“I mean, I’m not a police officer or anything, but it seems to me that is the behavior of a pimp coming to collect his high earner that ran away and tried to get free of him,” Helen said staring at the man whom she deemed as an idiot with a badge.
“Was the girl a prostitute?”the man asked.
“Are you asking if a teenage girl, who unwillingly sold her body for room and food, who has no parents and was put in the system, who was abused by foster parents, and who mistook the kindness of a stranger who turned her out, was a hooker?”Helen asked the man.
The officer visibly shrank as she stared at him.His female partner touched his arm.“If we have any further questions, we will reach out to Miss Muldrow.”
Helen didn’t bother to look back at them as they left.She turned her attention to the EMT providing care for Pear.The bruises would heal, but the wounds to her pride would take longer.Of the EMT, Helen asked, “Does she require an overnight stay under medical supervision?”
“No, the head wound will require icing to keep the swelling down, and the other bruises just need an ointment to keep the wounds clean,” he said.“Keep her awake for a while with that knot on her head.”
“Thank you,” Helen said, seeing him out.
She secured the front door and took a good look at Pear.The women had worked her over.Her eyes blinked a couple of times as she stared at the beaten Technician.Apple sat beside Pear, offering comfort.However, his discomfort came from watching Helen.She transformed from the caring woman who baked an amazing peach cobbler better than his Charleston born and bred black mother, into the Technician he knew as The Cranberry.She pulled out her phone and dialed one.
“State your need,” the voice said.
“First and foremost, Pear needs some self-defense classes,” Helen started.“Two women worked her over pretty good and took the package she believes was tagged with a tracking chip.”
“Your assessment?”
“She will survive, but her pride is going to be wounded,” Helen said, moving closer.“The right eye is partially shut and will leave a nasty shiner when it heals.Her nose is out of whack but not broken, she’s missing two teeth, has a busted lip, and a split earlobe.”
Helen walked over to Pear, snapping her finger beside the split cartilage as Pear looked at her with the good eye with a look of WTF?
“She took a hefty blow to the side of her face, splitting the lobe, but not the drum, plus a knot on her noggin,” Helen said.
“Thoughts,” the voice said.
“I know who has her and where they took her,” Helen said.“It is in your backyard at Grosse Pointe Shores.”
“Again, your thoughts?”the voice said.
“I want to go in and fuck some shit up, but I can’t come into play in your yard without your permission, and I’m going to need some clever help,” Helen said.
“State your need.”
Helen looked at Apple and Pear.“We have three nines, a crossbow, and a Bowie knife.I think I can make it happen without bullets, but I need the catering truck, which should be on the way to set up for the party, to be hijacked.”
Pear and Apple both said at the same time as Azrael, “Catering truck?”
Helen provided her two potential caterers that serviced the address at Grosse Pointe Shores.She also provided Azrael with two potential wine wholesalers that had delivered to the same address.Helen also mentioned checking for incoming flights of high-powered women coming from Florida to possibly Windsor (YQG) and private car services to Grosse Pointe Shores.
“How do you want this to proceed when this information is secured?”
“Hijack the catering truck and take the food to the homeless,” she said.“Secure the sommelier, take his shipment, and place it somewhere safe until I get there.It is a good four hours for the drive.I can make it happen in three.”
“And when you arrive, what support do I need to send?”Azrael asked.
“Send in Pear’s equivalent for the girls,” she said.“Some may not see you as rescuing them.Unless the women customers are caught in the act, the police aren’t going to believe anything freaky is happening unless there are dicks involved, so a good cameraman to take some photos of the customer base will help.”
Azrael asked, “And you, what is your plan?”
“To be a customer seeking a particular, unwilling product.I get showed to the room, my bodyguard Apple is going to punch a bitch in the face when I send him the signal, which should coincide with the arrival of blue lights running on silent, and I walk out the front door with the girl.”
“You make it sound easy,” Azrael said.
“It is,” Helen replied.“Permission to roll out.”
