The four men took off and after pulling on their coats, they jogged up to the shed. They entered the shed to find Larry asleep as he hung from the ceiling. Buzzard walked over and woke him up.
"Hey, Larry. Wake up man. We've got some questions for you." Buzzard said.
"What? Huh? What now?" Larry grumbled as he came awake.
"Hey. How many whores do they have in that place you were telling us about? We don't have any locally that are not total skanks that I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. Are they good looking women over there?" Buzzard asked.
"Yeah. They're not bad. I think there are 4, maybe 5 of them." Larry said with a big yawn. "Hey, is there any chance I could get some water or something to drink?"
"Yeah. Here. We brought you a sandwich too but I can't let you down. If Prez were to come in here while you were on the ground, we'd be hanging up there next to you." Blaster said, pouring some water into a cup and lifting it up to his mouth.
"Thanks." Larry said.
"I'm horny, guys. Let's get going. If Prez catches us out here, we won't be able to walk much less have any pussy. Where do we go to find the women?" Crusher asked.
"Hanks Hangout. They have to wait tables between customers wanting sex. Men have to pay by the hour to be with them. Fifty bucks for half an hour but you can do whatever you want so long as you don't kill them." Larry said slyly. He had no clue that all four men wanted to blow his brains out at that moment.
Buzzard stepped forward to feed him some of the ham and cheese sandwich they had slapped together before coming out here. "Do you have to fuck them in front of everyone or is there a place where you can have some privacy? I'm not much of an exhibitionist. Don't want to make others jealous!" Buzzard laughed wickedly as he rubbed his crotch. Buzzard may be a skinny man but he had an impressive bulge in his jeans even when he was soft.
"Nah, they all have little rooms upstairs where you can take them. That's where they sleep too. There's a guard at the top of the stairs that listens in case anyone gets out of control and starts hurting the girls. If a man gets out of control, the girls just have to yell for Hank and the guard will go in and yank the guy out."
"Just one guard? What is he? A former wrestler or something?" Fist asked.
"No. He's about your size (looking at Crusher), maybe a little shorter but he carries a sawed off shotgun and won't hesitate to use it if a man doesn't stop when he's told to. That's not even to mention that he looks like he could play Frankenstein. Got cut up with a broken bottle in a bar fight one night." Larry said.
"How many guards or bouncers are there?" Fist asked.
"One at each door and the one upstairs. They are all armed including the bartender who carries a pistol too and there's a floater on weekends. I used to do that sometimes." Larry said.
"What do you do when you are not working as a floater?" Crusher asked.
"Drive a truck. I make hauls from a distributor in Lexington to the coast." Larry said. They could tell he was getting sleepy again.
"Where does Hank get the whores from? Are they local girls or girls he's "picked up"?" Fist asked.
"No, not local girls. As far as I know, they are whores from out of town that needed work, stopped at the gas station or somewhere around town they ran into Hank or one of his men." Larry said vaguely and they could tell that he wasn't telling them all of the story but it sounded to them like all of the women had been snatched from one location or another.
"Come on guys. I'm horny! Let's go see what Hanks has to offer before Prez catches us. It's still early. Maybe we can get there before they are all worn out." Buzzard said, giving Larry an evil grin.
They all left the shed and as they hurried back to the clubhouse, Fist said "That man has no conscience at all. This is one I will be glad to help Bullet end."
They went to the bar and found that most of the brother's had already gone to bed. They had one beer each as they talked over what they had learned and then headed for bed too.
The next morning, Fist was up and in the kitchen when Prez came in. "Oh lord. Just let me have my coffee before you tell me anything about what you found out last night."
Fist poured Prez some coffee, refilled his own and then followed him out to where they could talk in private. Fist gave him the low down on what Larry had told them. "He's playing like he was innocent before this but I don't believe him for an instant. He just seemed too cold about it all. Like doing something like that was normal and everyday stuff like brushing your teeth." Fist informed him. Prez didn't say much but just nodded at first.
"I want us to really make sure we have our ducks in a row on this one, Fist. It could get messy quick but once it's over, I want us to start making regular rounds on the small towns again. We've gotten kind of lax in the past couple of years." Prez told him.
It wasn't long before other brothers started showing up for breakfast and as soon as breakfast was over, Prez called for church. As soon as all of the men entered the meeting room, Prez looked over at Snoop.
"Snoop. Are there any changes with Jasmine?" Prez asked.
"Not as far as I know. I haven't had a chance to go down and check on her yet this morning and she was asleep by the time we finished up last night." Snoop said. Prez could tell that something was weighing heavily on his mind but decided that he would talk to him in private later.
"Fist, please report what you found out from the asshole in the shed last night." Prez moved on to the next issue.
Fist reported what Larry had told them. "Prez, we all agree that this Hank's Hangout is a human trafficking stop. Larry said that there are at least 4 girls there but won't admit where they came from or how they got there. We didn't want to push too much and make him clam up so we left it alone."
"We're going to be doing some investigating there very soon. If he's snatching young women, then we need to put a stop to it. But if the women are there of their own accord, there's not much we can do about it." Prez said.
"If what he is saying is true, then tomorrow night is Friday night and the bar should be in full swing. I say that 4 or 5 of us should go out for a night on the town and check this place out but I want us to have back up outside, just in case." Hammer said.
"Hammer, because I value my man parts and I know Stella would kill me if I send you in on this, I'm going to tell you to stand down or to be outside. Chain! You, Me, Fist, Crusher, Troll and Guardian will go inside, two or three at a time.
Quiver, Blaster, Blade, Digger, Wheels will be outside as back up. You all wear coms and make sure you have your kevlar under your clothes. No colors displayed and wear your boot holsters for your guns."
Bullet was not happy about being left out but when he thought about it, he realized that it meant he would be able to stay with Mara so he kept his mouth shut.
"Today, get some rest. Those of you with women, spend the day with them. Be ready to roll out of here after dark. Does anyone have anything else to discuss?" Prez asked. When no one answered, he banged his gavel and dismissed church. As they were filing out of the room, Prez called to Snoop.
"Hey, Snoop. Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure, Prez. What's up?" Snoop replied.
Prez waited until everyone was gone and then said "I can tell something is bothering you. What's up, brother?"
"Just feeling a bit weird about Jasmine. I can't really explain it. I feel a pull towards her but I feel guilty for not doing right by her. Doc was right. I should have stayed with her but I feel nervous around women when they are hurt. I don't know what to do." Snoop admitted.
"Well, Doc said he wants to teach you guys some basic triage on how to treat injured victims and I think it's a good idea. You guys who are the trackers are usually the first ones on the scene. You need to be trained on how to handle someone who might be injured.
I think I'm going to require that everyone attend, especially all of the prospects. They are usually drivers for you guys and I think it would be a good idea for them to be trained to handle the injured. Not necessarily the injury itself but to keep them calm, stop bleeding if they can, keep them awake if they have head injuries, stuff like that when they are brought to their vehicles.
We can't just dump injured innocents on them and expect them to know what to do since most of the time they are young and often scared too but they need to learn to recognize warning signs that something is wrong." Prez said, almost as if he was just thinking out loud.
"I know I want to learn how to deal with them. I always feel so inadequate around women who are hurt. It was even more so with Jasmine. I wanted to hold her but was afraid to touch her." Snoop admitted.
"A lot of the time, that's all they want and need is to be held by someone who will not hurt them. Then the danger becomes if they get attached to you and you've already got a woman." Prez grinned at Snoop who began to laugh.
"That's never been my problem before but I can see what you mean. No wonder you don't go on missions as much anymore. Amanda would tear the woman apart and you would be missing your man parts." Snoop teased.
"I hate to admit it, but you are right. In fact, when Lois was alive, I had one young girl that got very upset when she found out I was married to Lois. Did her damndest to try to convince me that because I had rescued her, it meant we were supposed to be together. Thankfully, Lois thought it was funny but man, I couldn't get that girl out of here fast enough. " Prez joined in his laughter.
"I'll talk to Doc about getting a basic triage class set up and I want everyone to attend, especially when we have down time. For now, go check on Jasmine. Give her a hug and let her know you care. I'm sure it will help her heal faster.
I'll have to talk to her in a little while. I need to know her story. I need to find out how old she is and where she came from and how she managed to get here, if she's not from here." Prez said.
He and Snoop walked down the hall together. Prez continued on down to talk to Doc while Snoop stopped and knocked lightly on Jasmine's door.
"Who's there?" Jasmine's soft voice came through the door after a minute.
"Jasmine. It's me, Snoop." Snoop replied and she slowly opened the door to make sure it was really him before she opened the door wider to allow him into the room.
"Good morning." Jasmine said softly as she closed the door behind him.
"Good morning. How are you feeling?" Snoop asked.
"Sore but okay." Jasmine said.
"Have you had breakfast yet?" Snoop asked.
"Yes. Melinda brought me the best meal I've had in a long time a little while ago." Jasmine told him.
"Good. Did you sleep well?" Snoop asked. He knew he needed to tell her that Prez was going to want to talk to her soon, to ask her questions but wasn't sure how to prepare her for it.
"I had a few bad dreams but once I realized I was safe, I slept pretty good." Jasmine said shyly.
"Good. Well, I need to tell you that Prez will be around soon. He needs to talk to you." Snoop tried to begin to explain.
"What about?" Jasmine asked and he could tell she was immediately nervous.
"Oh, basic stuff. We are licensed by the State Child Protective Services so whenever we do a rescue, we have to fill out a report on who it was, how old they are and why we had to rescue them. Stuff like that." Snoop said, trying to play it all down so that she wouldn't get scared and clam up.
"Well, I'm not a child. I turned 21 last week. I know I don't look it but I am. Right now I feel a lot older than I am." Jasmine said.
"Where are you from?" Snoop asked.
"Well, I'm originally from Nashville." Jasmine admitted in a kind of snappy voice like it was upsetting her to have to answer these questions. Snoop got the feeling that she was about to clam up so he shifted gears.
"Hey, you don't have to tell me anything. I'm just trying to get to know you better." Snoop said, sounding slightly wounded that she didn't want to share with him her personal story.
"I'm sorry if I snapped at you. I guess I have bad trust issues but it's for good reason. Just like those two men who............" Jasmine started to say, then jumped when someone knocked on the door.
Snoop walked over and opened the door to find Prez standing there. "Hey Prez."
Snoop stepped into the hall so that they could talk privately. "I just finished with Doc. We're going to meet for an hour after lunch today for triage training but once this mission is over, we're going to have triage training for an hour every Wednesday morning after breakfast. How's Jasmine?" Prez asked.
"I've told her you need to talk to her. She's not a minor anymore." Snoop said and promised that he would explain more later. "I need to tread softly with her or I have a feeling she will shut down and not tell us anything."
"Okay. At least her not being a minor will save me paperwork but try to find out where she's from and who she's running from." Prez said. "Well, I've got a lot to do and I want to stop and see Amanda. Tell Jasmine that I hope she feels better. Bring her out for lunch, if she's up to it."
"Will do Prez." Snoop smiled at him, thankful that he understood.
Snoop went back into Jasmine's room and tried to get Jasmine to tell him more about where she was from but she was very evasive until Snoop said "Look Jasmine. I have to know why you are running and who you are running from. I can't keep you safe if I don't know what I'm up against."
Jasmine looked torn as she sat twisting her fingers and biting her lower lip. Snoop didn't like stressing her out but he had to know if trouble was following her.
Jasmine jumped up and began to pace the floor and seeing her like this was tearing him up inside. He finally couldn't take it anymore and stepped in front of her and caught her by her shoulders.
"Jasmine, I can tell by the way you are acting that something or someone has scared you badly. I want to help you but I can't if I don't know what I'm up against. Is it just one person or is it a group? I just want to protect you, babe." Snoop asked.
Hearing him call her "babe" made Jasmine stop and look at him and then big tears began to run down her face. "Please don't call me that if you don't mean it."
"What? Babe?" Snoop asked. "Why?"
"Because it's a term of endearment, which means you care. Snoop, I've trusted before and I got burned for it, literally. It took me over a year to get away and I'll die before I have to go back to that again." Jasmine said as she watched his face.
She saw a myriad of emotions play across his face. She saw him look wounded, then pity, then confusion and then anger. What she couldn't figure out was why. She desperately wanted him to hold her, to comfort her and make her feel safe like he had done last night. She couldn't have stopped herself if she had tried as she swayed towards him, hoping he would wrap his arms around her again.
When she swayed towards him, Snoop threw caution to the wind and pulled her in, wrapping his arms around her and just held her for a minute as she cried. "Please let me help you, sweetheart. Tell me what happened? Who made you afraid?"
Jasmine looked at him intensely for a moment then took a deep breath. "Do you promise not to hate me afterwards if I tell you?"
"I could never hate you and I won't judge you either. What happened to you is not your fault. I just need to know what happened so that I can protect you." Snoop told her.
Jasmine said a small silent prayer that what he is saying is true. "Can we sit down, please. This is going to take a minute." Jasmine finally gave in.
Snoop led her over to the sofa and sat down next to her. "Now, tell me what is going on so that I can help you." Snoop told her.
"Just before my 17th birthday, my parents were killed in a drive-by shooting. I had been at a friend's house and came home to find my house crawling with cops and the coroner was loading my parents' bodies into a van.
My dad's brother, George, agreed to take custody of me and I tried to tell the lady from the state that I didn't want to go with him because he was creepy. But since he was a relative and willing to take me they said it was that or the "home for wayward girls". That place is like a prison. Besides, I wasn't pregnant, I was an orphan who was older than most.
Anyway, for the next two years, my uncle stayed drunk most of the time and I did my best to stay away from him but one night he came into my room while I was asleep. I know I locked the door but he must have had a key. He was pulling at my nightgown and I fought back, which I think surprised him but it also pissed him off. He went from pawing me to hitting me.
I had been sewing and had left my scissors on the nightstand next to my bed. I grabbed them and stabbed him in the shoulder and he let me go. I pushed him and he fell against the wall and I just ran but I didn't know there were some other men in the house. When I tried to leave they stopped me and started saying "George was right. She's pretty." "She'll bring in good money." Then one of them hit me and I blacked out.
When I came to, I was in a small room laying on a bed. I could hear other girls crying, some of them screaming and the place stunk of alcohol, smoke and sex. There was loud music playing from downstairs and it sounded like there were a lot of people talking and laughing.
I was surprised that the door wasn't locked but when I looked outside, there was a big bald man with a shotgun standing at the end of the hall. His face was all scarred up and I was so scared. He saw me and told me to get back in the room so I closed the door. There was no window in the room so the only way out was through that door.
There wasn't anything in the room but the bed and a bucket in the corner that I had to use as a toilet. I was only 19 years old when they took me. The owner of the place was a man named Hank. He came to my room later that night and "explained" that my uncle had sold me to him for a thousand dollars and now I had to "earn my keep", then he raped me. I was a virgin and that fat, disgusting pig raped me!" Jasmine cried and buried her face in her hands.
Snoop felt sick when he heard the name "Hank" but right now, Jasmine needed him. "It's not your fault, Jasmine. God, I wish I had known you were there. I would have gotten you out sooner." Snoop said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
"He forces us to wait tables and if a man wants one of us, he has to pay Hank for the time to be with one of us. Some of those men were really vile and Hank let them do whatever they wanted to us so long as they did not kill us or visibly leave marks that would leave a scar.
Only Hank or his cousin are allowed to do that and Hank is a cruel bastard. He always smokes a cigar and he would burn us with it after he fucked us. He would take turns usually with a different girl every Sunday night. He pulls a name from a bowl in the kitchen and that girl has to stay with him for the night.
Last week was my 21st birthday, Hank was making money sending up one man after another to fuck the birthday girl and then all of his men got a free ride. I was sure I wouldn't be able to put my legs together or sit down for a month afterwards.
Three nights later, I was assigned to clean up as we were closing up and when I went to take out the trash, a fight broke out in the bar and my guard had to go back inside to help break it up. I saw my chance to get away and I took it.
There was a customer who had passed out in his car. I managed to get his trunk open and I just got inside. There were a couple of stinky towels that smelled like a wet dog but I didn't care. I was freezing because all I had on were Daisy Dukes and the halter bra that barely covers our boobs are the standard "uniforms" that Hank required us to wear. They are not very warm especially when it's been snowing outside.
I could hear them looking for me but they never checked the man's trunk but I could hear them talking about what they were going to do to me if they found me and I don't think I've ever been more scared in my life. They assumed that I had caught a ride with someone.
About an hour later, the drunk finally woke up just after sunrise and when he stopped at a store, I got out and ran. I stole some clothes and an old sleeping bag out of the drop off bin behind the thrift store and slept behind the laundromat by the dryer vent for two nights.
Hank and his men nearly caught me when I tried to get some food from McD's. I only had five dollars that I'd kept from a tip that one of the drivers had given me when I'd waited on his table.
Anyway, I knew I had to get out of town. I saw those two guys putting gas at the Texaco and asked them for a ride. They told me they were headed for Lexington to look for work and said I was welcome to ride along with them.
They were okay until we hit the city limits of Winchester then I could tell something was wrong. I didn't recognize him but he said he'd seen me at the bar. He said they had earned a ride because they had given me a ride. That's when he pulled into Charlie's Hotel. They picked the lock on one of the rooms when they found out it was closed.
They got mad when I refused to fuck them so they started knocking me around then they took turns raping me. Then the one guy said he was going to find someone because he was getting bored. That's when they tied me to the bed but they only used towels they had ripped up so it wasn't all that hard to get loose.
My clothes were all ripped up so as soon as I managed to get free, I wrapped that sheet around me and took off. I was running blind, just looking for a place to hide. I was freezing and when I tried the laundry room door, it was unlocked. Then I saw the phone, the instructions on how to use it and then I saw the sign with your number on it so I called.
The only cop I'd met in Mt. Steel is Hank's cousin and he's one of the cruelest pigs that used to come to the bar, so I wasn't sure about the cops here so I called the number on the sign. I barely had time to tell the person who answered where I was and that I needed help when I heard them come back and they were looking for me.
I hid in that cart and just prayed for someone who wouldn't hurt me to find me." Jasmine finished her story. "I didn't count on him stealing my heart but he's not going to want damaged second hand goods." she silently thought and her heart felt so sore.
Snoop's mind was going a mile a minute as he held Jasmine and just let her cry it all out. He needed to talk to Prez. Snoop knew that he would have questions to ask her and that it needed to happen before they went on this mission.
"Shhh. No one is ever going to hurt you like that again. I won't allow it." Snoops said as he stroked her back and kissed the top of her head. He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled the fresh clean scent of her hair.
"Babe? Why don't you lay down and rest for a little while. I need to talk to Prez. We rescued another girl yesterday that was going to be taken to Hank's. I think Prez is going to have some questions for you before we go in and take care of Hank. We're going to put a stop to that place so that he can't ever hurt any more girls ever again." Snoop tried to prepare her.
"But you'll be with me when I have to talk to him, right?" Jasmine asked nervously and was slightly relieved when he nodded. "What kind of questions? I've already told you what happened. He's not going to ask me for details on what they did to me, is he?
There are things that I will have to live with for the rest of my life everytime I look in the mirror when I don't have clothes on but I don't want to have the whole world know about it. It was bad enough that Doc saw them last night. I just want to forget that any of it ever happened."
"I know, baby, I know but if you can answer some questions maybe we can get the other girls there out too. Can you tell me how many other girls there are right now?" Snoop asked.
"When I ran there were four, if Deli is still alive. Hank gave us all nicknames. Her real name is Delilah but Hank calls her Deli because customers are allowed to do anything they want to her. A man carved her back up pretty bad one night and she's hooked on the drugs that they gave her for the pain. She's like a zombie most of the time now.
There's another girl who's real name is Candace but he called her Candy, because she's short and sweet and just a little bit plump. She's only been there for a little while.
Sandra is called Silk because of the way she moves when she dances. Hank makes her strip dance sometimes so that he can make extra money.
And then there's Julia. Now she can be a real bitch and she plays up to Hank to get special treatment but I think she does it to protect Bubba. Hank calls her Juggs because she's got huge boobs." Jasmine told him.
"And what did he call you?" Snoop couldn't help but ask.
"Jade. Because of my eyes and he said I was cold like a Jade stone because I don't react when they would rape me. I learned early not to fight back but would just lay there until they were done.
Thankfully once the "regulars" had been with me once, they didn't come back. But that meant I had to deal with new men and that's often very scary because you don't know how they are going to treat you.
After that guy carved up Delilah, Hank makes sure they are not carrying knives anymore, except for Bradley." Jasmine said. "Most of the girls have accepted that the only way they will stay alive is to play along and some of them get "extra's" if they act like they like it but I just couldn't bring myself to do that so they saw me as cold. I learned fast about resisting but I would have rather died than to act like I wanted them to touch me and I refused to act like I was enjoying being raped."
"Is it always just the four or do girls come and go?" Snoop asked.
"Well, they bring in new girls sometimes. Julia has been there the longest as far as I know. She was there when I got there. Delilah came in about three months before me. Sandra came in not long after me. Candace has only been there a few weeks. I don't expect Candace will be there long. She's just too sweet. One of the buyers will pay to keep her before long." Jasmine said.
"Oh, lord. I've got to tell Prez about this. He's going to freak out that this is happening on our turf." Snoop said, having a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that this had been going on for so long right under their noses.
Just then a knock sounded on the door, causing Jasmine to jump and clutch at Snoop's cut, then someone called out "Lunch".
"What the hell was that?" Jasmine asked.
"It's lunch time. Come on. Let's go eat and then I'll tell Prez we need to talk to him. He may ask you to come to church with us so that everyone can hear what you have to say. I know it's embarrassing and scary but don't be afraid. None of us will hurt you and in order for us to be the most effective, we have to know what is going on so that we can put a stop to it. Don't worry, I'll be right there with you, holding your hand the whole time." Snoop assured her.
Jasmine just wanted to know "You have church services for this?"
Snoop grinned at her. "Church is what we call our members only meetings. Only patched members are allowed to attend."
Jasmine took a big breath, then nodded. She got the feeling that she was going to have to trust him and for some reason, she seemed to know that she could.