33

“LET’S GO BACK TO MY place,” Sarah whispered to Garrett after their long kiss.

He was in no mood to argue. Though still worried about Kitty, he had no idea how to find her. Sarah was clearly in heat. He felt the same way. Watching those young kids making out had reawakened some of their own youthful passion. They made it back to her house in record time.

As soon as they were in the kitchen door, they began to grapple and peel clothes off. Then Sarah saw the note on the table. She stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Garrett asked, nearly panting with longing for her.

“There’s something on the table,” she said.

He let go of her and picked up the note. It was from Lila. They read it together.

“Where are you guys?” it said. “I don’t know what to do. Ayesha called, said her father had been beating her. She was hysterical. I told her I’d walk to her house and be there at nine-thirty. If she could get out, she could come stay with us. Lila.”

“Uh-oh,” said Garrett. He looked at the clock on the wall. It was after eleven. Sarah looked very worried.

“Come on. We’ll go to Ayesha’s house. We’ll find them.”

The little grocery with the home above it was dark and silent. Of course. It was late. Everyone was asleep.

Garrett banged on the door and kept on banging until a light went on inside. A minute later, Mr. Marshed appeared. He was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. He stared through the door at Garrett for a moment, then undid the lock.

“Yes? What is it?” he asked.

“We’re looking for Lila,” Garrett said. “We have reason to believe she came to see Ayesha.”

The man’s face grew dark. “That girl is not welcome here. She is a bad influence on my daughter. That should be clear enough after their running away to the city. My family will never live down such a thing.” He started to close the door but Garrett blocked it with his foot.

“We need to see Ayesha,” He said. “To make sure she knows nothing about where Lila is. If she says she doesn’t know, we’ll leave.”

“It’s late. Everyone is in bed,” the man said. “You have no right to demand this.”

“I have every legal right,” said Garrett. “We have information leading us to believe Lila came here. She’s a minor. We’re concerned for her safety.”

This was a stretch legally. In fact, they had no reason to believe Lila was in any danger. But Garrett knew the man wouldn’t be completely sure about the law. They could see him struggling over what to do. Finally, he released the door and waved them in.

“I will get her,” he said.

He returned a minute later, his face filled with fury. “She’s not here,” he said. “Her window onto the fire escape is open. Your Lila has taken her away from me. I demand you find her.”

Garrett exchanged looks with Sarah. “All right,” he said. “We’ll find them and I’ll bring Ayesha home.” He jerked his head to Sarah to leave and closed the door on Mr. Marshed’s contorted face.

“Where do you think they are?” Sarah asked. “We didn’t pass anyone on the road. Where would they have gone?”

“I don’t know. But we’ll check the house first to make sure. Maybe they hid from any cars they heard coming, in case it was Ayesha’s father.”

Sure enough, the lights were on in the house and they found Lila and Ayesha sitting on the couch. One look at Ayesha told the whole story. Her face was badly bruised.

Lila looked at Garrett accusingly. “She’s got marks on her body too,” she said. “How could you have her sent back there? Look what he’s done to her.”

Sarah sat down and put her arm around the girl. She’d obviously been crying but seemed to have used up all that emotion. Her face looked blank. Garrett had seen such looks before, on the faces of so many girls who got nothing but pain from those who were supposed to love them.

“We’ll have to take you to the hospital, Ayesha,” he said.

“I … I don’t ever want to go back home,” she said.

“All right,” Garrett said. “There’s a process we have to follow. And the first step is to get confirmation from the hospital that you’ve been beaten. That sets protective services in motion. I’m going to call someone I know and she’ll help arrange a place for you to stay after that.”

“Why can’t she stay with us?” Lila asked.

He spread his hands. “That might be possible. I don’t know. There’s going to be legal action on this that will take time.”

Ayesha seemed to be struggling with something.

“What is it?” Sarah asked.

“My … my father … threatened to sell me if I ever ran away again.”

Sarah stared at her in horror. “What?”

“He said there was a man who wanted to buy me for a wife.” Tears began to flow down her face again.

“Garrett?” Sarah was looking at him, her face filled with indignation.

He swore under his breath. What a mess. He’d always thought prostitution exhibited the worst face of humanity. But in some parts of the world, actually selling one’s child as a wife, sex slave, and servant was commonplace. It was more horrible than anything, the ultimate betrayal.

But it wasn’t legal in Canada. “Your father can’t do that, Ayesha. It’s against the law in this country. Maybe he was only trying to scare you. There is no legal way he can do that.” He gave Sarah a look. “Lila, why don’t you get Ayesha ready and we’ll drive to the hospital.”

Lila took Ayesha into the bedroom. As soon as the door was closed, Sarah started.

“That man’s a monster,” she said. “Selling his daughter? Beating her? Making her work like a slave? You’ve got to do something, Garrett.”

He nodded slowly. “I will, but it will take time and we may not be able to keep Ayesha here. It might actually be better for her if she went away somewhere rather than remain so close to her father.”

He raised a hand as Sarah started in again.

“Listen, what I said to Ayesha was only partly true. Legally, her father can’t just sell her. But I suspect he could try to make it happen through coercion. Some sects have managed to skirt the laws on this, citing their religious beliefs. So spinoff groups of the Mormons and others have married their girls off at very young ages to men who already have multiple wives. The courts have had trouble dealing with this.” He pulled her close and stared into her eyes. “We’ll do the very best we can for her, okay?”

She nodded, a single tear coming down her face. She gave him a little smile. “If for no other reason, Gar, than because we are never going to get into bed together at this rate.”