead. Another young girl’s face appeared on the wall. “Tony?” she asked tentatively. “Please tell me what’s going on.”

He turned his face to her but before he answered, he growled, “Get Matt and Shane.”

From the side, she saw BJ pick up his phone and make a call. After the call was placed, Tony said in a gentler voice, “Sherrie, where is the picture of the laundry?”

With now shaking fingers, she flipped through the pages until she came to the one she was looking for. Tony still had not answered her question, but she knew that he would when the time was right. Something major was happening and she wisely let it happen without pelting him with questions. She pointed to the window.

With the high illumination and magnification of BJ’s program, it was clear to see that the swirls in the window pane were actually tiny, nondescript faces peering out.

“I…I thought maybe she was trying to tell me that someone was trying to escape or get out or…I don’t know.” Her words sounded silly to her now. If there was someone there, their presence would have been seen as intrusive and Tony had been right—she would have been in danger. Tears threatened to fall and she swallowed hard several times to hold them at bay.

Tony took two steps and enveloped her in his arms. Cradling her head against his chest, he breathed her in.

Her voice caught in her throat as she tried to speak. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to help.”

Pulling her tighter into his powerful body, he kissed the top of her hair, letting his actions speak volumes. Tony saw Shane and Matt arrive with Lily and take in the scene, before moving toward Gabe and Jobe to find out what was going on.

Sherrie quickly wiped her tears and spared a glance up. Tony’s eyes were no longer angry but caramel warm again. Giving her a squeeze, he let her go and they walked over to the screen again.

“Baby, you’d better fill them in on everything you’ve told me and then we’ll let you know what’s going on.”

Sherrie told about her CASA work and Betina, starting from the first time she met her to her latest contact. She left out nothing, telling of her suspicions of Hernando, to following Betina to the bus stop, to her analyzing the art pad for clues.

When she stopped, Tony picked up the discussion as he described the cameras they had installed knowing that Sherrie would sometimes be there.

“That’s how you knew where I was?” she asked incredulously.

“Babe. Later,” he said tersely.

Pulling her lips in, she kept quiet, but knew that the conversation was only tabled for now—definitely not over.

Then he landed his bombshell and all other thoughts flew out of her head. “We’ve been looking for an Elizabeth and Alecia for the police because their grandparents came to us and asked for help. They have been missing for about three months. The grandparents admit that the girls ran away after their dad was abusive.”

Matt quickly had BJ flip through the other drawings, several he recognized. He and the others began to talk excitedly, comparing notes. Sherrie sat in the middle of the group feeling lost.

Tony felt her fear before he glanced over to see it written on her face. He had been so angry before, but only out of fear. “Babe,” he said softly in her ear. “I think you’re onto something that’s a helluva lot bigger than you bargained for.”

She turned her pale face towards his and pleaded, “Please tell me.”

Sitting at the large conference table, Matt began by bringing them up to date on their investigation into human trafficking. Stunned, Sherrie listened, each word making her feel sicker.

“I talked to you all about human trafficking earlier, but some of you weren’t there?” Matt asked.

The shocked looks from those around the table only matched the silence that greeted the detectives.

“Isn’t that where women are kidnapped and then sent to foreign countries for sex slaves?” Vinny asked.

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