Vicious Cycle

  Now the noise was gone, and Emily dreaded the silence.

  “You okay in here?” Her mother leaned in the doorway.

  “Yeah,” she said. “It’s good to be home.”

  “Karen Thompson just called and told me Maureen has left the hospital. Jordan’s there alone.”

  Her spirits lifted as purpose returned. “Can we go now?”

  Her mother studied her. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”

  “Yes, Mom. We’ve got to get Lance out of this. We can’t let him go back to jail. And I have a few things to say to Jordan.”

  “All right,” Barbara said. “Let’s go.”

  As Emily stepped into Jordan’s hospital room, she had the uncanny sense that she was standing outside her own body, looking at a potential version of herself. No, she and Jordan didn’t look alike. But she could have ended up in the same place … beaten and overdosed, with an innocent, homeless baby. Jordan’s face was swollen and blackened with bruises. Bloody scabs had formed on her puffy lip.

  Emily’s anger at her friend vanished. No one wanted to be like this. Who would choose to go to sleep at night wondering where they’d get their next hit? No one wanted to wake up thinking about how to scrape together enough cash to score. And to be beaten and abused as a way of life … What had Jordan’s mother put her through to make her lie about Lance?

  Emily sat down on the edge of the bed, like she had so many times at New Day when she and Jordan had talked into the night about what they might do with their lives when they truly kicked their addictions. She knew better than to wait for her to wake up. The girl was a sound sleeper even when she was sober, and she was withdrawing from her drugs, which meant she was utterly exhausted. She could sleep for days, except to eat and go to the bathroom. If Emily waited for her to wake up, it might be a long wait.

  She shook Jordan’s shoulder. “Jordan, wake up.”

  Jordan’s eyes cracked open. “Leave me alone,” she muttered.

  “Jordan, it’s me, Emily. I need to talk to you.”

  Jordan’s eyes fluttered open again. Disoriented, she focused on Emily. “What are you doing here?”

  “Thanks for missing my graduation,” Emily quipped.

  Jordan closed her eyes. “Yeah … congratulations … whatever. I was sorta busy … having a baby and stuff.”

  “You know you never should have left in the first place.”

  “I still would have had the baby.”

  “Yeah, but none of this would have happened.”

  Jordan shifted and glanced back at her. “None of what?”

  “You wouldn’t have gotten beaten up. You were safe there. And my brother wouldn’t have had to spend the weekend in jail. You’re lucky I’m even speaking to you.”

  Tears rushed to Jordan’s eyes, and she stared at the ceiling, as if remembering all that had happened in the last few days. When Barbara stepped into her sight, she sat up. “Have you seen Grace?”

  Barbara came toward the bed. “Who’s Grace?”

  “The baby. I named her Grace.”

  Emily glanced up at her mother. Clearly, Jordan hadn’t told anyone that.

  “Are you keeping her?” Emily asked.

  “That would be a disaster,” Jordan whispered. “I didn’t want Lance to go to jail. Is he okay?”

  “He’s out on bond. Jordan, tell the police the truth. You know Lance didn’t kidnap your baby.”

  Tears rolled over her eyelashes, down her cheek. “My mother made me say it. She forced me. She’s whacked out and I can’t cross her.”

  Barbara came closer. “So what really happened?”

  “She was arguing with Lance in the hall. I locked my door and went out my window and put the baby in his car. It was the only way I could save her. Mom was giving her to those people. I thought of going with him myself, but she would have known right away and chased us down. I thought if I went back in, I could buy them some time to get away.”

  “You have to tell the police that, Jordan.”

  Jordan wiped her eyes. “I know. And I have to make sure the baby’s all right first. I can’t let Mom give her to those people.”

  “She can’t give the baby away without your approval,” Barbara said. “If you don’t want them to have Grace, then they won’t.”

  “I want Loving Arms to handle the adoption. They’re the ones I’ve been working with at New Day. I trust them.”

  “Then I’ll call them for you,” Barbara said. “We’ll get them here. But, Jordan, I’m also going to get the police here, so you can tell the truth.”

  Jordan squeezed her eyes shut. “She’ll kill me.”

  “She won’t come near you if you don’t want her to,” Barbara said.

  “Yes, she will. I’m a minor. She can do anything she wants. This adoption is important to her. She needs the money.”

  Emily’s gaze snapped to her mother’s.

  “What money?” Barbara asked.

  “The money those people were going to pay her.”

  Barbara caught her breath. “They were offering you money for your baby?”

  “A lot of money,” she said. “Forty thousand dollars.”

  Barbara’s jaw dropped.

  “Do you know how long that kind of money could keep my mom scoring? Once she saw those dollar signs, she couldn’t think of anything else. She won’t give it up. She’ll kill me for telling you. I’m not exaggerating. She’ll really kill me.”

  Barbara’s voice grew thin. “Jordan, I need their names. The people trying to buy your baby.”

  “The Nelsons is all I know. I don’t know their first names. I think my brother is the one who found them, which makes it even worse. All his friends are sleazy. I don’t want anybody he knows having anything to do with my baby.”

  “I wouldn’t either,” Barbara muttered. “We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  Emily touched her hand. “Jordan, we need you to stay sober so you can do your part to make sure Grace is safe.”

  Jordan closed her eyes but didn’t commit to anything.

  Chapter 34

  So do you think this will go on my permanent record?” Lance’s question turned Kent from the grilled cheese sandwich he was making.

  “Not if we get Jordan to drop the charges.”

  “But will I have to tell people I was arrested once, like on job applications and stuff?”

  “No. They’re usually only interested in felonies. You’re innocent, Lance. We’re going to get this cleared up.”

  Kent scooped the sandwich up with the spatula, turned it over, and watched smoke come up from the pan. Maybe he should have put more butter on the bread or sprayed more Pam.

  “Are you sure you know how to cook?”

  “I know how to cook bachelor food. Nothing anybody else would ever want to eat.”

  Lance came over to the stove and grabbed a glob of butter with his fingers. “Here, maybe this’ll help.” He dropped it in, and it sizzled and sent up more smoke. “I’m a whiz at grilled cheese. That, and macaroni and cheese.”

  “My two favorites,” Kent said.

  Lance wiped his fingers on his jeans. “So … it’s really cool that you came all this way to help me.”

  Kent smiled at the boy. “I’m glad your mom called.”

  “So … are you two official?”

  “Officially what?”

  “You know … a couple.”

  Grinning, Kent scooped the sandwich out and dropped it onto a plate. He shoved it across the counter to Lance. “I don’t know. What do you think?”

  Lance bit into it like he was famished. “I think you are.”

  “I’m not sure how your mom feels. There are a lot of miles between us.”

  “Yeah, I know. Makes it tough. Man, this is good. You know what you’re doing.”

  Kent leaned over the counter. “Not burned?”

  “Burned just enough.” He chewed for a minute. “My dad used to burn them so bad they were stiff. I like them that
way. He’d always scrape the burnt part off.”

  Kent decided to make another one. A weekend in jail had left the boy hungry. As he buttered the bread, Lance said, “You could visit us a lot more, you know. Especially with a friend who’s a pilot.”

  “Yeah, but flying’s not free, even that way. Fuel costs a lot, and he has a lot of costs for the plane.”

  “If you really want to, you’ll work it out.”

  Kent dropped the sandwich into the pan and gazed at Lance. “I would if I knew your mother wanted me to.”

  “Are you kidding? Her face lights up when you’re around.”

  “I think it was lit up today because of you and Emily.”

  He shook his head. “Different kind of light.”

  “And you don’t have a problem with that?”

  Lance shrugged. “Why would I? You make a mean grilled cheese.”

  As Kent laughed, his cell phone rang. Barbara’s name filled the screen. He clicked it on. “Hey Barb. We were just talking about you.”

  “Kent, good news. Jordan has agreed to tell the police the truth.”

  Kent sucked in a breath. “Oh, man, that’s great. Do you need me to contact the PD?”

  “Yes, and get them here fast, before she changes her mind. Also, tell Lance for me, will you? I have to go.”

  Kent punched the air as he clicked the phone off. “Lance, Jordan told your mother the truth. She’s ready to tell the police. If all goes according to plan, your charges will be dropped by the end of the day.”

  Lance’s mouth fell open. “No way! Really?”

  “Yes. I’m going to the hospital to be there when they take her statement. Then hopefully we’ll get an arrest warrant for her mother.”

  Lance came around the counter and flipped the sandwich.

  “You go on,” Lance said. “I’ll finish this.”

  “I hate to leave you here alone after you’ve been locked up all weekend.”

  “Hey, it’s worth it.” He scooped the sandwich onto his plate and turned off the burner.

  “All right, but Lance, I want you to stay here until your mother comes back to get you. Don’t do anything, got it? You’re almost out of trouble. I don’t want you to blow it.”

  “I won’t. But will you call me when you know something?”

  Kent promised he would.

  Barbara waited in Jordan’s room, pacing the floor. As she did, she prayed that Jordan wouldn’t change her mind about confessing. What if her mother showed up and shut the whole thing down? What if Jordan feared repercussions for making a false statement to the police officer who’d taken her original statement?

  When Kent arrived with two police detectives and a transcriptionist, they set up a tape recorder. Jordan looked ready to spill her guts as Detective Dathan sat down in a chair next to the bed.

  “Jordan,” Dathan said, “could you state your full name?”

  Jordan cleared her throat. “Jordan Elise Rhodes.”

  A pretty name, Barbara thought. The name of someone whose mother might have given it some thought. Maybe Maureen had been sane at the time of Jordan’s birth. Somewhere though, things had gone terribly wrong.

  “Jordan, could you tell us what happened on Saturday, November 1?”

  “I had my baby … at home. The night before, I felt bad, cramping and back pain, and I didn’t realize I was in labor. So I got high, and it helped with the pain.”

  “High on what?”

  She sighed and looked down at her trembling hands. “Ice.”

  “Ice?” Dathan asked. “For the record, do you mean crystal meth?”

  “Yes.” She looked up at him. “Am I gonna get arrested for that? Because I don’t have any with me right now.”

  “No. We’re not here about drugs. Go on.”

  “So I was high and I didn’t realize the baby was coming. But then I felt like pushing, and I told my mother that I needed to go to the hospital. But she said I was fine, that my water hadn’t broken. She was a nurse’s aide, years and years ago, when I was little. She thinks she knows everything. But then my water broke, and she still didn’t take me. Even high, I felt worse and worse, so I shot some more, until I finally ran out. I didn’t think about what it was doing to the baby.”

  “And what time did the baby come?”

  “I went all night like that, and it finally came about ten in the morning.”

  “And what condition was the baby in?”

  “She seemed okay, but every now and then she would get stiff and shake. I knew something was wrong. But my mom still wouldn’t take me to the hospital.”

  “Did she tell you why?”

  “It was because she wanted to give her to those people she found to adopt her, and she didn’t want a record of the birth.”

  Kent glanced at Barbara. She pushed off from the wall and stood stiffly.

  “Who were the people?” Dathan asked.

  “She called them the Nelsons. They were paying her for the baby. They have some connection in town who looks for pregnant addicts. That guy hooked Mom and Zeke up with these people.”

  “How much?”

  “Forty thousand dollars. My mother couldn’t think about anything else.” Jordan’s face twisted, and she covered her eyes for a moment. “She was going to sell my baby. Just … sell her, like Grace was a car or something.”

  Dathan showed no emotion. “Were these people approved by an adoption agency? Were there papers?”

  “I never signed anything.”

  “What happened when Lance came over?”

  “He came to try to talk me into going back to New Day, and while he was there, the Nelsons showed up to take the baby. I couldn’t let that happen. So I locked myself in my room while Lance was arguing with my mom and brother. And I went out the window and put the baby in Lance’s car.”

  “So Lance didn’t know the baby was in his car?”

  “No. I figured his mom would know what to do. Mainly, I just wanted him to take her away from that place so they couldn’t get her.”

  “Why didn’t you go with Lance too?”

  “Because I knew my mom would come after me if I did. I thought if he took off and I was still there, I’d buy them a little time. But I paid for it.”

  “How?”

  “My mom picked my door lock and beat me bloody.”

  “So she’s responsible for these bruises on your face?”

  “Yes. And she forced me to call the police and report Lance. She wanted the baby back so she could sell her, but she also wanted to get revenge on Lance for getting in her way.”

  “Wasn’t she worried about the birth record if she reported it?”

  “I don’t know what she was thinking. She was just raging.” Her face twisted again, and a vein bulged on her forehead. “I didn’t want to do it.”

  She looked at Barbara. “I’m sorry I lied. But she made me. I didn’t want him to go to jail. He’s the only one who cares what happens to me.”

  Barbara breathed a sigh of relief as Dathan wrapped up the interview. Jordan wept as she signed her statement. “I know what happens next. They’ll arrest my mom and put me in foster care. But I don’t want to go stay with some strange family. I want to give the baby up for adoption to a family who can love her and take care of her, and then I want to go back to New Day.”

  “We’ll try to arrange that,” Kent said. “For now, you’ve done the right thing. You’ve helped Lance, but more than that, you’ve helped your baby. Can we count on you to testify against your mother if it comes to that?”

  “Yes. I have to,” she said. “It’s not just me now. It’s Grace.”

  Barbara tried to comfort her as they finished up. But Jordan seemed to be waiting in dread for word about her mother’s arrest. Until then, she wouldn’t be safe. And neither would the baby.

  When Kent was finished at the hospital, he followed Detective Dathan and his partner to the police station. Within minutes, one of them had gone to the DA for a warrant, based on Jordan?
??s testimony. This was clearly a baby trafficking scheme. If they scared Maureen with jail, maybe she’d expose the others involved.

  Kent went with the police to make the arrest. An old Dodge sat on the dirt driveway, and the front door appeared to be open. The crooked screen door had holes in it.

  He waited on the lawn as the uniformed officers knocked.

  Then Maureen emerged. She stepped out onto the rotting porch. Her graying roots looked as if they’d grown out four inches since she’d last colored it black. Even from where he stood, she smelled like she’d bathed in pig slop, and her eyes looked over-bright, as if she were high.

  “Maureen Rhodes, we have a warrant for your arrest.”

  “What?” she spat out. “For what? I didn’t do nothin’.”

  “For abusing your daughter and coercing her into giving a false statement to the police.”

  They left out the part about baby trafficking. They didn’t yet have enough evidence to accuse her, but Kent hoped they’d be able to bring it up during questioning.

  As they read Maureen her rights, Dathan put plastic cuffs on her. It satisfied Kent to see her rendered immobile after she’d called the police on Lance.

  They took her to the precinct and sat her in the investigation room. Kent watched through the two-way mirror as the detectives questioned her, but she wouldn’t talk. Clearly, her fear of repercussions from the traffickers and the risk of losing their money was more intimidating than her fear of the police. When they told her Jordan had changed her story, rage reddened her wrinkled face.

  “Where is that little brat?” she demanded. “Is she still in the hospital?”

  “Are you referring to your daughter?”

  “She wants to keep that baby, so she’s making up a bunch of stupid lies. The charges we filed were not false. Lance Covington forcibly took the baby. I didn’t abuse her. He beat her up!”

  Dathan glanced at the recorder. “Why did you keep her from giving the baby up for adoption through the Loving Arms agency, Ms. Rhodes?”

  “I didn’t. I don’t care what she does with the baby. I just want it to go to a good home.”

  “Did anyone ever approach you about exchanging the baby for cash?”