The Woman They Kept Read Online Free PDF Page B

think so. The woman,” Gideon gave
a tentative glance toward Sammy, “worked in your profession.
She mentioned that she had been 'seasoned,' and that most likely the
girl I'm looking for had been as well.”
    Ilsa's eyes dropped to the floor
and she began to play with her lighter. “Sammy, why don't you
take some money out of my purse and go get dinner for the three of
us, yeah?”
    As soon as the door clicked and
Sammy's crutch clanking receded down the hall her eyes shifted back
to Gideon. “I work for myself. What I do is legal here in
Elsinore, but that's not true everywhere. The legality of it has
perks, I can go to the peace officers if I need to, but the legality
doesn't stop the dogs from using Elsinore as part of the track.”
    “ Working for myself is one
thing," she continued. "I put a good roof over Sammy's
head and keep food in his stomach. I don't take clients I don't
want and I don't hand over my money to anyone else. But not
everyone in this business works for themselves, and I didn't used
to.”
    “ You see, a lot of girls
get taken and moved city to city, they're confused and disoriented,
they have all their money taken from them and can't go to the peace
officers.”
    “ Why not?” Gideon
interjected. “It seems like they have time to run, the
managers can't watch them all the time.”
    The lighter twirled in her hand.
“They keep a better look than you would think, and even if
they get away, a lot of places they just get arrested for being a
whore. Even if it's a place like this where it's legal, some of the
cops are on the payroll of the riders. You never know who's safe
and who isn't.”
    “ So you have to understand
that not all of these girls are eager participants. They try to run
or they won't service clients, and that's when they get seasoned.”
    Ilsa motioned toward the door.
“Before I had Sammy I lived out in Kitswitch. It was nice
enough, there was always food on the table, but my parents never
really cared about me. I was just there because I was related to
them, you know? Well one day this older guy named Jeff starts
paying attention to me. I couldn't believe it. Me; ugly, young,
little eighteen year old me just starting to bloom into womanhood
and here was this handsome older guy who was paying me attention.
We kept our relationship secret.”
    “ Oh, sure, it was
wonderful in the beginning. He was a regular Romeo, giving me gifts
and telling me how beautiful I was. He was my first, he took my
virginity in one of the most romantic nights of my life.” She
sighed and smiled at the memory before it faded and she continued.
“Things started getting physical after that. It wasn't much,
a slap here, calling me a whore in bed, but it kept getting worse.”
    “ The first time he tricked
me out he said he needed money to go to the hospital, said he knew
someone who would pay enough to get him there just for one hour with
me. I was so heartbroken, just a eighteen year old kid and here
he's telling me that I should be noble and do this for him. I told
him I was sorry, but I just couldn't do that, I would try another
way. He beat me pretty bad for that. It wasn't the answer he was
looking for.”
    She pulled back her hair and
showed Gideon a long and jagged scar that ran from her temple down
to her jaw. “I still have a scar from that night.”
    “ He wasn't done, though.
He tied me ass up on his bed and had the guy over to do it anyway.
Told me that was how it was. I tore up pretty badly down there, but
Jeff started calling people and they all came over and had a go. By
the end when they untied me I couldn't even walk to the bathroom.”
    Ilsa lit up another cigarette on
the butt of the first. The glow at the tip shook slightly in her
hand. “You don't even know how fast the fight will go out of
you, and here I thought he loved me. I wasn't nothing but a horse
in his stable. Jeff sold me to one of his friends, I never saw him
again, and the new guy had me out on the street