Page 14 of Wed
"My daddy had a cross with roses. It was pretty, but I don't want something that big."
"No, we'd find something small," Becca told her. "But we're not going to worry about that now. It's got to heal before we can think about making it something different. Beau will talk to Xander and see if he knows what to get for the itching."
Becca was disgusted that she was actually talking to a ten-year-old girl about getting a tattoo covered up. It wasn't right. What made her even more upset was the fact there were thousands of girls with the same tattoo on their necks. Most would never have the chance to have it covered or removed. And that was just from one trafficking organization. There were thousands across America, and millions throughout the world. Until people stopped turning a blind eye to the problem it wasn't going to end.
"Do you have any tattoos?" Lenora asked Becca.
"I have one. It's on my hip. I'll show it to you another time. It's just a rose. I got it when I turned twenty-one. My friend and I went and got tattoos for my birthday."
"It hurts, doesn't it?" Lenora said.
"It does, but it's worse in some places. My hip is really fatty, so it didn't hurt as bad as I suspect your neck did." Becca smiled. "We'll talk to Xander sometime and ask him where the most painful places are. He'd know."
"Probably." Lenora nodded.
"Okay, I'm going to head back to my room and pack. I suppose you three should do the same. Bryon wants us ready to move." Beau smiled. "Lenora, if you hurt anywhere or need me to look at your tattoo again before I come back, you tell Faith or Becca, and they'll call me."
"Thank you." Lenora gripped Becca's hand tightly.
"You're welcome. It was a pleasure to meet you." Beau gave a small wave and then left the room.
"Okay, that's our cue to get busy. Will you help us pack things?" Becca asked Lenora.
"Sure, tell me what to do." Lenora stood.
Faith stood as well. "I'm going to go start in my room. Will you two do Dad's room? Lenora can get the stuff in the bathroom and toss it all in one of their bags for us. Watch for anything we can use like hats or things."
"I can do that." Lenora smiled.
Becca's heart broke seeing that smile. She wasn't sure she'd ever smile again if she'd gone through everything Lenora had recently. As if losing her family wasn't hard enough, now she had to deal with being separated from her brother and escaping traffickers. She'd said there were twenty or so other kids like her being held. How many of them had already been sold and delivered? It made her sick to think about it. Refocusing, she smiled at Lenora. "Come on. I'll find you a bag to use. They don't pack a lot so this should be easy."
They walked into Matt and Xander's bedroom together. "Are they married?" Lenora asked.
"They are. Matt's Faith's real dad and Xander is her step-father," Becca explained as she opened the closet to find their still-packed suitcases sitting inside.
"Where's her mom?"
Becca frowned. "She died a long time ago. When I met Faith, it was just her and her dad."
"Both mine died." Tears filled Lenora's eyes.
"How long ago?" Becca asked because the pain in the girl's eyes was too much for it not to be recent.
"About a week before they took me away from my brother."
"Did you get to go to the funeral or anything?" Becca asked.
"I don't know if they got one." She used the back of her hand to wipe away a tear that escaped. "The police came to the daycare I go to and took me and Andy to this office where a lady sat down with us and told us Mom and Dad had died. They asked me for all kinds of information. They wanted to know if I had grandparents, aunts, or uncles. Mom and Dad had no family. We'd only moved here a few months ago so they didn't have any friends that I knew about. I told them about my mom's friend in Michigan, but I didn't know her last name. They took us to a shelter for two days, then moved us to the foster home. They told us we'd be put up for adoption since they couldn't find any family to take us in."
Becca went to her, kneeling down in front of her. She placed her hands on her shoulders. "I'm so sorry. That wasn't right." She met Lenora's teary gaze. "I promise you that we will look for that friend of your parents and see if we can find her. I want you to think hard about anyone your mom and dad knew who they might have arranged for you and Andy to live with if something happened."
"There are a few people. I just don't know how to contact them." Lenora leaned in, wrapping her arms around Becca. "I'm scared I'll end up back there with the scary men."
Becca hugged her tightly. "I promise you that you won't end up back there. I will make sure of that. No matter what happens, you won't go back there." She hoped the men would all be arrested or dead by the time they were done but didn't promise that. For one, Lenora was too young for those details, and for two, Becca wasn't sure how deeply involved the team could get in this since they didn't have any of their normal resources and hadn't taken the weeks and months they usually took to gather evidence. "Give the guys time to work their magic and we'll see what they come up with. They know what they are doing. They just need time. While we give them that time, you're safe. I need you to know that."
Lenora pulled back and nodded.
"Good. Now take this and go put everything in the bathroom inside it. Make sure all the lids are on tight so they don't spill." She handed Lenora a half-full gym bag that she assumed was what Xander or Matt used as a carry-on. "I'll gather stuff up from in here."
