Page 50 of Healing Conviction
Nora’s thigh tensed underneath his fingertips. “Let me ask,” she began. “Is there any chance it said ‘CTI’?”
“Psh, I don’t fuckin’ know. It wasn’t like I had a damn pencil.”
“That’s okay. Just what you remember, then. No pressure,” Nora responded with all the kindness he lacked. “What happened after that?”
“Everything’s a blur except for the first time I was in front of all these men, naked. They were talkin’ and laughin’ and I couldn’t understand what was goin’ on until I was passed around. That happened a few times. Different places. Mostly shitty hotels.”
Nora sucked in a breath. “I’m so sorry, Shanna.”
She lifted a shoulder. “I think I was sold. Everyone always asks, ‘why didn’t you run away?’ but eventually I checked out. Forgot what I used to be. Where I wanted to go. I liked the sleep they gave me and the high they supplied me. I mean, maybe this was my punishment for fightin’ with my mom all the time, I don’t fuckin’ know, but it had to be somethin’ wrong withme, since this was the second time I’d been caught up in it.”
“Don’t blame yourself.” Nora’s voice was full of conviction. “It hadnothingto do with you, Shanna.”
“Actually, I think itdidhave to do with me. At that first party, one of them talked about how I was one of the Rahab Foundation’s girls and how they were supposed to ‘expire’ me after or some shit. I don’t fuckin’ know why they were told that, and why they didn’t. Sometimes, I wish they had.”
While Nora tried her best to cure Shanna of her worst thoughts, Draco’s spiraled around the organization his team had used for seven years. He wished Shanna was wrong, but his gut told him she was telling the truth.
His teammates had mentioned that their prior contacts might’ve been compromised. Their mission as MF7 had been to rescue trafficking victims all over the world. They’d used the Rahab Foundation specifically to provide a multitude of services and reconnect survivors with their families.
The way she’d talked before about how they’d helped her had given him a modicum of hope. But this woman had confirmed independently that the organization was a sham. And no doubt, all their hard work had been for the enemy, not for the good. The realization made him sick.
“After the parties started—and that’s what they called them, too,parties—I didn’t give a shit about anything. I gave up. Let them fuck me. Begged for the drugs. I was the party favor everyone wanted until one day I guess I wasn’t good enough anymore. They took me to a hotel. Had a party and I passed out from the drugs. When I woke up, they’d all left.”
“They just… left?” Nora asked. “They left you there?”
“Yup. I was there for a while too, until I realized I could leave. It took me needin’ my next fix to figure it out. After that, I tried to find my family. I did, actually, at one point. They were livin’ in a nice house, much nicer than where we lived before. I saw my mom. She told me that their lives were better off without me and if I came back, I’d be makin’ my brother’s lives worse. She wouldn’t tell me how. I wouldn’t have believed her, except she looked real scared, and actually gavememoney for a change. So I took it and stayed gone.
“Didn’t rightly know what to do with myself, so I kinda… kept on keepin’ on. Doin’ what I knew: men and drugs. I didn’t want this for myself—” Her voice broke before she cleared her throat. “I don’t want this for anyone except all the bastards that put me there. But at least what I’m doin’ to myself now ismedoin’ it.”
“Did you ever try to find help?” Nora asked.
Shanna’s face darkened. “After the Rahab Foundation fucked me over royally like that? Hell no. I wanted to. Even went to libraries and tried to find the foundation again so I could give ‘em a piece of my mind, but no one knew what the fuck I was talkin’ about,” she scoffed. “Figures. I almost didn’t wanna usey’all,but you guys were my ticket out.” She shook her rope handcuffs. “Didn’t know y’all’d knock me out and be up for kinky shit though, or I might’ve changed my mind.”
“Yeah, about that,” Nora began. “If you hadn’t freaked out on ustwice, you’d be free right now. I promise we’ll let you go wherever we drop you off.”
“What’d you hit me with? I actually feel… good. Not like ‘high’ good. Butgoodgood. It’s weird.”
“Irrelevant. It didn’t harm you, so you don’t need to worry about that,” Draco answered before Nora could. “Whatisimportant is while you were passed out, someone in a black SUV attacked us. Do you happen to know anything about that? Like who or why?”
Shanna’s sickly skin paled. “I… I don’t know, honestly. I’m sorta runnin’ low on cash lately, which means I’ve got my share of enemies. But usually I can um… pay for that in a different way, if you catch my drift.”
Nora nodded. “Okay… is there anything else you can think of?
“That’s everythin’ to know about me, really. Not very glamorous, huh?”
Nora’s smile was genuine, but sad. “You could start over, you know. New town, new life? You’ve done it once, you can do it again. I work with survivors professionally, and I know a place that’s great—”
“Nope. Not doin’ it. I ain’t goin’ back into that shit—”
“They’ll take care of you, I swear. They’re not like the people who’ve hurt you. There are good resources out there that you can use. The Rahab Foundation, what they did, was horrible in so many ways, one of which is they made you think there aren’t people who want to help you. But we exist, I promise. Just… trust me? Please?”
“I’m sorry. I can’t. I won’t go back. I don’t know you from Adam. Y’all are nice for lettin’ me hitch a ride with you, but you’re basically a free bus ticket. That don’t mean I trust you.”
A defeated sigh left Nora’s body as she sagged against the seat belt. “Fair. I can’t fault you for that.”
They’d arrived at the small town, two hours from Jasmine’s home, and while Nora talked with Shanna, Draco had already slowed outside the shelter Nora had told him about. Before he could speed back up, Shanna seemed to realize where they were and screamed bloody murder again.
“No! I said no! No!”