“Thanks, bro.”
“And I’ll contact you to arrange a time to look at your place,” he says to Sandrine.
“Thank you very much, Keven. I appreciate everything you are doing for Selena.” Her gaze dances between me and my two brothers. “Everything you are all doing. You have my eternal gratitude.”
“So that just leaves one last thing.” Kev scrubs a hand across his prickly jawline. “I found some photos last year on a case, and I’d like you to take a look at them. If you feel up to it,” Kev adds, peering at Selena. “It’s completely fine if it’s too much.”
“What type of photos?” I ask, because there’s no way I want her looking at gruesome pics. She has enough nightmares as it is.
“Photos of girls we believe were trafficked. There are a few men in the photos too. I wanted to see if Selena recognized anyone.”
“They aren’t—”
“They’re not,” Kev reassures me before I’ve even asked my question.
“I want to see,” Selena quietly says, holding out her hand. I sit forward with her as she takes the bundle of dog-eared photos from my brother’s outstretched hand.
Her body shakes as she starts looking through them, and I place a gentle hand on her knee, reminding her she is not alone. You could hear a pin drop in the room as Selena flips through the photos, pausing to examine a few in more detail. When she’s looked at the last one, she lifts her eyes to Keven. “I’m sorry. I don’t recognize anyone.” She passes them back to him, and he puts them face down on the table.
“I have one more.” He holds it up, with the back of the photo facing us so we can’t see. Kev looks at me, and goose bumps sprout on my arms.
“What?”
He pinches his lips, looking a little uncertain. “When I first discovered this photo, I couldn’t figure out why I was fascinated with it. Until I realized one of the girls looked familiar.”
Nausea swims up my throat, and blood rushes to my ears. “No,” I whisper.
“You don’t have to look at this, Selena, but I think one of the girls in this picture is…you.”
Silence engulfs the room, and tension hangs in the air like fog.
“I want to look,” Selena whispers, her voice brittle, her body shaking.
“You don’t have to do this, baby.”
She looks deep into my eyes. “I know, but I want to. Ineedto.”
“Are you sure, sweetheart?” Mom asks, sharing Keanu’s concern.
She nods, and Keven hands it over.
Selena sucks in a gasp, and her hands shake as she holds the picture between trembling fingers. I look at it and stop breathing. The back of a long transport truck is wide open, and young girls are spilling out like sardines from an overturned can. Most are in skimpy dresses or dirty underwear, hair matted, sweat clinging to their overheated skin. My eyes lock onto the two girls at the front of the picture.
The girl in the wrinkled black minidress staring into the camera with long, messy dark hair and big eyes is unmistakably Selena. I would know her face anywhere, even as a child. She is tall for her age, but her face is so young. Too young. Another girl is clinging to her arm, tears trekking down her face. Rage filters through my veins, and the urge to hit something is riding me hard. My body locks up, stress tying me into knots.
“No!” Selena cries, her voice laced with pain, as she jumps up, the picture falling through her fingers, landing on the hardwood floor. “Oh my God. No!” Her breathing becomes labored, and tears pour down her face. “No! No! No! No!” She sways on her feet as I stand, reaching for her. Her eyes roll back in her head and her eyelids flutter closed as her limbs give way, and she tumbles to the floor.
13
Selena
Islowly come to with the sound of voices shouting in the background. Opening my eyes, I look up into the concerned gray-blue eyes of my mom. My head is on her lap, and she helps me to sit up as I watch Keanu shoving Keven, screaming in his face. Keven has his palms raised, and Kent is between them, trying to keep them at arm’s length.
“What happened?” I rasp, and Keanu stops berating his brother, spinning around on his heels and racing to crouch down in front of me.
“You fainted, sweetheart,” Mom says at the same time Keanu asks, “Are you feeling okay?”
It all comes back to me in a rush, and my stomach lurches violently. Pushing Keanu and Mom away, I scramble to my feet, hand clasped over my mouth as I race toward the kitchen sink. I make it in the nick of time, hurling my guts up as tears roll down my cheeks.
