Chapter Twenty Two: Missing
Angel didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until she jolted upright at the sound of the door clicking open.
The suited man slipped back into the room, followed by Dante.
Angel’s body tensed as she tried to stifle her happiness at seeing Dante. Even if he couldn’t help her out of this mess, a familiar face was something she could settle for.
The suited man sat back down at the table, and Dante pulled another chair out and sat next to him.
Angel looked back and forth between the two men.
“How old are you, Angel?”
Angel glared at the man, “I told you, I don’t know,” she practically hissed.
Dante leaned across the table, towards her, “look Angel, officer Harding is just trying to do his job here. These are just routine questions, and the quicker we get through them, the quicker we can talk about what’s next.”
“What do you mean, what’s next?”
“Angel, please,” Dante stated with a bit more force.
Angel swallowed hard, “I don’t know,” she stated, each word firm and harsh. “I don’t remember much from when I was little,” her eyes darted up to Dante’s, “all I remember is Frank, and then Rich. Nothing before that.”
Dante held her gaze.
“I’ve been with Rich eleven years.”
Dante nodded, “Do you remember how long you were with Frank?”
Angel shook her head, “Rich tells people I’m twenty two, but neither of us really know.”
Officer Harding wrote in the file, “and who is Rich?”
Angel broke her stare with Dante, to lower her eyes to the table.
“He’s a pimp.”
Angel shot Dante a glare. He could get her in trouble by saying such things.
The man also turned to look at Dante.
Dante’s stare never faltered from Angel as he added “he is part of our investigation.”
Angel tensed.
“Angel, what do you know about Frank?”
Angel clenched her jaw and glared at Dante a moment longer before answering him, “he’s a guerilla.”
Dante nodded, waiting for her to continue.
“He’s a pimp who specializes in seasoning girls. His methods are a bit…brutal.”
Dante nodded again, “does he sell girls? Collect? Or just train and pimp?”
Angel’s eyes lowered and shifted as she thought about the question, “he doesn’t usually sell. He collects girls that have been discarded by other pimps, and turns them out for himself.”
Dante nodded again, “and how did you become under his control? Do you remember?”
Angel shook her head, “I don’t… I don’t remember much from that time. Just that I was there…” her voice trailed off.
Dante and officer Harding shot each other quick glances, before Dante leaned across the table again, “Angel, when you were brought in, they took your fingerprints.”
“Yeah, I was there,” Angel stated sarcastically, still staring in space.
“Usually we use fingerprints to look up other cases someone might be involved in.”
Angel didn’t respond, and the two men shot each other another glance before Dante went on, “Angel, we got a match on your prints.”
At that, Angel’s eyes snapped up at Dante, “that’s impossible, I’ve never been arrested before.”
“To a kidnapping case,” Dante continued, ignoring her protest. “Alicia Rapp was kidnapped from her home fifteen years ago. She was never found, the case went cold. There weren’t many leads, and the only promising lead was the girl’s uncle. He had a grudge with the girl’s parents, but the investigation on him turned up nothing, and he was dropped as a suspect.”
Angel’s eyes shifted back into space as she mauled over the information that was being thrown at her.
“Angel,” Dante continued, “your prints, they match Alicia’s”
Angel shook her head, slow at first, then quicker as reality crept into her mind “no no no no. No, that’s not me. My name is Angel Price.” She tugged at her cuffed hands, trying to hold her head, but finding herself unable. Panic began to rise in Angel’s chest, and she tugged again at her cuffs, whimpering softly as tears began to form again.
“Can we get these off of her?” Dante asked officer Harding, before taking the key from him and unlocking the cuffs on Angel’s wrists.
Angel ripped her hands free, pressing her palms to her eyes, trying to push her tears back into her eyes. She let out another whimper, and Dante reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. She flinched away from his touch.
“In light of this information,” officer Harding stated, “we are willing to drop the solicitation charges.”
Angel didn’t respond, still holding her head in her hands.
“Seeing as this is your first offense, we are dropping the fine for the loitering charge to two hundred dollars,” officer Harding continued. “Will you be able to pay that by the time you leave here?”
“It won’t be an issue,” Dante intervened.
Officer Harding glanced at Dante, then back to Angel, “we also need your cooperation.”
Angel moved her hands from her face, composing herself just enough to play off her tears.
“We need your cooperation on officer Baldwin’s case.”
Angel glanced at Dante, then to officer Harding, “am I under investigation?”
Dante shook his head, “no. Our investigation is into the men, the pimps. There has been a high volume of under age girls being thrown into this lifestyle. Our investigation is into the human trafficking of these minor girls, and the pimps who move them.”
“And you want me to give you intel.”
“Help us on this case, and your charges are dropped,” officer Harding stated matter of factly.
Angel huffed, an image of a beaten, lifeless Emily filled her memory, “fuck the charges. You want to take Bishop down. I’m game.”
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Angel was sliding her phone back into her pocket, when Dante approached her.
“You need a ride?”
Angel shook her head, “I called Diamond. She is going to pick me up.”
Dante nodded, “are you ok with this?”
Angel shrugged, “I don’t really have a choice now do I?”
“Angel, I don’t mean to make your life difficult.”
Angel cut him off, “my life is more difficult than you can begin to imagine.” When he lowered his head, she added “but it is pretty clear cut too. Do as you’re told or there are consequences. And let’s be honest, jail time isn’t exactly a consequence I can afford.”
“But a two hundred dollar fee, you can?”
Angel locked her eyes on Dante “on a good night, it doesn’t take long.” She glanced outside, seeing a car pull up. “My ride.”
Dante looked out at the car, seeing a woman get out of the driver’s seat. She was tall, thin with high cheekbones, caramel colored skin, and large, full lips. He glanced back at Angel, who was now making her way to the door.
The two women greeted each other quietly, and Dante quickly slipped out of view before the tall woman had a chance to see him. He did not want to jeopardize Angel now that she would be helping him.
It was a good thing, that she was helping. They would gather a lot more information with Angel’s inside knowledge, and bringing down a ring of human traffickers who had a taste for minor children, would be a huge win for Dante and the other investigators. But Dante knew it left Angel in a predicament. With the traffickers out of action, Angel would no longer be under the control of her own pimp. Her life depended on him, and as strong as she was, Dante was not sure she could survive this life on her own.
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“What happened?” Rich was waiting in the car for the two women.
Angel slid into the backseat as Diamond slid behind the wheel.
Rich looked at Diamond expectingly.
“Two hundred for loitering,” she answered matter of factly.
Angel was silent in the backseat, her eyes focused on the front of the station as Diamond put the car into gear and drove away.
Rich turned to give Angel a stern look, “you’re lucky that’s all you were picked up on.” When she didn’t respond, he added, “you’ll pay back the two hundred.”
Again Angel did not respond. She had already assumed she would be paying back the money Rich has forked over for her fine.
Rich turned away from Angel, “where were you picked up?”
“My usual spot.”
Rich was quiet a moment before mumbling, “you’ll stay at the PD until we can get you on a new track.” He put a hand on Diamond’s knee gently, turning his attention towards her, “baby, call Riggs tonight, ask him if she can cousin up.”
Angel’s jaw clenched. Making her work with another girl would mean profits would be split, and it would be harder for Angel to make back the money she owed Rich.
He turned back to her, “you can make quota at the PD, and pay back the two hundred from clients.” He gave Diamond’s knee a gentle squeeze and a smile, letting the three of them ride the rest of the way in silence.
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Angel closed her eyes. The cool material of the pillow cradled her cheek as she curled in a ball. It would take time to block out the memories of her fight with Rich, or at least until she could close her eyes and not relive the argument over agin.
It had been three days since she was arrested, and she was stuck in the robotic and automatic movements of this life. She worked at the club each night for long hours, desperately trying to earn enough money to be allowed to come home. But people weren’t paying like they used to. Not since the shooting last winter.
When her quota was met, she teamed up with one of Riggs’ girls, and they took clients together, splitting their earning. Last night she had earned the last bit of the money she owed Rich for her fine. When she had returned home, money in hand, she had found Rich and Diamond snuggled up together on the couch, watching tv. Neither of them had acknowledged her as she shut the door. She smoothed out the cash she had made, more than enough to pay off the last bit of her debt, and approached the couple.
Diamond glanced up at Angel as she approached, but Rich continued to ignore her.
Angel knelt on the floor, her head bowed low. Getting off her sore feet was a relief but the weight of Rich’s cold shoulder was almost unbearable. Both hands extended, she held her earnings out to him.
With her head bowed, she couldn’t see Rich or Diamond, but she knew he was still ignoring her. She stayed there, submissively frozen in her offering for a moment longer, until Diamond took the money from her.
“Seven fifty,” Diamond whispered to Rich before setting the money on the coffee table.
Angel heard Rich shift in his seat, “go get some sleep.”
She glanced up at him. He still was not looking at her. Silently, she stood, her head still lowered, and began to walk away from the couple.
Rich caught her wrist before she could get too far. She stopped, waiting for his next command.
“Good girl,” he let go of her.
She waited only a moment longer, wondering if there would be a command, but when none came, she quickly made her way upstairs to the spare bedroom.
Now she waited for sleep to come, knowing it wouldn’t.
The door clicked open, and Angel thought about pretending to be asleep, to not be bothered. She felt a hand on her hip, and she couldn’t stifle the flinch that was habit at being touched.
“Easy,” Rich soothed, but Angel’s body stayed tense. “Come,” he ordered gently.
Instinctively and robotically, Angel shifted to her stomach, folding her knees underneath her, and pushing her ass up; a familiar pose in her line of work.
He gently rubbed her ass before giving her hip a squeeze, “no, come here.” He tugged at her, guiding her to sit on the edge of the bed.
He stood before her, putting a finger under her chin and lifting her face to look at him.
She closed her eyes.
His finger brushed her cheekbone, where a small bruise was forming; a gift from a client earlier that night. Bruises were common, but it didn’t make them less painful, and she flinched at his touch.
“You think I wouldn’t notice?”
She didn’t respond. Honestly, she didn’t think he had.
“I didn’t expect you to be in here.”
She pulled her chin from his hand, bowing her head again, “Diamond is in your room now.”
“So?”
“That’s her spot.”
Rich let out a soft tsk, “Diamond is only here until you’re back in the house. Which you are now, seeing as that debt is paid.”
Angel was quiet.
“Let’s talk about what happened.”
She swallowed hard, waiting for him to ask.
“Start with Bishop. Why did you mouth off?”
With her head still bowed, Angel recalled the stand off she had with him. She knew she shouldn’t say too much, but was careful to give Rich the information and details he needed.
“Riggs said Bishop took an interest in Brynn.”
Angel nodded.
“So you were protecting my assets.”
Angel was silent, her head still bowed.
“Alright, and how did you catch a case?”
Again, she gave Rich the details she needed about her arrest. When he pushed her for details about her questioning, she responded only with “I told them only what was necessary.”
“Why did they lessen your charges? You were arrested for intent, but they lessened it to loitering.”
Angel thought for a moment, “must have been pity.”
Rich huffed, “no pig pities a whore. What did you say?”
Angel shook her head, “I didn’t tell them anything.”
“Then what did you do?”
Angel tensed, and her eyes narrowed, but she kept her gaze on the floor. “I didn’t work him, if that’s what you mean.”
“You must have done something.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Angel spoke sternly.
Rich grabbed Angel by the throat, forcing her onto her back on the bed. He felt her tense in his grasp, and her eyes closed swiftly. “Don’t lie to me,” he growled, “give me your eyes and tell me why they lessened the charges.”
“I told you…”
“Eyes!”
Slowly, Angel opened her eyes, looking into his icy blue ones, “pity.”
“Why would a pig pity you?” His grasp was still strong on her throat.
“Alicia Rapp.”
Rich’s brow furrowed, “who’s that?”
“A girl who was kidnapped fifteen years ago.”
Rich let go of her throat, leaning away from her to allow her to sit upright. “Why does that matter?”
“Because,”Angel pushed herself upright, rubbing the side of her neck gently, “she’s me.”
Rich’s brow furrowed as he mauled over what she told him. “How do you know?”
“My fingerprints apparently match her’s.”
“Fifteen years ago? That would have made you about seven.”
Angel nodded, “they thought her uncle took her, but they couldn’t prove it, so the case went cold.”
“Her uncle?” Rich’s brow furrowed more, “that would make Frank your…” His voice trailed off.
Angel bowed her head.
There was a long moment of silence, as the two lost themselves in their own thoughts. Then Rich spoke softly, “they have your prints now. You need to be careful.”
“They’ve had my prints. They just didn’t know it was me. No one did.”
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Diamond glanced over her shoulder when she heard Rich come down the stairs. She scooted over on the couch, giving him room to sit next to her.
His mind was elsewhere, and it must have shown on his face, because Diamond softly stated, “that girl is too much stress on you,” before planting a small kiss under his ear, and curling up next to him.
Habitually, he put his arm around her shoulders as he stared at the tv, not paying any attention to what was playing on it.
“I know she’s your favorite, Daddy, but you don’t need all that stress all the time.”
“Watch your mouth,” he grumbled half-heartedly, before slipping his phone out of his pocket.
“I just think you deserve some relaxing time,” she kissed him again.
He ignored her, typing Alicia Rapp to the search bar on his phone. He scrolled through the search results, reading the headlines.
Girl, Aged 7, Taken From Yard.
Rapp Daughter Missing.
Suspect Leaves No Leads In Kidnapping Case.
Mother Commits Murder After Daughter’s Kidnapping.
Vigil Service For Missing Girl.
Rich switched over to images. A young girl in a white frock of a dress, stared back at him. She had dark brown, almost black hair, that hung to her shoulders, and bangs that were tousled on her pale forehead. Her lips were full, curling up in the corners, to form an innocent smile. Her green eyes, with gold flecks at their centers, captivated him. The smile was unfamiliar, both those eyes were all too revealing of the young girl’s identity. Most people wouldn’t recognize the girl, as fifteen years had caused some drastic physical changes, but Rich recognized those eyes instantly.
He glanced down, feeling Diamond tugging at his pants, “no baby, not right now.”
“Relax Daddy,” she unzipped him and gently pulled him free of his pants, “you deserve this, and you need it.” She lowered herself to him, and went to work with her mouth.
He glanced back at his phone, before letting out a soft groan of pleasure, and set it down on the arm of the couch. She was good at her job, and Rich couldn’t deny that he needed the relaxation. His hand found the back of her head, and he guided her, though she didn’t need it.
His thoughts of Angel and her situation would have to wait. Right now, all he wanted was to relax.