Curiosity Killed the Kat (7 page)

I tried to think about my options. If Steven really was a part of human trafficking, actually selling girls to men, I couldn’t stay with him. I would never be able to look at him again, much less let him touch me. The thought of his hands on me made my skin crawl. If it was true, I could go to my mothers. But didn’t I owe it to him to talk to him about it? To make him try and tell me what was going on. After all, he was convinced of my loyalty. Let him tell me then and if it was true, I could tell him to his face that I wanted no part of it. I wasn’t afraid of what he would do to me necessarily. I knew he had a temper and he could be cold to me, which I hated almost as much as if he hit me, but the only time he was rough with me was in the bedroom and that was the only type of sex I’ve ever known – it excited me.

Pulling into our driveway I was relieved to see that the house was still empty.
Rationally I knew it would be, after all when I ran out of Charlie’s house Steven was still inside; but, my fear was guiding my thoughts and I had visions of Steven waiting for me at the front door.

I threw the car into park, turned off the engine, and leaped out of the driver’s seat. I was so charged with adrenaline that I couldn’t think straight. All I could see was Sandra’s tear stained face clutching that knife and staring at me in fear. I couldn’t leave her with Charlie and Steven, she had heard Charlie do something to Sana. I didn’t know what he had done, but I didn’t like him telling Steven that Sana was ‘gone.’ Even though I was almost positive they were involved with selling women to men, I couldn’t bring myself to think that Charlie could have committed murder.

Once inside the cool interior of the house my pulse started to resume a slower pace. I had a few obvious problems. Number one: Steven and Charlie knew I’d been at the agency that day. They’d also known I had used a fake name to try and get information about Sana; that was going to be hard to explain away. Number two: My purse was still with Sandra – hopefully – at Charlie’s house. If they found it on her, they would know I’d also been there. And number three
: Steven had my wallet, which meant I had no ID, no credit cards, and no way to withdraw any money – nothing. I was as trapped as Sandra.

My options were limited. I could call the police and point them toward Charlie in an effort to help Sandra; but, then Steven might be implicated and I didn’t want to involve him until I knew exactly what his role in this was. Or, I could try and return to Charlie’s and stage a dramatic break-out for Sandra by mysel
f; not a very tempting scenario;
or
,
I could let this progress and wait for Steven to come home.

The truth was that
all my options were bad. I wasn’t going to be able to do anything by myself; I had no money and no place to go. But, it felt wrong to just sit and do nothing and wait for Steven. That option felt like the kind of choice the old Katherine would make. The woman Steven thought he knew. For the first time, I was determined to regain some independence and clarity.

I couldn’t just stand in my kitchen and go around and around the situation. I had to act; to do something, anything. As my hand brushed against the soft cotton of my dress I knew the first thing to do – change clothes. I had a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that I wore for gardening and working outside. Steven hated pants on a woman, and especially jeans, but right now those jeans were exactly what I needed to put on. It was a small act, but it felt good to defy him for once.

As I slipped the jeans up over my thighs I decided that I wouldn’t let Steven dictate my dress code any longer. If we made it through this, and I wondered if that would be possible, I would wear whatever I wanted. Steven and his likes and dislikes could go to hell.

Finally comfortable in my broken-in jeans, I went back to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator starving. I hadn’t eaten anything since early that morning, and I didn’t know when I’d get the chance to eat again. A plan was formulating in my brain, but I needed food to keep my strength up and let me think clearly.

I made a sandwich and ate it standing over the counter.
Of course I couldn’t go tearing off to Charlie’s and burst into the house for Sandra as if I was an action hero; but, I could go back and wait for Steven and Charlie to come out. When they were gone it might be possible for Sandra and I to get her things, including my purse, and escape. Sure, I didn’t have any money, but I did have a full tank of gas and my mother who lived not far away in
Danbury,
Connecticut
. We could go to her house and she would know what to do.

Bolstered by the food and my new plan of action, I went back out to the Rover and headed for Charlie’s house. I was glad I hadn’t been able to predict the way this day would go when I left the house this morning. I would never have had the courage to step out the door. As it was, I was proud of myself for doing something about this situation. I knew Steven wasn’t wrong when he said he had me under control. I’d been his puppet for a long time and I knew exactly how he thought I would behave. That’s why I was dead set on doing the opposite of what he expected.

Before I knew it I was pulling up outside Charlie’s house again. As before I passed the house and parked up the street. If I turned in my seat I could see them if they left the house, but since I was sheltered between two other cars, it would be harder for them to see me. Even if they drove past me I doubted Steven would notice. He would never expect me to be here, and his apparent fear and frustration over this situation would blind him to his surroundings. I knew him, I knew he had tunnel vision when he was dealing with a problem. I could probably stand on the side of the road naked and he would blindly drive past me.

I felt reasonably confident of my position, but I didn’t want to push it. I scrunched down into the seat. The mo
vement made me think about the sex we’d had in the car last night and I could feel myself getting wet when I remembered how Steven’s fingers had entered me during our drive home. I still felt like I could taste him in my mouth and my body involuntarily ached at the thought of his rock hard penis thrusting into me. I pushed the thoughts away and reminded myself that he might be part of a human trafficking ring. He could be a kidnapper or worse. I hated the thought that I’d been sleeping with this man for so long without knowing what he was capable of. I knew it was true, but it was still so hard to believe.

An hour passed before I finally saw movement at Charlie’s house. The garage door was going up and I could see Charlie’s car backing down the driveway. Although I didn’t think Steven would notice me or my car, I still breathed a sigh of relief when the car turned the opposite direction and disappeared down the road. I could only hope that Sandra hadn’t been in the back seat. If they had taken her with them my plan was lost and I knew I had no hope of saving her.

I ran up the sidewalk toward Charlie’s door, all the time eyeing the direction they had gone in case they were to turn around and come back. Pounding on the door I prayed for Sandra to open it. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the drapes move and Sandra’s face appeared at the window.

“Open the door Sandra, I’m here to help you,” I told her through the door.

“I can’t.” Her heavy accented voice was barely understandable through the thick door.

“What do you mean?” I was starting to feel frantic. “Open the door, I’m going to get you out of here.”

“Please, I can’t. He has a deadbolt on it and I need a key to open it. He locked me in.” Sandra sounded frantic too, and her voice was filling with tears.

Oh god, what now. Is it not enough that I mustered up the courage to come and save her, only to be stopped by this evil man and a lock? There had to be another way. Then I remembered the mud room. I’d known it was an exit because I had seen the sun coming through the door. I could break the glass and pull Sandra through. She was so small, I knew she would fit. She had to.

“Sandra,” I told her. “Go to the back door, I’m going to pull you out.”

I ran
around the side of the house into the backyard and to the mud room door. I couldn’t believe it had only been a few hours since I had burst out of it in a panic. I had hoped to never return to this house, but of course I couldn’t let anything happen to Sandra.

Using a nearby rock as a weapon, I pounded on the glass above the handle. I was surprised it didn’t break at once, but I had to smash the rock against the glass at least three times before it finally started to break. He must have had extra strength glass installed so it couldn’t be broken. Once I saw it crack, my energy was renewed. I pounded against the window with the rock over and over again until glass started to shatter and fall to my feet.

I could see Sandra standing away from the door, closer to the kitchen, clutching a small bag and thank god she had my purse in other hand.

“Sandra,” I shouted, “grab some kitchen towels and put them over this glass. You have to climb out. Is there a stool or a chair you can stand on?”

I watched as she scurried into the kitchen and started grabbing towels. Running back to the door she threw them toward me and ran off again to get something to stand on. I busied myself arranging the towels over the broken glass on the window frame. I tried to pad the worst spots as much as possible so she wouldn’t get cut as she climbed out. With an eye on my watch I mentally urged her to hurry back with a chair.

After what seemed like endless minutes she appeared carrying a stool. She tossed her bag and my purse through the opening to me and climbed up on the stool to get herself out the window. Shaking she stood uncertainly at the opening.

“How do I do it?” She asked.

I looked at the situation. She could either try and bend down and come out head first, trusting me to be able to lift her out or she could try and step through and into my waiting arms to support her. Neither method would be comfortable.

“Just try and come through head first.” I told her, “I’m going to try and
lift you out from this side while you push through from that side, okay?”

She looked doubtful, but dutifully she bent over and started propelling her body through the window.

Breathless I grabbed her and tried to pull her through the opening. She was small, but I wasn’t strong. My exercise routine focused on fat burning not muscle building. Steven had always liked me to be thin and lanky. He didn’t approve of women with big muscles and I’d never been interested in weight lifting. Now I regretted that decision.

Grunting, I kept pulling until with a final push her whole weight fell into me and took us both down to the ground. I lay there for a moment trying to get my breath back while she jumped to her feet and grabbed her things along with my purse.

“Please get up,” she said, “they are coming back soon. They only went to pick up food. Please hurry.”

Oh god, I thought, please let us get out of here before Charlie and Steven return. The thought of being caught in Charlie’s backyard propelled me into action and I unsteadily got to my feet.

“Ok, I’m okay,” I assured her. “Let’s go! My car is on the street.”

Together we ran around the side of the house to the street. I could see my Range Rover half a block away, but a quick glance in the other direction revealed Charlie’s car heading toward us. They were still far enough away that I didn’t think they could see us, especially with the glare of the setting sun in their eyes, but it was clear that we were in danger and we needed to run faster than we ever had in our lives.

Grabbing Sandra’s hand I pulled her across the street and dropped to a hunched run, yanking her hand for her to do the same. I hoped the parked cars would shield us from them and buy us time to get to the safety of the Rover.

I didn’t look back I just kept going forward. Sandra, to her credit, was as focused as I was. She never hesitated, she just ran with me as fast as she could in the awkward position. Behind us I could hear the roar of Charlie’s engine and I held my breath waiting for it to overtake us and angry voices to betray our position, but thankfully it turned into his driveway without incident and by the time the garage door was fully closed we were in the Rover.

When we pulled away from the curb and were driving away from Charlie’s house I could feel Sandra relax beside me.
I reached over and gripped her hand and she held tightly to me. Her grateful smile glowed in the dashboard lights and I smiled back, but inside I had a dreadful feeling that we were not yet out of danger and the worst was still in front of us.

It took us 3 hours to get to my childhood home in Danbury.
I spent the drive dividing my attention between the road in front of me and the rearview mirror. I saw the faces of Steven and Charlie in the faces of every other driver on the road. I drove in fear that his car would appear behind us and the whole nightmare would begin again. But, it never happened, we arrived at my mother’s without incident. I was never so grateful to pull up in front of the modest little red brick house with my mother’s famous roses growing on the bushes in front.

I parked in front and we came up the walk, Sandra struggling to carry her bag, exhausted by the events of the day. The house was dark, but I knocked anyway, hoping she was in bed early and would be woken up by our arrival.  I pounded on the door, but it remained stubbornly closed. Where could she be? I could see her car in the garage, so I thought she may be at one of the neighbors or had gone to dinner with a friend. I didn’t have a key, our relationship had been rocky over the years and we had gone long stretches of time without talking. Our mother daughter bond didn’t extend to spare keys, unfortunately.