Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Closing my eyes, I clearly saw the place in my mind. “New Relax Inn. Like I said, I had decided just that day to try and find a place closer to downtown, since I had to take the bus to and from the motel for interviews. I liked the area I was in; it was safe. But I wanted to be closer to downtown, where most jobs were. Carol! That was the name of the lady at the front desk. Her cousin worked for a law firm, that’s what it was. She was the one looking for a roommate.”
I started to rub my temples as I felt the headache coming on once again. My hands started to shake, so I put them in my lap.
“Take your time, Mallory,” Randy said.
“I don’t remember getting from the car to the basement. I do remember he stopped once, and I was kicking the back of the seat and trying to scream. He opened the back door, pulled the rag out of my mouth, and told me he had a little something for me. It was a needle. Before I could even react, he injected me with something. I started to get tired super-fast, and as I was slipping away, he said something to me…um…like he was going to enjoy me. After that, I just remember waking up in the basement.”
“The guy said he was going to enjoy you?” Jonathon asked.
I quickly shook my head. “No…he didn’t say he himself was going to enjoy me. No…” I tried to ignore the way my heart was pounding in my ears. “No, he said…he is going to enjoy you. He was talking about someone else.”
Randy and Jonathon both looked at one another, then at Liam.
“I don’t think he was the guy in the basement. I think he was…he was bringing me to him.”
“Shit,” Liam mumbled as he stood. “We need to check Chad out some more.”
“Chad?” Jonathon asked. “I was with Chad the entire time we were in Chicago, Liam. There is no way he could have slipped away and planned this. I would have heard it.”
Liam paced back and forth. “Something isn’t right. I feel it in my bones.”
Randy nodded. “I’m with Liam on this. The guy who transported Mallory to Montana must have been working with someone to bring her here. But why here?”
“Sex trafficking?” Jonathon replied. “It’s a growing problem more and more.”
“Isn’t that more in countries that are near the southern border?” I asked.
“No, it’s a problem everywhere,” Randy stated.
“Can you tell us about the first time you woke up in the basement, Mallory?” Jonathon asked.
I shrugged. “It was dark, it smelled. My clothes were torn. The only thing in the basement, like I said before, was the mattress on the floor. The door opened and that’s when he appeared. I now know it wasn’t the guy from the hotel or the car. He was taller than that guy. He almost talked like he was whispering when he spoke to me. It sounded creepy.”
Liam swiftly stood up and balled his fists.
Randy stood as well, putting his hand on his cousin’s shoulder. “Liam, if you need to leave, you can leave.”
Shaking his head, he rasped, “No. Sorry.” Sitting back down next to me, he took my hand in his, and I felt renewed energy.
Jonathon stared at his notebook before speaking. “So the first guy follows you from Arcola to Chicago and was most likely waiting for the right time to grab you.”
“Then he drives her over a thousand miles to Montana?” Liam asked, clearly frustrated.
“If it is a sex ring, that isn’t all that surprising. They’re all over the place. Where Mallory was being held, there could be other women there.”
“It doesn’t explain Emily’s necklace there,” I stated.
Jonathon stood and paced before answering. “It does, actually. Nothing says they wouldn’t take anyone local. That basement might be a holding spot, or something like that.”
Billy scrubbed his hands down his face. “This is messed up. You honestly think we’ve got something like that here? In Lewistown?”
Jonathon shrugged. “Mallory could have run farther than we think.”
Liam leaned back in his seat and sighed.
Jonathon suddenly looked uncomfortable. “I have to ask this…and I’m sorry.”
“Ask what?”
He looked at Liam, Randy, then back to me as he asked, “Did he sexually assault you?”
“No. He did, however, tell me he was going to. When he visited, he went into great detail about all the things he was going to do. If I covered my ears, he’d get angry and grab my hands. He also slapped me a few times when I tried to push him away.”
Liam’s entire body went stiff, and I could see the anger on his face and in his eyes.
“You mentioned he said there were others before you?” Randy asked.
“Yes. He didn’t say how many, but it was clear there had been others before me simply from the blood on the mattress, and of course, Emily’s necklace.”