I’m glad he got that out of the way. He made strong eye contact and I believed him, even though I could tell he was still attracted to her. Not that I could blame him. “Thanks for that. I trust her. What do you know about her dad?”
Trigger sniffed Chris. “Mr. Hamilton? He’s great. Our fathers are old golfing buddies. He always believed I had nothing to do with Annie’s disappearance. Why?”
I wasn’t going to answer his questions. “How’s his relationship with Annie?”
A gust of wind blew his hair into his face. “Mr. Hamilton’s a tough guy. Very hard on Annie. Total perfectionist. When we were dating, he was always giving her a hard time about everything. Her grades, her clothes, her friends. And we hadn’t even told our parents when we went on the cruise. He’s old fashioned and Annie was sure he’d forbid her to go. I think in all honesty he’s embarrassed more than anything. He can’t handle the fact that she was a hooker.”
Made complete sense. Her dad cared more about his image than his own daughter. He couldn’t handle the shame he felt she brought on the family, so he left her to die. “It’s hard for me to deal with too. But it wasn’t her fault.”
The tables were so fucking tiny, our knees touched. I pushed my chair back. We looked like we were on a fucking date. I hoped Annie would come back to the table soon.
He leaned into me. “Man, I got to hand it to you. You’re the man. I respect the fuck out of what you do, being a SEAL. You saved her. But how do you deal with the fact that she’s been with so many men? You’re right—it wasn’t her fault. But you’re a better man than me. It would drive me crazy.”
“It does bother me. I try not to think about it.” I hated to admit it, but I liked Chris. He was honest and respectful.
Annie returned carrying three plates, like a waitress. She placed a burger in front of me.
I took a bite. It tasted great but there was one problem. “Did you order me a veggie burger?”
“That’s the only kind of burger they have. This place is vegetarian.”
Figured. I was not cut out for this surfer lifestyle.
“So, are you guys best friends yet?” Annie teased.
Chris dug his fork into some kind of weird grainy salad. Quinoa? Bulgur? No clue. “You bet. Hey, do you think you could ever give me a tour of the base? I’d love to see the obstacle course.”
“Sure buddy.” This guy was more of a fan than a threat. I’m glad I met him.
“See. I knew you two would hit it off.”
The rest of the lunch was uneventful. Chris talked about some surf competition he’d entered; guess the guy was pretty good. Seeing them together gave me a small glimpse of who Annie had been before she’d been taken: carefree, laid back, sweet. She had probably been the type of girl that would’ve never even considered dating a SEAL.
Annie went back into the café to get some dinner to go.
Chris stood up. “Nice meeting you, Pat. If you ever need anything, let me know. And I’ll always be here for Annie, even when you’re gone. But you don’t have to worry about us hooking up. I’d never do that to you. Seriously, dude. You finding her was the best thing that ever happened to me. You not only gave Annie her life back, you gave me back mine.”
“I’ll have a beer with you anytime, Chris. And let me know when you want to see the base.”
“I will. That would be awesome. Maybe you can come surfing with me?”
Had no desire to learn. I’d never surfed. But I’d try anything once. “Sounds good. Later, bro.”
Annie walked back out of the café, carrying a paper bag. “Bye, Chris.”
They hugged again and I just stared at Trigger. Friends. That’s all it was.
We climbed into my truck and Annie had a big grin on her face.
“What?”
“I knew you’d like him.”
“He’s cool. Different than how I thought he’d be.”
“See?” She rubbed my thigh. “I told you nothing was going on.”
We backed out of the parking lot, and drove away. She squeezed my hand.
“I’ll tell you what happened.”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to.”
“No. I want to. I’m calm now. I just have to separate the experience from myself you know? I have to be in the right state of mind to talk about it.”
I nodded.
She took a deep breath and spoke in a whisper. “About two years after I was taken, these two American men came to the brothel. Not the same one you met me at, but a different one in Curaçao. They were in their mid-thirties, one guy had brown hair and one guy was a redhead.”
Holy shit. My muscles quivered. Dave was right. I didn’t want Annie to see any reaction from me. “Go on.”
“Well, the first time they showed up, they chose two other girls. But I swear to God that they both recognized me. When you picked me you never checked me out first, but that pimp allowed customers to ‘check out the merchandise.’ The redhead got right in my face, like he was checking me out, as he walked down the line. Looked straight at me, even stared at my ankle, like he was looking for my tattoo, you know? I thought for sure he was going to pick me that night but he didn’t. Around a week later they returned, but this time they chose Nicole and me. We’d been picked together before, sickos wanting to watch some girl on girl action. We were both cautious but hopeful, thinking maybe they would recognize us. I mean, they were American.”
I ground my teeth. This was almost unreal.
“So we went back to the room. They didn’t talk, just kind of motioned at us what they wanted us to do,” her hands made fists. “So after that, they just kind of lay there. They didn’t bolt like most guys do.” She pointed at me.
Guilty.
“So I thought they recognized us. I was so excited and still had hope back then. I opened my mouth to tell them, but Nicole tried to stop me. She didn’t want to get in trouble. But I didn’t care. So I whispered our names. Nicole had this look of sheer terror. The redhead, I remember, took this long, like, pained breath. I thought for sure he knew our stories, who we were. But the other man, he was just really cold. He stood up and they left. The redhead looked back at me when he left the room and mouthed, ‘I’m sorry.’ But I knew he believed me. I was so positive he was going to come back. And I guess I’d even convinced Nicole that we were going to be rescued. That at least they would share the sighting with my folks, and someone would come save us.”
My ears pounded. These motherfuckers, possible former SEALs, found these two Americans there, and just left them to die! They couldn’t be SEALs; we were bound to a higher code.
“Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast.”
Granted, I clearly didn’t always live my life with uncompromising integrity. But I couldn’t fathom these men leaving these girls, knowing they were trafficked. In my defense, when I’d hired Annie to blow me, I didn’t think she was kidnapped.
Her hand was shaking now. “But after six months, nothing. I was so fucking mad at them. I mean why couldn’t they tell someone. This was my life that had been stolen. I was a sex slave. How could they know my identity and do nothing? And I was pissed at myself for believing that I would be saved. Nicole lost it. I mean, she went crazy. Started mouthing off to the pimps, refusing clients, begging for extra heroin. I pleaded with her to stay strong. We would find a way out. Somehow. Someday. Together. But she just wanted to die. She stole my drugs, and some from a few other girls and shot herself up. And I wanted to die too. She was all I had left. I couldn’t stop feeling sorry for myself. Why me? Of all the girls who gotten drunk on a cruise, why me? Then I remembered that before I was taken, I heard about a girl who had been kidnapped for ten years and escaped. It was possible. So why should I give up? I had to get out—for me, for Nicole. I had a life to live. I had to survive no matter what. That’s when I made the decision not to give up. That the next time that I met a man that I even thought could save me, I would take the chance. Risk it all.”