Thursday, September 22, 6:30 a.m.
When Riley arrived at Duke’s house, she was tired. She’d only logged a couple of hours’ sleep last night. She found Duke sitting on the front porch, talking into his cell phone, his expression dark and his words muffled but tense. When she closed her SUV door, he straightened, grinned, and ended the call.
“You’re looking a little rough,” he said, standing as he tucked his phone in his pocket.
“Didn’t get much sleep last night. And I could say the same for you.”
“I got enough.” He gave her an affectionate jostle to her shoulder. “So, what can I do for you?”
“How’s Jo-Jo doing?”
“Moving slow but getting around. She’s eating and her right eye isn’t as swollen. But it still hurts for her to walk. Busted ribs.”
“Any more problems with Jax?”
“Naw. I haven’t heard a word from him.”
“You should be on guard. That creep is out there stalking and waiting for his first chance to grab his meal ticket.”
“I told Maria to keep Jo-Jo in the house.” He nodded back behind him. “They’re both up if you want to visit.”
“Yeah. I’d like to touch base.”
“Head on inside. I’ve another call to make. Supplier busting my balls on a delivery.”
“Thanks.”
He studied her closer. “You doing all right?”
“Nothing a little time won’t fix.”
“Get some rest.”
“I’ll do my best.”
He grinned. “Liar.”
She moved through the house that had always felt like home. Her blood pressure still dropped when she was here.
In the bright kitchen, Jo-Jo slowly stirred cereal in a bowl. Maria greeted Riley with a wide, welcoming grin and a hug.
“Where’s Cooper?” Maria asked.
“In the SUV. I don’t have long.”
“Look who’s in the kitchen. Jo-Jo made the big trip down the stairs this morning.”
Riley sat down across from the runaway. “That’s not a happy smile.”
Jo-Jo looked up. “I don’t like cereal.”
“Really, cereal makes that kind of frown?”
“Easier to worry about this goop than my life.”
The girl was dressed in well-worn but clean jeans and a T-shirt that Maria must have given her. In regular, age-appropriate clothes she looked like a normal fifteen-year-old.
“The way I look at it, your life took a major upswing. Like the universe reached out, grabbed you by the collar, and pulled you out of the abyss.”
Jo-Jo cocked her head, her street smarts kicking into gear. “What’re you doing here?”
“Thought I’d come by and see how you’re feeling.”
“I’ll live.”
“You’re tough.”
Jo-Jo lifted her chin. “Jax used to say he liked my toughness.”
“Jax said nice things to you because he was manipulating you. He believes you’re his property.”
Fresh tears glistened in the girl’s eyes. “Nobody ever said they loved me before Jax.”
“And I bet he and Darla knew that. He’s evil but also smart.”
“He said some nice things to me and gave me presents. I felt special.”
Maria set a cup of coffee in front of Riley, who smiled her thanks before reaching for the sugar and creamer.
“I know Duke and Maria have said nice things, too,” Riley said.
Jo-Jo shrugged. “They have to. They’re some kind of social workers.”
“They don’t have to do anything. They say what they mean. They don’t lie. Neither do I.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Honey, Jax doesn’t love you. Love doesn’t hurt. A man who loves a woman does not beat her or pimp her out to other men. Jax says love because he knows you need to hear it, but he doesn’t love you or any of the other girls, including Darla.”
Jo-Jo’s jaw clenched, but tears welled in her eyes. “That’s not true.”
Breaking the hooks Jax had sunk into this kid would take time. Riley would likely have to say this hundreds of times before it penetrated the girl’s damaged self-image: “Real men don’t bruise the women they love.”
With trembling fingers the girl wiped away a tear. “Why are you really here?”
“I want you to understand that you have an opportunity to leave the streets. You can be someone different.”
Jo-Jo glanced at her shorn fingernails and curled them into a fist. “It’s not such a bad life.”
“It’s hell. But you’ve been trapped in it for so long you don’t know the difference.” Riley glanced at her watch. She needed to report in before patrol and knew one conversation with this kid would not cut it. “This place offers safety and a warm bed. You can give yourself a chance to sleep and heal. Maybe grab a couple of good meals. Then in a few days if you still think you want to find Jax, there won’t be anything I can do to save you.”
“I don’t need saving. I can take care of myself.”
“That’s what I said when I landed on this doorstep.”
“You stayed at Duke?
??s?” Jo-Jo’s expression conveyed disbelief.
“I did. I was a couple of years older than you are now. If I hadn’t landed at Duke’s then, it would have been just a matter of time before someone like Jax found me.”
Doubt darkened Jo-Jo’s eyes. “I can’t picture that.”
“Maria, is this true?” Riley asked.
Maria had been wiping the same spot on the counter for at least a minute. “Riley was in a bad place. Duke and I found her at the bus station. She was messed up. Could barely stand.”
Riley could preach a sermon on what she knew about the streets and how they would chew up a girl like Jo-Jo. But she held back. The kid needed food and rest, not a lecture. “Give it a day or two. You’ve nothing to lose.”
Jo-Jo ladled cereal with her spoon. “You’re not going to change my mind about Jax.”
“Maybe,” Maria said.
Jo-Jo ate, wincing as her sore jaw chewed. She glanced around the modest kitchen as if she were afraid to allow herself to like it. “What if someone comes by here to get me?”
“Call me,” Riley said.
The girl stared at her. “I bet you can kick some ass.”
“I can.”
She studied the scrapes on Riley’s knuckles still healing from yesterday’s search in the woods. “Jax must have been surprised as hell when he saw you on that mountain.”
“He was. But if you want to hear the story, it’ll have to be after my shift tonight. I need to roll.”
A sigh leaked from Jo-Jo’s clenched teeth. “Fine.”
“Fine what? Does that mean you’ll be here this evening?”
“Maybe.”
Not a ringing endorsement, but Riley would take it. The girl’s coloring was a bit better, and she’d had a chance to shower and wash her hair. Her road back to life was slow and frustrating. One step at a time.
“Can you walk?” Riley asked.
“Yeah.”
“Good. Walk me to my car.”
Jo-Jo followed Riley out to the gravel driveway where her SUV was parked. Duke was nowhere in sight. “Why is the car running?”
“My dog, Cooper, is inside.”