Lee walked into the room until he was standing in front of where I sat on the floor.
“Thank you,” he whispered, and held his hand out to me. I looked at it for a moment, then at him, feeling like he was thanking me for more than just cleaning up the office.
His green eyes were a dark, mossy color, red-rimmed, but vibrant. The pain I saw there, the anguish… I couldn’t let it stay a moment longer. I placed my hand in his and he pulled me to my feet. My body rocked slightly at the sudden reduction in gravity.
We teetered momentarily, then we were leaning close. Too close, again. We stood there, frozen for a moment, wobbling on the edgeof… something, until Lee seemed to shake himself slightly, clearing his throat and stepping back.
“Maybe we should have this discussion in the kitchen…” he said, his face solemn as he turned to go to the other room. I couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at my mouth. At least I wasn’t the only one who had a hard time focusing in close quarters.
In the kitchen he sat down at the table and I sat down across from him, then silence fell. Neither of us seemed to know exactly how to start this conversation.
“How did you end up in Milwaukee?” I asked finally.
“I was driving for Uber and had picked up a couple of army guys who were afraid of flying, but they needed to get home, so, I drove them to Milwaukee from Cleveland.”
“Hell of a long drive,” I said.
“Yeah, swore I’d never do that drive again. But I liked driving… got me out of my head, let me meet new people, let me make a little extra money. The trip was last minute, so they even paid for a hotel room for me for a couple of nights in Milwaukee.”
“I did a little sightseeing, then went on the internet. I hope you believe me when I tell you, I didn’t know you were just a kid,” Lee said earnestly. “I mean, I thought you were a lot older than eighteen. I responded to an add online… there was a picture of you in a tux. You looked young, yes, but I had no idea you were barely eighteen.”
“That photo… there was something about it… something about your eyes. You were the most beautiful human being I’d ever seen in my life, but your eyes looked… haunted. Lost. It felt like… I could see all the sadness in your eyes that you were trying to hide from the world,” he sighed.
“Did… did you know who I was when I came to Akron?” I asked, my hands folding and unfolding a piece of paper I’d sketched on the previous day. A horrible thought occurred to me. “Do your brothers know?”
“No!” he said emphatically, shaking his head. “No. My brothers hired you, I didn’t know anything about you at first. I lost track of youafter my last trip to the hospital… it must have been shortly after that when you changed your name.”
“You… you came to the hospital?” I exclaimed, surprised. I’d never known.
Lee nodded dejectedly at the table, his head down.
“Why?”
“I promised you I wouldn’t leave you. I couldn’t go in the ambulance with you, so I visited you at night. At the hospital, I mean, when you were still in a coma,” he said, his voice hollow. “I was so damn scared for you, Mason.”
He looked up at me, his eyes overflowing with tears.
“I stayed with you until the night I walked in and found you there with Tira Graham. She was there with this detective who was investigating your case. She told me about you saving her granddaughter and they started asking me how I knew you. I knew it was time to go back to Ohio.”
His voice trailed off for a moment, then he spoke again, his voice stronger.
“After Mack died, I did a lot of things I’m not proud of, Mason, but hiring prostitutes was the only thing I did that ever hurt other people. I didn’t realize what it was like for you, or them. I thought it was a victimless crime. I didn’t know… Maybe I didn’twantto know, what their lives were really like. Not until the night I met you.”
I nodded, but then he continued.
“I’ve tried to make up for it, but there’s really no way I can ever make amends. I’ve been working with some friends of mine to try and build a network of drivers willing to help anyone involved in human trafficking to escape, but it’s never going to be enough. I promise you, though, I will never give up, and my goal is to help anyone who wants help to escape from the vicious cycle.
“To be completely honest, though, while I didn’t recognize you when you first arrived in Akron, I did figure it out that night,” he admitted, his eyes avoiding mine. “When you fell asleep in the car on the way home from that hotel. I pulled up and the security light cameon. It just made you look so goddamn young…” His voice trailed off. “And your face… looked bruised.”
I winced at the thought of the multiple bruises I’d earned over the years, but then a kernel of anger smoldered in my chest.
“All this time. Youknewall this time…?” I demanded, adding up the days.
“Yes, and I’m an asshole,” he ground out, shame emblazoned on his face. “I am so sorry, Mason. I should have told you, especially before—” he stopped, unable to go on.
“Before wefucked?” I demanded, the anger growing inside me.
“Yes! No!I mean…” He stood again, and this time he was the one pacing. “It’s not an excuse for what I did, but it’s not exactly the easiest thing in the world to bring up in casual conversation…
