Chapter 6: Chinese

Senior Investigator Jones booked a hotel room and had no problem getting to the little town. The traffic was light in the early afternoon. He showed a picture of the girl to cashiers at a grocery store. They told Jones she was Cindy, who lived in a trailer on the south side of town. As he drove near the trailer park, he spotted her walking home from school. Self-satisfied, he mused “25 minutes! Not a record, but close.” He found a parking spot a block away.

Jones took a magazine and his cane from the back seat and locked the car up. He never needed the cane to walk, but it made him seem more personable and less of a threat. He practiced melee fighting with the cane and other improvised weapons monthly. The rolled-up magazine would be a good prop, and a moderately effective jabbing weapon if he needed it. He stuck it in his suit pocket. He also carried a 38 revolver in an ankle holster and two 2 shot derringer pistols in his pockets, all registered, of course. The only time he ever needed more than two shots, he was fighting the Taliban.

He mentally switched gears. Today he was here for information. An old man in a suit, with gray hair and a cane seemed a lot less scary than a former Army Ranger, which he was. He reminded himself it was time to dye his hair gray again next week. He casually walked to a few of the trailers and talked to the residents who were home. “Yup, Cindy lives over there with her mom Jenny, the stripper. Poor kid.” Jenny had broken her arm and leg in an accident, and the two of them were deeply in debt and desperate for money. With her injuries there was no way Jenny could work, and little Cindy was only fifteen. Two other conversations yielded pretty much the same information.

Jones walked to a park well within sight of the trailer and sat at a picnic table. The girl left the trailer about an hour later, dressed very provocatively. She had on red high heels, a short black skirt, heavy makeup, large hoop earrings, and a tiny little red top. She walked slowly and looked very nervous. She got a soda from a vending machine and sat down near the other side of the park.

Jones knew not to walk straight towards her and spook her. He let her sit 5 minutes, then moved over to a spot 2 picnic tables away from her. He sat down and pretended to read his news magazine. He could easily see her with his peripheral vision. For another 10 minutes the girl took small sips of soda, looking around, like she was figuring out what to do.

Jones got up and slowly walked towards her, “Miss? Miss, I’m kind of thirsty too, where did you get the soda?” Cindy pointed.

He walked over to the machine, got a bottle, and returned to sit at the other end of the table Cindy was sitting at. “If you don’t mind me saying, you look a little nervous. Maybe I could help you with something?”

Cindy shyly replied, “No ... I’m ... well ... actually...”

She paused for a long moment and took a deep breath. “If you want to fuck I’m not ready for that, but I’ll give you a blowjob for a hundred or jerk you off for fifty bucks.” She blushed and hid her face in her hands.

Jones was shocked but calmly responded, “Sweetie, I have money, but I’m not looking for that. You’re safe. Safe.” He held up his hands. “I’m just a lonely old guy who needs somebody to talk to. How about I give you fifty just to have dinner with me and talk awhile?”

Cindy nervously chewed the edge of one of her fingernails and considered, “How about fifty an hour? But no sex!”

Jones got up, smiled, and said, “We have a deal young lady. I’m Robert Jones, but my friends call me Bob.” He offered his hand.

Cindy shook it, “I’m Cindy. Just Cindy for now.”

They walked to Jones’ hotel room, picking up Chinese food on the way.

They ate, watched tv, and chatted a little.

Three hours later Bob gave her two hundred dollars and asked her to meet him at the park tomorrow night. He said the extra fifty was worth it just to see her smile. Jones’ friend in New York had told him the clients looking for this girl were rich, and desperate to find her, so Jones was sure they wouldn’t mind him running up the expenses a little.

Cindy thanked him and happily agreed to return the next night. Jones had a couple of video cameras set up in his car. He watched watch them remotely, to make sure she got home safely and stayed there.

As we waited for the airport shuttle the next morning, I asked Kelly; “You’re bringing FOUR big suitcases! We’ll probably only be there a day or two! What could you possibly need for two days?”

Kelly said, “Never you mind, mister. I can handle them. I am woman, hear me roar!”

She struggled to pick up her two SMALLER suitcases. I picked up her two heavier ones with my left hand, and my one suitcase with my right.