Page 22 of Just A Kiss

“Okay, no more questions,” Daphne said as Lisa became more agitated. “Let’s get her in the SUV. She’s freezing.”

“Damn, I should’ve done this sooner.” Carter immediately took off his thick jacket and handed it over. His expression was brooding as he watched Daphne help the distress child put it on. “Come, let’s go. There’s some water and some energy bars in the car.”

Daphne got into the back of the SUV with Lisa since she refused to release the stranglehold she had on her. Once Carter started driving, her fear seemed to increase as she kept glancing around and clawing at Daphne’s waist. Talking didn’t seem to help, so as a last resort, Daphne started singing the lullaby her mother used to sing for her at night.

On the way, Carter made contact with social services and arranged for Sandra Baker, a social worker who was his mother’s best friend, to meet them at the Provo sheriff’s office.

When Daphne looked down at Lisa, she had fallen asleep, with one hand clutching Daphne’s and the other still wrapped around her waist. The emotions flooding her mind at being another human being’s emotional and physical crutch was beyond anything she had ever experienced.

Over the years, and with all the investigations she had done, her main focus had been the bad. How to expose the criminals behind the scenes, how to crack open their deviousness and make them pay for their crimes. This was the first time she came into direct contact with a victim of the kind of monsters she had made her life’s work to eliminate. It opened a myriad of dreams and wishes she had blithely pushed to the back of her mind over the years in pursuit of a successful career.

That of finding a loving man... a father for their children. Her own happily ever after with the white picket fence completed the picture.

“Is she on the list of child abductions in your investigation, Carter?” She kept her voice low so as not to wake up the young girl.

“Yes.” His voice was grim, and from how his jaw was clenched, it was evident he was struggling to keep his anger at bay. “At the local annual summer fair in Provo. Her parents agreed for the first time ever that she join her friends that night instead of participating in the events with them. There were four girls taken that night.”

“I can’t wrap my mind around this. Just how many girls are they keeping locked up below ground? Fifteen, Carter! She said there were fifteen in the room she was in... and there were more.” Tears spilled over as visions of the fear and despair the girls must live with every single day flooded her mind. “We have to find them. We just have to.”

“We will, love. Now that we have Lisa, at least I have confirmation my suspicions are spot on. We have a rough idea which area to search. Once she’s calm and ready, she might even help us find that damn place.”

Daphne stroked Lisa’s hair. It felt brittle and had very clearly not been washed in a while.

“How can anyone who has their own daughters do something like this to a child? What is this world coming to, Carter?”

“It’s not the world, love. It’s greed. These men are blinded by the dollar signs flashing in front of them. To them, these girls are tickets to a money train with a never-ending demand.”

“That is so sick!”

“We will stop them if that’s the last thing I ever do. I will find that hellhole.”

“And I’ll be right there alongside you.”

“No. This has just become too real. You will stay out of this, Daphne. It’s not safe.”

“Forget it, Sheriff Scott.” Daphne brushed off the feeling of belonging that washed over her at his words. Caring and concern was evident in his eyes as he glanced at her over his shoulder. She smiled grimly to soften the sting of her words. “Besides, I’m a grown woman. I don’t fit the criteria. They have no interest in someone like me.”

“I can’t believe you’re that naive. Child grooming and trafficking are only part of a much bigger operation. Do you honestly think they don’t have a vested interest in all aspects of the sex industry that could enrich them?”

Daphne remained quiet. She knew Carter was right, but it didn’t dilute her resolve to help put an end to at least this one trafficking ring.

No matter how my emotions are opening to you, Carter Scott, no one—not even you—is going to stop me from doing my bit. I am going to be there when the bastard in charge is caught!

Chapter Thirteen

Utah County Sheriff’s Department, University Ave, Provo...

“Mom! Dad!” Lisa’s young voice, filled with relief and excitement, rang out through the vast expanse of the double-volume area. The young girl sprinted across the lobby with tears streaming down her cheeks. Carter had called ahead on the way over, and Deputy Sheriff Tanya Cooper had ensured her parents were waiting upon their arrival.

Turning at the sound of her voice where they stood waiting at the front desk, their faces lit up at the sight of their beloved daughter.

“Oh, my baby!” Lisa’s mother cried as she rushed forward and swept Lisa into her arms. She clung to the girl tightly, as if afraid she might disappear again.

“My sweet girl, you’re safe, you’re here,” she sobbed while stroking Lisa’s hair.

The big man by her side didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around both his wife and child. The love and devotion for his daughter shone brightly from his gaze.

“We were so scared, so worried,” he said in a voice thick with emotion. “But you’re here. Thank God you’re alright.”

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