Caldwell's expression hardened almost imperceptibly."They go home.They find other careers.They make different choices."She spread her hands."I don't force anyone to stay in this industry.If a girl decides it's not for her, she's free to leave."
"What about the ones who don't leave?The ones who die?"
For a moment, something crossed Caldwell's face—not guilt, exactly, but a kind of practiced weariness.Like she'd fielded this question before and had her answer ready.She'd been accused of this, Kari realized.Probably more than once.
"This industry is brutal, Detective.The competition is fierce, the standards are impossible, and the rejection is constant.Every day, these girls are told they're too fat, too thin, too old, too young, too ethnic, not ethnic enough.They're criticized for every flaw, real or imagined.Some girls thrive under that pressure.Others break."
Caldwell shrugged, and there was something chilling in the casualness of the gesture."I wish I could save them all, but I can't.By the time they start struggling, they're usually working with an agency, not with me.My job ends when I place them.After that, they're someone else's responsibility."
Kari felt a cold anger building in her chest.Someone else's responsibility.These young women were passed from hand to hand like packages, and when they ended up dead, everyone pointed at someone else.No one was accountable.No one was to blame.
"Tell me about your process," she said, keeping her voice level."How do you find these girls?"
Caldwell seemed pleased by the question, as if Kari were finally asking something worth answering."I travel.Constantly.Small towns, reservation communities, immigrant neighborhoods.Places where beautiful girls are invisible because no one's looking for them.I go to diners and gas stations and shopping malls, and I watch.When I see potential, I approach."
"And they just trust you?A stranger offering to change their lives?"
"Most of them are desperate, Detective.They're working minimum wage jobs, living with families who don't understand them, dreaming of something bigger.They see their futures stretching out in front of them—marriage, kids, the same town they've always known—and they want more.When I show them what's possible, when I pull out my phone and show them pictures of the girls I've placed, the campaigns they've done, the money they're making..."Caldwell smiled, seeming to take real pleasure in it."You should see their faces.The hope.The excitement.They'd follow me anywhere."
The words sent a chill through Kari.They'd follow me anywhere.How many predators had said the same thing about their victims?How many cult leaders, traffickers, abusers?
"What happens after you find them?"she asked.
"I bring them to L.A.Set them up with housing, usually shared apartments with other girls in the program.Get them started with basic training—how to walk, how to pose, how to present themselves.Diet plans, exercise routines, skincare regimens."Caldwell's tone was businesslike now, describing a well-oiled machine."Then, when they're ready, I introduce them to agencies like Elite Vision.The agencies pay me a finder's fee for quality referrals.The girls get representation and access to jobs.Everyone wins."
"Except the ones who end up dead."
Caldwell's eyes went flat and cold."I've been doing this for twenty years, Detective.I've placed hundreds of girls.The vast majority of them are fine.They have careers, families, lives they never could have imagined before I found them.Some of them are famous.Some of them are millionaires.If a handful couldn't handle the pressure, that's tragic, but it's not my fault.I gave them a chance.What they did with it was up to them."
Kari decided to switch it up."Do you remember Amanda Escalante?"
"Of course.I recruited her two years ago from a little town in New Mexico.She was working at a grocery store, bagging produce, stocking shelves.Gorgeous girl, but she didn't know it.Shy, uncertain, barely made eye contact when I first talked to her.I saw her potential right away."Caldwell paused, and something that might have been genuine sadness crossed her face."I was sorry to hear about her death.She was one of the good ones.Had real talent, real presence.She was going to be a star."
"Did you stay in touch with her after she started working with Elite Vision?"
"Occasionally.She'd stop by sometimes, update me on how things were going.Some of the girls do that.They think of me as their fairy godmother, I suppose.The one who changed their lives."
Caldwell smiled slightly at the notion."Amanda seemed happy.Excited about her career, making plans for the future.The last time I saw her was maybe a month ago.She seemed...different.More subdued.Quieter.I asked if everything was okay, and she said she was fine, just tired.I didn't think much of it at the time."
Kari filed that away.Amanda had seemed different in the weeks before her death.More subdued.It matched what others had said about Tayen pulling back, becoming withdrawn.A pattern of behavior that might indicate fear or awareness that something was wrong.
"Do you have records of all the girls you've recruited?Where they came from, where they ended up?"
"Of course.This is a business, Detective.I keep meticulous records."Caldwell's eyes narrowed."Why?What exactly are you looking for?"
"I'm trying to understand the pattern.Tayen disappeared.Amanda is dead.I've heard there have been others over the years.Girls who came through your program and ended up dying under circumstances that their families find suspicious."
Caldwell sat forward in her chair, her manicured hands flat on the glass desk.She looked less relaxed now, more defensive.
"I don't know what you're implying, Detective, but I don't like it.These girls came from difficult backgrounds.Many of them had histories of trauma, mental health issues, substance abuse.Problems they brought with them from home.The fact that some of them struggled after entering a high-pressure industry is sad, but it's not evidence of anything sinister.It's evidence that life is hard and some people can't cope."
"I'm not implying anything.I'm asking questions."Kari stood."If you think of anything that might help me find Tayen, please call me."She placed her card on the desk."Her family is very worried about her."
"Family?"Caldwell picked up the card, studying it with an unreadable expression."Tayen told me she didn't have any family.That's part of why I recruited her, to be honest.Girls without ties are easier to relocate.No one holding them back, no one making them feel guilty for leaving, no one calling every day asking when they're coming home."
Kari thought about Lola Chee, waiting by the phone on the reservation, desperate for news of the niece who'd run away two years ago.Tayen had told everyone she had no family.She'd told Caldwell, told the agency, told her roommates.But Lola had been looking for her all along, had never stopped hoping, had finally found her on Glimmer only to have her vanish again.
"She was wrong about that," Kari said."She has people who care about her.People who want her to come home."
