“I’m gonna get you!” I exclaimed.
“No, no, no! Auntie Sloane, that’s not fair!” Cheyenne said as he thrusted her hand out toward the television.
I threw my hands up in victory as the video game controller tumbled to the floor. “She scores!”
My niece rolled her eyes. “You don’t score in Mario Kart, Auntie Sloane.”
I stood to my feet and stuck my tongue out at her. “You’re just mad because you can’t beat me.”
She grinned. “I could if we were playing Battle Royale.”
I scooped up my controller from the floor. “Oh, you’re on. I’ve been practicing while you’ve been away here lately. I’m gonna whoop your butt at that, too.”
My niece giggled with delight. “Over my dead body. Bring your worst!”
I loved playing video games with my niece. I never got much time to indulge the hobby anymore, but when she was with me I always made time. We played a lot of the classics. You know, things that aren’t too gory for an eleven-year-old’s eyes.
But, when she was done whooping my absolute ass in Battle Royale, she fell back against the couch.
“When’s Mom coming back to get me?” she asked softly.
I set my controller down and snuggled against her. “In a few more days. I promise.”
She peered over at me. “You said that a few days ago.”
I nodded. “I know. But, I talked with her early this morning. She couldn’t talk for long, but she told me she’d be back for you in four days. She even promised.”
She perked up. “Really?”
I tried my best to swallow down the lie as I nodded. “Really really, CheyChey.”
She smiled brightly. “That gives me a few more days to kick your butt in video games, then.”
I giggled as I sat up. “You are so on.”
I wasn’t sure how long we played, but I was glad when my phone started ringing. We started playing while the sun was up and by the time I got up to answer my phone it was dark outside. My stomach growled out and I immediately got lightheaded. So, in the process of rushing to get my phone, I grabbed some snacks and tossed them at my niece.
“What the–Auntie Sloane!?” she called out.
I peeked around the corner. “I’m ordering pizza after I take this call. Eat something. We haven’t eaten all day.”
I didn’t even bother seeing who it was because I figured it was work. But, when I picked up the call, I was more than relieved to hear my sister’s voice on the other end of the line.
“Hello?” I asked.
“Hey there,” Summer said.
I looked around before I sneaked myself upstairs to have some privacy. “Summer, what in the world? This girl’s been here for almost two weeks now!”
“I know, I know, and things are absolutely crazy right now, I’m so sorry.”
I needed to figure out what was going on. “Anything you want to talk about? You know I’m always here.”
She sighed. “Look, I don’t agree with this at all, but…”
I hung onto her every word. “What’s going on? Because if I’m going to be keeping Cheyenne any longer, I have to know what’s going on. This is impacting my ability to work. She’s got school, for crying out loud. What are you going to do about that?”
“Then, shut up and listen, because this is going to take a while.”
As I leaned against the hallway wall upstairs, Summer started to speak of things I’d only ever seen during the course of my career. She told me about what she endured at The Body Shop and my jaw almost hit the floor. She told me about how she helped some sort of rogue vigilante crew on bikes take down some really mean, nasty guys and I wanted to chop her fucking head off.
But, when she told me that Tanner was part of that crew and they were officially holed up, waiting for shit to pass, I almost blew through the goddamn roof.
“Sloane? You there?” Summer asked.
I swallowed as much of my anger down as I could. “I don’t–you–I can’t–.”
I couldn’t even speak, I was so angry.
“Sloane, I know you’re upset, but we need–.”
I quickly found my words. “He gets you into shit every single time you two are together. You know that, right?”
She sighed. “Now isn’t the time to be fighting about Tanner.”
I lowered my voice. “He dragged you into what should be local police business, has you holed up in your second safehouse because the other one burned down to the ground, he ripped apart our family once, and now you have the audacity to choose his side so much that you drop your own fucking daughter off with me so you can galavant off and be the damsel in distress at his side? And you wonder why I’m pissed off!?”
“Can you shut up? I’m sure Cheyenne can hear you.”
“Good!” I exclaimed. “Because she deserves to know the truth and not live in the fucking fantasy world you apparently never stopped living in!”
“Can you just listen to me? I really have to ask you something.”
“Did you ever stop to think for one second as to what this might do to your own child? Have you become so fucking selfish that you’re willing to dump your offspring onto me just so you can go impress some guy who got you pregnant and bailed?”
Summer yelled at me through the phone. “We need your fucking help, and I’m the one asking for it!”
I stormed into my bedroom and closed the door behind me. “Help with what?”
“Promise to stop yelling if I tell you?”
I scoffed. “You lost the right to dictate how I react when you dumped your daughter off at my doorstep because you wanted to go play some sick version of “house.” Tell me what you need.”
She clicked her tongue. “I need you to get Cheyenne somewhere safe so you can come to Santa Cruz and help us take this crew down. They’re trafficking women, for crying out loud. They’re using The Body Shop as a sex shop, essentially. It’s bad, and it’s only going to get worse if we don’t do something.”
I felt steam coming out of my ears. “I’ll get CheyChey somewhere safe, and then I’ll place a call to local law enforcement.”
“No, that’s not going to work. That isn’t what I’m asking you to do.”
I shrugged. “It’s all I can do from here.”
“Which is why I want you to get her somewhere safe, so that you can travel up here and actually help us.”
I scoffed. “And your precious Tanner can’t do anything about this, I take it?”
“Will you get off his nutsack already?”
“No. I never will, because what he did to you was fucked up beyond all reason and you know it.”
“You don’t even know half of what happened between us.”
I growled into the phone. “I know enough.”
Silence fell between us and I drew in a deep breath.
“Is he really worth all of this, Summer? I mean, really. Take a good, hard look at where your life is right now. Is it worth it? Not being with your daughter? Being on the run? Do you really want this kind of a life?” I asked.
And when she didn’t hesitate, I almost died from shock. “This, and so much more.”
I shook my head. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing.”
“I made a mistake leaving him all those years ago, and it’s a mistake I won’t make again.”
“So he can cause more problems in our family that we’ve tried so hard to piece together?”
Her voice grew hard. “Look, I don’t know what the hell you have against Tanner, but you know that Mom and Dad were to blame for what happened between me and him. You know because we’ve talked about it.”
“He should have used protection, Summer!” I shrieked.
She glowered at me. “I swear to fuck on high if Cheyenne hears you, you’ll never see her again. You got that?”
My back straightened. “Last I heard, you were the one that needed my help. Not the other way around.”
I heard her sniffling on the other end of the line and I knew I’d relent. As much as I hated Tanner, I loved my sister even more. And if she needed help–if this was the only way to keep my niece safe for good–then I had no choice.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “What do you need from me?”
Summer sniffled. “Are you serious? Really?”
I rolled my eyes. “I know I’ll regret it, but yes, really. What do you need?”
She cleared her throat. “Local law enforcement isn’t doing anything to arrest this crew. I know they know what’s going on because some of their law enforcement are regular goers to The Body Shop. I know because I’ve given several of them multiple lap dances.”
“Not a picture I wanted, but great. Okay. So, why don’t they arrest the guys if they’ve got proof of what’s happening?”
She lowered her voice. “Because I think the cops that pay for services there are dirty, and that’s why they’re still roaming the streets and doing what they’re doing.”
If there was one thing I hated, it was a dirty cop. Santa Cruz was terrible for them, and it’s why California’s police departments had such a bad rap on the street. My blood boiled at the mere idea of dirty cops allowing something so heinous and so disgusting to go down on their own turf.
So, I sat on the edge of my bed and pulled out my pen and notepad from my bedside table.
“Tell me everything you know, and don’t leave anything out. I’m taking notes,” I said.
My sister rattled off everything she could. She talked me through what the club had done and the little bit of evidence they had in their possession. She told me about the undercover stings and the corners she had been backed into. She told me everything she had overheard and she even told me about the “new dancers” that barely knew English and were scared out of their minds. She told me how she took them to the police station, but she got a really weird feeling while she was there.
Then, she said something that stood out. “Wait, wait, wait, back up.”
Summer paused. “What is it?”
I furrowed my brow. “You said these girls didn’t speak English.”
“Right.”
“And you said they didn’t know what they were doing?”
“Also right.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Do you guys have any proof that these girls were shipped in?”
Summer paused before she spoke. “Tanner’s nodding his head at me. He says they’ve intercepted two containers of women at the docks here in Santa Cruz.”
Jesus. Santa Barbara had been trying to bust a new trafficking ring that had been pushing its way into the city limits because of their lax docking protocols.
I wonder if the two things were related.
“All right,” I said as I slapped my notebook closed, “I’ll help.”
Summer sighed with relief. “Thank you. Thank you so, so very much. Do you have someone Cheyenne could stay with until this is all over?”
I closed my eyes. “I do, but you’re not going to like the suggestion.”
“Who?” she asked.
I opened my eyes. “She could stay with Mom and Dad.”
And the second my older sister drew in a deep breath, I knew she was about to verbally tear me a new asshole.
