Page 9 of Operation: Integrity

Connor glanced down at what looked like a planner. “I can do my best. In the meantime, why don’t you go down and have a session with Brendon. He’s open right now and I’d like you to feel like you can tell him when things happen that make you scared or uncomfortable. Let him help you.”

Kelly gripped the arms of the chair, wishing she could run. The idea of talking to a counselor who she didn’t know was almost more terrifying than the idea of talking to Sam.

Chapter Four

Kelly followed Connor down the hallway and into Brendon’s spacious office. He sat behind a large desk with immaculate stacks of papers on each corner. A golden bowl of chocolate sat at the far edge of the desk, closest to guests. Connor led her in and sat next to her.

“Brendon, I’ve brought Kelly in for her first meeting with you a little earlier than scheduled because we’ve already encountered some issues. I hope you can help Kelly feel a little more welcome and relaxed here. I’ll be adjusting her wrangler to help accomplish that as well. She has asked to go back to the halfway house.”

Kelly’s face heated by degrees until she felt ill. Were there no secrets around here? If every word she said to anyone was shared with everyone, then she still had no privacy. She tucked her hands between her knees and waited for Connor to leave. Then Brendon could take over where Connor had left off.

Connor closed the door and Brendon leaned forward, nudging the bowl of chocolate. “Feel free to have as manyas you’d like. I’ve found that chocolate works wonders to help people feel better about sitting in that chair.”

Despite the teasing she’d endured her entire life, she’d never been a fan of chocolate. “Anything fruity?” She knew her question was a test. Would he be annoyed by her request?

He pulled open a drawer of his desk and drew out a bag of fruity toffee. “Will this work?”

Her heart gave a quick lurch. He hadn’t put her down for wanting something different, for not immediately taking what he’d offered. He didn’t even seem angry.

“That’s perfect. Thank you.” She took a piece of what she remembered being her favorite color and slowly unwrapped the wax paper, then popped it in her mouth. In that moment, she remembered that all she’d put in her stomach that morning was a few sips of coffee. Yet the taste was like childhood, swings, summer days, and playing in the sprinkler.

“Let’s start at the beginning. I find it’s the easiest.”

Maybe for him. She sucked on the candy for a while, gathering her thoughts. She could tell the truth, that Jasmine had befriended her, knowing that Kelly was too trusting, too friendly, unwilling to set boundaries. That Jasmine had used that to slowly take advantage of her and finally left her completely penniless. No one would ever confront Jasmine. Blaming her would be safe, but probably wasn’t completely accurate. Sam had warned her many times, but she’d convinced herself that he was just too practical to have close friends.

“The beginning is a very flimsy line. I’m not sure when I crossed it, exactly.”

Brendon made a short note on his paper. “Unless people are abducted, which isn’t always the case, I findthat to be true. It’s like they are slowly drawn in and before they can change course their life is no longer their own. Start wherever you feel comfortable starting, even if it has nothing to do with where you were. Talk about what comes to mind.”

Kelly focused on her breathing, on not squirming, just relaxing. “Sam didn’t usually tell me who I should or shouldn’t hang out with, so when he said Jasmine was bad news, I probably should’ve listened. She had no friends and I felt bad for her. We worked together at a little mom and pop drug store that also sold cards, figurines, ornaments, stationary, stuff like that.” Life had been so easy back then.

“I had an old car that kept breaking down. I needed a new alternator and got behind on my mortgage, then I had to take a pay cut because the little shop had a break-in and they couldn’t afford to replace everything.” She curled her feet under her and hugged her knees. Her parents had told her she wasn’t ready to be on her own and she wasn’t ready to have a house of her own. They’d lived far away, and she’d been sure she knew better than they did. They didn’t know her bank account or her work ethic.

Brendon didn’t say anything, he simply waited for her to go on. Oddly, it gave her the sense that he had all the time in the world to listen to her. She took a deep breath and went for another taffy to help her go on.

“My friend Jasmine told me she had medical bills she needed to pay, that if she didn’t pay them, she’d go to jail. She was just as affected by the pay cut as me. I didn’t want to see her go to jail for something when I had the power to help her. I offered to write her a check, but she said she couldn’t remember the exact amount. Since my car was in the shop, I couldn’t take her to pay the bill. I didsomething really stupid. I trusted her.” Kelly still felt sick to her stomach. Hindsight was always perfect, but that didn’t mean it was without pain.

“Did she take advantage of you?” Brendon asked.

“She wiped me out, not just my checking account but my savings. She’d stolen my driver’s license, went to my bank and transferred everything from my savings account. Then she wrote out a check to pay the man who I later found out was her pimp. He’d been threatening to kill her if she didn’t repay some stolen money.”

Brendon glanced up from his notes. “Her pimp?”

Kelly bit her lip. She never talked about this. What good would talking do? She’d made errors and then she’d doubled down on them. “Yes.”

“And did he become your pimp?”

Heat scorched up her neck and all the way to the roots of her hair. She’d been sure she couldn’t feel embarrassed anymore, but the last few days had proven her wrong on that front, too. “Eventually, but not right away. At first, he didn’t tell me he was her pimp. He said he was her friend, that he’d helped her. Jasmine lied to me and told me he was very good to her and that if I listened to him and did what he said, I might be able to earn the money back quickly and keep my house. I tried for a while to get back on my feet, but without my car, I couldn’t find a different job. I was stuck.”

“I know you’re embarrassed, but nothing you say will leave this room. What you tell me isn’t like what you tell Connor or any of the others. This room is confidential.”

Kelly swallowed hard and gave a quick nod. At least Sam wouldn’t hear about all of this from Brendon. “Like I said, I have trouble saying no, backing out, drawing a line in the sand. I felt trapped, like I didn’t have a choice. Icouldn’t pay for my car repairs anymore or my house. I couldn’t even afford groceries.”

“And this was when you knew Sam?” Brendon jotted down a few more notes.

“Yes,” she barely got out the word. She’d been so terrified to tell Sam that he was right about Jasmine. What if Sam had seen Kelly for who she was, someone who was far too accepting of people for her own good? Someone who was unable to tell right from wrong in a situation until it was too late.

“And you didn’t feel you could go to him?”

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