Page 11 of Lost and Found

Marco seemed to understand and he walked over to the window, the pipe and board remaining in his hands. A few feet away, he paused, looking around for something. Warily Angela watched while Laura and Danielle quietly cried as they wrapped their arms around their legs.

A moment later, the guy named Marco bent down. Angela stiffened when he picked up another long, metal pipe. He turned and Angela jerked backwards, automatically reaching out her arm as if she could protect Laura and Danielle.

However, Marco merely brought the metal pipe closer, stopping a few feet away, then bending down so that he could slide the metal pipe towards Angela.

Her fingers closed around the weapon. She stared at it for a long moment, feeling a surge of…something. She wasn’t sure what this newest sensation was. Gratitude? Relief? Rage? All of the above.

Looking up from the pipe, she discovered that Marco was standing near one of the windows, looking out at the darkness. Protecting her? Protecting all of them?

The silence was strange and Angela turned, looking for her friends. Laura and Danielle were now sitting on the concrete leaned up against a wall, their arms around each other…both perfectly still.

“They are just sleeping,” Callum told her. “They are still breathing.”

Angela let out the breath she’d been holding and turned away. She focused on the water, swishing the dirty sludge around.

“Here is clean water,” Dash replied, stopping several feet away and pushing a new bucket closer.

Angela lifted her feet out of the old water and crawled to pull the other bucket closer, watching the two men carefully. “Thank you.” Now that she could think beyond the next moment, she was painfully conscious of the skimpy outfit and barely-there panties she’d been forced to wear. The sweatshirt was huge, but it still didn’t cover all of her. Every movement seemed to shift the ridiculous “dress” and sweatshirt higher. Angela’s fingers tugged at the stretchy material, trying to cover more of her legs. Good grief, she’d just like to cover her butt! The dress was so short, the material barely covered anything at all!

Callum lifted his hands in the air as he said, “I know that you ladies don’t want to go to the police.” There was a soft lilt to his voice, and he seemed to be concentrating on his words as he spoke. Odd, Angela thought as she stared at the man, waiting for him to continue. “Obviously, you’ve had some bad experiences with police officers. But I know of a detective who is good. He will do right by you.”

Angela stiffened, her feet halfway down into the new water. It was already turning pink, but it wasn’t nearly as filthy as the previous water. “I’ll think about it.”

Callum nodded. “Good. We won’t do anything until you feel comfortable with it.”

The door opened again and Kasim stepped into the building. He stopped, allowing Angela to focus on him before he came further into the large space. He even lifted his hand, showing her the bag filled with fragrant burgers. “Missy is in the emergency room. I waited until the nurse brought her back to an exam room. They were fast,” he assure everyone. “They could see that she was severely ill.” He looked at the women as he lifted the bag from a fast food place. “On the way back, I stopped and got everyone something to eat,” he explained.

Angela’s stomach clawed with hunger. Because of her animosity towards her captors, they hadn’t allowed her to eat for…she wasn’t sure how long, but it was definitely several days. Laura and Danielle had been given only one meal every day. Their captors explained that feeding them wasn’t necessary to do please the male customers.

Kasim stopped where Dash and Callum were sitting, then pushed the bag across the floor. Angela took it without taking her feet out of the water, then opened it and…tears flowed down her cheeks again as she stared at the burgers and fries. There was so much food and these men…they obviously didn’t have a lot of money. If they did, they wouldn’t be living in an empty warehouse. How had he gotten so much food?

“Thank you!” she said again, feeling as if her body might just collapse out of sheer hunger and desperation.

She took one of the burgers, unwrapping it as if it were the finest caviar. Laura, Danielle and Missy had been there the longest. All of them had been treated like cattle, like animals. Thankfully, Angela had just arrived recently. The owner of the house had been waiting, getting Angela ready for “The Sale” to the highest bidder. All of them had been beaten for talking back, whipped for any kind of insubordination, and the others handed over to whatever man paid the fee for the use of their bodies and starved because the customers wanted “thin” women.

Thinking back, Angela suspected that they’d been treated worse than animals. No one treated their dogs or cats, not even their livestock, in such a horrible manner. After handing Danielle and Laura a burger, Angela took her first bite of food. She was desperate to not look like a rabid animal, even though she wanted to shove the food into her mouth as fast as she could chew it. Carefully, she took a bite and chewed it, swallowing slowly.

“It’s good,” she told Kasim, trying to smile at him. “That was very thoughtful of you.”

“Don’t thank us,” Kasim replied, nodding his head towards the food. “Just eat. You look famished.”

Bowing her head, Angela ate in silence. Her feet ached, her stomach rumbled, and every part of her body ached. She probably was badly bruised but didn’t have a mirror in which to examine all of the various parts of her body that had been smacked around when she’d refused to obey her captors.

Angela suddenly lifted her head, her mind starting to grasp that they’d actually escaped! She’d survived! Forget about everything else. She’d survived! She was going to get through this and, not just survive, Angela was going to thrive! Her captors, the disgusting men who were going to rent out her body for men’s pleasure…they would not win! She’d beaten them at their own game!

The Way Forward

“Can I talk to everyone?” Marco called out, looking to each of the corners were the other were huddled.

Everyone looked up, curious but also cautious.

“What de ye want?” Callum demanded, his brogue thicker as his suspicions increased. They’d all found a spot in the abandoned warehouse where they felt safe.

“I want..” Marco started, fisting his hands on his hips as he moved to the center of the warehouse. He looked at each of them in turn, then sighed. “I want us to work together,” he finally announced. He looked at Callum first, then Dash. Angela and Kasim were next, but he didn’t want to linger on any one person too long. “I was the first person to find this hovel. But each of you have come and…”

“We’re not leaving!” Dash blurted out, crossing his arms over his chest.

Marco smiled, nodding his head. “Good. That’s not where I was going.” He paused and acknowledged the other man, instincts pushing him now. “I apologize for not being clear from the outset and causing anyone,” he looked at them all, “any concern over what I’m about to propose.”

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