“And what exactly is it that you can offer me?” he heard his father ask, a good and expected question at this point. Thomas may not have been his favorite human being now, but that was unlikely that she had any way to help the mayor.
“I know that this place has problems, problems that you feel like you can’t fix: like you no longer have the authority to fix,” she explained. “But I also have a whole army of people ready to take your side and help you take back the control you are meant to have if only you would help make sure no one ever goes through what I went through again.”
Kyllian could hear the tremble in her voice at those words and wondered what had happened to her. Maybe she wasn’t simply crazy but had been driven a little mad by whatever had been done to her.
He waited to hear Thomas say something, but he hadn’t. If Kyllian didn’t know better, he would just burst in there and asked the girl himself what had happened.
“I was taken and made part of a sex trafficking ring. I was sold to men underneath the casino, mayor, and I don’t think that is a coincidence. Some powerful men must be involved, and I think only you can help those who are still down there, who are not as lucky as me.”
A sex trafficking ring under the casino? That was not something he was expecting to hear out of her mouth. But the pain sounded entirely sincere. Either she was the greatest actress he had ever met, or there actually was a sex trafficking ring going on. Thomas would have to do something. He couldn’t turn his back on such a monstrous thing happening in his city.
“Miss….” Thomas began, and it was so muffled, Kyllian literally had to put his ear the door to make it out. These walls were thick.
“Call me Savanah,” she stated, but nothing more.
“Miss Savanah, I do not like what you are implying here: like some of those that do great things and bring more people and other races here every day with their hard work are responsible for such a terrible act. I don’t know what you have been taught in your life, and if there is any truth to your statements, I am very sorry. However, considering there is no evidence to support your claim, I have no reason to cause an unnecessary storm in our community over this. If there are bad guys out there, they are few and far between, and we are already handling the pirates the best we can. Now, please, I am long overdue for a rest.”
Kyllian heard his father rise and come towards the door, so he flattened himself against the wall on the other side, hoping that Thomas would not notice his presence. He didn’t know how he would feel about him eavesdropping on the conversation. What he did know was he was unhappy with how his father had handled it.
He watched as Savanah was shooed out of the office and towards the door, the droid being called to make sure she got out of there. Kyllian could see the girl was red in the face: from anger or embarrassment, he wasn’t sure. He was sure that he wanted to know more about what she was speaking of. Maybe other children would more easily side with their fathers on such matters, but his father was not someone who was close to him or someone he respected. He had been twisted by a man who hated his mother into someone that could only love a son who was just like himself and only when it benefitted him.
