Close Call

Paige

I yawned as we taxied up to the Philly airport in the pale, pre-sunrise light. I’d texted Lauren before we took off, and she had everything ready. The door opened, and I stood.

“Okay, ladies, we’re going to get into a few cars and head for the shelter. Your beds are all ready, but there’ll be a little bit of intake before we’re all allowed to pass out.” I smiled.

A few of the women laughed weakly, but most of them just stared at me or clung to each other.

Tom squeezed my hand as they started to pile off. “I have to head home,” he said. “Syndicate stuff.”

I nodded. He wouldn’t be much help at the shelter right now anyway, and I didn’t know what he had to clean up after the raid. “Talk later?”

He smiled and kissed my hand.

I joined the women in the fleet of black cars waiting outside the plane. In the small space, as on the plane, the smell of them was inescapable. I hadn’t asked any questions about how they’d been kept, of Tom or of the women, but I could imagine from that alone.