Stolen Daughters (Detective Amanda Steele)

Crystal was sobbing, and Simon passed her a tissue. Considering their illegal union, she didn’t give Amanda any obvious signs that she was there against her will. Then again, that was the power of a talented abuser: mind control. The restraints were there but not visible. Even if they considered themselves in love, it still came down to the fact that Simon was much older, and as such, could manipulate her.

“We need you to start talking to us, Crystal,” Amanda said. “Did you know Ashley was inside that house?”

Crystal rubbed her arms. “I didn’t know, but—” She stopped talking and let a fresh batch of tears fall in silence. She dabbed them with the tissue and continued. “I ran into Ash a couple of weeks ago at a vintage clothing store. I hadn’t seen her in years.” Pain riddled the young woman’s expressio

n, wrenching Amanda’s heart.

“You ran away together, didn’t you?” Not so much a question but a way to keep her talking.

“We did.” She rubbed a cheek to a shoulder. “I left mostly for her. She met some guy online and was obsessed with him.

“Can you tell us about him?” Amanda asked. “Did you ever meet him?”

“No.” Crystal played with the hem of her pajama top, seeming to search her mind for the words to express herself. “Ash was a little nervous. She’d only met him online, but he wanted to hook up in person. He told her to go the food court in City Center Mall. She asked that I go along with her. The guy wasn’t there, but some woman was. She said that Riley sent her—that was Ash’s crush—and he wanted her to go to Corner Pocket Billiards here in town.” Crystal shivered, and Simon hugged her tighter.

“What happened then?” Amanda was curious how it had all unfolded.

“The woman gave us some cash—said it was a gift from Riley—and bought us bus tickets to Dumfries. I wanted to turn around and go home, but Ash said we’d come that far and it wasn’t fair to bail on Riley now. She told me he must have a good reason for changing locations. That woman tagged along with us.”

It was likely the woman that the kid from the burger place had described to Detective Robbins, but maybe Crystal could give her more. “Did she tell you her name?”

“Nah. Just that she was a friend of Riley’s.”

“What did she look like?”

“She was pretty. Blond, but had a large tattoo up the side of her neck.” Crystal ran her hand over the left side of hers. “There was something really, ah…” A shudder tore through her. “She sort of looked like she could be someone’s aunt or mother, all kind and pleasant to your face, but there was something so fake about her—and very dark. I still have nightmares about her.”

“What happened when you got to Dumfries?”

Crystal took Simon’s hand and squeezed it. “I had a really bad feeling, and I… I left Ash…” She let go of Simon and started sobbing. She sniffled and said, “That lady turned her over to some very nasty men. Ash confirmed I’d been right to leave. It doesn’t mean I forgive myself for abandoning her.”

Amanda wanted to reach out and offer Crystal comfort, but it wasn’t her place. It was apparent that Crystal was well aware of Ashley’s fate. Not surprising, but something else was. “How did you get away?”

“I told that woman I needed to use the restroom and snuck out a window in the stall.”

Smart girl. Did Crystal have any idea how lucky she’d been? Or was she? Amanda glanced at Simon, wanting to broach the topic of their relationship, but there was still more they needed to know.

“Did Ashley sometimes sleep in the house that was set on fire?” Trent slipped in, beating Amanda to the question.

Crystal looked at him. “I don’t know if she slept there. She sometimes escaped there for short pockets of time and got back before they noticed her missing. I don’t know how she got out of where they were holding her, and don’t ask me where it was. I went to the house on Bill Drive with her once or twice and hung out.”

“But you were just reunited a couple of weeks ago?” Amanda asked. It was starting to sound as if they’d spent more time together than that.

“Uh-huh, but we chatted more than the one time.” Crystal sniffled.

“And how did you arrange to meet up?”

Crystal looked at Amanda as if she were being interrogated. “When we bumped into each other, I gave Ash my address. She’d pop by here. Then we’d do whatever…”

Amanda nodded. “How much do you know about the place on Bill Drive, Crystal?”

“Please stop calling me Crystal. That life was so long ago.” Her voice went shrill, and she returned to picking at the hem of her pajama top.

“Okay… Cindy.”

A few seconds ticked off.

“She just said she had some friends who squatted there. She talked of running away with them.” Crystal licked her lips. “But she was so afraid her pimp would catch up with her.”