Page 5 of Wed
Faith slid out of the booth, taking the credit card with her. She watched as Faith flagged down their waiter, spoke to him for a moment, then hurried to follow him to pay the bill. With that taken care of, Becca glanced back at the girl, wishing she could be sure something was wrong, but again, her gut told her the girl was in trouble. When the girl glanced at her again, Becca mouthed, "bathroom?"
The girl's eyes widened, but she quickly looked away again. The men with her seemed to barely be aware of her as they ate. She wished she was closer so she could hear what they were saying. A moment later, the young girl looked up at the man. She said something to him, and he responded with a sharp shake of his head and a glare that no child should ever have to see.
Becca sighed. Did she dare walk right over there and ask the girl to leave with her? Take her someplace safe and call the police? If she caused a scene and the men weren't supposed to have the girl, they would run, right?
The young girl held her stomach and moaned as she said something to the man again. The man grimaced as anger flared in his eyes, but he nodded and gestured for the girl to get up. The girl met Becca's gaze briefly, hope flickering in her eyes as she continued to hold her stomach.
Was she really sick or was this a ploy to get into the bathroom? Becca wasn't sure, but either way, this was her chance. Hoping Faith was watching, Becca grabbed her purse and tossed some bills on the table as if she was leaving a tip. She tried not to look at the young girl. The last thing she needed was for this man to notice she was paying attention to her. God, she didn't know what to do. The men handled this part of things. She gathered information. It would be a miracle if she didn't fuck this up somehow and get someone killed. Still, even more so now, she was sure this girl was in trouble. The anger in the man's eyes told her he wasn't some compassionate father who should be worried his daughter didn't feel well.
Faith walked up, her eyes on the young girl as well, but her voice was calm and normal as she fell into step with Becca. "Ready to hit the casino?"
"Yeah, just need to use the bathroom, then we can go meet up with the girls," Becca spoke loud enough that the man could hear her. She needed him to think she was just another tourist here to gamble and have fun.
The man stopped at the bathroom door and glanced down at the girl. He gripped her shoulder tightly as he glared at her. "Hurry. Go in and do what you need to. Talk to no one. I'll be right here when you're done." He leaned against the wall directly beside the bathroom door.
The girl didn't respond but rushed into the bathroom.
Becca glanced at Faith as they passed the man, hoping she didn't appear as nervous as she felt. Still trying to act innocent, she grinned at Faith. "I thought we'd walk down to the Luxor first."
"I want to see the fountains after dark," Faith commented.
Hopefully, to the man, they sounded just like two tourists. Now she just had to figure out how to get the girl out of the bathroom with the man standing there if she really did need help. "We can do that." She smiled at Faith as they moved into the bathroom without even a glance at the man.
As they got inside, Becca saw the girl standing near the far wall, her arms wrapped around her stomach and her eyes filled with tears. Becca rushed right to her. "Do you need help?"
The girl nodded. "But he'll kill you if you try."
"No, he won't. I've dealt with his kind before. I have friends who will help. Is he related to you?"
The girl shook her head. "There was an auction. The other guy at the table bought me. I'm supposed to leave with him. He said if I fought him or made a scene, he'd kill the other girls."
Becca's chest tightened as she glanced at Faith. This wasn't good. She looked back at the girl. "I'm Becca. I'm going to get you out of here. He won't kill the other girls. He won't get paid if he kills them. He said that just to scare you. Let's get you safe and we'll see if we can help the others. What's your name?"
"Lenora," the girl whispered. "But he calls me Mary."
"Okay, Lenora, are you willing to let us help you?" Faith asked.
The girl nodded. "I know what they have planned for me, and what they've done to others. I'd rather die than go with them."
Becca's heart ached for the girl. "Then this is what we're going to do. I'm going to go out there and distract the man. While his attention is on me, you're going to go with Faith. She's going to take you to our hotel room upstairs. Once there, we'll figure out what we need to do to get you back to your family." She prayed this worked. Not only was Lenora's life at risk, but she was also putting Faith in danger too. If this went bad, she'd never forgive herself. She looked at Faith. "Follow me out. I'm going to stumble and grab the guy. You need to be ready to rush out of the bathroom. Head straight for the elevators. Keep Lenora directly in front of you so he can't see her. I don't know how long I can distract him, so try and get out of his line of vision as quickly as you can. Take her up to my room and wait for me there. If I'm not there in ten minutes, call the guys."
Faith narrowed her eyes. "And if you can't distract him? Maybe we should just call the police."
Lenora whimpered.
"What?" Becca asked.
"A policeman and a woman from child services were the ones to take me to that place." Lenora hugged herself tighter and tears fell down her cheeks.
Becca and Faith exchanged a look. They'd seen this too many times. It was always those you thought you could trust who did the worst things. "Okay, then we don't call the police." She glanced around them, making sure they weren't drawing attention. "Go with Faith and we'll figure out what to do. I promise you, you're safe with us."
"Maybe we should call the guys?" Faith looked nervous.
"It will take too long. That guy's probably already wondering what's taking her so long. He won't wait for the guys to get here. Besides, that will cause a scene and the cops will show up. We can't be sure they won't just take her back there."
"Not all the cops are bad," Faith argued.
"No, but we don't know which ones are right now." Becca straightened. "You two ready to do this? If things go bad, cause a scene. We're better off with security getting involved than just letting him take her."
