Page 9 of Taking What Was His

Roman sat back. “What kind?”

“A van of illegal immigrants was pulled over.”

“That’s a different division.”

“Yeah,” the cop said. “But it looks like the girls were involved with human slavery.”

“Fuck. Anyone get in touch with the feds?”

“Yeah, but they’ll be a while, and the girls are hysterical.”

“Do any of them speak any English?”

“One, and it’s barely. We’ve called in the translator, but I thought you’d want to know what was going on and that you’ll have to deal with the feds.”

“Oh, yay, lucky me,” Roman said sarcastically, making the cop chuckle. “Where are the girls?”

“We have them in a conference room downstairs.”

“All right, I’ll be right down. Get the girls blankets, water, and something to eat.”

“Got it.”

Roman sighed. “It is going to be a long day,” he mumbled to himself.

He made his way down to the basement. He heard the girls crying before he hit the last step. “Shit.”

He took a step into the room and stepped right back out when a few started screaming.

“Who’s all in there?” he asked an officer standing there.

“Our three women officers. They scream every time a man goes in.”

“Yeah, I learned that.” He combed his fingers through his hair. “How far out is the translator?”

“She should be coming soon.”

Roman stiffened when he remembered who the person was. He hadn’t said a word to her, but she still affected him more than any other woman in his life. He wanted to get more settled before he asked her out, but maybe it would happen sooner than he thought.

Beth came through the door with an officer, utterly oblivious to everything else as they talked.

She was as beautiful as he remembered with her long dark hair and petite, willowy build. She looked professional in black dress pants and a white silky button-down shirt.

She stopped abruptly when she caught sight of him. They stared at each other for a long moment before a scream from the room got her moving again. She stopped and looked up at him.

“Hi. My name is Beth. Can we talk later?”

“Yes, get the girls settled. We’ve got provisions coming.”

She nodded and walked into the conference room. He heard an ear-splitting whistle and then blessed silence. He stayed right outside the door, as she explained in rapid Spanish.

“Do you know what she’s saying?” the officer asked the captain.

He nodded. “Yeah, a bit. It’s been a while. She’s telling them to stay calm and that no one there would hurt them. She’s telling them they were going to make sure they got back to their families as soon as possible.”

“Whatever she’s saying is helping. It sounds like a few are still crying, but they’ve settled down.”

He kept listening as she soothed the girls. He turned when a door opened down the hall, and a few people came toward them with blankets, food, and water.